Unlocking SME growth: Key lessons from Ecuador’s loan program
Governments and development institutions spend billions to help small businesses access financing, hoping this will create jobs and support inclusive economic growth. But we don’t
Attrition in surveys in developed country field experiments
One of the remarkable things about many field experiments done by development economists is the low attrition rates that have been achieved in many surveys.
Detecting potentially harmful workplace practice
Businesses use checklists to exercise managerial control and ensure quality, but excessive bureaucracy can frustrate skilled workers and reduce morale. This column presents a randomised
Race cars and hydromet systems: What do they have in common?
Professional race cars and hydromet (weather, water, and climate forecasting) systems may seem worlds apart, but they have more in common than we realize. Both
Chat Bankman-Fried: An experiment on LLM ethics in finance
As large language models gain traction, it is important to ensure that decisions delegated to them comply with ethical and legal principles. This column reports
Sudden stops in the euro area
Internal balance-of-payment crises should be taken as a strong signal of weakness and a wake-up call to reform euro area structures The single currency was
Recent patterns in global risk behaviour in financial markets
Following the US tariff announcements in early April, the US dollar strongly depreciated while US Treasury yields rose. This column zooms in on the April
Britain’s AI hopes face harsh reality of high electricity costs
Britain’s ambition to rev up its economy and tap the AI revolution faces the harsh reality that the abundant, clean and reliable electricity supply this
Europe’s old power plants to get digital makeover driven by AI boom
Some of Europe’s ageing coal and gas fired power plants can look forward to a more high-tech future as big tech players, such as Microsoft
Navigating debt and trade: Data show persistent debt challenges for developing countries amid uncertain trade prospects
Low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) have rebounded strongly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Gross national income (GNI) among these countries was resilient in 2023, at
