Fieler & coauthors: The power of firm networks in trade and economic development

Ana Cecília Fieler and coauthors combine an innovative model of firm networks with a novel dataset from Turkey’s manufacturing sector to better understand the dynamics between firm growth and trade.

The importance of relationships in global trade

EGC affiliate Guillermo Noguera and coauthors find that forming long-term relationships with their buyers can increase profits for Bangladeshi garment exporters.

New evidence reveals a fast-moving labor force doesn’t necessarily indicate a healthy job market

EGC affiliate Kevin Donovan and coauthors create a new dataset that reverses previously observed trends between job transition rate and GDP per capita, showing that labor-market churn isn’t always a positive economic indicator.

Did women have an impact on social mobility in pre-modern economies?

EGC affiliate José-Antonio Espín-Sánchez and coauthors explored 18th century records from southern Spain, and found that women’s contributions to social status in pre-modern economies may have been considerably more influential and complex than is usually assumed.

A review of new findings on the links between US-China trade and inequality

In a new paper, EGC affiliate Lorenzo Caliendo and coauthor review the latest cutting-edge empirical and theoretical studies on trade between the world’s two largest economies.

Migration Subsidies: Does encouraging relocation increase welfare and productivity?

Mushfiq Mobarak and coauthors pair a dynamic model of migration with experimental data to shed new light on the welfare and productivity benefits of migration subsidies in lower-income countries.

New research on why authoritarian regimes have local leadership elections

Gerard Padró i Miquel and coauthors introduce novel trade-offs that an authoritarian regime faces between centralized control and “outsourcing” of governance – and demonstrate their existence with a large dataset from China.

New research on China's research & development funding distribution

EGC Affiliate Fabrizio Zilibotti and coauthors demonstrate the importance of innovation-led growth in China, and show that improving resource efficiency in the Chinese economy could deliver efficiency gains by encouraging “the right” firms to invest in R&D.

New research on agricultural productivity in developing countries

EGC Affiliate Mark Rosenzweig shows that there are too many farms in the world and that agricultural consolidation in low-income countries could lead to major gains in agricultural output and poverty reduction.

New findings on the interplay of insurance, agricultural inputs, and crop yields for poor farmers in India

EGC Affiliate Kevin Donovan explores the impact of reducing agricultural risk on smallholder farming in low-income countries.

What can economic history tell us about the future of water policy?

ECG affiliate José Antonio Espín-Sánchez examines how water quotas and flexible punishments for water theft have sustained a Spanish farming community for centuries.  

New analysis of the costs and benefits of expanding India’s energy infrastructure

EGC affiliate Nicholas Ryan finds that constrained energy markets lead to higher energy prices, and investing in more infrastructure is likely to be highly cost-effective.

Promising results from a policy experiment aiming to reduce air pollution in India

EGC economists Rohini Pande and Nicholas Ryan are part of a team of researchers who have collaborated with policymakers in the state of Gujarat, India to test the world’s first pilot ETS for particulate matter.

New survey findings on vaccine acceptance in developing nations

A new study by EGC affiliate Mushfiq Mobarak & coauthors found that Covid-19 vaccine acceptance is significantly higher in low- and middle-income countries than wealthy ones. The results suggest that prioritizing developing nations for vaccine distribution could help save more lives.

Empowering women through direct digital payments

New research by EGC Director Rohini Pande and coauthors shows that giving women in India’s Madhya Pradesh state greater digital control over their wages led to a surprising range of benefits.

How do migration subsidies impact rural communities?

EGC affiliates Costas Meghir and Mushfiq Mobarak, and Yale grads Corina Mommaerts (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Melanie Morten (Stanford University) describe their work .

Cash transfers to poor rural villages – do they affect food prices? How?

EGC affiliate Orazio Attanasio and coauthor Elena Pastorino show that a conditional cash transfer program in rural Mexico has countervailing effects for the poor in terms of consumption and prices.

New findings on the effects of widespread arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh

EGC affiliate Mark Rosenzweig and coauthors combine economics, genetics, and family lineages to show the direct effects of arsenic-contaminated water on cognition, physical strength, and earnings.

Bridges between villages in Nicaragua serve as links to markets

EGC researcher Kevin Donovan and coauthor find that building footbridges positively affects rural economies in flood-prone areas.

New research shows the productivity of outside managers plays a role for firm dynamics in India

EGC affiliate Michael Peters and coauthors create a new model tracing the relationship between the growth and performance of firms and the efficiency of outside managers.

Unequal treatment of men and women by economic law: Global trends

Penny Goldberg and coauthors analyze legal economic discrimination over the past 50 years using the new World Bank Women, Business, and the Law dataset.

Q&A: How can India achieve universal electrification?

A study by Yale’s Nicholas Ryan and coauthors finds that it may be counterproductive to view access to electricity as a right, rather than as a good that must be paid for.

Parental engagement and skills development

EGC faculty affiliates Orazio Attanasio and Costas Meghir identify channels through which early-childhood programs are effective in building cognitive and socio-emotional skills. They launched a randomized controlled trial in Colombia which examines the effects of a toddler play-based learning intervention along with coauthors.