Weekly links April 17: the missing development economics, unlocking migration’s potentials and getting refugees into jobs faster, writing well in the age of AI, and more… David McKenzie April 17, 2026 This page in: English

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/impactevaluations/weekly-links-april-17--the-missing-development-economics--unlock Oliver Hanney on the development economics he’d like to see – “We are missing a whole thriving ecosystem working on growth….Across education, health, microfinance, trade and many other areas, we are making lots of progress. I’m particularly bullish on education …And these do all have indirect implications for growth. But if we are thinking directly about economic growth, and the type of questions a policymaker would ask on that subject – something along the lines of: how can I get growth going before the next election, or replicate the success of East Asian economies – development economists have little to say on one of the main levers they can pull, industrial policy….On the last day, I visited an industrial park with policymakers and practitioners from across Africa. Their questions were almost entirely practical, on implementation, e.g. how does power come through, what does it cost, how do you make people deliver on their contracts to build the necessary infrastructure, which government agency is really in charge, how do they coordinate the different actors, where does the money come from.” – there has been more recent work on the what of industrial policy, as in the new policy research report at the Bank, but these detailed how questions are ones where definitely we don’t have systematic evidence.