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What’s the Latest Research in Development Economics? A Roundup from NEUDC 2021

Recommended.

Last weekend was the North East Universities Development Consortium annual conference . Researchers—mostly economists—presented nearly 200 papers on topics from agriculture to COVID to marriage to microfinance. It’s a great introduction to a wide range of current development economics research.

As a crash course for you (and for us), we’ve produced a brief takeaway from each paper. Of course, these are our takeaways, and yours may differ. If you’re interested in the topic, we encourage you to read the papers . Some of the papers present preliminary results, so you may want to take a look before—you know—redesigning your monetary policy based on our tweet-sized summary. Finally, we made a judgment call about where to place papers: for example, does a study on the impact of a health intervention on education outcomes go under health or education? So you may as well just read the whole post.

The evidence comes from all over the world, as you can see in Figure 1 below. (We’ve sorted the papers by topic below, you can also find all the papers sorted by country .) By far, the most studies come from India (35 studies!), Brazil (18), China (14), Mexico (11). Relative to the same conference last year , India holds a similar position relative to Brazil and Mexico, but China is much more represented.

In terms of research methods, the most commonly used approach was fixed effects estimation (49 studies), followed by randomized controlled trials (42), difference-in-differences (29), regression discontinuity (21), and instrumental variables (19) (Figure 2).

Figure 2. What methods do studies use?

The referenced media source is missing and needs to be re-embedded.

Source: This chart draws on a sample of 185 studies from the NEUDC 2021 conference. Some studies used more than one method.

Without further ado, here are 185 paper microsummaries! For most papers, we indicate the methodology. If you had a different takeaway from a paper, share your thoughts in the comments!

Guide to the methodological hashtags

#DID = Difference-in-differences #FE = Fixed effects #IV = Instrumental variables #LIF = Lab in the field #PSM = Propensity score matching #RCT = Randomized controlled trial #RD = Regression discontinuity

Households and human capital

Education and early childhood development.

A large-scale home visiting intervention in Bangladesh was integrated into the national nutrition program. While service providers partly substituted away from nutrition counseling and towards early childhood development counseling, both cognitive and nutritional outcomes improved. ( Bos et al. ) #FE

Scheduling the school calendar such that exams fall during harvest season inflated dropouts among rural youth by between 6.5 and 8.4 percent in Bangladesh. ( Ito and Shonchoy ) #DID

Livestock insurance for pastoral communities in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia decreased children's work and increased their schooling. ( Son ) #RCT

An after-school curriculum to strengthen teenagers' character in three countries of Central America reduced misbehavior at school. ( Dinarte, Egana-delSol, and Martinez A. ) #RCT

Poorer college applicants in China are less strategic in their college priority ranking, potentially exacerbating educational inequality. ( Wang, Wang, and Ye )

Providing students starting their senior year of high school in Argentina with information on their chances of graduating (given their current academic performance) increases timely graduation, especially for the worst performing students. ( Lopez ) #RCT

In areas of Mexico with more manufacturing jobs, conditional cash transfers had less of a positive impact on education, particularly for youth old enough to work in the factories. ( Molina and Vidiella-Martin ) #RCT

A voucher reform that increased government subsidies for disadvantaged students in Chile actually resulted in increased fees for those students at private schools. ( Cañedo-Riedel and Sánchez )

In Nepal, government expenditures on a year of primary or secondary school are roughly equal to the average increased taxes that someone with an additional year of schooling later pays (i.e., the fiscal externality). For tertiary education, the gains outweigh the costs. ( Bleakley and Gupta )

Cash grants to public school councils in rural Pakistan increased learning in both public and private schools. ( Andrabi et al. ) #RCT

Attending a high-quality public “model” school in India boosts test scores in math, science, and social science. ( Kumar ) #RD

Free after-school tutoring to primary school students in rural Bangladesh boosts test scores of their peers. Targeting tutoring to students who are more socially central leads to bigger effects. ( Islam et al.) #RCT

“Over-the-phone mentoring and homeschooling support delivered by volunteers” in Bangladesh “improved the learning outcomes of treated children by 0.75 SD and increased homeschooling involvement of treated mothers by 0.64 SD.” ( Hassan et al. ) #RCT

When men in Colombia “just miss the cutoff to enroll in their” preferred university major, they’re likely to retake the exam. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to “enroll in a less preferred major” right away. This difference can explain “about half of the gender-earnings gap among college-educated workers in Colombia.” ( Franco and Hawkins ) #RD

“An extra friend aspiring to go to college [in Brazil] increases the likelihood that the average student will also aspire to it by 11.39 percent.” ( Gagete-Miranda ) #IV

Affirmative action for undergraduate law studies in Brazil more than doubled the chance that beneficiaries went on to become certified lawyers and employed, with no apparent negative impacts on outcomes for "applicants displaced by the policy." ( Ribeiro and Estevan ) #RD

When the proportion of low-income students at a Colombian university tripled, the social networks of wealthy students changed, but only a little. ( Velasco ) #DID

State-sponsored education in 19th-century France led to most people speaking the same language, with persistent impacts on national identity and preferences for political centralization. ( Blanc and Kubo ) #RD

“Providing a free lunch to all students leads to improvements in academic achievement on average” in South Korea. ( Kim ) #DID

Automated, “interactive phone calls intended to encourage parents of first-graders in Kenya to read at home with their children” increased oral reading fluency by between 1.5-2 words per minute over 5 weeks. ( Esposito and Sautmann ) #RCT

Children in rural India attended school less when their families faced greater risk to their incomes, but the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) may offset those impacts. ( Foster and Gehrke ) #FE

The introduction of mobile broadband internet had no impact on children's test scores in Brazil. ( Bessone, Dahis, and Ho )

Individuals growing up in parts of the United States with more robots “are more likely to have a Bachelor’s degree and tend to major in subjects where the prevalence of routine-related occupations is lower.” ( Carrillo and Iglesias ) #DID

A one standard deviation (SD) increase in temperature during exams in Brazil decreases the average exam score by 0.036 SD. The higher the stakes, the smaller the effects because exam takers exert more effort. ( Melo and Suzuki ) #FE

Public schools in Chile appoint more effective principals after increasing competitiveness and transparency of their selection process. ( Muñoz and Prem ) #DID

A bicycle can transform a girl’s life: in Zambia, bicycle provision reduced average commuting time to school by 35 percent, late arrival by 66 percent, and decreased absenteeism by 27 percent. It also had positive effects on grade transition, math test scores, girls’ self-reported feelings of control over their lives and, “for those who received bicycles with a small cost to her family, higher levels of aspirations, self-image, and a desire to delay marriage and pregnancy.” ( Fiala et al. ) #RCT

In Somalia, female role models impact boys’ and girls’ attitudes on gender equality but not students’ aspirations to attend colleges. ( Kipchumba et al. ) #RCT

An experiment in boarding schools in Peru showed that similarity increases the likelihood of friendships and proximity fosters more diverse friendships. ( Gitmez and Zárate ) #FE

COVID-19 lockdowns in Bangladesh led to more chores for girls, and job loss among parents increased the likelihood of "marriage-related discussions" for daughters. ( Makino, Shonchoy, and Wahhaj )

The Ugandan COVID-19 "lockdown, one of Africa’s strictest, impacted female workers more severely than male workers by disproportionately reducing their employment rate, shifting them to economic sectors in which they are less productive, and widening the gender pay gap." ( Alfonsi, Namubiru, and Spaziani )

On a COVID-19 mutual aid platform in Indonesia, donors are more likely to give a donation when given a smaller choice set of potential beneficiaries, and they prefer to donate to self-reported breadwinners and females. ( Hilmy, Lim, and Riyanto ) #FE

Phone calls and SMS messages to parents, encouraging them to support their children while schools were closed for COVID, increased learning in Botswana. ( Angrist, Bergman, and Matsheng ) #RCT

“A sizeable one-time-only emergency cash transfer ($526 PPP) targeted at self-employed, sub-employed, and informal sector workers [in Mexico] during the COVID-19 pandemic” increased mental health and food security but did not increase individuals’ likelihood of staying home or otherwise supporting public health policies. ( Cañedo, Fabregas, and Gupta ) #RD

Rural pensions in China boosted child weight, "largely driven by grandfathers’ pension receipt on grandsons." ( Yang and Chen ) #FE

"Living in a household experiencing food insecurity is associated with lower levels of psychological well-being" in Lebanon. ( Alloush and Bloem ) #IV

A nutritional support program in Ethiopia boosted beneficiaries' emotional state and stability, although labor productivity remained unaffected. ( Park and Kim ) #LIF

Girls receiving the Child Support Grant in South Africa were less likely to be underweight and also less likely to be obese. ( Sen and Villa ) #RD

Inequality between households within the same community is an important driver of inequality in women and children’s nutritional status. Sanitation infrastructure and health facility quality in South Asia matter for nutritional outcomes—but wealthier women can travel to receive better care. ( Brown et al. ) #FE

Health (including mental health)

Among Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, providing counseling, psychological education, and play activities for children reduced depression, increased happiness, and boosted child development. ( Islam et al. ) #RCT

Exposure to arsenic-contaminated water is bad for children's health, but in India, it's especially bad for younger sisters, potentially because of pre-existing malnutrition. ( Aggarwal and Barua ) #IV

Pharmacotherapy for adults in India increases investment in their children's education. ( Angelucci and Bennett ) #RCT

Encouraging smokers in rural Bangladesh to record their tobacco expenditures led them to buy cheaper, smokeless tobacco. Showing graphic posters of the effects of tobacco reduced expenditure for more educated smokers. ( Fakir and Bharati ) #RCT

“Within a government health insurance program that entitles 46 million poor individuals to free hospital care in Rajasthan, India … females account for only 33% of hospital visits among children and 43% among the elderly…. In the presence of gender bias, increasing access to and subsidizing social services may increase levels of female utilization but fail to address gender inequalities without actions that specifically target females.” ( Dupas and Jain )

Among “maternity care workers in primary health clinics in Nigeria… both rewards and penalties increase time on task by 11 percent, overall performance by six-to-eight percent, and directly incentivized performance by twenty percent.” Performance on tasks without incentives also improved. ( Bauhoff and Kandpal ) #RCT

“The current vaccination completion rate is low in states [of India] where forced sterilization was high” in the 1970s. “Places more exposed to forced sterilization in 1976-77 have higher child mortality today.” ( Sur ) #IV

How do drug procurement processes affect price, delivery, and shipment time? Across 100+ countries, “pooling internationally is most effective for small buyers and more concentrated markets, and pooling within-country is most effective for large buyers and less concentrated markets.” ( Wang and Zahur ) #IV

Hand-hygiene ‘edutainment’ within popular dramas in Bangladesh improved handwashing and child health. ( Hussam et al. ) #RCT

Evidence from 140 countries show that “epidemic exposure in an individual’s “impressionable years” (ages 18 to 25) has a persistent negative effect on confidence in political institutions and leaders, and on the public health system.” ( Eichengreen, Saka, and Aksoy ) #FE

Fertility and family planning

Providing vouchers in rural India for women to seek subsidized family planning services, either just for themselves or for them and their friends, boosted use of modern contraceptive methods. ( Anukriti, Herrera-Almanza, and Karra ) #RCT

A comprehensive family planning package in urban Malawi ("counseling, free transport to a clinic, and financial reimbursement for family planning services" over two years) decreased stunting by about 7 percent. Cognitive development also rose. ( Maggio, Karra, and Canning ) #RCT

A family planning campaign in Burkina Faso increased contraceptive use by 5.9 percentage points and births fell by 10 percent. ( Glennerster, Murray, and Pouliquen ) #RCT

In Brazil, agricultural “technological change that eliminates female jobs also increases fertility.” ( Moorthy ) #DID

Can improved counseling increase willingness to pay for modern contraceptives? In Cameroon, discounts increased update by 50 percent while shared decision-making (i.e., better information tailored to individual needs) tripled the share of clients adopting a contraceptive at full price. ( Athey et al. ) #RCT

In Malawi, women who received targeted counseling were 15.6 percent less likely to use their stated ideal contraceptive method. With husbands present at the counselling session, women were 13.5 percent less likely to change their stated ideal method. ( Karra and Zhang ) #RCT

Households and marriage

"Participation in Oportunidades [in Mexico] increased mothers’ bargaining power by almost 24%, associated with a 20% increase in their individual welfare." ( Flores ) #DID

An increase in community violence in Mexico led to a decrease in women's decision-making power. ( Hernandez-de-Benito )

In Ethiopia, a legal reform that provides for more equal division of property between wives and husbands in the case of divorce leads to higher consumption levels, particularly where non-land assets are divided more equally than land assets. ( Kieran ) #FE

Across 28 sub-Saharan African countries over the last 30 years, "at any given time more than 10% of children ages 5-16, the majority of them girls, were living with no parent present." ( McGavock )

In India’s marriage market, women prefer men who have completed primary school, while men are not looking for highly educated women. ( Beauchamp, Calvi, and Fulford )

Mobility restrictions in colonial Mozambique led young men to marry earlier and to women of similar age. “Because smaller age disparities reduce HIV risk”, “it is nearly 50 percent lower in those regions.” ( Denton-Schneider ) #RD

In sub-Saharan Africa, the effect of droughts on child marriage is weaker where polygyny is more commonly practiced. ( Tapsoba ) #FE

In China, early marriage reduces women’s progressive gender role attitudes. ( Wu ) #IV

Does it matter whether we discover information by ourselves or hear it from our spouse? For women in India, it’s the same. Men’s beliefs respond less than half as much to information that was discovered by their wife. Husbands put less weight on their wife’s signals even when it is “perfectly shared with them.” ( Conlon et al. ) #FE

After Cambodia’s World Trade Organization (WTO) accession, men in districts facing larger tariff reductions experienced a significant decline in paid employment, whereas women increased their entry into the labor force. This increased intimate partner violence, without changes in marriage, fertility, psychological distress, or household consumption. ( Erten and Keskin ) #FE

In India, mineral deposits—when it comes with sharing of mining royalties with local groups to support investment in vulnerable populations—improve women’s outcomes: “there is reduced acceptance of physical violence and women report fewer barriers to accessing healthcare.”( Guimbeau et al. ) #IV

A female empowerment program—with psychosocial therapy and vocational skills training—in Monrovia, Liberia, reduced the share of women who experienced emotional, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence. One channel: the business training was highly effective, increasing labor supply by 37 percent. ( Sungho Park and Kumar ) #RCT

Migration and refugees

Slavery-intensive districts opposed emancipation in 19 th century Brazil. There was “more support for emancipation where immigrants provided an alternative source of labor” and “where enslaved persons could more easily escape.” ( Seyler and Silve ) #IV

A one SD decrease in soil moisture leads to a 2 percentage point drop in the probability of international migration from West Africa to Europe, equivalent to a 25 percent decrease in the number of international migrants. ( Martínez Flores, Milusheva, and Reichert ) #FE

Adolescents in the households of return migrants in Mexico have a higher probability to attend school, and a lower probability to work or to work and attend school at the same time. ( Chakraborty ) #IV

In the US, “unemployment among low-skilled natives and local welfare expenditure per capita increase in the short-run with low-skilled immigration, but those effects fade through time, while voting is shifted towards republicans in the short run, but only partially attenuate.” ( Oliveira ) #IV

Regularization of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia (with the PEP visa) led to 18 percent and 24.5 percent higher consumption and income per capita compared to other migrants. They also have access to safety nets and financial services, better labor conditions, less food insecurity and better integration in the Colombian society. ( Ibáñez et al. ) #RD

In the Tigray region of Ethiopia, interaction with a migrant significantly improves attitudes towards them. ( Bezabih et al. ) #RCT

Working and saving

Banking and credit.

"Substantial credit creation and destruction exist at all phases of the business cycle" in India. "The annual average of gross and excess credit reallocation in India is even higher than the prior work on the U.S." ( Saini )

In Brazil, privatized branches reduce their lending supply alongside branch closure that adversely impacts bank access, especially in less developed locations. ( Mariani ) #FE

Increasing access to digital loans in Nigeria improves subjective well-being but does not significantly impact other measures of welfare. ( Björkegren et al. ) #RCT

In the 2000s in India, “banks with stronger deposit franchises significantly increased exposure to sectors characterized by long-term advances and rigid rates, whereas banks with weaker franchise increased exposure to sectors with flexible interest rates. Subsequently, banks with lower sensitivity to market interest rates have higher nonperforming loans.” ( Kulkarni and Singh ) #DID

In the absence of the 1997 financial crisis, “there would have been 20 percent more [bank] branches and 9.3 percent more markets [in Thailand] with at least one branch after ten years.” Access to loans would have increased by 13.7 percentage points ( Rysman, Townsend, and Walsh ) #FE

Rural banks in Indian villages decrease informal borrowing and increase formal loans, insurance, and savings products. This reduces poverty rates and stress, and increases non-agriculture self-employment, business income, and wage income. ( Barboni, Field, and Pande )

Access to microcredit in rural China reduced informal borrowing and raised the value of autarky (i.e., economic self-reliance). “Program members relied less on informal financial networks for insuring against shocks when they anticipated having access to credit from the village banks.” ( Cai ) #RCT

Performance-contingent contracts in Kenya have positive impacts on micro-distributor profits. ( Cordaro et al. ) #RCT

After a five-hour financial literacy program in rural Uganda, small business owners were more likely to have savings in their mobile money account or formal savings, and smaller outstanding loans. ( Hamdan et al. ) #RCT

Cash transfers

Unconditional cash transfers in Indonesia led recipients to be “2 to 3 percent less likely to be employed and, among those employed, 3 to 6 percent less likely to be in formal work following receipt of the transfer.” ( Pritadrajati ) #DID

Household exposure to Uganda’s social pension program improves child nutrition and increases educational investment in kin-based societies. There is no impact on children in societies organized by social groups based on age, where intergenerational ties are weak. ( Moscona and Seck ) #DID

The New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) in rural China “reduces labor supply, and the receipt of NRPS benefits lowers labor force participation by 9 percent.” ( Nikolov and Wang ) #RD

A cash transfer program in the Philippines reduced non-partner domestic violence (e.g., husband’s relatives), with no effect on intimate partner violence or violence outside home. Suggested mediating channels include stress reduction, increase in empowerment and bargaining power, and strengthening of social networks. ( Dervisevic, Perova, and Sahay ) #RD

Firms and microenterprises

“Spanish firms have lower productivity growth…than German firms…. financial frictions account for 11% of the aggregate productivity growth difference.” ( Sui ) #IV #FE

“Aggregate reallocation is procyclical,” which is “puzzling given the documented fact that the benefits to reallocation are countercyclical.” But “this procyclicality is entirely driven by reallocation of bundled capital.” ( Yang )

Fast-food chains in the US may intentionally target areas with higher obesity rates: "every 1% increase in obesity rate results in 3.8-4.3 additional branch openings." ( Chopra ) #PSM

Using data from India’s largest job website, growing demand for machine learning skills—a proxy for the adoption of artificial intelligence—"has a direct negative impact on the total number of vacancies posted by” firms. It also reduces wages for most jobs. ( Copestake, Pople, and Stapleton ) #FE

A three-week mini-masters of business administration (MBA) program for Ugandan high school students had positive impacts on earnings and business profits 3.5 years later, regardless of whether the training focused on hard skills or soft skills. ( Chioda et al. ) #RCT

In China, “individuals with higher college entrance exam scores … are less likely to create firms; however, when they do, their firms are more successful than those of their lower-score counterparts.” ( Bai et al. ) #FE

The improvement of the quality of legal courts in India has a disproportionately large impact on investment decisions of individuals from disadvantaged castes. ( Chakraborty et al. ) #FE

The entry of chain stores (like 7-11 or Circle-K) into Mexican neighborhoods reduced the number of neighborhood shops, but mostly from fewer newer neighborhood shops opening than usual rather than a bunch going out of business. ( Talamas Marcos ) #IV

In India, managers of firms with the same group identity (family lineage, native language, place of origin, and caste) as the board earn higher compensation. ( Aswani )

Reliability matters for firm-level trading patterns. In Rwanda, ‘good firms’—exporters, multinational companies, large firms, and suppliers to exporters and other multinational companies—are considered more reliable. Reliability matters for the supply chain and supplying a multinational company increases overall seller reliability. ( Nigam and Tan ) #FE

In the Dominican Republic, 20 percent of workers who change firms move to a buyer or supplier of their original employer. Hiring firms experience strong sales and productivity growth. ( Cardoza et al. ) #FE

In China, “historical family culture, as measured by genealogy density, is positively correlated with the share of family firms in counties.” ( Xie and Yuan ) #IV

While rural communities in India can solve internal collective action problems to improve production quality, they are not free from internal market frictions. ( Rao and Shenoy ) #DID

In Mozambique, while female telephone sales representatives working with M-Pesa, a leading mobile money provider in Sub-Saharan Africa, registered fewer clients with new SIM cards, they were more likely to convert these new mobile phone clients to M-Pesa, resulting in similar overall enrollments of new M-Pesa clients. ( Karra et al. ) #RCT

Contracts between the largest oil companies and petro-rich economies with weak institutions go through more changes later in the process (i.e., are backloaded) relative to countries with strong institutions. ( Paltseva, Toews, and Troya-Martinez ) #FE

Labor (including child labor)

A six-month wage incentive for secondary school graduates in Mexico gets youth into the labor market sooner then they'd enter otherwise (without pulling them away from education). ( Abel et al. ) #RCT

A new model to simulate the “the potential impacts of automation” finds big inequality impacts: Automation “raises 2050 wages of high-skilled American workers by 28.8 percent and lowers 2050 wages of low-skilled American workers by 22.8.” ( Benzell et al. )

Do “rickshaw-pullers from Bangladesh exert more effort in their work when they have more family dependents to support?” Yes. ( Aziz )

Most firms in Ethiopia use social networks to find new employees. Subsidizing the formalization of their search (through online and physical posting of job ads) had no effect on the total vacancies that firms created, but it did lead to more “white collar, professional positions.” ( Hensel, Tekleselassie, and Witte ) #RCT

“Offering part-time employment opportunities” in Ethiopia, compared to full-time employment, “attracts less able applicants, who exhibit lower productivity as measured by data entry speed and accuracy during an internship.” ( Kim, Kim, and Zhu ) #RCT

A women’s self-help group lending program in rural Bihar, India, reduced participation in agricultural wage labor for women from disadvantaged caste groups, while those from privileged caste groups increased their participation in self-employment. ( Surendra ) #DID

Uber is used by drivers to buffer against adverse weather shocks: a one SD increase in the intensity of an agricultural shock in Uganda increases time online by 5.1 hours in the month of the adverse weather event (a 6 percent increase over average hours). ( Michuda ) #FE

In India, a mother-in-law’s death reduces her daughter-in-law’s labor force participation by 10 percent. ( Khanna and Pandey ) #FE

In India, “job ads with a high female association use words in the job text that reflect gender stereotypes in job attributes, offer lower wages, and attract a high share of female applications.” ( Chaturvedi, Mahajan, Siddique ) #FE

After a commodity price boom in Brazil, labor was reallocated away from agriculture towards the manufacturing sector in locations more exposed to the commodities boom. ( Laskievic ) #IV

Poverty Measurement

Limitations of big data: Call Detail Records in Haiti fail as an alternative basis for either targeting or evaluation. Predicted outcomes are too noisy to differentiate between targeted cash transfer beneficiaries or to detect changes in food security. ( Barriga Cabanillas et al. ) #RD

Despite large post-disaster reconstruction programs after the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, the economic status of those living in heavily damaged areas did not keep up. This is partly driven by much higher inflation rates in those areas. ( Lawton et al. ) #FE

In Mexico, “combining survey and sub-area level satellite data using household-level empirical best models, while not always preferable to older census-based poverty estimates, significantly improves the accuracy and precision of survey-based estimates of monetary poverty.” ( Newhouse et al. )

What information do community members have and use for social benefits targeting? In Purworejo, Central Java, community members use longer-term wealth information to predict dynamic welfare and to target social benefits. This may be useful in identifying long-term poverty but less so to identify short-term distress. ( Trachtman, Permana, and Sahadewo ) #LIF

Governments, institutions, and conflict

“A decrease by one percent of the US family planning aid induces a decrease by 0.101 percent from the other donors on average.” ( Ferrière ) #IV

Local labor unrest in China increases allocation of Chinese foreign aid projects to large state-owned firms in the area, and employment by these firms increases. Overall, Chinese aid has positive effects on GDP, capital formation, consumption, and employment in the aid receiving country. ( Mueller ) #FE

In areas with high malaria exposure, there are fewer Chinese aid projects and Chinese workers. ( Cervellati et al. ) #DID

Conflict and crime

In Brazil, “municipalities more exposed to illegal mining experienced extra 8 homicides per 100,000 people” (an increase of about 20 percent) after government capacity to monitor gold laundering was reduced. ( Pereira and Pucci ) #DID

Districts in Peru affected by the Mining Mita (a colonial labor-coercion institution) experience more social unrest and violent conflict today. ( Huaroto and Gallego ) #RD

In Africa, droughts in the territory of seasonally migrant populations that herd livestock lead to conflict in neighboring areas, especially in agricultural areas and during the wet season. “Effects are muted in the presence of irrigation aid projects, but not in the presence of other forms of foreign aid.” ( McGuirk and Nunn ) #FE

Post-war sex ratios (with fewer men) in Paraguay are “associated with higher out-of-wedlock births, more female-headed households, better female educational outcomes, higher female labor force participation, and more gender-equal gender norms.” ( Alix-Garcia et al. ) #FE

Reparations for survivors of human rights violations in Colombia improve their lives with positive gains in wage earnings, health, and consumption. Survivors also “invest in their children’s human capital, improving college attendance and test scores.” ( Guarin Galeano )

“Do agricultural producers forgo otherwise profitable investments due to civil conflict?” In Colombia, the answer is yes. Credit disbursement increases after a peace agreement due to changes in returns to investment. ( de Roux and Martínez ) #DID

A 2016 non-aggression pact between gangs in El Salvador led to a large reduction in violence, but increased extortion rates by 15 percent to 20 percent. Much of the increase was passed on to retailers and consumers with observed increases in prices for pharmaceutical drugs and hospital visits for chronic illnesses. ( Brown et al. ) #DID

Buildings constructed when the county officials had connections to their superiors at the prefecture level (in terms of having the same hometown) were 83 percent more likely to collapse during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake relative to the no-connection benchmark. ( Cao ) #DID

In Indonesia, performance appraisals of teachers reduce generosity (as proxied by willingness to make a donation to their own school) at the workplace and increase dishonest behavior, especially when appraisals are linked to financial sanctions. ( Ibanez et al. ) #FE

“Campaign contributions buy forbearance from enforcement of environmental regulations.” Deforestation in Colombia is significantly higher in municipalities that elect donor-funded as opposed to self-funded politicians. ( Harding et al. ) #RD

In Pakistan and India, public officials use personal funds to complement official funding for public services, and part of these funds come from bribes. ( Aman-Rana, Minaudier, and Sukhtankar )

In Brazil, audits increase the number of public employee hires, especially among municipalities in which audits uncovered higher corruption. Mayors hire additional employees as a form of patronage to compensate for audit-related electoral support loss. Additional hires do not positively affect public good and services provision. ( Gonzales ) #DID

In Mexico, partisan alignment between the municipal and federal government increased allocation of an infrastructure program, and increased misuse of federal funds only in municipalities receiving the program. ( Garfias, Lopez-Videla, and Sandholtz ) #RD

In West Bengal, India, “areas controlled by the state’s ruling party receive systematically higher welfare allocations, both in election and non-election years, and yield more votes for the ruling party in the next national election.” ( Shenoy and Zimmermann ) #RD

In India, “the state government channels disproportionate funds to politically-aligned jurisdictions in water-stressed areas and consequently gains votes in subsequent elections.” ( Mahadevan and Shenoy ) #RD

Joining a WhatsApp group organized by political parties in Tamil Nadu, India, increases political knowledge and affects political preferences towards the party affiliated by the WhatsApp group. Effects are stronger when horizontal communication between group members is enabled. ( Carney ) #RCT

During 2018 election in Russia, “video monitoring reduces reported voter turnout by 5.2 percent and votes for the incumbent (autocrat) by 8.3 percent, suggesting a decrease in fraud.” ( Faikina ) #RD

Candidates during 2012 and 2016 Brazilian municipal elections with an electoral advantage (i.e., frontrunners) are substantially more likely to receive a campaign attack than candidates with lower electoral ranking. ( Nakaguma and Souza ) #RD

Providing information about criminal cases and charges of legislative candidates in India increases votes for candidates with no criminal charges and reduces votes for candidates charged for crimes. ( George, Gupta, and Neggers ) #FE

In India, term-limited village presidents provide relatively fewer public goods to heavily populated streets (with many potential votes), and instead allocate more public goods to the streets of the landed elite. ( Brown, Genicot, and Kochhar ) #FE

In the DRC, high-ability tax collectors exert greater effort when matched with other high-ability collectors. Implementing the optimal assignment in terms of ability of tax collectors with (i) teams, and (ii) neighborhoods, would increase tax compliance by 37 percent relative to the status quo (random) assignment. But: governments would have to replace 62 percent of low-ability tax collectors or increase performance wages by 69 percent. ( Bergeron et al. ) #FE

After India switched from sales tax to a value-added tax, gross sales increase by 45 percent. ( Agrawal and Zimmermann ) #DID #FE

Water and sanitation

Incentives for caretakers to maintain community toilets in Indian slums led to improved quality of the facilities and more people paying the contributory fee, but also demanding even better operation and maintenance. ( Armand, Augsburg, and Bancalari ) #RCT

Building a bunch of latrines in India actually made the quality of river water worse, but only in states with less sewage treatment plant capacity. ( Motohashi ) #DID

A mixed team of Hindu and Muslim workers in India is less productive in high-dependency tasks, but this effect vanishes in four months. In low-dependency tasks, diversity does not affect productivity. Mixing improves out-group attitudes for Hindu workers in high-dependency tasks. ( Ghosh ) #FE

One SD increase in RecordTV, a church-affiliated TV channel in Brazil, signal strength leads to an increase of 0.9 percentage points in the share of Pentecostals. This religious adherence leads to higher fertility rates, lower female labor force participation, lower homicide rates, and more votes for Pentecostal candidates. ( Buccione and Mello ) #FE

A zoning reform in urban Brazil that increased the amount of construction allowed led to a 1.4 percent increase in housing stock and a reduction in housing prices. "College educated and higher income households gain the most from the reform." ( Anagol, Ferreira, and Rexer ) #RD

“Fuel standards and gasoline content regulations are widely adopted by policymakers to reduce urban pollution and emission.” Are consumers willing to pay for it? In China, consumers will pay 3.9 percent of the gas price for higher standards. Premium gas consumers will pay more. ( Wang, Zhou, and Zhang ) #DID #RD

Entry deregulations reforms in Guangdong, China, increased firm entry by 25 percent and firm exit by 8.7 percent. Productivity of post-reform entrants is higher likely due to easing of financial constraints and more intense market competition. ( Barwick et al. ) #DID

Reducing cost of formalizing a firm in Brazil increased the number of active formal firms by 60 percent and formal firm registration in eligible industries by 161 percent. Overall formality rate of micro entrepreneurs increased from 17 percent to 32 percent. ( De Farias and Rocha ) #FE

Agriculture and the environment

Agriculture and land.

Farmers in Malawi contribute more to a soil test of someone else's land if they perceive the land to be similar to their own. ( Berazneva et al. ) #RCT

Some measures of wheat quality are easily observed; others aren't. In Ethiopia, large markets only reward easily observed quality, but markets that have grain millers or farmer cooperatives on site reward hard-to-observe quality measures. ( Do Nascimento Miguel )

In Tanzania and Mozambique, drought-tolerant maize seeds combined with insurance mitigated the impact of midseason drought. Farmers learned from this experience and increased future investments. ( Boucher et al. ) #RCT

“The poorest districts in Africa are more likely to have better (not worse) soil quality and … land fertility is higher in districts with worse roads…. Transportation costs are the main drivers of poverty in Africa… Isolation might turn soil quality into a curse.” ( Wantchekon et al. ) #IV

"Increased access to irrigation" in India "significantly boosts agricultural land production." ( Boudot-Reddy and Butler ) #RD

Including women in agricultural extension training for growing rubber in Côte d'Ivoire dramatically boosted investment in new crops and made it possible to maintain previous productivity on older crops. ( Donald, Goldstein, and Rouanet ) #RCT

Fertilizer in Tanzania is rarely adulterated. An information campaign telling farmers that the fertilizer was high quality increased fertilizer use a lot. ( Michelson, Magomba, and Maertens ) #RCT

Cashew producers in Guinea Bissau who received text messages with up-to-date market news and advice earned 21 percent more than other farmers. ( Pereira et al. ) #RCT

Do cotton farmers in Pakistan “learn from cultivation experience about the pest resistance of their seeds”? Not so much. It turns out that “parsing out and processing information from cultivation experience alone” is difficult. ( Ahmad )

If you start the bidding at a higher level in auctions among "commercial agricultural producers in the US," final bids end up higher. (It's what behavioral economists call "anchoring.") ( Ferraro et al. ) #RCT

Inappropriateness of technology adapted as proxied by crop pests and pathogens mismatch reduces global agricultural productivity by 40 to 55 percent, and increases global disparities in the same by 10 to 15 percent ( Moscona and Sastry ) #FE

In US counties with historically heterogenous soil, community ties are weaker, implying that “social learning is an important determinant of social structure.” ( Raz ) #DID

In the long run, labor and capital being mobile, agricultural gains may not “generate structural change in the exact locations in which [agricultural gains] occur.” Agricultural productivity gains improve consumption and education, but there are no gains to nonfarm employment or consumption for landless households in India. ( Asher et al. ) #RD

In India: “1) rural land holding concentration is higher close to urban areas and decreases with distance from urban centers, 2) the increase in land concentration near urban areas is due to fewer medium sized farmers (i.e., more small and large farmers near urban areas), and 3) the distance to urban area-land holding concentration relationship depends positively on the size of the urban area.” ( Rao, Eberhard, and Bharadwaj ) #FE

In Ghana, increases in staple crop price variability led to forest loss because of increased cultivation of cocoa. ( Krah ) #FE

In Mexico and Indonesia, as average heat and precipitation rise, people's aversion to risk falls. But as variation in heat and precipitation rise, aversion to risk rises. (Higher risk aversion correlates with fewer risky behaviors like smoking or migrating.) ( Howden and Levin ) #FE

By 2080, “climate change is estimated to displace 12 percent” of the population of sub-Saharan Africa and “reduce real GDP by 4 percent.” ( Conte ) #FE

Projected increases in the frequency of droughts over the next 30 years in India “will induce landowning households to allocate 2 percent more labor to agriculture and induce landless households to reduce their agricultural labor. The net effect is a 1 percent to 2 percent reduction in agricultural labor.” ( Basu ) #FE

In China, appealing a firm’s violations of pollution standards through social media increased both regulatory oversight and firm compliance, which reduced subsequent violations by 40 percent and air and water pollution emissions by 13 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Appealing to the regulator through private channels only caused a marginal improvement in environmental outcomes. ( Buntaine et al. )

In Uganda, “higher ability managers do not avoid polluted areas, but better adapt to pollution by protecting their workers through both provision of equipment and flexibility in work schedules.” ( Bassi et al. ) #FE

Air pollution in Beijing reduces local traffic which in turn decreases restaurant revenue. ( Liu, Rahman, and Wang ) #IV

Macroeconomics

Growth and inequality.

In the early 2000s, basic internet availability led "to about two percentage points higher economic growth" in towns across sub-Saharan Africa. ( Goldbeck and Lindlacher ) #DID

The extinction of “megaherbivores” (i.e., really big plant-eating animals) brought on the Neolithic Revolution, when a society shifted from forging to agricultural. ( Kumagai ) #IV

“Towns that shortly after the conquest” of the former Kingdom of Granada by the Catholic monarchs “were granted to nobles are relatively poorer today.” ( Oto-Peralías ) #FE

In railroad towns in Brazil, a long historical time as a railroad endpoint predicts a large city size today. ( Barsanetti ) #FE #IV

In colonial Mexico, when the Spanish crown improved its ability to observe local economic production, the transition to direct rule increased in mining districts, leading to greater investments to improve fiscal legibility (“the ability of a central government to observe local economic conditions for the purposes of taxation, shapes political centralization”) over the long term. ( Garfias and Sellars ) #DID

Municipalities in Brazil that fail to receive the revenues they expected from a resource discovery “suffer significant declines in per capita investment and public goods spending after ten years. In contrast, municipalities where discoveries are realized enjoy significant growth in per capita revenues and spending.” ( Katovich ) #DID

Korea’s promotion of heavy and chemical industries in the 1970s led to significant growth among targeted industries/regions. However, their total factor productivity did not grow faster because of resource misallocation across plants. ( Kim, Lee, and Shin ) #DID

Differences between men and women in occupational and sectoral choices and in wages are largest in poor countries and converge over the development process. ( Chiplunkar and Kleineberg ) #FE

“The geographic prevalence of domesticable transport animals, but not of other domesticable animals, strongly predicts the emergence of early long-distance trade routes.” Much later, “at the onset of the industrial era, ethnic groups living in regions historically also home to domesticable transport animals were more involved in trade and had built more complex hierarchical structures.” ( Link ) #FE

“A 10 percent decline in inter-state border frictions in India leads to welfare gains ranging between 1 percent and 8 percent across districts.” ( Panigrahi ) #FE

Ratifying an international trademark agreement led to welfare gains in Africa (from Chinese exports). ( Kuroishi ) #DID

China’s accession to the WTO (and implementation of import tariff cuts) improved female labor market conditions relative to males. It changed assortative mating patterns, improved education, and reduced women’s number of children, especially among high-skilled women. ( Luo and Zou ) #FE

In Vietnam, “US tariff reductions led to a decrease in the likelihood of being self-employed or working in an informal business and increased employment in foreign owned firms.” ( Asghar and McCaig ) #FE

Economic sanctions in Iran led to an overall decline in manufacturing employment growth rate by 16.4 percentage points. Effects are driven by labor-intensive industries and those that depend on imported inputs. ( Moghaddasi Kelishomi and Nisticò )

Following China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, Chinese cities more exposed to trade liberalization sent more students to US universities. Educational exports dampened trends in regional inequality. “Recent trade wars could cost US universities about $1.6 bn in tuition revenue.” ( Khanna et al. ) #IV

After Brazil’s tariff reform in the 1990, “regions specialized in adult-specific industries had lower growth in schooling and higher increases in child labor, especially in paid works.” Results translated into persistent effects on human capital formation and a structural transformation in employment composition. ( Viaro and Nakaguma ) #FE

The order of authors on this blog was determined by a virtual coin flip . This blog post benefited from research assistance from Amina Mendez Acosta and editing by Jeremy Gaines . It also appears on the Development Impact blog .

CGD blog posts reflect the views of the authors, drawing on prior research and experience in their areas of expertise. CGD is a nonpartisan, independent organization and does not take institutional positions.

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From economic wealth to well-being: exploring the importance of happiness economy for sustainable development through systematic literature review

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• Shruti Agrawal   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1620-9429 1 , 5 ,
• Nidhi Sharma 1 , 5 ,
• Karambir Singh Dhayal   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0000-4330 2 &
• Luca Esposito   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5983-6898 3 , 4  

The pursuit of happiness has been an essential goal of individuals and countries throughout history. In the past few years, researchers and academicians have developed a huge interest in the notion of a ‘happiness economy’ that aims to prioritize subjective well-being and life satisfaction over traditional economic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Over the past few years, many countries have adopted a happiness and well-being-oriented framework to re-design the welfare policies and assess environmental, social, economic, and sustainable progress. Such a policy framework focuses on human and planetary well-being instead of material growth and income. The present study offers a comprehensive summary of the existing studies on the subject, exploring how a happiness economy framework can help achieve sustainable development. For this purpose, a systematic literature review (SLR) summarised 257 research publications from 1995 to 2023. The review yielded five major thematic clusters, namely- (i) Going beyond GDP: Transition towards happiness economy, (ii) Rethinking growth for sustainability and ecological regeneration, (iii) Beyond money and happiness policy, (iv) Health, human capital and wellbeing and (v) Policy push for happiness economy. Furthermore, the study proposes future research directions to help researchers and policymakers build a happiness economy framework.

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1 Introduction

Happiness is considered the ultimate goal of human beings (Ikeda, 2010 ; Lama, 2012 ). All economic, social, environmental and political human activities are aligned towards achieving this goal. This fundamental pursuit of human life introduces a new scope of research, namely the ‘happiness economy’ (Agrawal and Sharma 2023 ). The happiness economy is an emerging economic domain wherein many countries are working to envision and implement a happiness-oriented framework by expanding how they measure economic success, which includes wellbeing and sustainability (Cook and Davíðsdóttir 2021 ; Forgeard et al., 2011 ). The investigation of happiness, life-satisfaction and subjective well-being has witnessed increasing research interest across the disciplines- from psychology, philosophy, psychiatry, and cognitive neuroscience to sociology, economics and management (Diener 1984 ; Hallberg and Kullenberg, 2019 ).

In the post-Covid era, the world seeks an enormous transformation shift in the public system (Costanza 2020 ). However, public authorities need more time to realize such needs. To experience the ‘policy transformation’ within the coming few years, we require a paradigm shift that helps warm peoples’ hearts and minds. The new economic paradigm can penetrate the policy processes in advanced economies and every part of the world affected by the epidemic with the support of intellectuals, researchers, entrepreneurs and professionals.

OECD ( 2016 ) proposed a well-being economy framework to measure living conditions and people’s well-being. In 2020, developed countries like Finland, New Zealand, Iceland, Scotland and Wales have become members of the Wellbeing Economy Government (WEGo) (Abrar 2021 ). Since then, the network of government and international authorities across the globe has gained a quick momentum concerning an increasing tendency about a growing tendency to concentrate governmental decisions around human well-being rather than wealth and economic growth (Coscieme et al. 2019 ; Costanza et al. 2020 ).

In light of these circumstances, the purpose of this article is to describe the concept of a “happiness economy” or one that seeks to give everyone fair possibilities for growth, a sense of social inclusion, and stability that can support human resilience (Coyne and Boettke 2006 ). It provides a promising route towards improved social well-being and environmental health and is oriented towards serving individuals and communities (Skul’skaya & Shirokova, 2010 ). Moreover, the happiness economy paradigm is a transition from material production and consumption of commodities and services as the only means to economic development towards embracing a considerable variety of economic, social, environmental and subjective well-being dynamics that are considered fundamental contributors to human happiness (Atkinson et al., 2012 ; King et al., 2014 ; Agrawal and Sharma 2023 ). In following so, it reflects the ‘beyond growth’ approach that empathizes with the revised concept of growth, which is not centred around an increase in income or material production; instead it is grounded in the philosophy of achieving greater happiness for more people (Fioramonti et al. 2019a ).

Whereas the other critiques of economic growth emphasize contraction, frugality and deprivation, the happiness economy relies on a cumulative approach of humanity, hope and well-being, with a perceptive to build a ‘forward-looking’ narrative of ways for humans to live a happy and motivated life by inspiring the cumulative actions and encouraging policy-reforms in the measuring growth of an economy (Stucke 2013 ). Agrawal et al. ( 2023a , b ) explore the domain of happiness economics through a review of the various trends coupled with the future directions and highlight why it needs to be supported for a well-managed economic system and a happy society.

In this paper, we define a “happiness economy as an economy that aims to achieve the well-being of individuals in a nation, promoting human happiness, environmental up-gradation, and sustainability. Alternatively, as an economy where the wellbeing of people counts more than the goals of production and income”. Moreover, we have examined the existing body of research on the happiness economy and analyzed the emerging research themes related to rethinking the conventional approach to economic growth. We conclude by discussing how the happiness economy concept has been accepted so far and realizing its importance by triggering policy reforms at the societal level, by outlining potential future directions that might be included into the current national post-growth policies.

Various researchers and experts in the field of happiness economy support the idea that there is a lack of thorough studies related to the concept, definitions, and themes of the happiness economy model in the nations. This gap has motivated us to conduct a SLR in order to identify the evolution in the domain of happiness economy and to identify the emerging themes in this context. Therefore, this present study seeks to offer a holistic outline of the emerging research area of the happiness economy and helps to understand how the happiness economy can accelerate sustainable development. With the following research questions, this study seeks to give an all-encompassing review of this subject.

What is the annual publication trend in this domain and the most contributing authors, journals, countries etc?

Which themes and upcoming research areas are present in this field?

What directions will the happiness economics study field go in the future?

The SCOPUS database was used to achieve the above research objectives. We have selected 257 articles for examination by hand-selecting the pertinent keywords and going over each one. In the methods section, a thorough explanation of the procedures for gathering, reviewing, and selecting documents is provided.

The remainder of this paper is structured as follows; A thorough survey of the literature on the happiness economy is provided in Sect.  2 . The research approach employed in the study is presented in Sect.  3 . A thorough data analysis of the research findings is given in Sect.  4 . After discussing the results in Sect.  5 , Sect.  6 suggests areas for further research in this field. The study is summarised with a conclusion in Sect.  7 . Section  8 outlines the study’s limitation.

2 Literature review

The supporters of conventional economic growth proclaim that the material production of goods and services and consumption is vital to enhancing one’s living standards. The statement is true to some degree, mainly in countries of enormous deprivation. Some studies have found significantly less correlation between growth and happiness after fulfilling minimum threshold needs (Easterlin 1995 ; Kahneman and Krueger, 2006 ; Inglehart et al., 2008 ). These studies recommend that rather than concentrating solely on economic growth, governmental policy should give priority to non-economic aspects of human existence above a particular income level. According to some researchers, it is challenging to distinguish between the use and emissions of natural resources and economic growth (absolute decoupling) because of the interdependence between socioeconomic conditions and their biophysical basis (Wiedenhofer et al. 2020 ; Wang and Su, 2019 ; Wu et al., 2018 ). However, a shred of increasing evidence shows that it could be possible for humans to maintain a quality of life and a decent standard of living inside the ecological frontier of the environment, given that a contemporary perspective on the production and use of materials are adopted in conjunction with more fair wealth distribution (Millward-Hopkins et al. 2020 ; Bengtsson et al., 2018 ; Ni et al., 2022 ).

The scholarly discourse and institutional framework on the relationship between happiness and economic progress are synthesised in the happiness economy (Frey and Gallus 2012 ; Sohn, 2010 ; Clark et al., 2016 ; Easterlin, 2015 ; Su et al., 2022 ). From a happiness economy perspective, extreme materialism is unsustainable as it significantly impacts natural resources and hinders social coherence and individuals psychological and physical well-being (Fioramonti et al. 2022a ). Additionally, inequalities within countries have grown, while psychological suffering has increased, especially during accelerated growth (Vicente 2020 ; Galbraith, 2009 ). The modern world is witnessing anxiety, depression, wars, reduction of empathy, climate change, pandemics, loss of social bonds and other psychological disorders (Brahmi et al., 2022 ; Santini et al., 2015 ).

It has been scientifically proven that cordial human relations, care-based activity, voluntary activities and the living environment immensely impact a person’s health and societal well-being (Bowler et al. 2010 ; Keniger et al., 2013 ). Ecological economists demonstrated that free ecosystem services have enhanced human well-being (Fang et al. 2022 ). Social epidemiologists have long argued that an increase in inequalities has a negative influence on society while providing equality tends to improve significant objective ways of well-being, from healthier communities to happier communities, declining hate and crime and enhancing social cohesion, productivity, unity and mutual trust (Aiyar and Ebeke 2020 ; Ferriss, 2010 ).

From moving beyond materialistic growth, the happiness economy promotes, appreciates, and protects the environmental, societal, and human capital contributions that lead to cummalative well-being. In a happiness economy framework, a multidimensional approach is needed to evaluate the level of development based on the environmental parameters, health outcomes, as well as public trust, hope, value-creating education and social bonds (Agrawal and Sharma 2023 ; Bayani et al. 2023 ; Lavrov, 2010 ). Such factors have consistently been excluded from any traditional concept or assessment of economic growth. As a result, countries have promoted more industrial activities that deteriorate the authentic ways of human well-being and, hence, the foundations of economic progress.

An excess of production can create a detrimental effect on climate and people’s health, thereby creating a negative externality for society (Fioramonti et al. 2022b ). Moderation of output may be more efficient and desirable than hyper/over-production, as the former can reduce negative environmental externalities (e.g. waste, climate change) and create positive externalities (e.g. employment of the local resources and community) (Kim et al. 2019 ; Kinman and Jones, 2008 ). Moreover, people can also be productive in other contexts outside of the workplace, such as as volunteers, business owners, artists, friends, or members of the community (Fioramonti et al. 2022a ).

Various scholars and scientific research have established that the essential contributions to happiness in one’s life are made by natural surroundings, green and blue spaces, eco-friendly environment, healthy social relations, spirituality, good health, responsible consumption and value-creating education (Helliwell et al. 2021 ; Francart et al., 2018 ; Armstrong et al., 2016 ; Gilead, 2016 ; Giannetti et al., 2015 ). Unfortunately, existing conventional growth theories have ignored all these significant contributions. For example, GDP considers natural ecosystems as economically helpful only up until they are mined and their products are traded (Carrero et al. 2020 ). The non-market benefits they generate, such as natural fertilization, soil regeneration, climate regulation, clean air and maintenance of biodiversity, are entirely ignored (Boyd 2007 ; Hirschauer et al., 2014). The quality time people spend with their families and communities for leisure, educating future generations and making a healthy communal harmony is regarded meaningless, even in the event that they are important to enhance people’s well-being and, hence, to assist any dimension of economic engagement (Griep et al. 2015 ; Agrawal et al., 2020 ). Similarly, if an economy is focusing on people’s healthy lifestyle (for example, by providing comfortable working hours, improving work-life balance, emphasizing mental health, focusing on healthy food, reducing pollution, and promoting sustainable consumption), it is not considered in sync with the growth paradigm (Roy 2021 ; Scrieciu et al., 2013; Shrivastava and Zsolnai 2022 ; Lauzon et al., 2023 ).

Among the latest reviews, Bayani et al. ( 2023 ) highlight that the economics of happiness helps reduce the country’s financial crime by providing a livelihood that reduces financial delinquency. Chen ( 2023 ) highlights that smart city performance enhances urban happiness by adopting green spaces, reusing and recycling products, and controlling pollution. The study by (Agrawal and Sharma 2023 ) proposed a conceptual framework for a happiness economy to achieve sustainability by going beyond GDP. Similarly, Fioramonti et al. ( 2019b ) explored going beyond GDP for a transition towards a happy and well-being economy. The article by Laurent et al. ( 2022 ) has intensively reviewed the well-being indicators in Rome and proposed a conceptual framework for it.

Table  1 provides a thorough summary of the prior review studies about the happiness economy and its contribution to public policy and sustainable development.

3 Research methodology

In the current study, we have adopted an integrative review approach of SLR and bibliometric analysis of the academic literature to get a detailed knowledge of the study, which could also help propose future research avenues. The existing scientific production’s qualitative and quantitative context must be incorporated for a conclusive decision. The study by Meredith ( 1993 ) defines that SLR enables an “integrating several different works on the same topic, summarising the common elements, contrasting the differences, and extending the work in some fashion”. In the present study, the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses” (PRISMA) is applied to perform the SLR to follow systematic and transparent steps for the research methodology, as shown in Fig.  1 . The PRISMA technique includes the identification, screening, eligibility, and exclusion criteria parts of the review process.

Additionally, examples of the data abstraction and analysis processes are provided (Mengist et al. 2020 ; Moher et al., 2015 ). The four main phases of the PRISMA process are eligibility, identification, screening, and data abstraction and analysis. Because the PRISMA technique employs sequential steps to accomplish the study’s purpose, it benefits SLR research. Moreover, the bibliometric analysis helps summarise the existing literature’s bibliographic data and determine the emerging condition of the intellectual structure and developing tendencies in the specified research domain (Dervis 2019 ).

3.1 Identification

The step to conduct the PRISMA is the identification of the relevant keywords to initiate the search for material. Next, search strings for the digital library’s search services are created using the selected keywords. The basic search query is for digital library article titles, keywords, and abstracts. Next, a Boolean AND or OR operator is used to generate the search string (Boolean combinations of the operators may also be used).

There are different search databases to conduct the review studies, such as Scopus, Sage, Web of Science, IEEE, and Google Scholar. Among all the available search databases, we have used the Scopus database to identify the articles; since 84% of the material on Web of Science (WoS) overlaps with Scopus, very few authors have addressed the benefits of adopting Scopus over WoS (Mongeon and Paul-Hus 2016 ). Scopus is widely used by academicians and researchers for quantitative analysis (Donthu et al. 2021 ). It is the biggest database of scientific research and contains citations and abstracts from peer-reviewed publications consisting of journal research articles, books and conference articles (Farooque et al., 2019 ; Dhayal et al., 2022 ; Brahmi et al., 2022 ). The following search term was used: (TITLE-ABS-KEY (“happiness economy” OR “economics of happiness” OR “happiness in economy” OR “economy of happiness” OR “economy of wellbeing” OR “wellbeing economy” OR “wellbeing in economy” OR “beyond growth”). This process yields 380 artciles in the initial phase.

3.2 Screening

The second phase is completed by all identified articles from the Scopus database obtained from the search string in the identification phase. The publications are either included or excluded throughout the screening process based on the standards established by the authors and with the aid of particular databases. Exclusion and inclusion criteria are shown during the screening phase to identify pertinent articles for the systematic review procedure. The timeline of this study’s selected articles is from 1995 to 2023. The first article related to the research domain was published in 1995. The second criterion for the inclusion includes the types of documents. In the present research, the authors have regarded only peer-reviewed journals and review articles. Other types of articles, such as books, book chapters, conference articles, notes, and editorials, are excluded to maintain the quality of the review. The third inclusion and exclusion criterion is based on language. All the non-English language documents are excluded to avoid translation confusion; hence, only the English language articles are considered for the final review. After the screening process, 297 articles are obtained.

3.3 Eligibility

Articles are manually selected or excluded depending on specific criteria specified by the authors during the eligibility process. During the elimination process, the authors excluded the articles that did not fit into the scope of review after manual screening of the articles. Two hundred fifty-seven articles were selected after the eligibility procedure. These selected articles are carefully reviewed for the study by reviewing the titles, abstracts, and standards from earlier screening processes.

3.4 Data abstraction and analysis

Analysis and abstraction of data are part of the fourth step. Finally, 257 papers were taken into account for final review. After that, the studies are culled to identify pertinent themes and subthemes for the current investigation by thoroughly reviewing each article’s text. An integrative review is a form of study that combines mixed, qualitative, and quantitative research procedures. It is carried out as shown in Fig.  1 . R-studio Bibliometrix and VOSviewer version 1.6.18 were used to evaluate the final study dataset corpus of 257 articles. Since the Bibliometrix software package is a free-source tool programmed in the R language. It is proficient of conducting comprehensive scientific mapping. It also contains several graphical and statistical features with flexible and frequent updates (Agrawal et al. 2023a , b ).

Extraction of articles and selection process

This section provides an answer to the first research question, RQ1, by indicating the main information of corpus data, research publication trends, influential prolific authors, journals, countries and most used keywords, etc. (Refer to Tables  2 , 3 and 4 ) and (Refer to Figs.  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 and 6 ).

4.1 Bibliometric analysis

Table  2 shows the relevant information gathered from the publication-related details. It presents the cognitive knowledge of the research area, for instance, details about authors, annual average publication, average citations and collaboration index. By observing the rate of document publishing, the study illustrates how much has already been done and how much remains to be investigated.

The annual publication trend is shown in Fig.  2 . It is reflected that the first article related to happiness in an economy was released in the year 1995 when (Bowling 1995 ) published the article “What things are important in people’s lives? A survey of the public’s judgements to inform scales of health related quality of life” where the article discussed “quality of life” and “happiness” as an essential component of a healthy life. Oswald ( 1997 ) brought the concept of happiness and economics together and raised questions such as “Does money buy happiness?” or “Do you think your children’s lives will be better than your own?”. Eventually, the gross national product of the past year and the coming year’s exchange rate was no longer the concern; instead, happiness as the sublime moment became more accurate (Schyns 1998 ; Easterlin, 2001; Frey and Stutzer, 2005 ). Post-2013, we can see exponential growth in the publication trend, and the reason behind the growth is the report published by the “ Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi” Commission, which has identified limitations of GDP and questioned the metric of wealth, economic and societal progress. The affirmed questions have gained the attention of researchers and organizations, and thus, they have explored the alternatives to GDP. As a result, the “Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development” (OECD) have proposed a wellbeing framework. Some research work has significantly impacted that time, contributing to the immense growth in this research area (Sangha et al. 2015 ; Spruk and Kešeljević, 2015 ; Nunes et al., 2016 ).

Publication trend

Table  3 shows the top prolific journals concerning the topmost publications in the domain of happiness economy for the corpus of 257 articles, namely “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health”, “Ecological Economics”, “Ecological Indicators”, “Sustainability” and “Journal of Cleaner Production” with 5, 4, 4,4 and 4 articles respectively (Refer to Table  4 ). Moreover, the most influential journals with maximum citations are “Nature Human Behavior”, “Quality of Life Research”, “Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis”, “Journal of Cleaner Production” and “Ecological Economics”, with 219, 205, 186, 154 and 142 citations, respectively. “Journal of Cleaner Production” and “Ecological Economics” are highly prolific and the most influential journals in the happiness economy research domain.

Table  4 shows the most influential authors. Baños, R.M. and Botella, C. are the two most contributing authors with maximum publications. For the maximum number of citations, Zheng G. and Coscieme L. are the topmost authors for their research work. The nations were sorted according to the quantity of publications, and Fig.  3 showed where the top ten countries with the highest number of publications are listed originated. It can be seen from the figure that the United Stated has contributed the maximum publications, 66, followed by the United Kingdom with 41 articles, followed by Germany with 32 articles. It is worth noting that emerging nation such as India and China have also made significant contributions.

Top ten contributing countries

Figure  4 shows semantic network analysis in which the relationships between words in individual texts are performed. In the present study, we have identified word frequency distributions and the co-occurrences of the authors’ keywords in this study. We employed co-word analysis to find repeated keywords or terms in the title, abstract, or body of a text. In Fig.  5 , the circle’s colour represents a particular cluster, and the circle’s radius indicates how frequently the words occur. The size of a keyword’s node indicates how frequently that keyword appears. The arcs connecting the nodes represent their co-occurrence in the same publication. The greater the distance between two nodes, the more often the two terms co-occur. It can be seen that “happiness” is linked with “growth” and “life satisfaction”. The nodes of “green economy”, “ecological economics”, and “climate change” are in a separate cluster that shows they are emerging areas, and future studies can explore the relationship between happiness economy with these keywords.

Co-ocurrance of author’s keyword (Author’s compilation)

4.2 Thematic map analysis through R studio

The thematic analysis map, as shown in Fig.  5 , displays, beneath the author’s keywords, the visualisation of four distinct topic typologies produced via a biblioshiny interface. The thematic map shows nine themes/clusters under four quadrants segregated in “Callon’s centrality” and “density value”. The degree of interconnectedness between networks is determined by Callon’s centrality, while Callon’s density determines the internal strength of networks. (Chen et al. 2019 ). The rectangular boxes in Fig.  5 represent the subthemes under each topic or cluster that are either directly or indirectly connected to the major themes, based on the available research. In the upper-right quadrant, four themes have appeared, namely “circular economy”, “well-being economy”, “depression”, and “sustainable development”, they fall under the category of motor themes since they are extremely pertinent to the research field, highly repetitious, and well-developed. When compared to other issues with internal linkages but few exterior relations, “urban population” in the upper-left quadrant is seen as a niche concern since it is not as significant. This cluster may have affected the urban population’s happiness (Knickel et al. 2021 ). “Social innovation” is categorised as an emerging or declining subject with low centrality and density, meaning it is peripheral and undeveloped. It is positioned in the lower-left quadrant. Last but not least, the transversal and fundamental themes “happiness economy”, “subjective well-being”, and “climate change” in the lower-right quadrant are seen to be crucial to the happiness economy study field but are still in the early stages of development. As a result, future research must place greater emphasis on the quantitative and qualitative growth of the study area in light of the key themes that have been identified.

Thematic map analysis

4.3 Science mapping through cluster analysis

In the study, science mapping was conducted to examine the interrelationship between the research domains that could be intellectual (Aria and Cuccurullo 2017 ; Donthu et al. 2021 ). It includes various techniques, such as co-authorship analysis, co-occurrence analysis, bibliographic coupling, etc. We have used R-Studio for the study’s temporal analysis by cluster analysis. To answer RQ2, the authors have performed a qualitative examination of the emerging cluster themes through the science mapping of the existing research corpus of 257 articles by performing bibliographic coupling of documents. Bibliographic coupling analysis helps identify clusters reflecting the most recent research themes in the happiness economy field to illuminate the field’s current areas of interest.

The visual presentation of science mapping relied on VoSviewer version 1.6.18 (refer to Fig.  6 ). Five significant clusters emerged in this research domain (refer to Table  5 ). Going beyond GDP: Transition towards happiness economy, rethinking growth for sustainability and ecological regeneration, beyond money and happiness policy, health, human capital and wellbeing and Policy-Push for happiness economy. A thorough examination identified cluster analyzes has also assists us in identifying potential future research proposals. (Franceschet 2009 )

4.4 Cluster 1: Going beyond GDP: transition towards happiness economy

It depicts from the green colour circles and nodes, where seven research articles were identified with a common theme of beyond GDP that can be seen in Fig.  6 . Cook and Davíðsdóttir ( 2021 ) investigated the linkages between the alternative measure of the beyond growth approach such as a well-being economy prespective and the SDGs. They proposed a conceptual model of a well-being economy consisting of four capital assets interrelated with SDGs that promote well-being goals and domains. To extend the concept of going beyond GDP, various economic well-being indicators are being aligned with the different economic, environmental, and social dimensions to target the set goals of SDG. It is found that the “Genuine Progress Indicator” (GPI) is consider as the most extensive method that covers the fourteen targets among the seventeen’s SDG’s. Cook et al. ( 2022 ) consider SDGs to represent the classical, neoclassical and growth-based economy model and as an emerging paradigm for a well-being economy. The significance of GDP is more recognized within the goals of sustainable development.

GPI is considered an alternative indicator of economic well-being. On this basis, excess consumption of high-quality energy will expand macro-economic activity, which GDP measures. For such, a conceptual exploration of the study is conducted on how pursuing “Sustainable Energy Development” (SED) that can increase the GPI results. As the study’s outcome, according to the GPI, SED will have a significant advantage in implementing energy and environment policy and will also contribute to the advancement of social and economic well-being. Coscieme et al. ( 2020a ) explored the connection between the unconditional growth of GDP and SDG. The author considered that policy coherence for sustainable development should lessen the damaging effects of cyclic manufacturing on the ecosystem. Thus, the services considered free of charge in the GDP model should be valued as a component of society. Generally, such services include ecosystem services and a myriad of “economic” functions like rainfall and carbon sequestration. To work for SDG 8, defined by the “United Nations Sustainable Development Goals” (UNSDGs), a higher GDP growth rate would eventually make it more difficult to achieve environmental targets and lessen inequality. Various guidelines were proposed to select alternative variables for SDG-8 to enhance coherence among all the SDG and other policies for sustainability.

Fioramonti et al. ( 2019a ) state their focus is to go beyond GDP toward a well-being economy rather than material output with the help of convergence reforms in policies and economic shifts. To achieve the SDG through protecting the environment, promoting equality, equitable development and sharing economy. The authors have developed the Sustainable Well-Being Index (SWBI) to consolidate the “Beyond GDP” streams as a metric of well-being matched with the objectives to achieve SDG. The indicators of well-being for an economy have enough possibility to connect current transformations in the economic policies and the economy that, generally, GDP is unable to capture.

Fioramonti et al. ( 2022a ) investigate the critical features of the Wellbeing Economy (WE), including its various parameters like work, technology, and productivity. Posting a WE framework that works for mainstream post-growth policy at the national and international levels was the study’s primary goal. The authors have focused on building a society that promotes well-being that should be empowering, adaptable, and integrative. A well-being economic model should develop new tools and indicators to monitor all ecological and human well-being contributors. A multidimensional approach including critical components for a well-being economy was proposed that creates value to re-focus on economic, societal, personal, and natural aspects. Rubio-Mozos et al. ( 2019 ) conducted in-depth interviews with Fourth Sector business leaders, entrepreneurs, and academicians to investigate the function of small and medium-sized businesses and the pressing need to update the economic model using a new measure in line with UN2030. They have proposed a network from “limits to growth” to a “sustainable well-being economy”.

4.5 Cluster 2: Rethinking growth for sustainability and ecological regeneration

Figure  6 depicts it from blue circles and nodes, wherein four papers were identified. Knickel et al. ( 2021 ) proposed an analytical approach by collecting the data from 11 European areas to examine the existing conditions, difficulties, and anticipated routes forward. The goal of the study is to define the many ideas of a sustainable well-being economy and territorial development plans that adhere to the fundamental characteristics of a well-being economy. A transition from a conventional economic viewpoint to a broader view of sustainable well-being is centred on regional development plans and shifting rural-urban interactions.

Pillay ( 2020 ) investigates the new theories of de-growth, ecosocialism, well-being and happiness economy to break the barriers of traditional economic debates by investigating ways to commercialise and subjugate the state to a society in line with non-human nature. The significant indicator of Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an alternative working indicator of development; thus, the Chinese wall between Buddha and Marx has been built. They questioned the perspective of Buddha and Marx, whether they were harmonized or became a counter-hegemonic movement. In order to determine if the happiness principle is grounded in spiritual values and aligns with the counter-hegemonic ecosocialist movement, the author examined the ecosocialist perspective. Shrivastava and Zsolnai ( 2022 ) have investigated the theoretical and practical ramifications of creative organisations for well-being rooted in the drive for a well-being economy. Wellbeing and happiness-focused economic frameworks are emerging primarily in developed countries. This new policy framework also abolishes GDP-based economic growth and prioritizes individual well-being and ecological regeneration. To understand its application and interpretation, Van Niekerk ( 2019 ) develops a conceptual framework and theoretical analysis of inclusive economics. It contributes to developing a new paradigm for economic growth, both theoretically and practically.

4.6 Cluster 3: ‘Beyond money’ and happiness policy

It depicts pink circles and nodes, wherein five articles were identified, as shown in Fig.  6 . According to Diener and Seligman ( 2004a ) economic indicators are critical in the early phases of economic growth when meeting basic requirements is the primary focus. However, as society becomes wealthier, an individual’s well-being becomes less dependent on money and more on social interactions and job satisfaction. Individuals reporting high well-being outperform those reporting low well-being in terms of income and performance. A national well-being index is required to evaluate well-being variables and shape policies systematically. Diener and Seligman ( 2018 ) propounded the ‘Beyond Money’ concept in 2004. In response to the shortcomings of GDP and economic measures, other quality-of-life indicators, such as health and education, have been created. The national account of well-being has been proposed as a common path to provide societies with an overall quality of life metric. While measuring the subjective well-being of people, the authors reasoned a societal indicator of the quality of life. In this article, the authors have proposed an economy of well-being model by combining subjective and objective measures to convince policymakers and academicians to enact policies that enhance human welfare. The well-being economy includes quality of life indicators and life satisfaction, subjective well-being and happiness.

Frey and Stutzer ( 2000 ) perceived the microeconomic well-being variables in countries. In the study, survey data was used from 6000 individuals in Switzerland and showed that the individuals are happier in developed democracies and institutions (government federalization). They analyzed the reported subjective well-being data to determine the function of federal and democratic institutions on an individual’s satisfaction with life. The study found a negative relationship between income and unemployment. Three criteria have been employed in the study to determine happiness: demographic and psychological traits, macro- and microeconomic factors, and constitutional circumstances. Thus, a new pair of determinants reflects happiness’s effect on individuals’ income, unemployment, inflation and income growth.

Happiness policy, according to Frey and Gallus ( 2013b ), is an intrinsic aspect of the democratic process in which various opinions are collected and examined. “Happiness policy” is far more critical than continuing a goal such as increasing national income and instead considered an official policy goal. The article focuses on how politicians behave differently when they believe that achieving happiness is the primary objective of policy. Frey et al. ( 2014 ) explored the three critical areas of happiness, which are positive and negative shocks on happiness, choice of comparison and its extent to derive the theoretical propositions that can be investigated in future research. It discussed the areas where a more novel and comprehensive theoretical framework is needed: comparison, adaptation, and happiness policy. Wolfgramm et al. ( 2020 ) derived a value-driven transformation framework in Māori economics of wellbeing. It contributes to a multilevel and comprehensive review of Māori economics and well-being. The framework is adopted to advance the policies and implement economies of well-being.

4.7 Cluster 4: Health, human capital and wellbeing

It is depicted as a red colour circle and nodes in Fig.  6 , and only three papers on empirical investigations were found. Laurent et al. ( 2022 ) investigated the Health-Environment Nexus report published by the “Wellbeing Economy Alliance”. In place of increased production and consumption, they suggested a comprehensive framework for human health and the environment that includes six essential paths. The six key pathways are well-being energy, sustainable food, health care, education, social cooperation and health-environment nexus. The proposed variables yield the co-benefits for the climate, health and sustainable economy. Steer clear of the false perception of trade-offs, such as balancing the economy against the environment or the need to save lives. McKinnon and Kennedy ( 2021 ) focuses on community economics of well-being that benefits entrepreneurs and employees. They investigated the interactions of four social enterprises that work for their employees inside and within the broader community. Cylus et al. ( 2020 ) proposed the opportunities and challenges in adopting the model of happiness or well-being in an economy as an alternative measure of GDP. Orekhov et al. ( 2020 ) proposed the derivation of happiness from the World Happiness Index (WHI) data to estimate the regression model for developed countries.

4.8 Cluster 5: Policy-push for happiness economy

It is depicted as an orange circle and nodes in Fig.  6 , and only five papers on empirical and review investigations were found. Oehler-Șincai et al. ( 2023 ) proposed the conceptual and practical perspective of household-income-labour dynamics for policy formulation. It discusses the measurement of well-being as a representation of various policies focusing on health, productivity, and longevity. It focuses on the role of policy in building the subjective and objective dimensions of well-being, defines the correlation between well-being, employment policies, and governance, is inclined to the well-being performance of various countries, and underscores present risks that jeopardize well-being. Musa et al. ( 2018 ) have developed a “community happiness index” by incorporating the four aspects of sustainability—economic, social, environmental, and urban governance—as well as the other sustainability domains, such as human well-being and eco-environmental well-being. From then onwards, community happiness and sustainable urban development emerged. Chernyahivska et al. ( 2020 ) developed strategies to raise the standard of living for people in countries undergoing economic transition by using the quality of life index. The methods uncovered are enhancing employment opportunities and uplifting the international labour market in urban and rural areas, prioritizing human capital, eliminating gender inequality, focusing on improving the individual’s health, and enhancing social protection. Zheng et al. ( 2019 ) investigated the livelihood and well-being index of the population that makes liveable conditions and city construction in society based on people’s happiness index. The structure of a liveable city should be emphasised on sustainable development. The growth strategy in urban areas is an essential aspect of building a liveable city. Frey and Gallus ( 2013a ) criticised the National Happiness Index as a policy goal in a country because it cannot be measured and thus fails to measure the true happiness of people. To measure real happiness, the government should establish living conditions that enable individuals to become happy. The rule of law and human rights must support the process.

The structure of a liveable city should be emphasized in sustainable development. The growth strategy in urban areas is an essential aspect of building a liveable city. Frey and Gallus ( 2013a ) criticized the National Happiness Index as a policy goal in a country because it cannot be measured and thus fails to identify the true individuals happiness. To measure real happiness, the government should establish living conditions that enable individuals to be happy. The process needs to be supported by human rights and the rule of law.

Visualization of cluster analysis

5 Discussion of findings

Concerns like the improved quality-of-life and a decent standard of living within the ecological frontier of the environment have various effects on individuals overall well-being and life satisfaction. The ‘beyond growth’ approach empathized with the revised concept of growth, which is based on the idea of maximising happiness for a larger number of people rather than being driven by a desire for financial wealth or production. In that aspect, the notion of happiness economy is designed that prioritizes serving both people and the environment over the other. This present article has focused on the beyond growth approach and towards a new economic paradigm by doing bibliometric and visual analysis on the dataset that was obtained from Scopus, helping to determine which nations, publications, and authors were most significant in this field of study.

In this field of study, developed nations have made significant contributions as compared to the developing nations. In total, 59 countries have made the substantial contribution to the beyond growth approach literature an some of them have proposed their respective national well-being economy framwework. Among 59 countries the United States and the United Kingdom have been crucial to the publishing. With the exception of five of the top 10 nations, Europe contributes the most to scientific research. The existing research shows the inclination of developed and developing countries to build a new economic paradigm that goes beyond growth by prioritizing the happiness level at individual as well as at collective level.

The most prolific journals in this research domain are the “International Journal of Environmental Research” and “Public Health” with the total publication of 5 and 4. The top two cited journals were the “ Nature Human Behavior” with 219 citations and the “Quality of Life Research” with 205 citations. Due to various economic and non-economic factors, these journals struggled to strike a balance between scientific accuracy and timeliness, and it became vital to spread accurate and logical knowledge. For, example, discussing the relationship between inequality and well-being, exploring the challenges and opportunites of happiness economy in different countries, assessing the role of health in all policies to support the transition to the well-being economy. Visualization of semantic network analysis of co-ocurrance of authors keywords from the VOSviewer showed the future research scope to explore the association between happiness economy along with green economy, climate change, spirituality and sustainability. However, in the thematic mapping, the motor themes denotes the themes that are well-developed and repetative in research, such as, well-being economy, depression, sustainable development and circular economy. The basic themes depicts the developing and transveral themes such as happiness economy, subjective well-being and climate condition. As a result, future research must place greater emphasis on the theoretical and practical expansion of the research field in view of the determined major subjects.

The present study have performed the cluster analysis to identify the emerging research themes in this domain through VOSviewer that helps to analyze the network of published documents. Based on published papers, the author can analyse the interconnected network structure with the use of cluster analysis. We have identified the top five clusters from the study. Each cluster denote the specific and defined theme of the research in this domain. In cluster 1, the majorly of the authors are working in the area of going beyond GDP and transition towards happiness economy, which consists of empirical and review studies. Cluster 2 represents that authors are exploring the relationship between rethinking growth for sustainability and ecological regeneration to evaluate the transition from a conventional economic thought to a broader view of sustainable well-being which is centred on regional development plans and shifting rural-urban interactions. In cluster 3, the authors are exploring the beyond money and happiness policy themes and identified the shortcomings of GDP and economic measures, other quality-of-life indicators, such as health and education. They have proposed the well-being index to evaluate the well-being variables and shape socio-economic policies systematically. The authors have proposed an economy of well-being model by combining subjective and objective measures to convince policymakers and academicians to enact policies that enhance human welfare. The well-being economy includes quality of life indicators and life satisfaction, subjective well-being and happiness. In cluster 4, the authors are working of related theme of Health, human capital and wellbeing, whereby they have put up a comprehensive framework for health and the environment that includes several important avenues for prioritising human and ecological well-being over increased production and consumption. In cluster 5, the authors have suggested the policy-push for happiness economy in which they have identified the conceptual and practical perspective of household-income-labour dynamics for policy formulation. Majorly of the authors in this clutster have focused on the role of policy in building the subjective and objective dimensions of well-being, defines the correlation between well-being, employment policies, and governance, is inclined to the well-being performance of various countries, and underscores present risks that jeopardize well-being. Hence, the present study will give academics, researchers, and policymakers a thorough understanding of the productivity, features, key factors, and research outcomes in this field of study.

6 Scope for future research avenues

The emergence of a happiness economy will transform society’s traditional welfare measure. Such changes will generate more reliable and practical means to measure the well-being or welfare of an economy. After a rigorous analysis of the existing literature, we have proposed the scope for future research in Table  6 .

7 Conclusion

In 2015, the United Nations proposed the pathbreaking and ambitious seventeen “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) for countries to steer their policies toward achieving them by 2030. In reality, economic growth remains central to the agenda for SDGs, demonstrating the absence of a ground-breaking and inspirational vision that might genuinely place people and their happiness at the core of a new paradigm for development. As this research has reflect, there are various evidence that the happiness economy strategy is well-suited to permeate policies geared towards sustainable development. In this context, ‘happiness’ may be a strong concept that ensures the post-2030 growth will resonate with the socioeconomic and environmental traits of everyone around the world while motivating public policies for happiness.

The current research has emphasized the many dynamics of the happiness economy by using a bibliometric analytic study of 257 articles. We have concluded that the happiness economy is an emerging area that includes different dimensions of happiness, such as ecological regeneration, circular economy, sustainability, sustainable well-being, economic well-being, subjective well-being, and well-being economy. In addition to taking into consideration the advantages and disadvantages of human participation in the market, a happiness-based economic system would offer new metrics to assess all contributions to human and planetary well-being. In terms of theoretical ramifications, we suggest that future scholars concentrate on fusing the welfare and happiness theory with economic policy. As countries are predisposed to generate disharmony and imbalance, maximizing societal well-being now entails expanding sustainable development. Since the happiness economy is still a relatively novel field, it offers numerous potential research opportunities.

8 Limitations

Similar to every other research, this one has significant restrictions as well. We are primarily concerned that all our data were extracted from the Scopus database. Furthermore, future research can utilize other software like BibExcel and Gephi to expound novel variables and linkages. Given the research limitations, this article still provides insightful and relevant direction to policymakers, scholars, and those intrigued by the idea of happiness and well-being in mainstream economics.

The study offers scope for future research in connecting the happiness economy framework with different SDGs. Future studies can also carry empirical research towards creating a universally acceptable ‘happiness economy index’ with human and planetary well-being at its core.

Data availability

Data not used in this article.

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Agrawal, S., Sharma, N., Dhayal, K.S. et al. From economic wealth to well-being: exploring the importance of happiness economy for sustainable development through systematic literature review. Qual Quant (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-024-01892-z

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Home » 500+ Economics Research Topics

500+ Economics Research Topics

Economics is a vast and fascinating field that explores how individuals, businesses, and governments make decisions about the allocation of resources. As such, it provides a wealth of research opportunities for those interested in understanding and analyzing the complexities of modern society. From macroeconomic issues such as globalization and monetary policy, to microeconomic topics such as consumer behavior and market competition, there are numerous research topics that economists can investigate. In this post, we will explore some of the most interesting and relevant economics research topics that are shaping our world today.

Economics Research Topics

Economics Research Topics are as follows:

• The impact of technological change on income inequality.
• An analysis of the relationship between exchange rates and foreign direct investment.
• The effects of tax incentives on small business growth and development.
• The determinants of economic growth in developing countries.
• The impact of globalization on economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the effects of the minimum wage on employment and poverty.
• The role of central banks in managing inflation and economic stability.
• An investigation into the factors influencing consumer behavior and spending.
• An analysis of the impact of trade liberalization on economic growth.
• The effects of income inequality on social welfare and economic stability.
• The role of international trade in economic development.
• An investigation into the relationship between education and economic growth.
• An analysis of the effects of corruption on economic growth and development.
• The impact of the gig economy on employment and wages.
• An investigation into the causes and consequences of financial crises.
• The role of innovation in economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the impact of government spending on economic growth.
• The effects of globalization on the environment.
• The impact of climate change on economic growth and development.
• An investigation into the determinants of poverty and inequality.
• The role of entrepreneurship in economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the effects of monetary policy on economic growth and stability.
• The impact of immigration on labor markets and economic growth.
• An investigation into the factors influencing international trade flows.
• An analysis of the effects of foreign aid on economic development.
• The role of financial intermediaries in economic development.
• An investigation into the causes and consequences of income inequality.
• The impact of trade agreements on economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the effects of government regulation on business and economic growth.
• The role of technology transfer in economic development.
• An investigation into the effects of economic sanctions on trade and economic growth.
• The impact of population growth on economic development.
• An analysis of the effects of infrastructure investment on economic growth.
• The role of natural resources in economic development.
• An investigation into the effects of labor market policies on economic growth and employment.
• The impact of financial innovation on economic growth and stability.
• An analysis of the effects of income tax policy on economic growth and income distribution.
• The role of social capital in economic development.
• An investigation into the impact of economic policies on international trade.
• The effects of financial liberalization on economic growth and stability.
• The impact of urbanization on economic development.
• An analysis of the effects of international migration on labor markets and economic growth.
• The role of institutions in economic development.
• An investigation into the effects of exchange rate volatility on international trade.
• The impact of demographic change on economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the effects of government debt on economic growth and stability.
• The role of foreign investment in economic development.
• An investigation into the effects of labor market flexibility on economic growth and employment.
• The impact of intellectual property rights on innovation and economic growth.
• An analysis of the effects of economic inequality on social mobility and economic growth.
• The impact of COVID-19 on the global economy.
• The role of financial markets in economic growth.
• The effectiveness of monetary policy in stabilizing the economy.
• The relationship between income inequality and economic growth.
• The impact of government regulations on business activity.
• The role of technology in shaping the future of the economy.
• The effect of globalization on the labor market.
• The impact of trade policy on economic growth.
• The relationship between education and economic growth.
• The effectiveness of fiscal policy in stimulating economic growth.
• The impact of immigration on the labor market.
• The effect of tax policy on economic growth.
• The role of entrepreneurship in economic development.
• The impact of environmental regulations on economic growth.
• The effect of international capital flows on the economy.
• The relationship between innovation and economic growth.
• The impact of demographic changes on the economy.
• The role of infrastructure investment in economic growth.
• The effect of monetary policy on income inequality.
• The impact of government debt on economic growth.
• The relationship between corruption and economic growth.
• The effect of globalization on income inequality.
• The impact of education on income inequality.
• The role of social welfare programs in reducing poverty.
• The effect of minimum wage laws on the labor market.
• The impact of health care policy on economic growth.
• The relationship between energy prices and economic growth.
• The effect of government subsidies on business activity.
• The impact of exchange rate fluctuations on trade.
• The role of financial innovation in economic development.
• The effect of social media on consumer behavior.
• The impact of consumer confidence on economic growth.
• The relationship between economic growth and political stability.
• The effect of demographic changes on income inequality.
• The impact of government spending on economic growth.
• The role of labor unions in the labor market.
• The effect of natural disasters on the economy.
• The relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability.
• The effect of corporate social responsibility on business activity.
• The impact of intellectual property rights on innovation.
• The effect of cultural differences on business activity.
• The impact of financial crises on the economy.
• The relationship between economic growth and health outcomes.
• The effect of government corruption on economic growth.
• The impact of demographic changes on the labor market.
• The effect of foreign aid on economic growth.
• The impact of technological change on the labor market.
• The effect of monetary policy on income distribution.
• The impact of trade agreements on economic growth
• The effect of corruption on economic development
• The relationship between financial development and economic growth
• The impact of foreign aid on economic growth in developing countries
• The role of innovation in promoting economic growth
• The impact of globalization on income inequality
• The relationship between inflation and economic growth
• The role of natural resources in economic development
• The impact of government expenditure on economic growth
• The relationship between income distribution and economic growth
• The impact of monetary policy on economic growth
• The role of education in promoting economic growth
• The impact of entrepreneurship on economic development
• The relationship between taxation and economic growth
• The impact of infrastructure on economic growth
• The role of international trade in economic development
• The impact of fiscal policy on economic growth
• The relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth
• The impact of economic integration on economic growth
• The role of institutions in promoting economic development
• The impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth
• The relationship between inequality and economic growth
• The impact of social welfare programs on economic growth
• The role of technology in promoting economic growth
• The impact of political instability on economic growth
• The relationship between corruption and economic growth
• The impact of labor market policies on economic growth
• The role of human capital in promoting economic development
• The impact of health care on economic growth
• The relationship between exchange rates and economic growth
• The impact of foreign trade on income distribution
• The role of entrepreneurship in economic development
• The impact of environmental policies on economic growth
• The relationship between foreign aid and poverty reduction
• The impact of financial sector reforms on economic growth
• The role of social capital in promoting economic development
• The impact of regional integration on economic growth
• The relationship between public investment and economic growth
• The impact of monetary policy on income distribution
• The role of international migration in economic development
• The impact of labor market flexibility on economic growth
• The relationship between trade and technology transfer
• The impact of institutional quality on economic growth
• The role of financial sector development in promoting economic growth
• The impact of regional inequality on economic growth
• The relationship between education and poverty reduction
• The impact of foreign debt on economic growth
• The role of social protection in promoting economic development
• The impact of energy policies on economic growth
• The relationship between foreign trade and environmental sustainability
• The impact of international trade on income inequality.
• The relationship between public debt and economic growth.
• The effect of tax policy on international capital flows.
• The impact of government subsidies on technological innovation.
• The role of financial development in reducing poverty.
• The effect of regulation on market structure.
• The impact of globalization on financial stability.
• The relationship between financial development and income inequality.
• The effect of fiscal policy on long-term economic growth.
• The impact of financial frictions on business cycles.
• The role of international capital flows in financial crises.
• The effect of natural resource abundance on economic growth.
• The impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth.
• The relationship between institutions and economic growth.
• The effect of financial innovation on market efficiency.
• The impact of international migration on the labor market.
• The role of corporate governance in firm performance.
• The effect of monetary policy on the housing market.
• The impact of environmental policy on the energy sector.
• The effect of competition policy on market outcomes.
• The impact of technology adoption on productivity.
• The effect of regulation on consumer welfare.
• The impact of trade policy on export performance.
• The relationship between social capital and economic growth.
• The effect of labor market institutions on the gender wage gap.
• The impact of financial liberalization on economic growth.
• The role of human capital in technological innovation.
• The effect of trade openness on innovation.
• The impact of natural disasters on economic growth.
• The relationship between inequality and economic growth.
• The effect of exchange rate volatility on international trade.
• The impact of banking regulation on financial stability.
• The role of venture capital in financing innovation.
• The effect of regional trade agreements on economic growth.
• The impact of financial development on economic growth in emerging markets.
• The relationship between government spending and economic growth.
• The effect of monetary policy on credit markets.
• The impact of innovation on firm performance.
• The role of social networks in job search and labor market outcomes.
• The effect of international capital flows on income inequality.
• The impact of natural resource dependence on political instability.
• The relationship between financial development and income mobility.
• The effect of tax competition on fiscal policy.
• The impact of labor market institutions on unemployment.
• The role of infrastructure investment in economic development.
• The effect of monetary policy on financial market volatility.
• The impact of fiscal policy on income redistribution.
• The role of digital currencies in the future of finance.
• The effects of the gig economy on labor markets.
• The impact of artificial intelligence on economic growth.
• The relationship between climate change and economic growth.
• The role of blockchain technology in supply chain management.
• The effects of automation on the labor market.
• The impact of E-commerce on traditional retail industries.
• The relationship between social media and consumer behavior.
• The role of data analytics in business decision-making.
• The effects of globalization on income inequality.
• The impact of digital platforms on the sharing economy.
• The relationship between education and economic growth in the digital age.
• The role of fintech in financial inclusion.
• The effects of trade policies on global supply chains.
• The impact of corporate social responsibility on business performance.
• The relationship between immigration and economic growth.
• The role of venture capital in stimulating innovation and economic growth.
• The effects of the circular economy on sustainable development.
• The impact of cybersecurity threats on the global economy.
• The relationship between gender inequality and economic growth.
• The role of green finance in promoting sustainable development.
• The effects of automation on income inequality.
• The impact of the sharing economy on traditional business models.
• The relationship between human capital and economic growth.
• The role of technology transfer in international trade.
• The effects of regulatory frameworks on innovation.
• The impact of government policies on the growth of start-up companies.
• The role of venture philanthropy in social entrepreneurship.
• The effects of digital disruption on the financial services industry.
• The impact of the circular economy on job creation.
• The relationship between health outcomes and economic growth.
• The role of impact investing in social and environmental sustainability.
• The effects of trade agreements on the global economy.
• The impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth.
• The relationship between innovation and income inequality.
• The role of corporate governance in sustainable business practices.
• The effects of immigration policies on labor market outcomes.
• The impact of international capital flows on economic development.
• The relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance.
• The role of innovation clusters in regional economic development.
• The effects of digitalization on productivity.
• The impact of the sharing economy on urban development.
• The relationship between social entrepreneurship and economic growth.
• The role of government policies in promoting sustainable development.
• The effects of demographic changes on the economy.
• The impact of digitalization on economic development in developing countries.
• The relationship between consumer behavior and sustainability.
• The role of private equity in stimulating economic growth.
• The impact of government spending on economic growth
• The effects of minimum wage laws on employment and poverty rates
• The role of government subsidies in promoting renewable energy adoption
• The impact of trade liberalization on economic growth and income inequality
• The effectiveness of monetary policy in managing inflation and unemployment
• The determinants of foreign direct investment flows in emerging markets
• The role of financial markets in economic development
• The impact of globalization on the labor market
• The effects of tax policies on economic growth and income distribution
• The role of human capital in economic growth and development
• The economics of climate change and the environment
• The effects of population aging on economic growth and social welfare
• The impact of social safety net programs on poverty reduction
• The effects of corruption on economic development and political stability
• The impact of technological innovation on labor market outcomes
• The economics of healthcare policy and healthcare markets
• The determinants of entrepreneurship and small business success
• The effects of income inequality on economic growth and social welfare
• The economics of urbanization and regional development
• The role of foreign aid in promoting economic development
• The impact of fiscal policy on economic growth and government debt
• The effects of financial regulation on economic stability and growth
• The economics of education policy and school choice
• The determinants of consumer behavior and market outcomes
• The role of multinational corporations in the global economy
• The effects of immigration on labor markets and economic growth
• The impact of monetary policy on financial markets and stability
• The economics of natural resource management and conservation
• The determinants of industrial competitiveness and productivity
• The effects of trade policies on economic growth and regional integration
• The role of institutional quality in economic development
• The impact of technological change on income inequality
• The economics of innovation and intellectual property rights
• The effects of financial globalization on emerging markets
• The role of infrastructure investment in promoting economic development
• The impact of exchange rate policies on international trade and investment
• The determinants of consumer credit and debt behavior
• The effects of social media and online platforms on market competition
• The role of international organizations in global economic governance
• The impact of natural disasters on economic development and poverty
• The economics of gender inequality and discrimination
• The effects of government regulation on business behavior and market outcomes
• The role of behavioral economics in understanding market behavior
• The impact of public investment on economic growth and social welfare
• The determinants of household saving and investment behavior
• The economics of renewable energy and clean technology adoption
• The effects of economic sanctions on international trade and investment
• The role of information and communication technologies in economic development
• The impact of globalization on income distribution and poverty
• The economics of international migration and remittances.
• The effects of income inequality on economic development
• An analysis of the efficiency of market structures in different industries
• The role of technology in economic growth and development
• The impact of international trade on economic development
• An investigation into the determinants of inflation
• The effects of labor market regulations on employment and productivity
• An analysis of the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability
• The role of institutions in economic development
• The impact of foreign aid on economic development
• The effects of taxation on economic growth
• An investigation into the factors that contribute to economic fluctuations
• The effects of globalization on income distribution
• The impact of education on economic growth and development
• The role of infrastructure in economic development
• The effects of trade liberalization on economic growth
• An analysis of the impact of exchange rates on trade and investment
• The relationship between innovation and economic growth
• The impact of government policies on the agricultural sector
• The effects of corruption on economic development
• An investigation into the effects of demographic changes on economic growth
• The impact of financial crisis on economic growth
• The effects of foreign direct investment on economic growth
• An analysis of the effects of natural resources on economic development
• The impact of healthcare on economic growth
• The effects of international migration on the economy
• The relationship between poverty and economic development
• The role of infrastructure in promoting economic growth
• An investigation into the effects of regional economic integration
• The impact of foreign trade on economic development
• The effects of government regulation on economic growth
• An analysis of the role of technology in improving economic efficiency
• The impact of population growth on economic development
• The effects of government spending on income inequality
• The role of the financial system in economic growth
• The impact of energy policies on economic development
• An investigation into the effects of intellectual property rights on economic growth
• The effects of trade on labor markets
• The role of social capital in economic development
• The effects of regional inequality on economic development
• An analysis of the impact of financial market development on economic growth
• The impact of international trade on technological progress
• The effects of financial regulation on economic growth
• The role of institutions in promoting entrepreneurship
• The impact of healthcare policies on economic growth
• An investigation into the effects of income redistribution on economic growth.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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What’s the Latest Research in Development Economics? A Round-up from NEUDC 2020

David evans, almedina music.

Last weekend was the North East Universities Development Consortium annual conference , hosted by Dartmouth University but held virtually. Researchers presented about 225 papers (about a 50 percent increase from last year’s conference ) on a wide range of development topics, from agriculture and credit to tax and transport. For those not able to attend or who want a refresher, we’ve prepared a brief takeaway from each paper (or in some cases, abstract) that we could find online.

Remember that research is much more than a tweet-sized takeaway (and these takeaways are ours, not necessarily the authors), so if you’re interested in a result, we encourage you to read the linked papers. For as many of the papers for which we could easily discern and characterize it, we included a methodological hashtag. A guide to those hashtags is at the end of the post . We’ve sorted the papers by topic below, but in case you’re interested in reading about all the research from a given country or region, you can also find the research sorted that way .

Before we dive into the content of the papers, here are a few statistics. About a quarter of the papers are from each of three regions: Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Only two percent of papers are from the Middle East or North Africa. In terms of country coverage, India—with 42 studies—had three times as many studies as the next most studied countries (Mexico and Brazil, with 13 studies and 11 studies), as you can see in the figure below. One in four papers (58 studies total) report on a randomized controlled trial, with lots of quasi-experimental methods in use as well: difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, fixed effects, and instrumental variables are each used by more than a dozen papers.

Figure: Distribution of papers from NEUDC 2020 by country

If we missed a paper or if you had a different takeaway from a paper, share your thoughts in the comments! Both of us had the papers we submitted rejected by the conference, so we summarize those at the bottom.

Households and human capital

Early childhood.

·        Climate change increases acidification of the ocean, which reduces available fish. For babies in utero, that means more deaths, especially for the weakest kids. ( Armand and Kim Taveras ) #FE

·        When one child is born smaller than another, do parents compensate for those differences with health and nutrition investments, or do they reinforce them? Evidence from Indonesia suggests that in early childhood, parents reinforce differences. Data from 50 countries suggest parents are more likely to “reinforce initial inequalities in poorer countries.” ( Banerjee and Majid ) #FE

·        A play-based preschool curriculum in Bangladesh together with monthly teacher-parent meetings to boost parenting skills led to improved child cognitive and socioemotional development. Even for kids who switched from existing preschools, their socioemotional skills improved. ( Rodriguez and Saltiel ) #RCT #ML

·        Home visits to educate parents about feeding in Peru decreased anemia among children who were anemic at baseline but apparently increased it among those who weren’t (and no, it’s not just mean reversion), potentially because some parents misinterpreted messages from the visitors. ( Barron, Castro, and Lavado ) #RCT

·        Helping secondary students in Zanzibar (Tanzania) to set goals for improvement on math tests led to better reported time use but not better test scores. These intermediate gains are largest for girls. ( Islam et al. ) #RCT

·        If you took the Indonesian secondary school entrance exam on a particularly hot day, it not only affects your math and science score, it also has “compounding negative effects on a wide range of long-term achievements such as adult educational attainment, labor market returns and entry to the marriage market.” ( Das ) #IV

·        During the Pinochet dictatorship, funding for universities in Chile fell. Decades later, children of parents affecting by the reduced university spaces were themselves less likely to enroll in college. ( Bautista et al. ) #RD (actually a Regression Kink Design )

·        With data on undergraduate students in India in the process of choosing a major, this paper finds that “women are willing to pay twice as much as men for course enjoyment and higher grades, even as they expect lower grades in science and economics.” ( Dasgupta and Sharma )

·        Does providing e-readers to students in Lagos, Nigeria, boost test scores? Only if the devices had materials from the curriculum and were filling a gap in textbooks. ( Habyarimana and Sabarwal ) #RCT

·        In Mexico, providing “information to parents about how to support their children’s learning” improved parent behavior at home and student behavior at school. In a separate experiment, providing “financial resources to parent associations” had no behavioral impact. Neither improved student test scores. ( Barrera-Osorio et al. ) #RCT

·        Two different interventions to make school principals in Salta (Argentina) more effective had no impact during the intervention, but in the two years after the intervention concluded, fewer students repeated grades. “Good things come to those who wait.” ( de Hoyos, Ganimian, and Holland ) #RCT

·        What happens when your local school closes in China due to a school consolidation program? Delayed enrollment, but no change in lifetime education attainment. Later in life, it may have led to later marriage and more off-farm work. ( Zhao ) #DID

·        In Pakistan, “both high value-added teachers and teachers who respond more strongly to

incentives significantly prefer performance pay and sort into” school where performance pay is on offer. ( Brown and Andrabi ) #RCT

·        A teacher professional development for secondary school teachers in Rwanda boosted use of active instruction but did not increase students’ “academic outcomes or skills.” ( Blimpo and Pugatch ) #RCT

·        Across 15 African countries, there is lots of variation in how much teachers are paid relative to other workers with comparable education and experience. However, on average across the countries, teachers are paid about the same per month and somewhat more per hour. ( Evans, Yuan, and Filmer ) You can read the authors’ blog post about the paper here.

·        Training teachers in targeted instruction in Ghana boosted student learning. Adding training for managers boosted the quality of management but didn’t further improve learning for students. ( Beg, Fitzpatrick, and Lucas ) #RCT

·        Winning a lottery increases the willingness to pay for remedial education services much more for those who aren’t able to borrow money than for those who are. “Credit constraints limit access to educational programs” in Tanzania. ( Burchardi et al. ) #RCT

·        School-based “internet access has a modest, positive short-run impact on school-average standardized test scores” in Peru, and the “effect grows over time.” ( Kho, Lakdawala, and Nakasone ) #ES

·        After three years, on-site, in-person coaching had much broader impacts than coaching delivered through a tablet in South Africa. ( Cilliers et al. ) #RCT [You can also read Dave’s blog post on this paper.]

·        “A multi-faceted program that integrates technology into education, provides ongoing teacher training and professional development, includes community ownership, and offers free primary education” boosts reading and math scores in rural Zambia. ( de Hoop et al. ) #RCT

·        Providing computers and computer-assisted learning software to primary schools in Angola led to falls in teacher absenteeism and rises in student and teacher technological familiarity; but student learning didn’t rise. ( Cardim, Molina-Millán, and Vicente ) #RCT

·        Do stereotypical beliefs of teachers affect learning outcomes of girls in India? “A standard deviation increase in biased attitude of the math teacher widens the female disadvantage in math performance by 0.07 SD over an academic year.” (Rakshit and Sahoo)

·        In China, “high-ability students have detrimental effects on their high-ability roommates’ performance.” This is likely driven by competition lowering help and interaction among roommates. (Hu and Chen)

·        Sex education provided by near-peers in Botswana reduced pregnancy by over 40 percent whereas government teachers had a null effect and potentially increased pregnancy. (Angrist) #RCT

·        When a college in China changes its name, it enrolls applications with 0.06–0.08 SD higher college entrance exam scores, equivalent to a college improving their ranking by 40 to 50 places. There is a small benefit for listing the college’s new name in employers’ recruitment decisions. (Eble and Hu)

·        Can information about jobs improve the effectiveness of vocational training? An experiment based on the DDU-GKY, a large-scale training program in India, showed that better informed trainees are 17 percent more likely to stay in the job in which they are placed. (Chakrarvorty et al.) #RCT

·        Land reform 50 years on: population levels in Kenya are higher in the settlement schemes than in neighboring areas. School provision is at par with population levels, indicating that there is no impact of the reform on this public good in the long run. (Crespin-Boucaud, Boone, and Moradi) #RD

·        Households in Bolivia that became eligible for a pre-existing, near-universal pension program during the COVID crisis were much less likely to go hungry. ( Bottan, Hoffman, and Vera-Cossio ) #RD

·        “A fter Brazil’s president publicly and emphatically dismissed the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and advised against isolation, the social distancing measures taken by citizens in pro-government localities weakened compared to places where political support of the president is less strong.” Especially in municipalities with more active Twitter accounts! ( Ajzenman, Cavalcanti, and Da Mata ) #FE

·        In Ethiopia, despite worries about food insecurity in the wake of COVID-19, “food consumption and household dietary diversity are largely unchanged or slightly increased by August 2020” relative to a year previously. ( Hirvonen, de Brauw, and Abate )

·        Lockdowns among adults aged 65+ in Turkey worsened mental health outcomes due to a large increase in social and physical isolation. (Altindag, Erten, and Keskin) #RD

·        In Kenya, the COVID-19 pandemic drove over 20 percent of traders out of business and disrupted supply chains, while most cross-border traders switched to being domestic traders. Remaining traders rely on informal borders, with an increase in bribes paid and more frequent harassment by officials and the police. (Wiseman)

·        Adding nutrition education to a cash and food transfers in Bangladesh boosted both the quantity and quality of food consumed more than transfers alone. ( Tauseef ) #RCT

·        A locust plague in Mali affected people in two ways. Prices went up in the short run because people knew the harvest would be smaller. “Children exposed in utero to the adverse effects of the locust plague suffer major health setbacks.” ( Conte, Piemontese, and Tapsoba ) #DID

·        One potential advantage of in-kind transfers relative to cash is that they serve as insurance against food price changes. For poor households in India, in-kind food transfers do a better job of reducing calorie shortfalls than cash. ( Gadenne et al. ) #FE

·        What’s the impact of double-fortified salt on schoolchildren’s health in India? After both one year and four years of exposure, anemia rates fall. ( von Grafenstein et al. ) #RCT

·        “Low soil zinc availability drives child stunting in Nepal.” The authors do a bunch of robustness checks to make sure it’s not all driven by unobserved characteristics. “Our most conservative estimates suggest that on average, moving from [low zinc] to [high zinc] soils … reduces child stunting by 6 percentage points.” ( Bevis, Kim, and Guerena ) #FE

·        School feeding in Rwanda boosted student learning and closed gender gaps. “Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that providing school feeding yields an 11:1 return on investment.” ( Mensah and Nsabimana ) #DID

·        Should the government sell you goods? “In the absence of government milk in Mexico, private market prices would be 3% higher.” Direct provision generates gains in consumer welfare of 4 percent relative to milk vouchers and 2 percent relative to unrestricted cash transfers. (Jim é nez-Hern á ndez and Seira)

·       A review of 34 mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries shows positive impacts on economic outcomes, especially interventions that combine psychosocial and pharmacological elements. ( Lund et al. )

·       What is the impact of an epidemic outbreak on votes? In Mexico after the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, researchers find “ a strong, negative relationship between the magnitude of the local epidemic outbreak and the governing party vote share in the 2009 congressional election.” There were persistent effects in the 2012 election. ( Guti érrez, Meriläinen, and Rubli )   #DID

·        Towns headed by Indian (as opposed to British) district officers in India experienced 15 percent lower deaths during the 1918 Influenza pandemic, coinciding with greater responsiveness in relief provision. (Xu)

·        Some US states have laws that require health insurers to cover telehealth services. Those laws have little average impact on telehealth use, but for a subset of users, they decrease medical spending and emergency room visits. ( Jamal ) #IV #ML

·        “Using manipulated portraits (thinner/fatter) of real Kampala [Uganda] residents, I first show that obesity is perceived as a reliable wealth signal.” Then, in a “real-stakes field experiment,” the research shows that “obese borrowers have easier access to credit: going from normal weight to obese is equivalent to increasing one’s income by 60 percent.” ( Macchi ) #RCT

·        Preventive healthcare appointments are common in rich countries but not in poor countries. In Malawi, both the offer of HIV testing appointments and financial commitment devices increase HIV testing among high-risk men, but appointments are much more effective. ( Derksen et al. ) #RCT

·        Some community health workers in Pakistan watched a video and a discussion about the mission of their work: their performance improved on a range of tasks. Some workers received financial incentives: their performance improved only on the incentivized tasks. ( Khan ) #RCT

·        Introducing public pharmacies in Chile “increased consumer savings and mayors were politically rewarded in the upcoming election.” ( Atal et al. ) #ES #RCT

·        When public health systems contract private hospitals, how do hospitals react? In India, “hospitals engage in substantial coding manipulation order to increase their revenues.” Also, “hospital charges for care that is supposed to be free are pervasive.” ( Jain and Dupas ) #DID

·        Are non-financial incentives effective to motivate community health workers? Providing an honorary award at a public ceremony boosted performance, with impacts on child health. Showing a video that demonstrates the consequences of health worker choices was less effective. ( Fracchia, Molina Millán, and Vicente ) #RCT

·        A law that banned female genital cutting in Senegal reduced the prevalence of the practice and increased investments in girls’ education. ( Hombrados and Salgado ) #DID

·        Married women in India are much less likely to make more than their husbands than they are to make just a little bit less than their husbands, suggesting a strong social norm and that some women are earning less than they could. ( Gupta )

·       In India, “ women who paid higher dowries are less likely to be poor relative to women who did not, even when their household incomes are the same.” The surprising implication is that “anti-dowry laws may have the unintended effect of increasing female poverty. ” ( Calvi and Keskar )

·        How does women’s employment affect technology adoption? In the United States when lots of women went to work in factories during World War II, rising employment led to more home appliances. For women who had kids, that meant more washing machines. ( Bose, Jain, and Walker ) #IV

·        Women entrepreneurs in urban Bangladesh who receive cognitive behavioral therapy (which includes goal-setting, time-management, and problem-solving strategies) experience reduced stress and lose less work time solving problems at home, but profits stay the same. ( Lopez-Pena ) #RCT

·        Women in Bogota, Colombia are willing to pay for flexible work schedules, especially women with higher incomes, suggesting that “flexibility is a luxury good.” ( Bustelo et al. ) #LIF

·        For gig economy workers in India, receiving criticism worsens worker attitudes but increases their effort. Praise affects neither. It doesn’t make a difference whether the manager giving feedback is a woman or a man. ( Abel and Buchman ) #RCT

·        Among “jobseekers in Egypt, women are more sensitive to long commutes, and value flexible schedules and on-site daycare more than men.” ( Feld, Nagy, and Osman ) #RCT

·        Are female-led communities differentially affected by conflict? In Colombia, municipalities where a female mayor was elected experienced a 60 percent decrease in guerrilla attacks. Female negotiation skills could explain the drop in conflict violence. (Eslava) #RD

·        A gender quota among Muslim leaders in Uttar Pradesh, India has a large and positive effect on toilet provision (across both Muslim and Hindu households), while with Hindu leaders there is no average affect. (Chaturvedi, Das, and Mahajan) #RD

·        A school-based intervention in India with classroom discussions to reduce adolescents’ support for restrictive gender norms “converted 16% of participants’ regressive views.” Self-reported behavior became more aligned with progressive gender norms, particularly among boys. (Dhar, Jain, and Jayachandran) #RCT

·        Registering sugarcane blocks in the wife’s name in Uganda improves two dimensions of women’s economic empowerment: access to resources and agency, with marginal impacts on personal welfare outcomes. In contrast, a behavior change intervention has strong impacts on personal welfare impacts. (Ambler, Jones, and O’Sullivan) #RCT

·        “A one time large unconditional cash transfer (in rural Kenya) improves women’s control of household resources but not the frequency of physical and sexual intimate partner violence. Combining a light touch psychological intervention targeting self-believes with the cash transfer reduces the violence index by 0.14   SD.” (Mahmud, Orkin, and Riley) #RCT

·        Benefiting from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a conditional cash transfer program in the Philippines, at the critical age between 12.5 and 14 years delays marriage and first birth by 1 year and 6 months, respectively.   (Dervisevic, Perova, and Sahay)

·        “A large share of the gender pay gap in Brazil is due to women working at lower-paying employers.” There are sizable output and welfare gains from moving to a gender-neutral economy, but analysis suggests that equal-treatment policies fail to close the gender gap in equilibrium. (Morchio and Moser)

·        In South Korea, a glass ceiling for women exists: “the (large) unexplained gender wage gap substantially increases at the upper end of the wage distribution.” Effects of marriage and childbirth also explain the dramatic increase in the gender wage gap for women in their 30s and 40s. (Lee)

·        A program aiming at reducing intimate partner violence (IPV) in Rwanda increased violence. “The program may have increased violence because men backlashed against the perceived threat to their identity posed by program messages about women’s empowerment, and against their wives’ more progressive gender attitudes and aspirations. (Cullen et al.) #RCT

·        Sexual crimes, lapses in alimony, and domestic violence declined during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order in Mexico, and then rose back to their pre-COVID levels. Femicides remained constant during the pandemic, but declined in municipalities with alcohol sales prohibition. (Hoehn-Velasco, de la Miyar, and Silverio Murillo)

·        “Providing poor women in rural Bangladesh with cash or food transfers, alongside nutrition behavior change communication, led to sustained reductions in” intimate partner violence. (Roy et al.) #RCT

·        Amendments to the Indian anti-dowry law were successful in decreasing dowry payments. They also led to exposed women being 2.6 percentage points less likely to be in involved in household decisions, and a 1.9 percentage points increase in the probability of domestic violence. (Calvi and Keskar)

·        Sexual harassment awareness trainings in India increased awareness among men by 0.106 SD, and decreased reported physical forms of sexual harassment among women by 0.125 SD. (Sharma) #RCT

·        In China, only the majority ethnic group was subject to birth quotas, but birth rates fell among other ethnic groups as well. “A woman gives birth to 0.65 fewer children if the average completed fertility among her peers is exogenously reduced by one child.” ( Rossi and Xiao ) #IV

·        In the past, some ethnic groups across African countries practiced twin infanticide. Today, twin mortality is no higher for those groups than for other others. Phew. Uses data from 23 countries. ( Fenske and Wang ) #FE

·        African women in former British colonies tend to marry later and have lower fertility than women in former French colonies. But those effects tend to disappear close to the sea, where market access is higher. ( Canning, Mabeu, and Pongou ) #RD

·        “I n societies characterized by the co-existence of strong son preference and worse maternal health conditions, women with first-born girls exhibit a lower likelihood of survival into older ages. This is likely due to harmful fertility behaviors after the birth of a daughter. ” ( Agarwal and Milazzo )  

Households and marriage

·        Parents in Bangladesh see that their children are biased toward the present and are willing to pay to restrict their kids’ choices and—ultimately—may be able to mold their children’s preferences. ( Kiessling et al. ) #LIF  

·        A lab experiment in rural Togo suggests that men in rural farming households put less investment into their wives’ farm plots than would maximize household agricultural production. ( Apedo-Amah, Djebbari, and Ziparo ) #LIF

·        An earthquake in Gujarat (India) reduced men’s and women’s ages at marriage but increased the education gap in marriages and lowered women’s likelihood of entering into self-arranged marriages. ( Das and Dasgupta ) #DID

·        Floods in Bihar, India reduced both men’s and women’s ages at marriage and—for married women—decreased the secondary school completion rate and labor force participation. It was more pronounced among groups for which dowry is the norm and among the landless, so dowry may have been helping to smooth consumption. ( Khanna and Kochhar ) #DID

·        An education reform in Zimbabwe increased women’s education and led them to marry more educated men. Since the increase in women’s education was greater, the education gap narrowed. ( Salcher ) #RD

·        Bans on cousin marriage in the US led to descendants with more education and higher labor force participation. ( Ghosh, Hwang, and Squires ) #IV

Migration and refugees

·        In low-income countries, richer people are the ones who emigrate: “In low-income countries, people actively preparing to emigrate have 30 percent higher incomes than others overall, 14 percent higher incomes explained by observable traits such as schooling, and 12 percent higher incomes explained by unobservable traits.” ( Clemens and Mendola )

·        Research with “Filipino migrants in the UAE and their spouses in the Philippines” shows that “both migrants and spouses have biased beliefs about each other’s finances and these biases are the result of strategic misreporting. Spouses and certain subgroups of migrants underreport their income to influence the remittance decision in their favor.” ( Rehman ) #LIF

·        In municipalities of Brazil with more immigrants historically, both the descendants of the immigrants and others have higher wages. ( Cenci, Lopes, and Monasterio ) #FE

·        “Do migrant incomes catalyze economic development back home?” In the Philippines, yes: “Positive migrant income shocks lead to higher household consumption and higher asset ownership in origin areas a decade later.” ( Khanna, Theoharides, and Yang ) #FE #IV

·        “Refugees who have access to a larger co-refugee network tend to have more interactions with the local population” among Syrian refugees in Turkey. This is likely because “immigrant networks share experiences and information on the local population, therefore making it easier for refugees to interact with locals.” ( Gautier ) #IV

·        “Why do migrants embark on dangerous border crossing journeys? … Migrants [from Mexico] with poor long term economic prospects at home are more tolerant of crossing places offering high reward and high risks.” ( Chau, Garip, and Oritz-Bobea ) #IV

·        Migration prohibitions for women in Sri Lanka—based on age and on age of youngest child—had impacts on fertility. Young women increased their fertility; older women reduced their fertility. “As a result, new mothers are less-educated and younger, which may have an impact on child outcomes.” ( Peru ) #RD

·        Palm-oil price shocks in Indonesia benefit producing districts with higher per capita expenditure, while price shocks on rice do not. Districts exposed to palm-oil price shocks and those surrounding them receive more migration resulting in an overall welfare increase of 0.39 percent, with one third due to internal migration. (Siregar)

Working and saving

Banking and credit.

·        In India, some urban centers have too many bank branches, and some rural areas have too few, so banks could reallocate branches and increase access without much or any decrease in deposits. ( Hawkins-Pierot )

·        More banks in rural India make it easier for households to deal with tough times like bad harvests: “Households that experience shocks but have access to banking services are better off with respect to consumption compared to those that have to cope without access.” ( Cramer ) #RD

·        Informal moneylenders in rural India use loans from formal financial institutions as capital to make loans to households. ( Surendra ) #FE

·        Giving informal savings groups access to loans from formal banks in Uganda increased food security but also led to more group turnover. ( Burlando, Etcheverry, and Goldberg ) #RCT

·        Providing rural households with access to a mobile money agent in Uganda increased food security and self-employment off of farms, mostly through peer-to-peer transfers and lower costs in accessing remittances (e.g., they didn’t have to travel to get the money). ( Wieser et al. ) #RCT

·        How does the disbursement of microfinance loans via mobile money impact borrowers’ businesses in Uganda? “Women who received their microfinance loan on the mobile money account had 15% higher business profits and 11% higher levels of business capital.” (Riley) #RCT

·        Is the type of financial support provided to businesses more important than which businesses receive it? In Egypt, those who succeed with loans are equivalent to those who succeed with grants, showcasing that owner heterogeneity is more important than the type of support received. (Cr épon, El Komi, and Osman) #RCT

·        Flexible repayment schedules reduce high social pressure among microcredit borrowers in the Philippines but come at a cost of reduced loan repayment. (Czura, John, Spantig) #LIF

·        In Pakistan, microenterprises with hire-purchase contracts “are more likely to remain in self-employment, run larger businesses, and enjoy higher profits.” As a result, their households increase spending on food and children’s education. (Bari et al.) #RCT

·        In Chile, low-income individuals receiving messages about how to prevent and face shocks, and how to face present bias and social comparison, combined with additional messages about options that individuals at risk of defaulting could take, decreased loan delinquency probability between 20 and 32 percent. (Álvarez, Miranda, and Ruiz-Tagle) #RCT

·        “Doubling the delivery time [of digital credit] from ten to twenty hours reduces the default rate by 20%” in Mexico. (Burlando, Kuhn, and Prina) #RD

·        Lottery players tend to bet less on numbers that recently won, suggesting a default “gambler’s fallacy” bias. 6.3 percent of players in Haiti and 15.7 percent in Denmark choose “hot” numbers — those which were winners in the previous round. There is no evidence of “streak switching”—in which beliefs switch from gambler’s fallacy to hot hand fallacy as streaks increase. (Dillon and Lybbert)

·        Receiving monthly wages into either a bank or a mobile money account increased savings and improved coping with unanticipated economic shocks among factory workers in Bangladesh. (Breza, Kanz, and Klapper) #RCT

Cash transfers

·        Households that benefitted from a multiyear cash transfer program in rural Niger have more savings and more earnings from both agricultural and non-agricultural activities. As a result, they have higher consumption even in the face of drought. ( Premand and Stoeffler ) #RCT

·        Cash transfers in rural Mali help “low-income households to invest in profitable endeavors outside of subsistence agriculture and may reduce the marital migration of women in vulnerable households.” ( Hidrobo, Mueller, and Roy ) #RCT

·        Cash transfers in Brazil reduced formal labor supply at the individual level, but because of the extra cash in the local economy, they actually lead a net positive impact on overall local labor supply. ( Gerard, Naritomi, and Silva )

·        If households find out that they’re going to receive a cash transfer with more time to anticipate and plan, they’re more likely to save the money. ( Thakral and Tô ) #RCT

·        Voters in Kenya (correctly) do not attribute a cash transfer program to local leaders, and receiving a cash transfer does not affect household’s voter turnout, vote choice, or favorability ratings of candidates. (Orkin and Walker) #RCT

Firms and microenterprises

·        Firms of disadvantaged castes have a higher average revenue product of capital. Across-caste dispersion is concentrated in financially underdeveloped regions in India and the majority can be explained by differences in access to credit which reduces aggregate TFP by 6-10 percent. (Goraya)

·        Charging higher prices for business training in Jamaica screens out poorer business owners, selects those who expect to benefit from it, and increases attendance among those who do pay . (Maffioli, McKenzie, and Ubfal)

·        Firms in rural Tanzania with access to a digital phone book (lowering the cost of accessing new business and customer networks) “increase relational contracting with their suppliers and decrease it with their customers,” suggesting an improved bargaining position of firms relative to their pre-existing customers and suppliers. (Rudder) #RCT

·        In Chile, mentoring improves mentee’s business practices but not their business survival, profits or income. Two success factors matter most: the time that the mentor has available, and the size of her network. (Lafortune, Martin, and Tessada)

·        Indonesian firm-level data shows that democratization increases firm productivity, a critical determinant of economic growth. (Abeberese et al.) #DID

·        The expansion of special economic zones in Vietnam (from 73 to 450 between 2000–2007) had little impact on increases in employment, number of firms, output, or output per worker.   (McCaig et al.) #DID

·        English training to domestic middle managers in Myanmar increases frequency of communication with their foreign managers, and trained managers perform better in management exercises. Employers value candidates with both higher English ability and multinational corporation experience. (Guillouet et al.)

·        Access to premium recruitment services (increasing the supply of applicants) to firms in India increases “employer interest in applications.” Combining access to premium services with access to identity verification services increases actual hiring and leads these firms to employ a higher fraction of employees hired through the platform. (Fernando, Singh, and Tourek) #RCT

·        How do firms respond to insecurity in Afghanistan? “Terrorist attacks reduce firm presence by 4-6% in affected districts… After violence, employees in provincial capitals are 33% more likely to move to Kabul and 15% more likely to exit the province.” (Blumenstock et al.)

·        In Brazil, the probability of criminal prosecution increases by 23 percent upon job loss and remains constant. Unemployment benefits offset potential crime increases, especially for liquidity-constrained individuals. This effect completely vanishes upon benefit expiration. (Britto, Pinotti, and Sampaio) #RD

·        How does information and publicity of human right abuses impact those firms tied to an abuse? “Firms associated with an assassination (of civil society activists) have large, negative abnormal returns following the event.” (Kreitmeir, Lane, and Raschky)

·        “Firms exogenously exposed to the Drug War [in Mexico] experience lower export growth”, as resources went from production to protection and eroded local capacity to attract capital investment. ( Gorr ín, Morales-Arilla, and Ricca )

·        How do multinationals affect development in the long run? In Costa Rica, regions under control of the United Fruit Company were 29 percent less likely to be poor than nearby locations in 1973, with only 56 percent of the gap closing over the following four decades. “The firm increased aggregated welfare by 3.7% and this effect is increasing in worker mobility.” (Méndez-Chacón and Van Patten) #RD

·        Among firms along the manufacturing supply chain in Ecuador, “bilateral trade is estimated to be inefficiently low in early periods of the relationship.” ( Brug ués )

·        Localized conflict in the Ukraine decreased sales by at least 5.8 percent outside of violent areas due a propagation effect (affecting firms’ buyers and suppliers) and a change in the production network structure. (Korovkin and Makarin)

·        A contracting arrangement between producers and buyers that bundles price premium certainty with training and credit for a quality-improving technology induced producers in Senegal to purchase and use the technology. Producers are also more likely to produce higher-quality products (groundnuts) with increased output sales to the cooperative. (Deutschmann, Bernard, and Yameogo) #RCT

·        Informal insurance is prevalent in rural India but has serious limitations, since it depends on members not getting hit by the same adverse shock. But if the same communities control cooperative irrigation schemes, then the irrigation and insurance institutions can be mutually supporting. ( Mazur )

Labor (including child labor)

·        “At least 23% of self-employment in lean months occurs because workers cannot find jobs” in India. ( Breza, Kaur, and Shamdasani )

·        “Increased early life investment reduces schooling in districts with high child labor, especially for girls and lower castes” in India. ( Bau et al. ) #FE #IV

·        Including information of being a recipient of a Beca 18—a merit-based scholarship provided to poor students in Peru to pursue college education—in a résumé “increases the likelihood of getting a callback for a job interview by 20%.” (Ag ü ero, Galarza, and Yamada) #RCT

·        Labor market discrimination among Slovaks towards the Roma minority is prevalent at both margins, and more so at the extensive margin. (Mani) #LIF

·        For men that graduated from college during the public-sector hiring freeze in Tamil Nadu, India, the likelihood of being unemployed increased by about 32 percent. The application rate jumped by about 20 times for the few recruitments that were conducted. (Mangal) #DID

·        The “employment impacts of a small cash grant, information and psychological support are close to zero,” but optimized targeting, i.e. offering the best possible intervention to each group, “raises employment (among Syrian refugees in Jordan) by a 1 percentage point (a 20% gain).” (Caria et al.) #RCT

·        Training job seekers in South Africa to join and use an online professional networking platforms increases their end-of-program employment rate from 70 percent to 77 percent. (Wheeler et al.) #RCT

·        An “SMS-based messaging app that connects agricultural workers and employers” in Tanzania “reduces within-village wage dispersion by 16-40 percent.” ( Jeong ) #RCT

·        “Workers (in Israel) are 3-4 times more likely to find employment in firms where their parents have professional connections.” Connections matter for inequality: “the wage gap between Arabs and Jews decreases by 12% when equalizing the groups’ connections but increases by 56% when prohibiting the hiring of connected workers.” This is because “Arabs have connections to lower-paying firms, but use their connections more extensively.” (San)

Governments, institutions, and conflict

Bureaucracy and politics.

·        Sending scorecards measuring delays in service delivery to government officials and their supervisors in Bangladesh increased services delivered without delay by 11 percent. (Mattsson)

·        The 1883 Pendleton Act—requiring US customhouses with 50+ employees to recruit through competitive exams—led to employees having stronger professional backgrounds who stayed longer in their jobs. (Moreira and P é rez)

·        Changing judge selection procedure from presidential appointment to appointment by judge peers in Pakistan significantly decreases rulings in favor of the government. (Mehmood)

·        Villages controlled by the state ruling party in West Bengal, India systematically receive higher aggregate anti-poverty program allocations. There are also persistent large excess payments to local candidates affiliated with the ruling party. (Shenoy and Zimmermann) #RD

·        Political reservation in Bihar, India: (i) lowers inequality in access to public goods; (ii) lowers intergroup private asset inequality; and (iii) increases presence of minority group members in local government. (Kumar and Sharan) #RD

Conflict and crime

·        The civil war in Nepal (1996–2006) led to lower food consumption and less dietary diversity, mostly through reduced purchased food. ( Marchesi and Rockmore ) #FE

·        Data from 43 African countries shows that conflict over power emerges due to ethnic groups’ disagreement over the mix of public goods provided by a culturally distant government. (Guarnieri) #DID

·        Police station openings deter violent crime by 15 percent and housing crime by 30 percent—leading to 4–6 percent increase in housing values in Colombia. (Morales-Mosquera) #IV #DID

·        “A one standard deviation increase in the total pounds of bombs dropped (in Laos) is associated with a 9.3% fall in GPD per capita.” (Ria ñ o and Caicedo) #IV

·        Pretrial detention in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil reduces re-arrest in the medium term (mostly driven by incapacitation effects) and increases the probability and severity of post-release crime. (Ribeiro and Ferraz) #IV

·        Police “repression causes a temporary deterrence effect but only on students with social (rather than geographic) links to the victim.” Police violence increased student-led boycotts and had negative educational consequences for students in Chile. (Gonzalez)

·        US drone strikes in Pakistan encourage terrorism, causing up to 17.5 percent of all terror attacks or about 6,000 deaths. (Mahmood and Jetter) #IV

·        Following the 1918 Finnish Civil War, substantial increases in redistribution and a drastic shift towards equality occurred in municipalities that were affected by the 1866–1868 famine, that had higher levels of pre-conflict inequality, and that had more insurgents. (Meril ä inen, Mitrunen, and Virkola)

·        Ethnic civil conflicts in Africa between 1989–2009 reveal that gender-unequal armed actors are more likely to be perpetrators of sexual violence. Sexual violence also increases “when the perpetrator is more gender-unequal than the victim.” (Guarnieri and Tur-Prats)

·        “An increase in the value of (labor intensive) artisanal mining activities increase both the use of sexual violence and nonlethal violence against civilians” using data from across Africa. “By contrast, an increase in the value of (capital intensive) industrial mines increases only the use of lethal violence.” (Fourati, Girard, and Laurent-Lucchetti)

·        US marijuana liberalization led to a large “reduction in both marijuana cultivation and gun-related homicides in Mexico as well as an increase in legal agricultural outputs.” (Swanson)

·        According to data from 25 African countries, the strength of an ethnic group identity increases when mineral resource exploitation in that group’s historical homeland intensifies. (Berman, Couttenier, and Girard)

·        Grassroots monitoring leads to a decrease in the share of missing expenditures of 8–10 percentage points in non-audit villages in Indonesia. However, “in government audit villages, individuals are less likely to attend, talk, and actively participate in accountability meetings.” (Gonzales, Harvey and Tzachrista)

·        “Concentrated incentives, i.e. notifying of audit timing in advance, would have persuaded bureaucrats to forgo misappropriating an additional USD 35m (16% of average annual expenditures [on Indonesia’s employment guarantee program]) when compared to dispersed incentives, i.e. messages are uninformative and audit timing is unpredictable.” (Wong)

·        Switching from appointed to randomly assigned municipal auditors in Italy increased municipality’s surplus by 9 percent and debt repayments by 8 percent, with improvements coming from those that ran deficits before the reform and where the mayor did not face re-election pressure. (Vannutelli) #DID

·        In Russia, the procurement prices in rigged auctions are between 36 percent and 44 percent higher and the reported number of bidders is 23 percent lower. (Charankevich) #FE

·        Reducing the separation between Church and State can be corrosive to political institutions: religious leaders in Pakistan use their legitimacy to gain political office and misuse their political authority to undermine the independence of the Judiciary. (Mehmood and Seror)

·        Male-specific labor market shocks in Brazil increase support for Bolsonaro among men, while female-specific labor market shocks reduce support among women. (Barros and Santos Silva)

·        Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016 inauguration speech on illegal drugs solidified the population’s perception of illegal drugs as one of the primary and most pressing concerns in the Philippines. (Jetter and Molina)

·        Voters in South Africa are swayed by “whether a party is just winning a pre-election poll, compared to just losing.” “Supporters of the party just ahead in the polls are 10 percentage points more likely to turn out to vote and 12 percentage points more likely to vote for their party.” (Orkin)

·        Regionalist parties cause local violence in constituencies with significant tribal populations in India, as successful regionalists favor local ethnic majorities, causing higher uncertainty for minority groups. (Kapoor and Magesan)

·        The Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in 2014 – 2016 led “people living in more ethnically diverse and less segregated communities” to “demonstrate a broadened sense of identity and lower attachment to own ethnic group following Ebola.” But the effect was the opposite in more isolated communities. ( Yarkin ) #FE #IV

·        In Nepal, people playing a lab game demonstrated that among closely knit groups, group members may not choose someone to be the formal monitor of behavior, whereas among more sparsely connected groups, they’re more likely to do so. ( Iacobelli and Singh ) #LIF

·        “The need to protect from weather-related subsistence shocks led to weaker kin ties and the development of institutional arrangements going beyond the local community.” Countries whose ancestors had weaker kin ties are associated with institutions of higher quality over time. (Tedeschi)

·        Network recovery from aggregated relational data is generally possible without parametric assumptions using a nuclear-norm penalized regression. Computation takes seconds for samples with hundreds of observations. (Alidaee, Auerbach, and Leung)

·        A tax exemption for newly built buildings in Montevideo, Uruguay led to more housing in some areas. In those areas, grocery store prices fell and there was more variety, driven by increasing competition. ( Borraz et al. ) #DID

·        What is the effect of public good and tax collection on tax compliance and political protest? In Haiti, tax collection lowered tax compliance and increased political action, while public goods led to higher tax compliance and lower political action. (Krause) #RCT

·        “Multinational firms can avoid paying taxes by using intra-group transactions to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions.” A tax reform in Chile, intended to raise revenues, did not achieve that, but it did increase “the demand for tax advisory services.” ( Pomeranz ) #DID #ES

·        A tax reform in Thailand reduced the price subsidy for long-term savings. Middle-income taxpayers—especially those already making small contributions—reduce their savings much more than high-income taxpayers. ( Muthitacharoen and Burong ) #DID

·        Providing better advice to customs inspectors in Madagascar boosted their fraud findings, but less so when “opportunities for graft are large.” Monitoring inspectors did not “result in the detection of more fraud or the collection of more revenue.” ( Chalendard et al. ) #IV #RCT

·        A letter experiment to nudge income taxpayers in Eswatini resulted in non-filers significantly responding to the nudges, while nil and active filers did not . (Santoro) #RCT

·        Larger municipal councils in Brazil have greater political diversity, collect higher tax revenues (on services), and exhibit higher expenditures on “pro-social” public goods (health, education, and housing). (Kresch et al.) #RD

·        A personal income tax reform in Uganda—increasing the marginal tax rate of the top 1 percent group of taxpayers by 10 percentage points—led to a substantial decline in reported income among that income group. (Jouste et al.) #DID

·        Firms in India “remit 20% higher taxes and report 16% higher taxable income, once they are subject to third-party audits.” (Choudhary and Gupta) #DID

Urban and infrastructure

·        A location-based price subsidy in Bogotá (Colombia) leads to neighborhood blocks having newer houses—implying more construction. Properties in areas receiving a small subsidy are cheaper than those receiving a bigger subsidy. (Uribe) #RD

·        Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Muslims are more likely to live in poorer cities in India. Cities with more Muslims have worse access to education and health, while cities with Schedule Castes/Tribes have better access. (Adukia et al.)

·        “Subsidies for investment in rural areas in India created net benefits for workers due to larger agglomeration economies.” (Reed)

·        Better transit networks reduce overall criminal activity and improve welfare in Medellín, Colombia, despite dispersing some criminality to different parts of the city. (Khanna et al.)

·        Areas in Tokyo that had a higher proportion of local lords’ estates at the end of the 1850s now have taller and fewer buildings, more floor space, and higher land prices. (Yamasaki, Nakajima, and Teshima) #RD

·        The Taiping Rebellion in 19 th century China blocked land routes and increased sea-trade. This catalyzed a population shift towards port cities. (Hu)

·        Transit improvements in Mexico City “reduce informality rates by 4 percentage points” (as informal workers are more sensitive to commuting costs). Worker’s reallocation to the formal sector explain about 17–25 percent of the total welfare gains stemming from the new infrastructure. (Zárate) #DID

·        How does slum demolition in Victorian England affect the economic outcomes of the displaced? Displaced residents were 7.4 percentage points more likely to move out of their neighborhood and 7.8 percentage points more likely to change their occupation in the medium-run due to the loss of self-owned businesses and local job opportunities. (He)

·        “After the Mexican Revolution, Indigenous people who descend from centralised societies in pre-colonial times were better able to reject road infrastructure in Mexico.” Where road building was less successful, economic outcomes are worse today. (Elizalde and Hidalgo, and Salgado) #DID

·        In Turkish provinces where the length of an expressway network increased from 51km to 193km, the AKP party’s vote share increased by 4.2 percentage points, or a one-third increase between 2002 and 2011. (Akubulut-Yuksel, Okoye, and Turan) #FE

·        Can White Elephants Kill? Unfinished sewerage projects in Peru “increased early-life mortality, driven by lack of water availability, water-borne diseases and accidents.” (Bancalari)

·        Over 40 percent of infrastructure projects in Brazil are never completed. A change in mayor negatively impacts the delivery of projects inherited (from the opposition) in a construction stage, while it positively impacts the delivery of more recent projects. (Granato and Ferraz) #RD

·        Areas which adopted electricity early in late 19 th century Switzerland continue to be more industrialized and have higher incomes today. The persistence is explained by increased human capital accumulation and innovation. (Brey) #IV

·        Access to rural roads increases agricultural fires (to clear agricultural residue) which cause a 1.25 percent increase in local PM2.5 pollution in rural India. (Garg, Jagnani, and Pullabhotla) #RD

·        Brazilian municipalities closer to a migrants’ settlement (from the early 20 th century) have enhanced provision of public goods today and more well-defined property rights. The settlements implied a larger size of the middle class which increased pressures for public goods provision and for more egalitarian legal institutions. (Guimbeau)

Water and sanitation

·        A 1 SD reduction in childhood diarrhea mortality rates from the Programa de Agua Limpia—a 1991 clean water program in Mexico—leads to a 6 percent persisting increase in cognitive skills and 0.11 SD increase in height in adolescence. (Bhalotra, Brown, and Venkataramani)

·        Drought-hit households in Uganda are 3 percentage points more likely to pay user fees for water and increase time spent fetching water by 1.8 hours per week (13 percent increase). Women and girls spend more time fetching water. (Kamei)

·        The Swachh Bharat Mission—an in-house toilet construction program in India—reduced sexual assault of women but did not affect reported rape. (Mahajan and Sekhri) #IV

·        Exposure to European Christian missions results in a broader scope of morality in the Democratic Republic of Congo today as it is associated with weaker kinship ties and less communal (i.e. more universal) moral values. (Bergeron) #LIF

·        Massive public-school construction in Indonesia in the 70s decreased attendance in primary Islamic schools in favor of public schools but increased enrolment in religious schools at secondary level—absorbing the higher demand that resulted from mass public primary schooling. (Bazzi, Hilmy, and Marx)

·       Religious conversion by Christians missions caused persistent anti-gay norms and attitudes in a sample of 33 African countries. (Ananyev and Poyker)

Agriculture and the environment

Agriculture.

·        Why do farmers often “sell low” and “buy high”? Across 20 years and 26 countries, the lean-season price (which we’d expect to be high) doesn’t exceed the harvest season price (which we’d expect to be low) more than a quarter of the time across all countries (and more than half the time in Nigeria). Wait, you mean the farmers knew what they were doing all along? ( Cardell and Michelson )

·        Giving farmers in Mexico autonomy increased adoption of improved agricultural practices, but only in the years after the intervention ended. ( Gine ) #RCT

·        In 2014, maize farmers in Tanzania received vouchers for fertilizer, plot-specific fertilizer recommendations, or both. Three to five years later, only farmers who received both “sustain higher yields after the initial intervention concluded.” But even that might be measurement error. ( Tamim et al. ) #RCT

·        Farmers in Bihar, India who received reusable, hermetically sealed storage bags for a small price were no more likely to use them than farmers who got them for free. But getting them for free initially did reduce farmers’ willingness to pay for the bags later, “suggesting free distribution can stifle future markets for repeat-purchase goods.” ( Shukla, Pullabhotla, and Baylis ) #RCT

·        Training Bangladeshi farmers on a rice-growing innovation boosted “rice yields, revenues, costs, and profits for both trained and untrained farmers in training villages.” Even life satisfaction went up! ( Barrett et al. ) #RCT

·        Training dragon fruit farmers in Vietnam improves the quality of dragon fruit (less pesticide residue), and training farmers and intermediaries improve quality even more, but just training intermediaries didn’t cut it. ( Park, Yuan, and Zhang ) #RCT

·        “Several African countries have recently centralized their agricultural markets by launching a commodity exchange. What would be the impact of such a move?” This paper presents a model and finds that “forcing all farmers to sell into the commodity exchange can make some farmers worse off.” ( Nyarko and Pellegrina )

·        In Ethiopia, access to a rural road by itself didn’t boost agricultural productivity, and neither did the provision of agricultural extension. But together they boosted productivity by 6 percent. ( Gebresilasse ) #FE #IV

·        Why is fertilizer use so low in so many African countries? In Tanzania, lots of farmers worry about counterfeit fertilizer despite testing suggesting it’s not a problem. Two possible explanations: crop yields depend on lots of factors so farmers misattribute low yields to bad fertilizer, and farmers have uncertainty about the likelihood of fertilizer being bad. Evidence from Uganda supports both hypotheses. ( Hoel et al. )

·        “Representative household surveys from the wide Niger river basin [in Niger and Nigeria] show that the relationship between farmers’ market access and crop trade is not simply explained by market access.” ( Tsuda )

·        How does an agricultural minimum wage affect the effects of weather shocks on labor market outcomes in South Africa? “Minimum wage substantially weakens the resilience of agricultural employment to reduced soil moisture in the short term.” (Sharp) #DID

·        A public works program implemented in Ethiopia since 2005 shows no effect on agricultural productivity. (Gazeaud and Stephane) #DID

Natural disasters

·        Short-term changes in the share of people living in poverty impact tropical cyclone mortality risk in the Philippines at the municipal level. (Tennant)

·        Natural disasters in Indonesia increase risk aversion among exposed individuals, with variation by severity, type and time frame of the disasters. (Purcell)

Deforestation

·        Increasing agricultural productivity could lead to either less deforestation (because people use land more intensively) or more deforestation (because it makes agricultural land more valuable). In Uganda, an agricultural extension program reduced annual deforestation. ( Abman et al. ) #RD

·        In Peru, re-electing an incumbent mayor reduces deforestation by a third. ( Medina, Moromizato, and Barron ) #RD

·        Rising rice prices in Cambodia increased deforestation as farmers used more land for cash crops. ( Wilcox, Ortiz-Bobea, and Just ) #IV

·        A tax on passenger vehicles in Uganda decreased imports of passenger vehicles but didn’t reduce registration, since local traders had large inventories. ( Forster and Nakyambadde ) #DID

·        Pollution generated by coal fueled power increases anemia among women and children in India. (Datt et al.)

·        Receiving air pollution forecasts increases willingness to pay to continue receiving such forecasts in Lahore, Pakistan. (Ahmad et al.) #RCT

·        Air pollution in Colombia not only affects respiratory and cardiovascular health, but also mental health. (Ordonez)

·        Land acquisition for Special Economic Zones in India “increases uncertainty about landownership leading to a reduction in area under cultivation. This reduces labor demand in agriculture, suppressing agricultural wages and worsening income inequality.” (Misra) #DID

·        High levels of air pollution decrease student attendance via a health effect and thus reduce reading outcomes by 1.1–2.4 percentage points and math outcomes by 0.5–1.9 percentage points, with girls and older children witnessing a larger decline. (Balakrishnan and Tsaneva)

Macroeconomics

Growth and inequality.

·        Neoclassical growth theory predicts that countries will converge to a level of income affected by their policies, institutions, and culture. Adding the last twenty years of data to older analyses suggests a trend toward unconditional convergence since the 1960s. Policies and institutions have tended to converge toward those associated with richer countries. (Kremer, Willis, and You)

·        Splitting municipalities in Brazil “increases economic activity and public sector delivery in new municipalities. Parent municipalities remain unaffected.” (Dahis and Szerman)

·        “Individuals that were exposed to democratic institutions during their “impressionable years” (ages 18–25) display persistently higher levels of civic engagement.” (Ajzenman, Aksoy, and Fiszbein)

·        Vernacularization, i.e. the increased use of the common or spoken tongues in writing following the Protestant Reformation in 1517, led to a significant increase in works from authors with low socioeconomic background. An increase in vernacular printing also increased city population growth and in future births of famous individuals. (Binzel, Link, and Ramachandran)

·        In India, the steady state distribution of household durable expenditures exhibits natural clusters (or “classes”). “Households in the lowest class may be unable to take advantage of either the labor market (via education investment to increase subsequent income) or the marriage market (via durables as a signal of ‘social status’).” (Maitra)

·        A new metric intended to capture the concept of “inclusive growth” is used to demonstrate that in India, there is “evidence of inclusive growth only in horizontal decomposition (social groups and religion) in the urban sector and for a few (middle) deciles in the rural sector.” (Thapliyal and Malghan)

·        OLS estimates of relative income mobility based on household data in Indonesia show higher mobility than the preferred IV estimates. Absolute mobility in income and consumption expenditure also suggests lower upward mobility. (Zafar) #IV

·        Who benefits from an allocation? Allocations of Mexico’s PROGRESA anti-poverty program rank a household 13 percentiles higher if indigenous, 8 percentiles lower for each SD increase in household income, and 21 percentiles higher for each additional small child in the household, on average. (Björkegren, Blumenstock, and Knight)

·        Foreign capital liberalization reduces capital misallocation and increases aggregate productivity in India. “For initially high marginal revenue products of capital (MRPK), liberalization increased revenues by 19%, physical capital by 59%, and wage bills by 29%.” There were no effects on low MRPK firms. (Bau and Matray) #DID

·        In Peru, “where different ethnic groups were (historically) composed of more heterogenous subpopulations, they engage in more reciprocal behavior and exhibit more open attitudes toward out-group members.” (Artiles)

·        How much can employers suppress wages below marginal productivity? In Colombia’s exporting firms, “workers produce about 30% more than their wage level.” (Amodio and de Roux)

·        Reductions in trade costs of agricultural outputs and inputs across countries between 1980 and 2015 led to welfare and productivity gains. (Farrokhi and Pellegrina)

·        China’s accession to the World Trade Organization and the subsequent reduction in tariff uncertainty (i.e. higher exports) led to a lower probability of enrolling in high school, especially in urban areas. (Leight and Pan) #DID

·        “Exporter market power prevents farmers (in Ecuador) from benefiting from international trade.” (Zavala)

·        Chinese import competition increased formal employment in India by 4.6 percent and aggregate labor productivity by 3.9 percent. (Chakraborty, Singh, and Soundararajan) #IV

·        Exposure to Chinese imports led to short-run declines in employment of both men and women in Peru; however, adverse effects are only persistent for women. (Mansour, Medina, and V é lasquez)

Guide to the methodological hashtags

#DID = Difference-in-differences

#ES = Event study

#FE = Fixed effects

#IV = Instrumental variables

#LIF = Lab in the field

#ML = Machine learning

#PSM = Propensity score matching

#RCT = Randomized controlled trial

#RD = Regression discontinuity

Before you go

Here are summaries of two papers that were rejected by the conference—one submitted by Almedina and one by Dave.

·        Experiencing an earthquake in Indonesia before age 5 leads to 0.7 years less schooling in the long run. Boys have lower education outcomes including cognitive skills, whereas girls exhibit worse health outcomes. (Gignoux, Menéndez, and Music) #DID

·        Across more than 140 impact evaluations of education interventions in African countries, multi-faceted pedagogical support programs and mother tongue instruction programs both performed well in multiple settings. ( Evans and Mendez Acosta ) You can also read the authors’ blog post about the paper.

The order of authors on this blog was determined by a virtual coin flip . This blog post benefited from research assistance from Amina Mendez Acosta.

Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development

Senior Economist, Education Global Practice

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World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024

Global economic growth is projected to slow from an estimated 2.7 per cent in 2023 to 2.4 per cent in 2024, trending below the pre-pandemic growth rate of 3.0 per cent, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2024. This latest forecast comes on the heels of global economic performance exceeding expectations in 2023. However, last year’s stronger-than-expected GDP growth masked short-term risks and structural vulnerabilities. 

The UN’s flagship economic report presents a sombre economic outlook for the near term. Persistently high interest rates, further escalation of conflicts, sluggish international trade, and increasing climate disasters, pose significant challenges to global growth.

The prospects of a prolonged period of tighter credit conditions and higher borrowing costs present strong headwinds for a world economy saddled with debt, while in need of more investments to resuscitate growth, fight climate change and accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“2024 must be the year when we break out of this quagmire. By unlocking big, bold investments we can drive sustainable development and climate action, and put the global economy on a stronger growth path for all,” said António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General. “We must build on the progress made in the past year towards an SDG Stimulus of at least $500 billion per year in affordable long-term financing for investments in sustainable development and climate action.”

Subdued growth in developed and developing economies Growth in several large, developed economies, especially the United States, is projected to decelerate in 2024 given high interest rates, slowing consumer spending and weaker labour markets. The short-term growth prospects for many developing countries – particularly in East Asia, Western Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean – are also deteriorating because of tighter financial conditions, shrinking fiscal space and sluggish external demand. Low-income and vulnerable economies are facing increasing balance-of-payments pressures and debt sustainability risks. Economic prospects for small island developing States, in particular, will be constrained by heavy debt burdens, high interest rates and increasing climate-related vulnerabilities, which threaten to undermine, and in some cases, even reverse gains made on the SDGs.

Inflation trending down but recovery in labour markets still uneven Global inflation is projected to decline further, from an estimated 5.7 per cent in 2023 to 3.9 per cent in 2024. Price pressures are, however, still elevated in many countries and any further escalation of geopolitical conflicts risks renewed increases in inflation. 

In about a quarter of all developing countries, annual inflation is projected to exceed 10 per cent in 2024, the report highlights. Since January 2021, consumer prices in developing economies have increased by a cumulative 21.1 per cent, significantly eroding the economic gains made following the COVID-19 recovery. Amid supply-side disruptions, conflicts and extreme weather events, local food price inflation remained high in many developing economies, disproportionately affecting the poorest households. 

“Persistently high inflation has further set back progress in poverty eradication, with especially severe impacts in the least developed countries,” said Li Junhua, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “It is absolutely imperative that we strengthen global cooperation and the multilateral trading system, reform development finance, address debt challenges and scale up climate financing to help vulnerable countries accelerate towards a path of sustainable and inclusive growth.”

According to the report, the global labour markets have seen an uneven recovery from the pandemic crisis. In developed economies, labour markets have remained resilient despite a slowdown in growth. However, in many developing countries, particularly in Western Asia and Africa, key employment indicators, including unemployment rates, are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. The global gender employment gap remains high, and gender pay gaps not only persist but have even widened in some occupations.   

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130 Excellent Economics Research Topics To Consider

Table of Contents

Are you an economics student searching for good topics for your research paper? If yes, then keep on reading this blog. To make the topic selection process easier for you, here we have suggested a list of the best economics research topics on various areas associated with the subject. In addition to that, we have also presented a brief overview of economics research paper topic selection and writing.

Quickly explore the entire list and choose any ideal topic for composing your economics thesis or dissertation.

Economics Research Paper Topic Selection and Writing

Have your professor asked you to submit an economics research paper? If yes, then topic selection is the first step you should do. In case, your supervisors had not suggested any research ideas, make sure to choose a unique economics research topic that you are interested in. The topic you choose should be understandable for you and your readers, and it should also have a wide research scope with the necessary information for crafting a comprehensive research paper or essay.

After you have selected a research topic for your economics assignment, sketch an outline with the research ideas that you have gathered. Then, with the help of the essay outline you have prepared, draft the research paper in a well-structured manner by including the essential elements such as the introduction, body, and conclusion.

The introduction paragraph of your research paper should have a catchy opening sentence, brief background information on the topic, and a strong thesis statement addressing the purpose of your research paper. After the introduction, in the body paragraphs, you should include innovative topic sentences and explain your arguments with supporting evidence in a way to persuade your reader. Then, you should finally close your research paper with an engaging conclusion that contains a brief summary of the main points.

List of the Best Economics Research Paper Topics

You may think that it is easy to choose a research topic for your economics research paper. But actually, it is not. As economics is a complex and broad subject, choosing a perfect research topic from it is a daunting task.

If you are asked to write an economics research paper or essay, then you can prefer to choose a topic from economics research areas such as macroeconomics, microeconomics, behavioral economics, agricultural economics, development economics, financial economics, and so on.

Here, we have sorted different categories of economics topics and have recommended a list of excellent economics research topic ideas for you to consider. Go through the entire list and pick a topic that is ideal for writing academic papers as per your instructor’s requirements.

Agricultural Economics Research Topics

• Farmer’s contribution to agricultural social capital.
• Agricultural economics and agribusiness.
• An analysis of economic efficiency in agriculture.
• Agricultural and resource economics.
• Agricultural economics and environmental considerations of biofuels.
• Analysis of food security and poverty status among households in Ehime Mbano
• Role of bank loans and credit facility in financing Nigerian agriculture sector: a case study of Nigeria agricultural cooperative and rural development bank
• Evaluation of the impact of micro-finance banks on the South African agriculture sector
• How poultry farming is becoming a veritable tool for the economic empowerment of South Africa?
• Critical analysis of the problems and prospects of agriculture financing in rural India

Behavioral Economics Research Paper Topics

• What does the economy of trust mean?
• How does the brain change when a person is striking a great deal?
• The impact of economic stability on the social life of a person
• The buying capacity and gender
• How does race relate to economic power?
• Big data and its implications for behavioral economics
• The impact of behavioral finance on investment decisions.
• Cognitive and behavioral theories in economics.
• Behavior implications of wealth and inequality.
• Using behavioral economics to help in reducing substance abuse

Development Economics Research Topics

• The relation between development and incentive for migration.
• The economic consequences of population growth in developing countries.
• The determinants of high-performing institutions in emerging economies
• The impact of globalization on income distribution in emerging economies
• The problems of tax and taxation in connection with economic growth.
• The economic impact of terrorism on developing markets.
• Investigate the relationship between family planning, labor force, and income fluctuations.
• The impact of natural disasters on the economy and political stability of emerging markets.
• Budgeting and decision-making by low-income earners in emerging economics
• The impact of multinational commodity trading through the development of economic perspective.
• Compare and contrast the impact of demand-pull inflation and cost-push inflation on a country’s economy
• Discuss the impact of multinational commodity trading through the perspective of development economics
• Discuss the concepts of mercantilism, linear stages of growth model, economic nationalism, and structural-change theory
• Investigate the relationship between unemployment and fluctuations in national income
• Compare and contrast the economic patterns of villages across Papua New Guinea

Environmental Economics Research Paper Topics

• Explain the energy markets’ economic potential.
• How does global warming affect economic growth?
• How technological advancement leads to economic growth
• Evolution of economic institutions concerning climate change
• Cost-benefit analysis of the regulation of the environment
• The economic perspectives of the distribution of natural resources across boundaries
• The relationship between financial subsidies and the generation of eco-friendly products
• Detailed analysis of the European Union Emission Trading System
• Why it’s important to analyze the economics of clean drinking water
• How wildlife protection affects the economy

Read more: Outstanding Environmental Science Topics for You to Consider

Financial Economics Research Topics

• Risk-taking by mutual funds as a response to incentives.
• Financial economics for infrastructure and fiscal policy.
• Managerial economics and financial accounting as a basis for business
• The analysis of the global financial crisis of 2020
• Stock market overreaction.

Health Economics Research Ideas

• How do chronic diseases affect the workforce and the economy?
• How can public hospitals optimize their revenue collection?
• The economics of the pharmaceutical industry
• How an unhealthy country translates into a poor country
• Is the world’s hunger affected by economics?
• How does perfect competition work in the pharmaceutical world?
• How does an infectious disease outbreak affect the economy?
• Is health insurance important?
• How is the economy affected by a smoking ban?

Research Paper Topics on International Trade

• What are the gains and losses of international trade for developing countries?
• The importance of international trade in developing countries
• The relationship between economic growth and international trade
• The impact of Brexit on small and middle businesses in the UK
• To what extent does a currency union affect trade?
• The roles of exchange rate and exchange rate regime in the US export.
• To what extent are the gains of less developed countries from trade liberalization exaggerated?
• Foreign direct investment in the United States: Determinants and impact
• The relationship between foreign direct investment and wages
• The effects of the banana crisis on the Jamaican and British economies

Macroeconomics Research Topics

• Global recession and factors that contribute to it.
• The relationship between Internet connectivity and productivity in the workplace.
• The relationship between economic growth and unemployment in your country.
• Income Dynamics and demographic economics.
• What should our government do to minimize the risks of future default?
• The connection between politics and economics.
• The world problems through macroeconomic analysis .
• US Market Liquidity and Macroeconomics.
• The structure, history, and activities of the World Bank.
• Economics of education in developing markets.
• Public policies and socio-economic disparities.
• Banks and their role in the economy.
• Problems and possible solutions for Japan macroeconomics.
• State regulation of the economy in foreign countries: main models of regulation.
• The effect of currency devaluation on small and medium firms
• A comparison of the United States unemployment to the rest of the world
• The relationship between common stock prices and inflation in your country.
• Macroeconomics and self-correction of the economy.
• Analysis of Africa’s macroeconomics and its performance.
• The implications of Internet banking on bank profitability.

Read more: Best Macroeconomics Research Topics and Ideas for Students

Microeconomics Research Topics

• Explain how competition influences the price.
• Opportunity costs explained from a microeconomics perspective
• Inflation sources and consequences explained
• The impact of demonetization on small and medium businesses
• The connection between the minimum wage and market equilibrium.
• Perfect competition in microeconomics
• Theories in microeconomics
• The effect of labor force participation on the economy and budget
• Economic inequality as a result of globalization.
• Explain the balance between supply and demand in microeconomics
• Dynamics of the Gini index as a reflection of the problem of inequality in income
• Privatization of Public Enterprises and its implications on economic policy and development
• How does the stock market work?
• The impact of game theory on economic development.
• The changes in oil prices: causes and solutions.
• Marketing uses in microeconomics.
• The economic explanation of political dishonesty.
• How company mergers and dissolutions impact the economy
• The role of tax collection agencies in microeconomics
• Different microeconomic models and how they face the effect of industry conditions

A Few More Microeconomics Research Ideas

• How exactly does Uber fit into the economy of trust?
• How does a person’s brain alter when they hit a big deal?
• missing practical human insights from big data and how this affects the economy.
• explaining how supply and demand are balanced in microeconomics
• Changes in economic institutions with regard to climate change
• Effects of greenhouses on economic growth
• Effects of climate change on economic growth
• Analysis of the European Union Emission Trading System in great detail
• Is resource management for waste scarce? A microeconomics explanation of opportunity costs
• Effects of wildlife protection on the economy

Interesting Economics Research Topics

• What role does entrepreneurship play in economic development?
• How do automation and artificial intelligence affect the labor market?
• Discuss the Economics of healthcare systems and policies in developing countries.
• Explain the effects of trade agreements on income distribution.
• How does foreign aid affect economic development?
• Explain the impact of monetary policy on financial markets and inflation.
• Discuss the effects of income inequality on social mobility.
• How does tax reform impact business investment?
• Explain the role of microfinance in alleviating poverty.
• How does behavioral economics impact personal savings habits?

From the list of economics research topics recommended in this blog, choose any topic of your choice and craft a top-quality research paper or essay. It is not necessary that you need to use the suggested topic as it is, you can also modify the research topic and write your academic paper. In case, you are unsure how to select the right topic and write a persuasive economics research paper, get in touch with us immediately.

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I am an Academic Writer and have affection to share my knowledge through posts’. I do not feel tiredness while research and analyzing the things. Sometime, I write down hundred of research topics as per the students requirements. I want to share solution oriented content to the students.

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• Featured Posts

Beyond Gross Domestic Product: including nature in economic policy assessment

Nature-inclusive policy-making requires an indicator measuring the contribution from ecosystems to the benefits used by people and society. Such an indicator should complement the typical economic measure of GDP in policy scenarios and assessments.

The supply of ecosystem services, such as crop pollination and water purification, are of great importance to any economy, both directly and indirectly. However, most assessments use Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the main economic development indicator. GDP shows the total value of output/income generated in a country, but it does not capture fully the contributions of nature to economic activity. The concept of Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP), which summarises the value that ecosystem services provide to the economy in monetary terms, is a way to overcome these shortcomings in policy assessments. It also allows assessing the impact of particular policies on the overall condition of ecosystems.

A JRC study shows the importance of adding nature’s value 

The  Gross Ecosystem Product in Macroeconomic Modelling report explains and showcases how GEP can be applied in macroeconomic analyses alongside the traditional GDP indicator. The application of GEP to assess the value of ecosystem services in the decision-making process could enhance the quality of new policies and stewardship, which in turn could improve the management of natural capital. 

Real-world policy implementations of GEP as a metric alongside GDP are still pending due to various reasons, including technical limitations related to data availability and the complexity of ecosystem service valuation resulting in large uncertainties of estimates. However, preliminary simulations using the INCA (Integrated Natural Capital Accounting) approach and data show that the inclusion of GEP can alter the outcome of evaluations significantly, offering a more nuanced and realistic picture of the value of ecosystem services. 

For example, JRC researchers simulated a scenario in which changes in consumer preferences lead to a gradual increase in the consumption of proteins of plant origin. GDP would record a positive, yet very small, economic impact: an increase of 0.01% in the EU in 2030 compared to the reference scenario. In contrast, the GEP index would increase by 1.5%: this corresponds to 2.3 billion euros, a significant economic impact that GDP missed almost entirely.

A fruitful collaboration

The report is the result of a cooperation between scientists from the JRC and Wageningen Economic Research (WEcR), who develop and operate a macroeconomic model called MAGNET. Compared to other models used to assess the impact of policies on the economy, MAGNET was the most fitting option due to its built-in ability to represent land supply and forestry. JRC researchers introduced the new GEP module to MAGNET, which allows comparing the impact of different policies on both GDP and GEP in the European Union. The GEP module uses the INCA dataset, developed and maintained by the JRC, to incorporate the value of ecosystem services. This dataset is a product of the INCA project, which follows the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) global framework. Adhering to this international standard ensures the credibility of the GEP module.

The development of the GEP module is an ongoing process: JRC researchers are working on ways to make it even more accurate and effective. For example, connecting it to larger and more detailed data sets could lead to better specification of the ecosystem services supply functions and to the inclusion of more types of ecosystem services in the GEP indicator. Enriching GEP accounting with perspectives on the link between biological and human production, or considering harm to the ecosystem carrying capacity, may also contribute to make the model more accurate. 

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Public’s Positive Economic Ratings Slip; Inflation Still Widely Viewed as Major Problem

1. views of the nation’s economy, table of contents.

• Views of top problems facing the nation
• Americans’ views of the state of the nation
• Similar shares in both parties view personal financial situation positively
• Americans’ views on the future of the economy and their financial situation
• Changes in views of the country’s top problems
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Fewer than a quarter of Americans (23%) currently rate the country’s economic conditions as excellent or good, while 36% say they are poor and about four-in-ten (41%) view conditions as “only fair.”

While positive ratings of the economy have slowly climbed since the summer of 2022, there has been a slight drop  since the start of the year – when 28% rated economic conditions as excellent or good.

This change has been largely driven by Democrats and Democratic leaners: In January of this year, 44% of Democrats rated the economy positively, compared with 37% now.

Still, ratings among Democrats remain higher than they were last year.

Views among Republicans and GOP leaners remain negative: Just one-in-ten rate economic conditions as excellent or good, while half say they are poor and another four-in-ten view them as “only fair.”

Views of the nation’s economy have long been partisan.

• Republicans expressed far more positive views of the economy than did Democrats throughout most of Donald Trump’s presidency.
• Democrats have been consistently more likely than Republicans to rate conditions as excellent or good during Biden’s presidency. However, their ratings have been far less positive than Republicans’ ratings of the economy were when Trump was president. 

There also are wide differences in views of the economy by age and race and ethnicity – especially among Democrats.

Age, race and ethnicity

As in the past, Democrats under age 50 express much less positive views of the nation’s economy than do Democrats 50 and older:

• Just 21% of Democrats under 30 rate economic conditions positively, as do 29% of those 30 to 49.
• By contrast, nearly half of Democrats ages 50 to 64 (47%) and a majority of those 65 and older (55%) say conditions are excellent or good.

However, since January there has been a steeper decline in positive views among Democrats 65 and older (from 70% to 55%) than among Democrats in younger age groups.

Republicans are much less likely to view current economic conditions in positive terms across age groups.

There are also significant differences among Democrats by race and ethnicity. White Democrats are more likely than Black, Hispanic and Asian Democrats to rate the economy positively. However, ratings have dropped across these groups since January.

Views of personal finances and national economic ratings

As might be expected, those who rate their personal finances positively also are more likely to rate national economic conditions as excellent or good.

Among the roughly four-in-ten Americans (41%) who rate their own finances positively, 40% rate the national economy positively. Among those who say their finances are only fair or poor, far fewer say national economic conditions are excellent or good (14% among only fair, 6% among poor).

However, partisanship is a factor here as well. Among Democrats who have a positive evaluation of their finances, 58% rate economic conditions positively. That compares with just 19% of Republicans who give similarly positive ratings of their financial situation.

Overall, personal financial ratings have fluctuated less dramatically than national ratings.

However, the share of Americans who rate their personal finances as excellent or good declined from about 50% in 2021 to about 40% in 2022 and has remained at about that level since then.

About four-in-ten say their financial situation is in excellent or good shape (41%), while a similar share say their situation is in “only fair” shape (39%). Another 19% say their situation is in poor shape.

Americans’ ratings of their personal finances are considerably less partisan than their views of the nation’s economy. Roughly four-in-ten Democrats (44%) say their financial situation is in excellent or good shape.

When asked for their expectations of the country’s economic conditions a year from now, 43% of Americans say they expect it to be about the same as it currently is. About a quarter (24%) say they expect the economy will be better a year from now, and nearly a third (32%) expect conditions to worsen.

And when asked for their expectations of their own family’s financial situation a year from now, 49% of adults say they expect it to be about the same. Roughly a third (34%) say they expect their financial situation will be better a year from now, and 16% expect their situation to worsen.

The shares of the public who expect economic conditions to worsen on either a national level or personal level is smaller than in recent years .

Among partisans, similar shares expect economic conditions of the country to be better a year from now (23% of Republicans, 26% of Democrats). However, a larger share of Republicans than Democrats expect the country’s economic conditions to worsen (38% vs. 25%).

Republicans remain less hopeful than Democrats about the future of their personal financial situation. About three-in-ten Republicans (29%) say their family’s personal finances will be better a year from now, compared with 39% of Democrats who say the same. And twice as many Republicans as Democrats say they expect their own financial situation to worsen (22% vs. 11%).

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