Methods & Measurement

Measuring poverty using mobile phone data: Implications for targeting and impact evaluation

In settings where reliable data on poverty is difficult to come by, non-traditional data sources such as mobile phone metadata has the potential to fill data gaps. New research on a cash transfer programme in Togo reveals that mobile phone data enabl...

Emily Aiken Suzanne Bellue Joshua Blumenstock Dean Karlan Christopher Udry

Published

16.07.25

How good are livestock statistics in Africa?

Evidence from Ethiopia reveals that typical survey methods are significantly undercounting actual livestock numbers.

Methods & Measurement

Kibrom Abay Hailemariam Ayalew Zelalem Terfa Joseph Karugia Clemens Breisinger

Published

08.07.25

New measures reveal a growing industrial policy divide

New measures reveal that advanced economies are leading a global surge in industrial policy—developing countries must navigate the consequences.

Methods & Measurement

Réka Juhász Nathan Lane Emily Oehlsen Verónica C. Pérez

Published

24.06.25

Reading between the lines: Leveraging news data for AI-powered food insecurity forecasts

A new AI-driven early warning system uses news data to predict food crises up to 12 months in advance–enabling faster, proactive responses.

Methods & Measurement

Ananth Balashankar Philipp Zimmer Lakshminarayanan Subramanian Samuel Fraiberger

Published

12.06.25

Understanding the re-emerging effects of cash transfers 12 years on

A new long-term follow-up on a cash grant programme in Uganda shows that impacts partly reappear during crisis times, shedding light on the challenges of long-term RCTs.

Methods & Measurement

Jörg Ankel-Peters Julian Rose

Published

23.06.25

Are sensitive questions sensitive to survey method?

In-person household surveys measuring women’s empowerment encounter difficulties collecting data on sensitive questions, particularly those related to domestic violence. New research on Ethiopia reveals minimal differences, if any, between phone vs. ...

Methods & Measurement

Aditi Kadam Ellen McCullough Tamara McGavock Nicholas Magnan

Published

05.06.25

How has global poverty fallen

Extreme poverty has declined drastically. Evidence from China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa sheds light on how this unfolded.

Methods & Measurement

Tom Vogl

Published

17.04.25

Tracking impact in development

Insights from the work of J-PAL, BII, and DIME sheds light on how organisations track and evaluate the impact of development interventions at scale.

Methods & Measurement

Paddy Carter Aparna Krishnan Arianna Legovini Oliver Hanney

Published

Wed, 09/04/2025 - 12:00

Did COVID-19 vaccination in Africa progress quicker than we thought?

Official records may have painted an overly bleak picture of vaccination progress in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. New research suggests that LMICs may have progressed faster than expected.

Methods & Measurement

Yannick Markhof

Published

01.04.25