## Driving Change — Dani Rodrik

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**Canonical URL:** [Driving Change — Dani Rodrik](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2025/03/rodrik.pdf)

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### Global relevance of empirical research in developing economies
- Empirical research produced in developing economies yields insights critical for global challenges such as climate adaptation and conflict resolution.
- Pressing world issues often first manifest intensely in developing regions, making local evidence highly informative for broader policy design.
- Examples from the text:
  - The common assumption that formal banking is the best path to financial inclusion is challenged by findings that informal saving groups and mobile money can sometimes serve local needs better.
  - In education, building more schools is not always the most effective policy; local research has shown that providing bicycles or improving access to restrooms for menstrual hygiene can be more effective at improving attendance.
- Local researchers’ access to communities and context leads to richer and more accurate insights, improving policy effectiveness when policies are grounded in ground-level evidence.

### Advancing economic theory and diversification of evidence
- Empirical work in developing economies allows testing of the universality of economic principles and the uncovering of new mechanisms that may be less visible in developed economies.
- Diversification of evidence and perspectives strengthens the field of economics, making it more robust and globally relevant.

### Representation and visibility challenges
- Authors based in developing economies account for only 7 percent of articles in the top 10 journals of the profession, despite their collective weight in the world economy exceeding 60 percent (measured by their global GDP share at purchasing power parity).
- Representation of women economists on all fronts is lower still.
- Even when research is published, getting it noticed is a major challenge:
  - Promoting research within academic circles differs from bringing it to wider attention and translating findings into tangible policy.
  - Translating research into policy requires sustained engagement with policymakers and the public, which competes with researchers’ limited time and resources.
  - The balance between producing new work and ensuring existing research influences policy is difficult; efforts to ensure policy influence are often underfunded and undervalued.

### Women economists: contributions and barriers
- Women economists represent women across the world, almost half the global population, and often cover topics historically underexplored.
- They face additional barriers, including limited access to higher education and labor markets, and challenges balancing work and motherhood, which impede the production of compelling, timely, and competitive research.
- Many women economists act as advocates and activists, using economic reasoning to promote a more equitable world.

### Institutional support and initiatives
- The International Economic Association’s Women in Leadership in Economics Initiative (IEA-WE) aims to amplify the voices of women economists and help overcome barriers they face.
- Since its inception in 2023, the project has supported research and facilitated the publication of articles on a wide range of topics and ideas that are often overlooked.
- Examples of topics highlighted through supported work include:
  - Societal impacts of sovereign debt on the elderly.
  - Effects of extreme heat on business delinquency.
- The IEA-WE, in partnership with F&D, has highlighted conversations with four economists— Ipek Ilkkaracan, Rose Ngugi, Marcela Eslava, and Rumana Huque—whose work reshapes economic discourse in their regions and seeks to inspire more young women to pursue careers in economics and public policy.

### Key implications for policy and the profession
- Policy design should draw on context-specific, ground-level evidence from developing economies to increase effectiveness.
- Increasing representation of researchers from developing economies and women economists in top journals and policy discussions would enrich global economic understanding.
- Supporting the translation of research into policy requires sustained funding and institutional mechanisms that value engagement and dissemination in addition to new research production.

*Source: Dani Rodrik, Driving Change, F&D, MARCH 2025*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2025/03/rodrik.pdf_