Recommended studies and other interesting articles

1. Designing microcredit for agriculture: Agent-intermediated lending (VOX). Lack of access to credit in developing countries traps farmers in poverty. At the same time, there is a lack of evidence that microfinance raises the incomes of the poor while maintaining high repayment rates. Using a field experiment in West Bengal, this column argues that incentivising local intermediaries to select loan recipients improves both average income growth and crop yields compared to traditional microfinance. There is no evidence that this strategy lowers equity, although some disadvantaged groups performed better in the existing system.
2. Immigration and the macroeconomy: Some new empirical evidence (VOX). The macroeconomic effects of immigration are a hot topic, particularly during elections. Using immigration records from Norway, this column argues that an increase in immigration lowers unemployment (even for native workers) and has no negative effects on public finances. However, it identifies a negative effect on productivity that may be a worry for long-term growth.
3. Economic Report of the President of the USA, 2017 (Econbrowser)
4. US Financial Conditions and Emerging Market Stress: The Outlook (Econbrowser)
5. The 5 biggest lies of global capitalism (WEF)
6. Tables turned as vinyl sales overtake digital sales for first time in UK (The Guardian). Records sales hit £2.5m last week compared with £2.1m for digital, with surge partly attributable to Christmas gift buying.