In Brazil, anti-corruption audits substantially reduced vote buying and citizens’ demands for private favours – demonstrating how transparency initiatives can weaken clientelism and strengthen democra...

Merit-based recruitment and higher pay in Chile’s public hospitals attracted better-trained managers – leading to lower mortality rates and improved healthcare performance.

Despite extensive investment in development initiatives aimed at building state legitimacy and countering insurgencies, evidence from Afghanistan suggests that such programmes can reduce violence when...

While entrepreneurship training programmes can modestly enhance business survival, income, and management skills in developing countries, their effectiveness depends on tailored design, sustained engagement, and complementary support such as finance, peer learning, and technology. Issue 4 of our VoxDevLit on Training Entrepreneurs is out now! In this episode of VoxDevTalks, David McKenzie discusses what we know – and what we still need to learn – about entrepreneurship in developing countries. The review, co-edited with Chris Woodruff, summarises evidence from across LMICS, highlighting both the potential and the limitations of entrepreneurial training programmes. Read the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/firms/what-have-we-learned-about-training-entrepreneurs #economics #economicdevelopment #economicgrowth #economicpolicy

This week we featured research on taxes, workers, migration, entrepreneurs and more!

The World Bank’s Digital Connectivity Tracker reveals that while mobile phone and internet access are expanding rapidly across developing economies, significant inequalities persist – especially for women, low-income, and rural populations – making smartphone ownership a key determinant of digital inclusion.

When people in developing countries believe their tax systems are fair and progressive, they are more willing to pay taxes.

Short-term foreign currency borrowing is largely used for carry trade-like activities rather than financing productive investment, underscoring the need to focus on debt maturity and firm heterogeneit...

In India, expanding deposit insurance coverage improved depositor welfare by reducing risk and encouraging a shift towards safer assets.

Evidence from Brazil suggests that the crop-specific knowledge of domestic migrant farmers, during a period of large-scale migration, was a key driver of the recent transformation of the country’s export patterns – highlighting the importance of migrants’ knowledge in the expansion of specific sectors of the economy.

Contrary to popular belief, economic development does not necessarily lead to secularisation. Instead, religion often adapts and persists, providing social support, identity, and stability amid uncertainty – while interacting dynamically with states, traditional beliefs, and evolving economic realities. In this episode of VoxDevTalks, Sara Lowes, Eduardo Montero, and Benjamin Marx explore how religion and economic development interact in emerging and developing regions. Challenging the idea that development inevitably leads to secular societies, they discuss why religiosity persists or changes, how faiths coexist with traditional beliefs, and the ways religious institutions shape social support, behaviour, and policy. Throughout, they emphasise that religion is dynamic – adapting to incentives, competition, and the state of local institutions. Read the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/how-religion-shapes-economic-development

Workers at exporting firms experience more rapid skill and productivity growth, especially when firms export to high-income destinations, thereby amplifying the overall gains from trade.

How does culture shape economic policy and development?

A national extension programme in Uganda raised farmers’ expectations and adoption of oilseed crops – revealing how beliefs, not just knowledge, drive agricultural transformation.

This week we featured research on poverty, discrimination, industrial cities and more!

In Burkina Faso, input diversion from cotton to maize is widespread but ultimately lowers maize productivity, highlighting the need for broader input credit access and better resource allocation policies.

Over a thousand years, China’s political hierarchy reshaped regional prosperity – provincial capitals flourished through bureaucracy and market access, but these benefits faded once they lost administrative status.

In Ghana, a simple, low-cost intervention – helping informal workers set daily goals – significantly improved workers’ and firms’ performance, suggesting that non-binding incentives may be an effective means to foster the growth of small firms in developing contexts.

The land prices of the former outcaste neighbourhoods in Japan remain substantially lower, suggesting persistent stigma despite the legal abolition of discrimination more than a century ago.

Political polarisation has been rising sharply in both advanced and developing democracies, with implications for democratic accountability, institutional trust, and social cohesion. This VoxDevLit re...

Industrial clusters can fuel economic booms today, but can also trap cities into tomorrow's decline. Evidence from two centuries of British cities reveals the lasting costs of specialisation.

This week we featured research on aid, telemedicine, irrigation and more!

China’s 2014 business registration reform spurred greater market dynamism by lowering entry barriers, which increased firm turnover and allowed smaller yet more productive entrepreneurs to establish new businesses, boosting overall productivity and growth.

When delivered by a single donor, development aid appears to curtail corruption. However, under donor fragmentation, these benefits are significantly diminished.