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Marc F. Bellemare Posts

Published September 6, 2011

“Big Questions, Not Project Evaluations”: Blattman on Impact Evaluation

This week in my development seminar, we will be discussing the background ideas and methods proper to development microeconomics.

In order to do so, and to make sure that everyone has a clear understanding of what’s at stake, I must make a necessary digression about the use of linear regression as well as about the idea of causality in the social sciences.

As such, a recent post on impact evaluation by Chris Blattman turns out to be quite timely:

“My point in 2008: to talk about how impact evaluations could better serve the needs of policymakers, and accelerate learning.

Frankly, the benefits of the simple randomized control trial have been (in my opinion) overestimated. But with the right design and approach, they hold even more potential than has been promised or realized.

Continue reading“Big Questions, Not Project Evaluations”: Blattman on Impact Evaluation

Published September 6, 2011

“Hope and Hype Outpace Proven Treatments”: Sounds Familiar?

You would think this New York Times article is about aid and development, especially when glancing at the subtitles (“A Theory Becomes a Fad,” “Conflicting Studies,” “The Next Big Thing”), but I guarantee it’s not:

“But now researchers are questioning many of the procedures, including new ones that often have no rigorous studies to back them up.

Continue reading“Hope and Hype Outpace Proven Treatments”: Sounds Familiar?

Published September 5, 2011

Can Industrial Policy Save the US Economy? (Updated)

In honor of Labor Day, and because the national unemployment rate stands at a disheartening 9.1 percent, I wanted to discuss this article in last week’s New York Times Magazine:

“Over the last two years, the federal government has doled out nearly $2.5 billion in stimulus dollars to roughly 30 companies involved in advanced battery technology.

For decades, the federal government has generally resisted throwing its weight — and its money — behind particular industries. As the former White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers put it, America’s role is to feed a global economy that’s increasingly based on knowledge and services rather than on making stuff. The conviction in Washington was that manufacturing deserved no special dispensation. Even now, as unemployment ravages the country, so-called industrial policy remains politically toxic.”

Continue readingCan Industrial Policy Save the US Economy? (Updated)