New research on China shows that entrepreneurs who start multiple firms are more productive on average – but this conceals a troubling pattern: some succeed not because of skill, but because of preferential access to finance.

Read today's article to learn more:

Why some entrepreneurs start more firms New research on China shows that entrepreneurs who start multiple firms are more productive on average – but this conceals a troubling pattern: some succeed not because of skill, but because of preferential access to finance.

🆕 Why some entrepreneurs start more firms

Today on VoxDev, Loren Brandt (The Department of Economics, University of Toronto), Ruochen Dai (CUFE), Gueorgui Kambourov, Kjetil Storesletten (UMN) & Xiaobo Zhang (Peking University) discuss serial entrepreneurship in China: https://ow.ly/i3E350YIKS4

Central banks can lose credibility quickly when policy decisions are seen as politically driven. Evidence from Brazil shows that even a single ungrounded policy shift can unanchor inflation expectations and deteriorate inflation dynamics.

How central banks lose credibility – and why it matters Central banks can lose credibility quickly when policy decisions are seen as politically driven. Evidence from Brazil shows that even a single ungrounded policy shift can unanchor inflation expectations and deteriorate inflation dynamics.

🆕 How central banks lose credibility – and why it matters

Marco Bonomo (Insper), Carlos Carvalho (PUC-Rio), Stefano Eusepi (University of Texas Austin), Marina Perrupato (UCSD), Daniel Abib (Western University), João Ayres (IDB) & Silvia Matos (FGV IBRE): https://ow.ly/Wn7b50YIIwa

Why some entrepreneurs start more firms New research on China shows that entrepreneurs who start multiple firms are more productive on average – but this conceals a troubling pattern: some succeed not because of skill, but because of preferential access to finance.

🆕 Why some entrepreneurs start more firms

Today on VoxDev, Loren Brandt (The Department of Economics, University of Toronto), Ruochen Dai (CUFE), Gueorgui Kambourov, Kjetil Storesletten (UMN) & Xiaobo Zhang (Peking University) discuss serial entrepreneurship in China: https://ow.ly/i3E350YIKS4

How central banks lose credibility – and why it matters Central banks can lose credibility quickly when policy decisions are seen as politically driven. Evidence from Brazil shows that even a single ungrounded policy shift can unanchor inflation expectations and deteriorate inflation dynamics.

🆕 How central banks lose credibility – and why it matters

Marco Bonomo (Insper), Carlos Carvalho (PUC-Rio), Stefano Eusepi (University of Texas Austin), Marina Perrupato (UCSD), Daniel Abib (Western University), João Ayres (IDB) & Silvia Matos (FGV IBRE): https://ow.ly/Wn7b50YIIwa

🆕 YIMBY goes global? How to build more housing in Africa

This week on Ideas in Development, Kurtis Lockhart (Africa Urban Lab) & I are joined by Kecia Rust (CAHF Africa) to discuss the full housing chain in Africa – from land & finance to construction & rental markets.

Links ⤵️

Equal land distribution in pre-industrial East Asia paradoxically drove poverty by enabling higher fertility among landowning households, creating population pressure that depressed wages.

Why was Japan so poor before industrialisation? Equal land distribution in pre-industrial East Asia paradoxically drove poverty by enabling higher fertility among landowning households, creating population pressure that depressed wages. This dynamic explains why East Asia diverged from Western Europe before industrialisation, and why low wages may have discouraged the labour-saving innovations that powered the Industrial Revolution.

🆕 Why was Japan so poor before industrialisation?

Today on VoxDev, Yuzuru Kumon (The University of Manchester) discusses how equal land distribution in pre-industrial Japan, paradoxically, drove poverty: voxdev.org/topic/macroeconomics-gro...

Why was Japan so poor before industrialisation? Equal land distribution in pre-industrial East Asia paradoxically drove poverty by enabling higher fertility among landowning households, creating population pressure that depressed wages. This dynamic explains why East Asia diverged from Western Europe before industrialisation, and why low wages may have discouraged the labour-saving innovations that powered the Industrial Revolution.

🆕 Why was Japan so poor before industrialisation?

Today on VoxDev, Yuzuru Kumon (The University of Manchester) discusses how equal land distribution in pre-industrial Japan, paradoxically, drove poverty: voxdev.org/topic/macroeconomics-gro...

This week in development economics at VoxDev: 10/04/2026 This week we featured research on teachers, fiscal tightening, shadow banks and more!

This week we featured research on teachers, fiscal tightening, shadow banks and more!

Read a summary of this work here: voxdev.org/topic/week-development-e...

Efficient climate policy disproportionately burdens low- and middle-income countries. Modest transfers can make it fair and feasible.

How to make climate policy fair and efficient across countries Efficient climate policy disproportionately burdens low- and middle-income countries. Modest transfers can make it fair and feasible.

🆕 How to make climate policy fair and efficient across countries

Today on VoxDev w/ Mathilde Le Moigne (Migros Bank), Simon Lepot (University of Zurich), Marcos Ritel (Kuhne Logistics University) & Dora Simon (University of Stavanger, Norway): https://ow.ly/JiOC50YGUHc

How to make climate policy fair and efficient across countries Efficient climate policy disproportionately burdens low- and middle-income countries. Modest transfers can make it fair and feasible.

🆕 How to make climate policy fair and efficient across countries

Today on VoxDev w/ Mathilde Le Moigne (Migros Bank), Simon Lepot (University of Zurich), Marcos Ritel (Kuhne Logistics University) & Dora Simon (University of Stavanger, Norway): https://ow.ly/JiOC50YGUHc

New narrative evidence for sub-Saharan Africa shows that fiscal tightening has larger negative effects on output in downturns, when implemented through spending cuts, and when aid is scarce.

In India, shadow banks do not compete with traditional banks through a single mechanism – fintech lenders use superior data technology to reach underserved borrowers in unsecured markets, while non-fintech shadow banks exploit lighter regulatory constraints in secured lending.

Why the costs of fiscal adjustment have been underestimated in Africa New narrative evidence for sub-Saharan Africa shows that fiscal tightening has larger negative effects on output in downturns, when implemented through spending cuts, and when aid is scarce.

🆕 Why the costs of fiscal adjustment have been underestimated in Africa

Today on VoxDev, Hany Abdel-Latif (IMF), Khalil Bechchani (Université de Sherbrooke), Antonio David & Thibault Lemaire discuss fiscal multipliers in sub-Saharan Africa: https://ow.ly/ngBx50YGocV

Why shadow banks beat traditional lenders in some markets but not others In India, shadow banks do not compete with traditional banks through a single mechanism – fintech lenders use superior data technology to reach underserved borrowers in unsecured markets, while non-fintech shadow banks exploit lighter regulatory constraints in secured lending. Policymakers should treat these as distinct phenomena, since technology-driven credit expansion offers durable inclusion benefits, while regulation-driven growth may prove fragile as oversight tightens.

🆕 Why shadow banks beat traditional lenders in some markets but not others

Today on VoxDev, Kim Fe Cramer (LSE), Pulak Ghosh (IIM Bangalore), Nirupama Kulkarni (CAFRAL) & Nishant Vats (Washington University) outline research on India: https://ow.ly/hi8C50YGmmo

Why the costs of fiscal adjustment have been underestimated in Africa New narrative evidence for sub-Saharan Africa shows that fiscal tightening has larger negative effects on output in downturns, when implemented through spending cuts, and when aid is scarce.

🆕 Why the costs of fiscal adjustment have been underestimated in Africa

Today on VoxDev, Hany Abdel-Latif (IMF), Khalil Bechchani (Université de Sherbrooke), Antonio David & Thibault Lemaire discuss fiscal multipliers in sub-Saharan Africa: https://ow.ly/ngBx50YGocV

Why shadow banks beat traditional lenders in some markets but not others In India, shadow banks do not compete with traditional banks through a single mechanism – fintech lenders use superior data technology to reach underserved borrowers in unsecured markets, while non-fintech shadow banks exploit lighter regulatory constraints in secured lending. Policymakers should treat these as distinct phenomena, since technology-driven credit expansion offers durable inclusion benefits, while regulation-driven growth may prove fragile as oversight tightens.

🆕 Why shadow banks beat traditional lenders in some markets but not others

Today on VoxDev, Kim Fe Cramer (LSE), Pulak Ghosh (IIM Bangalore), Nirupama Kulkarni (CAFRAL) & Nishant Vats (Washington University) outline research on India: https://ow.ly/hi8C50YGmmo

"When you're poor, there really is a lot that money can buy to improve your health, and when you're rich, that's somewhat less true." Adriana Lleras-Muney today on VoxDevTalks:

In Mexico, children in safe areas suffer lasting academic harm when peers who fled local violence transfer to their schools – even though they were never directly exposed to that violence themselves.

How impacts of violence spread through Mexican schools In Mexico, children in safe areas suffer lasting academic harm when peers who fled local violence transfer to their schools – even though they were never directly exposed to that violence themselves. This hidden cost of violence is especially pronounced for girls, highlighting the need for support in receiving schools, not just those in conflict-affected areas.

🆕 How impacts of violence spread through Mexican schools

Today on VoxDev, María Padilla-Romo (University of Tennessee) & Cecilia Peluffo (University of Florida) discuss the peer effects of exposure to conflict: voxdev.org/topic/education/how-impa...

🆕 The complex link between poverty and health 📢

Today on VoxDevTalks, Adriana Lleras-Muney (UCLA) discusses what drives the relationship between poverty and health, and what policymakers can do about it: voxdev.org/topic/health...

How impacts of violence spread through Mexican schools In Mexico, children in safe areas suffer lasting academic harm when peers who fled local violence transfer to their schools – even though they were never directly exposed to that violence themselves. This hidden cost of violence is especially pronounced for girls, highlighting the need for support in receiving schools, not just those in conflict-affected areas.

🆕 How impacts of violence spread through Mexican schools

Today on VoxDev, María Padilla-Romo (University of Tennessee) & Cecilia Peluffo (University of Florida) discuss the peer effects of exposure to conflict: voxdev.org/topic/education/how-impa...

🆕 The complex link between poverty and health 📢

Today on VoxDevTalks, Adriana Lleras-Muney (UCLA) discusses what drives the relationship between poverty and health, and what policymakers can do about it: voxdev.org/topic/health...

A large field experiment in Brazil finds that simply reminding parents to pay attention to school improves student outcomes about the same as sending them detailed, child-specific information.

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Reminders to parents can improve student outcomes A large field experiment in Brazil finds that simply reminding parents to pay attention to school improves student outcomes about the same as sending them detailed, child-specific information – suggesting that informational interventions work largely by capturing attention, not by updating beliefs.

🆕 Reminders to parents can improve student outcomes

Today on VoxDev, Guilherme Lichand (Stanford Graduate School of Education), Nina Cunha, Ricardo A. Madeira (USP - Universidade de São Paulo) & Eric Bettinger discuss an informational intervention in Brazil: https://ow.ly/4RCG50YERT8

A zero-cost nudge – simply listing hard-to-staff schools first in an online vacancy platform – significantly increased the share of teachers applying to and being placed in under-resourced schools.

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Nudging teachers to underserved schools at zero cost A zero-cost nudge – simply listing hard-to-staff schools first in an online vacancy platform – significantly increased the share of teachers applying to and being placed in under-resourced schools. The effect appears to be driven by choice overload rather than inattention or altruism, suggesting that smart interface design can complement costly financial incentives in addressing teacher shortages.

🆕 Nudging teachers to underserved schools at zero cost

Today on VoxDev, Nicolás Ajzenman (McGill), Gregory Elacqua (IDB), Luana Marotta & Anne Sofie Westh Olsen (Royal Danish Defence College) discuss teacher selection in Ecuador: https://ow.ly/fXgZ50YEPIu