VoxDev: About us

Development economics from research to practice

VoxDev is a platform for economists, policymakers, practitioners, donors, the private sector and others interested in development to discuss key policy issues. Expert contributors provide insightful commentary, analysis, and evidence on a wide range of policy challenges in formats that we hope are accessible to a wide audience interested in development. We aim to put evidence from decades of academic research into the hands of decision-makers and civil society in developing countries in a way that they can be easily accessed and actually put to use, ultimately encouraging the design and implementation of more evidence-based policy. 

VoxDev, launched in June 2017, is a collaboration between the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the International Growth Centre, and the Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries programme. Michael Callen, Stefano Caria, Namrata Kala, and Robert Darko Osei make up the Editorial Board, who are supported by Managing Editor Oliver Hanney.

About the Editorial Board

Michael Callen

Michael Callen

Michael Callen is an associate professor of economics in the economics department at the LSE. He is a co-director of the state capabilities programme at the International Growth Centre and a research associate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research. His research focuses on development economics, political economy, and behavioral economics.

Stefano Caria

Stefano Caria

Stefano Caria is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick. He is affiliated with J-PAL and CEPR (development and labour). He is also IGC lead academic for Ethiopia and serves as trustee for the Global Change Data Lab.

Namrata Kala

Namrata Kala

Namrata Kala is an Assistant Professor at MIT Sloan School of Management. Her research interests include development and environmental economics, and organizational economics.

Robert Darko Osei

Robert Darko Osei

Robert Darko Osei is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economics Research and also serves as the Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Ghana. His research interests include evaluative poverty and rural research, structural transformation and its implications for poverty and inequality, and other economic development policy concerns.

Staff

Oliver Hanney, Managing Editor. Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]

Founding Contributers

Read about our Founding Contributors here.

About the partners

The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) was founded in 1983 to enhance the quality of economic policy-making within Europe and beyond, by fostering high quality, policy-relevant economic research, and disseminating it widely to decision-makers in the public and private sectors. Drawing together the expertise of its more than 1,300 Research Fellows and Affiliates, CEPR initiates, funds and coordinates research activities and communicates the results quickly and effectively to decision makers around the world. These researchers are organized in ten Programme Areas which span most areas of economics, each led by Programme Directors who provide intellectual leadership and quality control. CEPR is led by its President, Beatrice Weder di Mauro, and four Vice Presidents.

The International Growth Centre (IGC) aims to promote sustainable growth in developing countries by promoting demand-led policy advice based on frontier research. IGC funds a wide range of top researchers, has economists based in 15 partner countries across Africa and South Asia, and over 200 active projects covering state effectiveness, firm capabilities, cities, and energy. IGC is majority funded by FCDO.

The Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL) programme pursues a research agenda focusing on private-sector development in low-income countries (LICs) and is motivated by the need to better understand what determines the strength of market forces driving efficiency in these countries. It offers a competitive research grants scheme for projects related to the behaviour of firms in LICs. PEDL is funded by FCDO.

Previous Editorial Board members

On VoxDev’s sixth birthday, Tavneet Suri announced she was stepping down as Editor-in-Chief. Christopher Woodruff and Robin Burgess will oversee the transition period for the new board, before also stepping down. Previously, Rema Hanna and Chang-Tai Hsieh have also been members of our Editorial Board.