Edward Miguel: Connecting Research and Policy

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Edward Miguel has worked in international development and global health for over 25 years. As an economist and researcher, he’s a leader in the movement to make both of these fields more data- and evidence-driven. 

Miguel has collaborated with us since our early days, starting with our Deworm the World program, which was launched based on his research with Michael Kremer that determined deworming is a cost-effective way to improve children’s school attendance. We’ve continued to collaborate with him over the past ten years as his research on deworming expanded to look at health outcomes and long-term economic impacts.  

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He’s seen how we’ve grown over the past decade, taking rigorous research on interventions and building effective programs with governments around the world.  

“Evidence Action is a very unique player in this space,” Miguel says. “They maintain a deep knowledge of the research literature, while at the same time cultivating a deep rolodex of government officials and policy implementers. There are very few groups that are as strong along that pipeline as Evidence Action — they’re an essential institution and I’m just proud to have partnered with them for many years, and I hope to continue to do so in the future.”

Miguel’s work is mostly focused on economic development in Africa, and since 2007 he’s led the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), generating research that decision makers can use to reduce global poverty. We’ve also collaborated with him on the open policy analysis for deworming – leveraging his research and our program data to convince policymakers to take action with deworming.

“We’re still figuring out how to translate what we’re learning on the research side — what’s effective in international development  — into policy. And that’s exactly why Evidence Action is so important. They’re playing a key role in connecting these different worlds and making change happen.”

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