🆕 Why irrigation infrastructure projects are key to food security and climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa
Abdoulaye Cisse, Alain de Janvry @natureatcal.bsky.social, @joelferguson.bsky.social, @marcogn.bsky.social, Samba Mbaye, Elisabeth Sadoulet & Mame Mor: voxdev.org/topic/agricu...
Academics voting with their feet!
Finally, it's bittersweet that this paper was funded by USAID, which is now gone. Thy supported research on Africa, in collaboration with African scholars and allowed for human capital accumulation of the next generation of economists.
The paper is open access thanks to UC-Berkeley Library's commitment to open access science. They negotiated rates with Elsevier and paid for the publishing fee.
The paper uses old satellite data to do ex-post impact evaluation of a major irrigation investment which makes the region much more resilient to climate change. It's exciting when new methods and data allow us to look at the past.
It is my first paper in Africa and I got to work with co-authors from Senegal: Aboulaye Cisse, Mame Mor Anta Syll and Samba Mbaye.
Very happy that this paper with ARE colleagues (Alain de Janvry and Betty Sadoulet) and ARE alumni (Joel Ferguson and Abdoulaye Cisse) is now accepted at Journal of Development Economics! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
“Irrigation infrastructure and satellite-measured land cultivation impacts: Evidence from the Senegal river valley” is now live at the JDE!
I’m really proud of the work that my coauthors - Abdou, Alain, @marcogn.bsky.social, Samba, Betty, and Mame Mor - and I put into this.
doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...
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At last! 🎉 After years in the making, my paper with Manuel Fernandez & @marcogn.bsky.social is out as an IZA Discussion Paper.
We ask: Can better streets boost property tax compliance? 🚧💰 If so, why?
We answer this with an RCT in Mexico + a model of tax compliance.
docs.iza.org/dp18082.pdf
Loved the title of this opinion piece because its so true.
Super interesting graph from NYT today on electric vehicle sales as a share of overall sales in multiple Asian countries. It's astonishing that Nepal is at more than 70% share given their GDP per capita of only $1,447 USD in 2024. In the meantime, in the U.S. we debate whether EVs are a thing...
It would be nice to know which items are not being found. Retailers could stop carrying some products due to tariffs. If those missing quotes are then imputed, you get an overall lower inflation picture. Economists often think of no availability as akin to a good being priced at the choke price.
I had a great time presenting at the Africa Evidence Summit 2025 in Nairobi! Fantastic conference to showcase African scholars and scholarship.
I wish everyone knew this....
Alipio Ferreira's postdoc at J-PAL LAC armed him with invaluable skills in navigating policy enforcement and research design. Discover how this experience has prepared him for his role as an assistant professor, where he continues to explore impactful environmental policies. 🌿
So happy to be visiting Berkeley ARE alumni Wei Lin and Qingyang Huang at Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen! Great campus and faculty.
The call for Ph.D. students interested in participating in this year's Urban Economics Association Summer School 2025 at Tufts University is now open. Application deadline is May 15.
urbaneconomics.org/workshops/su...
Great opportunity to meet other young scholars interested in urban economics
Congratulations Joel! So proud of all of your achievements!
Joined my colleagues today @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social to Stand up for Science! Saw speeches by campus leaders @tedmiguel.bsky.social and @jenniferdoudna.bsky.social @standupforscience.bsky.social
📉📈 Excited to attend the 9th Zurich Conference on Public Finance in Developing Countries next week! I’ll present my work with Manuel Fernandez & @marcogn.bsky.social:
"Local Public Goods and Property Tax Compliance: Evidence from Residential Street Pavement"
#PublicFinance #DevelopmentEconomics
I believe these types of programs can be used after natural disasters to incentivize moving to less risky areas, or to move people away from areas that will experience negative shocks from climate change. This paper is very informative about takeup and usage patterns.
Very happy to see the World Bank Development Impact blog covering UC-Berkeley JMC Gwyneth Miner's JMP on how to encourage migration in a developing country setting. This tool will become ever more important in the policy toolkit move people to opportunity blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...
