macroeconomics

Mamo Mihretu on export-led manufacturing, economic reform and the macroeconomic foundations of a growing economy.

Frontier markets have significant potential for future growth and job creation, due to their large and rapidly growing populations, improving human capital, and increasing integration into international financial markets. However, their economic perf...

Eradicating malaria could deliver much larger economic gains in sub-Saharan Africa than previously believed. The new generation of malaria vaccines provides a highly cost-effective way to realise these benefits.

In Mexico, better management improves firm efficiency, but a range of factors limit well-managed firms from expanding and gaining market share – reducing firms’ incentives to upgrade their practices.

Easing the barriers to renting land could boost agricultural productivity by encouraging the most productive farmers to expand.

Energy-efficient biomass cookstoves cut fuel use and, in Rwanda, do not trigger significant local rebound effects – consumption, fuel collection time, and prices remain largely unchanged for those not adopting cleaner cookstoves.

Climate change poses severe and unequal economic risks, especially for developing countries – where evidence gaps in mitigation, adaptation, and labour transitions highlight urgent research and policy priorities.

Ethiopia’s large-scale road expansion cut travel times to markets – boosting farm productivity, reshaping cropping patterns, and accelerating structural change.

Over the last fifteen years, the rate at which low-income countries are graduating to middle-income status has slowed markedly amid mounting headwinds. This trend presages more challenges ahead, but these countries also have considerable untapped pot...