Technology and Innovation
Prof. Godlonton recommends: The Digital Identification and Finance Initiative in Africa – Funding Opportunity
J-PAL’s DigiFI Africa Invitation for Research Proposals on Digital IDs & Payments for Funding Here is a short summary on this opportunity from J-PAL’s website J-PAL affiliates and DigiFI invited researchers are invited to apply for proposal development grants, pilot and full RCT funding J-PAL affiliates and DigiFI invited researchers are invited to apply for…
Read MoreCourse Text: Principles of Microeconomics
This book by Gregory Mankiw is one of the core texts used in recent years for CDE orientation, and is also a reference text for “Public Economics,” a core course taught in the fall.
Read MoreBook: Entrepreneurial Economics: Bright Ideas for the Dismal Science
This book by Alex Tabarrok of the quirky and insightful blog Marginal Revolution brings together some of the great insights of economics research of the recent decades, from governments buying out patents and putting them in the public domain to how to think about the market for organ donation.
Read MoreBlog: “Kremer’s O-ring theory of economic development”
Economist Jason Collins provides a short analysis of Michael Kremer’s 1993 paper on the “O-ring theory of development,” a suggestion for why development might break down when just one component fails.
Read MoreBlog: “Two Bright Ideas to Reduce Drug Prices”
In this commentary, Alex Tabarrok of George Mason responds to an idea to introduce innovation and reduce the cost of drugs: patent buyouts.
Read MoreFull Article: “Population Growth and Technological Change: One Million B.C. to 1990”
An earlier paper from Michael Kremer, this paper considers the two main arguments on the nature of population: that more people means more stomachs and thus more pressure, or that more people means more brains and thus more innovation.
Read MoreFull Article: “Patent Buyouts: A Mechanism for Encouraging Innovation”
In this article, 2019 Nobel laureate Michael Kremer looks back to history for an example of a patent buyout: a situation in which the government buys the patent for a technology which would be beneficial to the public, and then places it in the public domain.
Read MoreBook: The Elusive Quest for Growth
In this 2002 book assigned as reading for a CDE course on growth and development, William Easterly picks apart many of the common arguments of “what causes growth?” He brings insightful, hard economics arguments and a careful reading of the research to a perspective that clearly has plenty on-the-ground nous, making for a quick and enjoyable read.
Read More