• Loading stock data...
Energy Environment Featured Labour World

Powering more with less: How energy efficiency drives growth and jobs

Picture two houses—one with old windows, no insulation, and older appliances, and the other featuring simple energy-efficient upgrades and equipment. The difference between these neighboring houses is more than just aesthetics. Those living in the first house could ending up paying up to five times more for heating in winter than the better-off family just […]

Uncategorized

How the 2018/19 US tariffs against China boosted exports and employment in Mexico

In 2018 and 2019, the US administration hiked tariffs on imports from China. This column shows that imports from Mexico partly filled the gap, leading to an export and employment surge in Mexico. Using highly disaggregated firm-level data on Mexican exports, combined with detailed employer-employee data, the authors find that US tariffs against China resulted […]

Gender Featured Lifestyle World

Default to mum: How institutions quietly shape gender roles in parenting

Mothers continue to shoulder the majority of childcare responsibilities even in dual-earner households, contributing to gender gaps in earnings, labour force participation, and career advancement. This column uses an experiment targeting over 80,000 US school principals to show that when a school needs to contact a parent, the mother is 1.4 times more likely than […]

Economy Featured Lifestyle News

Hiroshima: Resilience of city structure after the atomic bombing

Cities have faced a host of shocks throughout history, including earthquakes, hurricanes, coastal flooding, and storm surges, as well as wartime destruction, such as in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict. This column looks at one of the most dramatic events in history, the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima in Japan, to explore the mechanisms […]

Finance Development Economy Featured World

Three barriers to municipal finance—and how to overcome them to create jobs and growth

Cities in low- and middle-income countries are growing fast—but their ability to finance the infrastructure and services needed to support people and jobs is lagging behind. The consequences are real: without better roads, transit, water, energy, and housing, cities struggle to deliver basic services or attract investment, limiting job creation and economic opportunity. That’s because urban infrastructure […]

Economy Development Environment Featured

Charting a smarter ocean future for Thailand

Thailand’s coastal and marine resources are vital engines of growth. From pristine beaches that attract millions of tourists each year to the Eastern Economic Corridor that supports production and trade, the country’s “blue economy” involving 23 coastal provinces is estimated to contribute around 30 percent of  Thailand’s GDP and one-fourth of the nation’s employment. As Thailand […]

trade Featured Finance News World

The 2025 trade war: Dynamic impacts across US states and the global economy

In 2025, the US government announced a series of tariff increases targeting major trading partners, including Canada, China, and Mexico. This column estimates the economic consequences of these proposed tariffs to the US and globally. According to this model, real wages in the US decline by 1.4% in 2028 and GDP falls by approximately 1%, […]

Economy Business Employment Featured

Employment protection legislation reforms and the rising cost of job loss

A widely cited argument in favour of easing employment protection rules is that greater flexibility in hiring and firing can lead to increased job matching efficiency and productivity, but this may come at a cost for certain groups of workers. This column examines the impact of the 2012 ‘Fornero Reform’ in Italy, which lowered the […]

World Featured Finance News trade

Sanctions, trade shocks, and firms’ adjustment margins

The sanctions which followed the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine generated a large trade shock for firms trading with Russia. This column examines the short-run response of firms in Latvia – a small open economy with strong pre-war trade ties with Russia. The author finds that firms with lower initial exposure to Russia were the […]

trade Featured News World

How to manage the economic trade-offs of public procurement policies in developing economies

Government procurement—the process in which public entities buy goods and services from private companies—represents between 5% and 20% of a country’s GDP, depending on the country. Public procurement policies allow governments to strategically support certain firms and sectors, for example, small businesses or eco-friendly products. In using public procurement systems, policymakers must navigate a trade-off: […]