Anusha Chari

Flying back after a fantastic conference co-organized by the @IMFNews & @FCDOGovUK over these past two days in DC. I was very impress by the serious scholarship, engaged debate, and a shared commitment to improve policy making directed to low-income countries. My heartfelt thanks to @pogourinchas, #NanLi, and #PetiaTopalova for the invitation and thoughtful leadership. From the opening by @KGeorgieva and #AntonioSpilimbergo to great sessions on fiscal and financial challenges, trade and technology, and the frontier of data and methods, the program was exceptional. Highlights included contributions by #AmitKhandelwal, #JulietaCaunedo, #DiegoComin, #SushantaMallick, @Shanta_WB, @anusha_chari, #DavidMcKenzie, @a_presbitero, #ChrisAdam and many others; an insightful Day 2 on resilience, labor, and migration with #MichaelClemens, #MushfiqMobarak, #KelseyJack and more; and a high-level panel moderated by #AbebeSelassie with leaders from academia, central banking, and policy. It was terrific to present “Microdata for Research in Macroeconomics and Finance.” This new paper builds a new dataset of 1,900+ publications across the top 50 journals (2000–2025) using nine types of microdata—credit registries, balance sheets, and more. I document a sharp rise in microdata-based work (from <1% of annual publications in the early 2000s to ~4% by 2025), but also a persistent under-representation of low-income countries. Access matters: when new microdata become available in a country, publication activity rises and networks deepen—especially where academics partner with central banks. Within the IMF, microdata are increasingly shaping working papers, with growing scope to bring these insights even closer to policy. I’m deeply grateful to @andresfernanm for an outstanding discussion—insightful, constructive, and forward-looking. I close with four recommendations we discussed to accelerate progress, especially for LICs: 1) Build structured data hubs that ensure access, standards, and research independence; 2) Empower central banks as data and talent centers; 3) Champion open data and replicability across contexts; 4) Tighten research–policy integration, so evidence informs real decisions. I am grateful to all presenters, discussants, and organizers for a master event in how rigorous research and policy can meet, inspire and have impact