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David Evans

@daveevansphd.bsky.social
4.3K followers 90 following 867 posts

Economist at the Center for Global Development. Formerly: Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, RAND Corporation, & my local movie theater. I mostly share about international development research plus books and movies. Views mine, not my employer's.

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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 4h
I just saw my favorite animated film of the year so far. Forgotten Island! letterboxd.com/daveevans/fi... Echoes of other great films, all wrapped up in a story of friendship that is deeply steeped in Filipino mythology.
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Powerful piece by my colleague Eeshani Kandpal (@eeshani.bsky.social) at @cgdev.org, combining a range of lived experiences with systematic empirical evidence on both costs and solutions, with implications far beyond India. www.cgdev.org/blog/price-w...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
www.cgdev.org/blog/cgd-pod...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Sharnic Djaker of the What Works Hub for Global Education on monitoring the quantity versus the quality of implementation. The program www.wwhge.org/events/2026-... The video www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smta...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
This weekend I got to 200 movies watched for the year. Here are my top ones so far. letterboxd.com/daveevans/di... What are yours?
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Education for girls is good for girls and for a lot of other things. How strong is the evidence across the claims? www.cgdev.org/publication/... @shelbycarvalho.bsky.social @cgdev.org
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Four facts about monopsony power in Latin America and the Caribbean / Cuatro hechos sobre el poder de monopsonio en América Latina y el Caribe publications.iadb.org/en/making-la...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Today I heard Professor David Card speak about obstacles he's observed to incorporating evidence into policy. events.iadb.org/calendar/eve... I think #2 is very important when we (economists) talk about high rates of return.
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I followed the process of this report's production from its early stages and am very excited that it's out! The report publications.iadb.org/en/making-la... The launch this Monday (August 3) events.iadb.org/calendar/eve...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Wait, how many standard deviations in learning outcomes does your program deliver? and what does that mean? www.cgdev.org/blog/standar...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
"The reason this is a very fine country is because that kind of thing can't happen"! This passage from John MacDonald's 1957 novel has not aged well... www.themarshallproject.org/records/4692...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Last night's commute viewing was Oriana Bandiera's talk on the case for ungendering the economy. www.youtube.com/live/6oNRYGr... (51:09) From @cgdev.org's Women in Leadership conference www.cgdev.org/blog/pipelin...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Wondering what to read this summer? Check out @CGDev's summer reading recommendations! www.cgdev.org/blog/what-we... What are you reading?
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Believing that socio-emotional skills are important and believing that we know how to impart them effectively in a school system are two very different things. alejandroganimian.com/files/ganimi...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
I'm excited about the new International Development Economics Association! Read @owenozier.bsky.social's introduction: www.cgdev.org/blog/introdu... Then join! idea.devecon.org
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Where should the next generation of violence on reducing violence in schools focus? www.cgdev.org/blog/school-... on the @cgdev.org blog
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I learn a lot from RCTs, and I learn a lot from other types of studies. I propose that it is disingenuous to claim you value evidence from a range of methods (i.e., the best evidence for the question) and then exclusively cite evidence from one method. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
For more on providing information on the returns to education, read my review with @AcostaAminaM www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Big increases in high school graduation in Argentina from providing better information on the returns to different levels of education. papers.jcarolinalopez.com/Misperceptio... from @jcarolina_lopez
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I'm always excited when @dmckenzie.bsky.social's post on the state of development journals comes out! blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva... He includes a discussion of AI policies, submission fees, and more!
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
I love this movie scene in which in which a mom tells her Star Wars-obsessed son that all of those stories are inspired by stories from the great Brazilian writer Machado de Assis. Untrue? Go read *The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas* anyway! Fabulous book.
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
I'm so glad I got to see John Carney's latest musical feature in the theater. I've loved each: Sing Street, Begin Again, Once, Flora and Son, and now Power Ballad. Consistently excellent director!
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
I spoke with Dipak Naker (of the Coalition for Good Schools) and Gabriela Smarrelli (of @cgdev.org) about evidence and practice on making schools a safe space for every child to flourish. www.cgdev.org/blog/cgd-pod... I recommend a listen!
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
"The Illusion of Comparability Among Standardised Effect Sizes: Why Education Evaluations Should Report Raw Effects" New @cgdev.org working paper (with Rossiter, Hares, and Henny) cgdev.org/publication/... Summary blog post cgdev.org/blog/standar...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
A Book Review of the “Handbook on Child Poverty and Inequality” www.cgdev.org/blog/book-re... Now out in the journal Population and Development Review
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
What I learned about child poverty from a 500+ handbook on the topic. www.cgdev.org/blog/book-re...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
I've seen 100+ feature-length films so far this year. Here are 20 of my faves. letterboxd.com/daveevans/di... What about you?
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Join us tomorrow for a seminar at the @cgdev.org's London office! Gabriela Smarrelli I will present work on how to keep children safe at school. www.cgdev.org/event/keepin... (Or join online! Register at the link.)
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
3 priorities on the skills for jobs agenda www.cgdev.org/blog/skills-...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
"Empowering Adolescent Girls: Does It Take a Village?" Yes! www.cgdev.org/publication/... New evidence from rural Rajasthan (India). @cgdev.org
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
"The gender gap [in education] deteriorated before beginning to improve for 96 (76%) of the 126 countries in our sample." reference-global.com/article/10.2...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Last night I was chatting with someone about the different ways of getting to/from the airport by Freetown, Sierra Leone, and remembered this study by León and Miguel. I took the ferry, the helicopter, and the water taxi. (Never managed the hovercraft.) pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
What is the role of economists and of evidence in international development efforts? Esther Duflo, @rglenner.bsky.social (@cgdev.org), Michael Kremer, James Robinson, and Samantha Power discuss this topic between 2:27:30 & 2:59:28 on this video: youtu.be/u3zEJFhmuSQ?....
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Yesterday I jogged five miles along the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That marked six years of running (or jogging) at least one mile every single day. I write more about my experience here: sites.google.com/.../life.../....
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Many undernourished children do not live in the poorest households. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... This important paper from Brown, @eeshani.bsky.social (@cgdev.org), Lee, and Williams complicates conversations on how to reach undernourished children (and adults) in important ways.
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
"The path to development need not replicate the factory-first model of earlier industrializers." www.nber.org/system/files... BUT service-led growth will likely boost within-country inequality. by Peter, Zhang, and Zilibotti
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
"In none of the 20 countries do adolescent girls enrolled in school report a statistically significantly higher likelihood of having been sexually assaulted than girls not enrolled in schools..." www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
This is a great conference attended by an impressive group of applied microeconomists, with plenty of representation of international researchers AND researchers based in Pakistan. I attended a few years ago and learned a lot. Submit by May 3. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
I'm only a quarter of the way through this book but it's just excellent.
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Sierra Leone's Minister of Education Conrad Sackey on school meals at a recent @cgdev.org event on education financing. The whole conversation www.cgdev.org/event/sustai... More on what school meals do for education from Bedasso & Mendez Acosta www.cgdev.org/blog/do-scho...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Over the weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed this Soderbergh thriller filled with conversations about art and decency. Coel and McKellen are stellar leads, with delightfully craven supporting turns from Jessica Gunning and James Corden.
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
I recently watched the made-for-television remake of the brilliant 1955 film The Night of the Hunter. letterboxd.com/daveevans/fi... I think I'd forgotten just how bad a lot of old TV movies are.
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Non-contributory pensions are on the rise. direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edi... from Barr and Bosch
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
We Can’t Reduce Student Absences If Education Systems Don’t Measure Them. A New Research Project Aims to Change That. www.cgdev.org/blog/we-cant... New blog post by Smarrelli, Kabay, Torres Herrera, and me (@cgdev.org)
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Last night I saw the fabulous Brazilian movie *The Blue Trail* (*O Último Azul*) in the theater. I loved it. Highly recommended.
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
We have a great event on education tomorrow (Wednesday, 4/15) at @cgdev.org. We'll hear from government ministers from Zambia, Sierra Leone, and Grenada, plus the CEO of the Global Partnership for Education. (I'm even sharing some evidence.) Register here cgdev.org/event/sustai...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
I just watched *Grand Theft Hamlet* with my Shakespeare-averse 19-year-old, and we were both mesmerized from start to finish. letterboxd.com/daveevans/fi... Out-of-work actors make art by staging Hamlet within the game Grand Theft Auto: Online during the COVID pandemic. Exceptional.
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
We asked 3 questions to a panel of experts • What do we know about ending school-related violence? • How can that knowledge can be translated into effective, scalable programs? • Why there isn’t more action from donors & govts? Here is what we learned www.cgdev.org/blog/how-red...
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
What we talk about when we talk about replication onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... by @mclem.org
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David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
The building blocks of a national strategy to tackle child poverty www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/b...
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