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Project Syndicate produces and delivers original, high-quality commentaries to a global audience. Featuring exclusive contributions by prominent political leaders, policymakers, scholars, business leaders, and civic activists from around the world, we provide news media and their readers with cutting-edge analysis and insight, regardless of ability to pay. Our membership includes over 500 media outlets – more than half of which receive our commentaries for free or at subsidized rates – in 156 countries.
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Navika Mehta
Amplifying Voices Partnerships
Project Syndicate produces and delivers original, high-quality commentaries to a global audience. Featuring exclusive contributions by prominent political leaders, policymakers, scholars, business leaders, and civic activists from around the world, we provide news media and their readers with cutting-edge analysis and insight, regardless of ability to pay. Our membership includes over 500 media outlets – more than half of which receive our commentaries for free or at subsidized rates – in 156 countries.
VoxEU is CEPR’s policy portal set up in June 2007 to promote “research-based policy analysis and commentary by leading economists.” VoxEU’s audience consists of economists working in the public sector, private sector, academia and media – as well as students of economics in the broad sense. VoxEU columns cover all fields of economics broadly defined and are widely read.
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.
Comment Articles
To Prosper, India Must Close Its Gender Employment Gap
November 10, 2024 – KANIKA MAHAJAN
NEW DELHI – While female workforce participation consistently lags behind men’s globally, there are deep regional disparities, with the largest gender employment gaps found in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asia…
Egypt’s Skyrocketing C-Sections
September 20, 2024 – RANA HENDY AND LOBNA SHAHEEN
CAIRO – Egypt, renowned for its vibrant culture and rich history, has fallen on hard times, grappling with both a faltering economy and a deteriorating health system. An alarming surge…
Rethinking Emissions Targets in Developing Countries
August 31, 2024 – ELISA BELFIORI AND YANEL LLOHIS
BUENOS AIRES – Despite committing to nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global warming, countries have struggled to meet their emissions…
Uruguay’s Lessons for Building a Care Economy
June 20, 2024 – TITIR BHATTACHARYA AND TANIKA CHAKRABORTY
MONTEVIDEO – As populations age worldwide, the demand for care services is reaching unprecedented levels, presenting complex challenges for all societies, but particularly those…
High Labor Turnover Fuels Inequality in Latin America
August 10, 2024 – RENATA NARITA
RIO DE JANEIRO – Despite robust labor regulations, Latin American countries have exceptionally high turnover rates. Roughly 24-44% of workers in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru quit each year, and 30-50% of them exit the workforce…
Rethinking How to Address Irregular Migration from Africa
June 30, 2024 – LINGUÈRE MOUSLY MBAYE
ABIDJAN – Irregular migration from Africa has been a growing concern since the mid-2000s and continues to dominate news headlines. According to the International Organization for Migration, 40,868 migrants attempted the dangerous journey from West Africa to the Canary Islands in 2023…
Can Private Hospitals Increase Access to Health Care in Developing Countries?
June 20, 2024 – TITIR BHATTACHARYA AND TANIKA CHAKRABORTY
COVENTRY/KOLKATA – In recent years, governments in low- and middle-income countries have been experimenting with ways to alleviate the financial burden of high out-of-pocket costs for health care, which account for 40% of …
As Families Change, So Must the Safety Net
May 1, 2024 – NEHA BANSAL
NEW DELHI – This year marks the 30th anniversary of the United Nations’ International Year of the Family (IYF). In the decades since the IYF was proclaimed, demographic shifts, technological transformations, migration, urbanization, and climate change have upended societies around the world. Responding effectively to these changes requires revisiting prevailing…
Africa’s Prosperity Depends on Achieving Gender Equality
March 28, 2024 – JANE KABUBO-MARIARA
NAIROBI – Despite the progress made toward gender equality over the past century, women worldwide still lag behind men in pay and job quality. The global labor-force participation rate for women is just 53%, compared to 80% for men. This is not due to a lack of will or effort…
Give Women with Disabilities a Chance
March 20, 2024 – NKECHI S. OWOO
ACCRA – It is well known that women in developing economies have fewer educational and employment opportunities than their male counterparts, leading to higher rates of poverty…
How Wide Are Latin America’s Health Inequalities?
March 20, 2024 – DOLORES DE LA MATA
BUENOS AIRES – Health is much more than a personal matter; it is essential to a society’s well-being and productivity. But achieving equitable health outcomes for all remains a challenge…
Rethinking Inequality in Latin America
February 26, 2024 – ANA MARÍA IBÁÑEZ
WASHINGTON, DC – Nearly everyone agrees that the unequal distribution of income, wealth, and opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has hindered efforts to build cohesive …
Will Turkey Remain Committed to Economic Reform?
February 20, 2024 – SELVA DEMIRALP
STANBUL – Eight months after a surprise return to orthodox economic policies, Turkish officials are continuing to signal their commitment to reform. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey…
Are Social Norms Really the Main Cause of Low Female Employment?
January 23, 2024 – ASHWINI DESHPANDE
NEW DELHI – In China, the painful custom of binding young girls’ feet to alter their shape began in the tenth century and continued for a millennium, until it was outlawed in 1911…
Sri Lanka’s Debt Restructuring Is Hurting Older Women
January 23, 2024 – NISHA ARUNATILAKE
COLOMBO – The World Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law Index has documented a persistent gender pension gap in rich and poor countries alike…
Colombia Has an Alternative to the Drug War
December 15, 2023 – MARÍA ALEJANDRA VÉLEZ
BOGOTÁ – When Colombia’s first leftist government came to power in August 2022, many hoped that the country’s drug strategy would shift dramatically. President Gustavo …
How a Man’s World Systematically Neglects Women
December 15, 2023 – NAVIKA MEHTA
DEHRADUN – The existence of “women’s issues” reflects the simple fact that we live in a man’s world. Over the course of centuries, research and policies focused on men became the default, whereas initiatives that account for women are “women-centered.” …
The G7’s Anti-Coercion Campaign Against China Could Backfire
October 19, 2023 – LILI YAN ING
JAKARTA – On October 28-29, Japan will host the G7 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Osaka. The primary focus of the gathering will be improving supply-chain resilience and strengthening …
South Africa’s Gendered Electricity Crisis
October 12, 2023 – ODILE MACKETT
JOHANNESBURG – For the past 16 years, South Africa has grappled with an acute energy crisis characterized by rolling blackouts, some lasting as long as 15 hours a day. In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national “state of …
Affirmative Action Under Siege
October 12, 2023 – ASHWINI DESHPANDE
NEW DELHI – Should individuals receive differential treatment based on race, caste, gender, religion, or any other accident of birth? In June 2023, the United States Supreme Court answered this question…
Why India’s Women Are More Vulnerable to Disasters
September 28, 2023 – JOYITA ROY CHOWDHURY and PRARTHNA AGARWAL GOEL
PUNE/NEW DELHI – Of the many natural disasters that afflict India each year, floods are by far the most prevalent. This is no surprise, given that around 40 million hectares of land in the country are prone to flooding, and nearly 75% of the …
India’s Population Surpasses China, But Challenges Await in Workforce Expansion: A Deep Dive
August 03, 2023 – ASHWINI DESHPANDE, AKSHI CHAWLA
NEW DELHI–India is all set to overtake China and become the most populous country on …
Turkey’s Economic U-Turn?
July 17, 2023 – SELVA DEMIRALP
ISTANBUL – Despite facing his greatest electoral challenge in more than two decades in power, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won another five-year term in a run-off vote in May, while his Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its …
Policy Briefs
Bridging global divides: How Southern researchers can lead sustainable development
October 27, 2024 – ANA LUCIA KASSOUF, VERÓNICA AMARANTE, AND JANE KABUBO-MARIARA
Southern researchers are uniquely positioned to enrich the global development discourse with their intimate knowledge of the local contexts and…
Addressing the lingering effects of colonial influence on educational institutions
October 5, 2024 – MALEKE FOURATI
Education is recognised as a crucial factor in breaking the cycle of poverty. This column examines how historical exposure to colonial public primary schools in Tunisia influences medium- and long-run literacy rates…
Unfair rentals: Discrimination against transgender couples in Latin America
September 30, 2024 – MARÍA INÉS BERNIELL, MARIANA MARCHIONNI, AND MARÍA FLORENCIA PINTO
Many individuals within the LGBTQ+ community – encompassing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other diverse sexual orientations and…
School feeding programmes improved attendance in northern Burkina Faso
September 20, 2024 – POUIRKÈTA RITA NIKIEMA
School feeding programmes are one of the widest and most popular social safety nets in the world. Globally, 418 million children are benefitting now from school meals (WFP 2022)…
The urban wage premium for women: Evidence across the wage distribution
The impact of road connectivity on fertility and child health in rural India
August 12, 2024 – APARAJITA DASGUPTA
Using nudges to improve food choices
June 30, 2024 – ANA BALSA, CECILIA NOBOA, AND PATRICIA TRIUNFO
Overweight and obesity have risen dramatically in recent decades in both developed and developing countries. Numerous policies have been developed to help curb this increase. The success of many of these policies depends heavily on correctly identifying the factors that hinder…
Affordable home ownership can lead to stronger relationships
June 25, 2024 – JEANNE LAFORTUNE AND CORINNE LOW
Marriage has declined as the central organising structure of the American family, and some worry this will increase inequality. This column posits that inequality creates the marriage gap in the first place because access to assets, such as homeownership, may be essential to foster…
Heatwaves ripple into the financial system
June 15, 2024 – SANDRA AGUILAR-GÓMEZ
A recent report from the International Panel on Climate Change reveals a consistent rise in extreme heat days, affecting agriculture and beyond. Economic repercussions include reduced labour productivity and increased operational costs. Recent studies also emphasise climate’s financial sector impact, especially in low- and middle-income economies…
Capital controls and firm performance: The Chilean ‘encaje’
June 10, 2024 – EUGENIA ANDREASEN, SOFIA BAUDUCCO AND EVANGELINA DARDATI
Capital controls re-emerged as a tool for policymakers grappling with volatile capital flows after the 2008 financial crisis. This column explores the heterogeneous effects that capital controls have on firms, focusing particularly on capital intensity and export status during…
Entering during an economic crisis: Labour market trajectories of young Indian workers
May 29, 2024 – MRINALINI JHA AND ROSA ABRAHAM
Economic downturns can have lasting and ‘scarring’ effects on career trajectories. Using data from India, this column finds only a marginal difference in the likelihood of finding employment between those entering the labour market during the Covid-19 pandemic and pre-pandemic entrants, but significant differences in both …
Exposure to soap operas featuring LGBTQ+ characters has a negative short-term impact on viewers’ attitudes towards homosexuality
April 25, 2024 – MARÍA LOMBARDI AND ALEJANDRA RAMOS
he world has become more tolerant towards homosexuality, yet discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity persists in Latin America and the Caribbean, as in many other regions…
Silence is golden: How public criticism of central banks can backfire for leaders
April 21, 2024 – SELVA DEMIRALP
Amid a global surge in populism, political pressures on central banks to lower interest rates have escalated, driven by populist politicians’ preferences for low rates to fuel short-term, growth-oriented policies. This column explores the impact of this heightened political pressure on financial market and central bank behaviour…
The world’s largest humanitarian cash transfer programme reduces child labour and increases schooling among refugee children
March 26, 2024 – AYSUN HIZIROGLU AYGÜN
Forced displacement often forces children out of school and into employment at a young age. This disruption in their human capital formation leads to poverty in the long term…
Beyond rejection: Exploring gender differences in academic resilience
March 10, 2024 – PAULA PEREDA, MARIA DOLORES MONTOYA DIAZ, FABIANA ROCHA, AND RENATA NARITA
Underrepresentation of women in high-profile career positions has impacts on the labour market and public policies. This column documents gender inequalities in academia, based on panel data of paper submissions to the largest economics conference in Brazil…
Victim-blaming norms and violence against women: Moral considerations can induce policy and behaviour change
March 10, 2024 – SEVINÇ BERMEK AND ASLI UNAN
Violence against women entails great psychological, physical, and socioeconomic costs. Prevailing victim-blaming norms are…
How did child health respond to trade shocks in Brazil?
February 20, 2024 – DANYELLE BRANCO
One of the most striking trends over the last 40 years has been the dramatic decline in infant mortality across most of the developing world…
Education during commodity booms in low-income countries: Lessons from history
January 23, 2024 – IRINA ESPAÑA-ELJAIEK AND MARÍA JOSÉ FUENTES-VÁSQUEZ
The global economy is facing a boom in demand for minerals essential to the adoption of renewable energy technologies, including cobalt, lithium, copper, and coltan. However, despite the undeniable benefits of implementing …
Indian women are not dropping out of paid work voluntarily
January 8, 2024 – ASHWINI DESHPANDE
India has made massive developmental and economic gains since 1991, but one facet of its developmental path marks it out from its peers – a failure to increase female participation rates as the economy matures. This column examines the factors underlying the persistently low labour …
South Africa’s higher education funding conundrum: could the current funding system hamper social mobility and university performance?
January 8, 2024 – EMMA WHITELAW AND NICOLA BRANSON
By supporting social mobility, higher education can help economies become more socially inclusive…
Electrifying inequalities: how the global energy divide threatens sustainable development
November 23, 2023 – ROULA INGLESI-LOTZ
The vast differences in energy infrastructure between the Global North and South intensify disparities in wealth and well-being Policy discussions surrounding these differences tend to focus on improving access to energy, expanding national electricity grids, and tackling energy poverty…
Banning sex-selective abortion has unintended effects on the health and education of children in India
November 23, 2023 – ANISHA SHARMA
In response to alarming imbalances in its child sex ratio, in 1994 India passed an act prohibiting prenatal diagnostic methods for sex-determination and sex-selective abortions. This column explores the unintended impact on human capital attainment. It finds that the ban led to an…
The role of children in shaping gender gaps in Latin American labour markets
November 23, 2023 – MARIANA MARCHIONNI, INÉS BERNIELL, MARÍA EDO
Claudia Goldin’s Nobel Prize-winning work sheds light on gender disparities in the labour market, particularly the transformation of women’s roles. This column examines this phenomenon within the Latin American context, uncovering a substantial 35% reduction in women’s income after …
Lucky Women in Unlucky Cohorts: Gender differences in the Effects ofInitial Labor Market Conditions in Latin America
September 14, 2023 – INÉS BERNIELL, LEONARDO GASPARINI, MARIANA MARCHIONNI, MARIANA VIOLLAZ
Evidence for developed countries suggests that individuals entering the labour market during high unemployment periods, the “unlucky cohorts,” suffer due to lower wages and earnings in the long term…