Beyond incentives: The economist as plumber

Earlier this month, Esther Duflo of MIT gave a talk at the IMF, and the slides are available here. I found the framing insightful.

She goes on to give three examples from impact evaluations in India that seek to improve “the rules of the game,” creating systems for better governance: (1) “fixing the pipes” — eplatform for workfare payments, (2) “changing the faucet” — biometric identification for welfare payments, and (3) “replacing the meter” — inspections on polluting compliance.