Journal of Development Perspectives

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Challenges of economic and social development are, by their nature, diverse. They cover the coordination of action through social and political institutions, as well as actions of individuals and of organizations. Its welfare dimensions are also broad, ranging from narrowly defined economic interests to broader conceptions of human progress. Constraints and enabling mechanisms arise from both human agency, and the environment within which humans exercise their agency. Inevitably, this means that a range of disciplines are relevant to scholars interested in development, from the social sciences such as economics, political science, and sociology, through management disciplines, and an ever-increasing set of the natural sciences, from genetics to environmental sciences and beyond. Following relevant progress across such a wide array of disciplines, each with their specific sets of methodologies and styles of presenting evidence and assessing its robustness, is non-trivial in and of itself, and made more challenging by ever-increasing specialization in each area of enquiry.

The Journal of Development Perspectives intends to provide an opportunity for scholars interested in development to contribute to improved communication across disciplines. It does so by providing a platform both for the publication of new research findings presented in a manner accessible to a generalist audience, and by actively encouraging synoptic assessments of the state of knowledge in areas of interest to scholars of development. In doing so, it invites contributions from all disciplines that are relevant to development questions.

CALL FOR PAPERS – Special Issues - See Submissions for details:
• AI/ML in Agribusiness and Digital Innovations for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation.
• Central Bank Independence and Macroeconomic Performance in Developing Countries.
• Finance, Business Cycle and Economic Growth in Developing Countries.
• The Geography of Women’s Labor Force Participation.
• The Sovereign Backlash: Nationalist Populism and its Economic and Political Consequences.

Editor in Chief
Johannes Fedderke, The Pennsylvania State University, US

Editors
Biniam Bedasso, Centre for Global Development, US
Manoel Bittencourt, University of Pretoria, ZA
Željko Bogetić, The Johns Hopkins University, US
Terrence Guay, The Pennsylvania State University, US
Uma Kambhampati, University of Reading, UK
Guangling Liu, Stellenbosch University, ZA
Edouard Mensah, Amazon Customer Service, US
Bumba Mukherjee, The Pennsylvania State University, US
Mare Sarr, The Pennsylvania State University, US
Kaj Thomsson, University of Maastricht, NL
Sechindra Vallury, University of Georgia, US

Managing Editor
Astrid Meyer, The Pennsylvania State University, US

Articles are normally solicited by the editors of the journal, though proposals for topics can be directed to the journal office jdp@press.psu.edu.

If you would like to submit an article to Journal of Development Perspectives, please visit http://www.editorialmanager.com/jdp and create an author profile. The online system will guide you through the steps to upload your article for submission to the editorial office. Refer to the submission guidelines here or view them on the submission site in the About section in the navigation bar, before submitting your manuscript:

Special Issue: AI/ML in Agribusiness and Digital Innovations for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation
Guest Editors:
Abdelaziz Lawani, Texas A&M University
Nilesh Shinde, Indiana University Bloomington
Edouard Mensah, Amazon
Mare Sarr, Pennsylvania State University

Background and Motivation:
Agriculture in the Global South is undergoing a significant technological transformation. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), remote sensing, digital platforms, and data-driven decision tools are reshaping how farmers access information, manage risks, adopt technologies, and participate in markets, and respond to environmental and climatic pressures. Governments and agribusinesses are also using digital land registries, satellite monitoring, automated risk assessments, and traceability systems to administer property rights, enforce environmental regulations, and govern agricultural supply chains. These innovations promise to enhance productivity, resilience, and sustainability. Yet, they also raise critical questions about equity, governance, power, and long-term viability. Digital agriculture trajectories also vary widely across the Global South, with distinct innovation ecosystems emerging in South Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The rapid expansion of digital agriculture has been accompanied by a surge of experimentation: mobile-based advisory systems, AI-powered crop diagnostics, digital credit scoring, precision input recommendations, automated irrigation, drone-based monitoring, and platform-mediated market access. However, as the evolving scholarship shows, many digital tools struggle to scale, face low sustained adoption, or reproduce structural inequalities across Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia (Aker 2011; Cole & Fernando 2021; Arouna et al. 2021; Finger 2023; Singh et al. 2023; Fabregas et al. 2025; Baul et al. 2024; Beach et al. 2025; Cieslik 2025).
Digital technologies can also transform what governments, firms, and other actors are able to observe and regulate. Georeferenced land registries, satellite-based monitoring, and digital traceability systems can make land use and supply chains more legible, potentially strengthening environmental enforcement and market accountability. At the same time, incomplete coverage, inaccurate or strategically reported data, overlapping land claims, and unequal administrative capacity may create new forms of exclusion or generate unintended incentives. Digital systems therefore do not merely record agrarian activity; they can reshape property claims, regulatory exposure, access to public programs and credit, and the distribution of benefits and burdens associated with agricultural and environmental policies.
At the same time, the rise of AI/ML in agribusiness, from supply chain optimization to risk analytics, traceability, and labor automation, raises new questions about data governance, farmer autonomy, algorithmic bias, and the political economy of digital transformation. The rapid emergence of large language models (LLMs) and agentic AI systems introduces new possibilities for hyper-local advisory services, automated content generation, translation, and decision support, while also raising concerns about hallucinations, epistemic authority, data governance, and the deskilling of extension systems (Tzachor et al. 2023; Keenan et al 2026).
This Special Issue seeks rigorous, interdisciplinary research on the promises, limitations, and lived realities of AI, ML, and digital innovation in agriculture. Its primary focus is the Global South, while comparative studies and research from the Global North are welcome when they offer clear theoretical, methodological, or policy relevance for the Global South. We invite empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions that examine not only whether digital technologies improve agricultural and environmental outcomes, but also how their effects are shaped by institutions, property rights, governance capacity, market structure, and social inequality. The Special Issue aims to deepen understanding of when digital innovations scale, who benefits from them, who bears their risks, and how they reshape agrarian change, rural livelihoods, environmental governance, and economic development.

Themes and Scope:
This Special Issue is organized around two broad and interconnected themes:

1. AI/ML, Digital Tools, and Agribusiness Transformation
We invite papers that explore how AI/ML and digital innovations are reshaping agricultural production systems, value chains, and decision-making. Topics include:
AI/ML for yield prediction, crop diagnostics, pest/disease detection, and climate risk managementGenerative AI and LLMs for advisory services, knowledge synthesis, translation, and automated experimentation Digital platforms for input/output markets, logistics, and supply chain coordinationDecision support tools (DSTs) and personalized extension (e.g., RiceAdvice, precision fertilizer tools)Remote sensing, drones, Internet of Things (IoT), and sensor-based monitoring, including applications widely deployed in South Asia and Latin America (e.g., irrigation automation, soil moisture sensing, and climate-smart monitoring systems).Digital credit scoring, insurance, and fintech for agricultureDigital land records and cadastral data infrastructures for credit, decision-making, and land-use monitoring AI/ML and remote sensing for deforestation monitoring, traceability, and supply-chain due diligence (EUDR, sectoral moratoria, ESG-linked finance) Impacts of digital tools on productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainabilityAlgorithmic bias, data quality, and the limits of AI/ML in smallholder contextsInteractions between digital innovations and traditional knowledge systems

2. Digital Agriculture, Governance, and Rural Development
This theme focuses on the socio-political, institutional, and ethical dimensions of digital agriculture. We welcome contributions on:
Why digital agriculture platforms fail to scale: institutional, social, and economic constraintsData governance, privacy, ownership, and the political economy of digital ecosystemsGovernance, risks, and ethical implications of LLMs in agricultural decision-making, including hallucinations, epistemic authority, and the automation of advisory systems Gender, youth, and inclusion/exclusion in digital agricultureDigital land records, cadastral systems, or tenure infrastructure in digital agriculture systems and agri-business in Latin America (e.g., CAR/SIGEF in Brazil, SIGTIERRAS in Ecuador), India, and Africa Political economy of digital land governance: tenure formalization, cadastral algorithms, and distributional consequences of automated enforcement for smallholders and traditional communities Labor implications of automation and platformizationDigital identity, surveillance, and risks of adverse digital incorporationCommunity-based digital innovations and farmer-led experimentationPublic–private partnerships, donor influence, and sustainability of digital interventionsComparative analyses of digital agriculture policies across countries.

Submission Guidelines and Deadlines
All manuscripts will undergo full double-blind peer review. The expected timeline is:
• Paper Submission Deadline: December 31, 2026
• Notification of First-Round Decisions: February 28, 2027
• Deadline for Revised Papers: May 31, 2027
• Final Acceptance Notification: August 31, 2027
Manuscripts must be submitted through the submission portal at http://www.editorialmanager.com/jdp.

For inquiries and submission:
For questions regarding the Special Issue, please contact: Abdelaziz Lawani abdelaziz.lawani@ag.tamu.edu, Nilesh Shinde nnshinde@iu.edu, or Edouard Mensah [mailto:mensahedouard@gmail.com][ mensahedouard@gmail.com].

References / Suggested readings
Aker, J. C. (2011). Dial “A” for agriculture: A review of information and communication technologies for agricultural extension in developing countries. Agricultural Economics, 42(6), 631–647. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2011.00545.x
Aker, J. C., Burney, J., Campion,A., Kelsey Jack, B. and Liao, C. "How many (half) moons? measuring technology adoption from the sky and on the ground." In AEA Papers and Proceedings, vol. 116, pp. 173-177. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20261091
Arouna, A., Michler, J. D., Yergo, W. G., & Saito, K. (2021). One size fits all? Experimental evidence on the digital delivery of personalized extension advice in Nigeria. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 103(2), 596–619. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12151
Assunção, J., Gandour, C., & Rocha, R. (2023). DETER-ing deforestation in the Amazon: environmental monitoring and law enforcement. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 15(2), 125-156. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20200196
Baul, T., Karlan, D., Toyama, K., & Vasilaky, K. (2024). Improving smallholder agriculture via video-based group extension. Journal of Development Economics, 169, 103267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103267
Beach, R.H., Milliken, C., Franzen, K., & Lapidus, D. (2025). Meta-analysis of the impacts of digital information interventions on agricultural development. Global Food Security 45 (2025): 100866. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2025.100866
Cieslik, K. (2025). The dismal harvest: The uneven landscapes of AI in agriculture. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, e70043. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.70043
Cole, S., & Fernando, A. N. (2021). Mobile’izing agricultural advice: Technology adoption, diffusion, and sustainability. The Economic Journal, 131, 192-219 https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueaa084
Fabregas, R., Kremer, M., Lowes, M., On, R., & Zane, G. (2025). Digital Information Provision and Behavior Change: Lessons from Six Experiments in East Africa. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 17(1), 527–66. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20220072
Finger, R. (2023). Digital innovations for sustainable and resilient agricultural systems. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 00, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbad021
Furumo, P. R., Yu, J., Hogan, J. A., Tavares de Carvalho, L. M., Brito, B., & Lambin, E. F. (2024). Land conflicts from overlapping claims in Brazil’s rural environmental registry. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(33), e2407357121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2407357121
Goldstein, M., Houngbedji, K., Kondylis, F., O'Sullivan, M., and Selod, H. "Formalization without certification? Experimental evidence on property rights and investment." Journal of Development Economics 132 (2018): 57-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.12.008
Keenan, M., Karachiwalla, N., Koo, J., Mwangi, C.W., Breisinger, C., & Kim, M.A. (2026). Man vs. machine: Multi-country experimental evidence on the quality and perceptions of AI-generated research blog content. PLoS One21(3): e0342852. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0342852
Singh, R., Slotznick, W., & Stein, D. (2023). Digital tools for rural agriculture extension: Impacts of mobile-based advisories on agricultural practices in Southern India. Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, 2(1), 4–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaa2.42
Tzachor, A., Devare, M., Richards, C., Pypers, P., Ghosh, A., Koo, J., Johal, S., & King, B. (2023). Large language models and agricultural extension services. Nature Food, 4(11), 941-948.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00867-x

Special Issue: Central Bank Independence and Macroeconomic Performance in Developing Countries
Editor: Manoel Bittencourt, University of Pretoria, email: manoel.bittencourt@up.ac.za

Background and scope:
This special issue seeks to fill a gap between the general interest press and most other academic economics journals. The issue aims to publish articles that will serve several goals: to synthesize and integrate lessons learned from active lines of economic research in central bank independence dynamics and macroeconomic performance in developing countries; to provide analysis of related public policy issues; to encourage cross-fertilization of ideas among the fields of central bank independence and macroeconomic performance; to offer readers an accessible source of state-of-the-art economic thinking on the subject; and to suggest directions for future research.

Submission topics:
• inflation and macroeconomic performance
• institutional development (e.g. redemocratization) and inflation
• central bank independence and inflation
• institutional development and central bank independence over time
• central bank independence and macroeconomic performance
• financial regulation
In addition to empirical papers that establish causal relationships, we welcome descriptive studies, literature reviews, and replications that significantly enhance our collective comprehension of the above themes.

Submission details:
• Submission to be submitted via the journal submission portal at http://www.editorialmanager.com/jdp.
• Peer review: submitted manuscripts will undergo the standard peer-review process.
• We invite scholars from diverse research methodologies to contribute to this special issue.

For questions or to explore the suitability of a research topic or paper for this special issue, please contact the issue editor: Manoel Bittencourt, University of Pretoria, email: manoel.bittencourt@up.ac.za

Special Issue: Finance, Business Cycles and Economic Growth in Developing Countries
Editor: Manoel Bittencourt, University of Pretoria, email: manoel.bittencourt@up.ac.za

Background and scope:
This special issue seeks to fill a gap between the general interest press and most other academic economics journals. The issue aims to publish articles that will serve several goals: to synthesize and integrate lessons learned from active lines of economic research in finance, the business cycle and economic growth in developing countries; to provide analysis of related public policy issues; to encourage cross-fertilization of ideas among the fields of finance, the business cycle and economic growth; to offer readers an accessible source of state-of-the-art economic thinking on the subject; and to suggest directions for future research.

Submission topics:
• financial factors (balance sheets) in recessions
• finance and business cycles
• heterogeneity/inequality (micro data availability) and macroeconomic shocks
• finance and entrepreneurship
• financial development and economic growth
• financial regulation
In addition to empirical papers that establish causal relationships, we welcome descriptive studies, literature reviews, and replications that significantly enhance our collective comprehension of the above themes.

Submission details:
• Submission to be submitted via the journal submission portal at http://www.editorialmanager.com/jdp.
• Peer review: submitted manuscripts will undergo the standard peer-review process.
• We invite scholars from diverse research methodologies to contribute to this special issue.

For questions or to explore the suitability of a research topic or paper for this special issue, please contact the issue editor: Manoel Bittencourt, University of Pretoria, email: manoel.bittencourt@up.ac.za

Special Issue: The Geography of Women’s Labour Force Participation
Editors: Uma Kambhampati and Niaz Asadullah, University of Reading

This special issue explores the varied patterns of women’s labor force participation in the Global South. It seeks insights into regional disparities, positive deviance, and emerging trends, with a focus on South Asia, MENA, and Southeast Asia.

Background and scope:
Girls’ enrollment in schools and women’s literacy rates have increased in most countries of the world during the MDG era. Increase in women’s engagement in labor markets has been much slower to relative growth in female schooling, causing international variation withing developing Asia. The average rate of women’s labor force participation in South Asia and MENA is 28% and 18%, respectively, compared to a much higher 58% in East Asia and the Pacific. Moreover, there are instances of positive deviance. In Southeast Asia, female labor force participation rates range from a high of 68% in Vietnam to a low of 47% in the Philippines. In the MENA region, women’s labor force participation varies significantly, from 64% in Qatar to just 14% in Jordan.

Submission topics:
The special issue editors invite papers to explore why women’s labor force participation in the Global South has been so varied. What explains Southeast Asia’s relatively high female labor force participation rates? Conversely, why has women’s employment stagnated in South Asia and MENA despite the rise in female education? Are there emerging cases of positive deviance at the country level? Why is women’s employment so low in India? Have Saudi Arabia’s recent policy changes positively impacted women’s employment? To what extent are these patterns shaped by persistent gender norms? Alternatively, is the structure and growth of certain economies reinforcing low participation rates for women?

Submission details:
Submissions: please submit to the journal submission portal at http://www.editorialmanager.com/jdp.
Peer review: submitted manuscripts will undergo the standard peer-review process.

For questions or to explore the suitability of a research topic or paper for this special issue, please contact the issue editors: Uma Kambhampati, at u.s.kambhampati@reading.ac.uk and Niaz Asadullah m.asadullah@reading.ac.uk

Special Issue: The Sovereign Backlash: Nationalist Populism and its Economic and Political Consequences
Editor: Bumba Mukherjee, Penn State University, bumba.mukherjee@psu.edu

Background and Scope:
The resurgence of nationalist populism has arguably emerged as one of the most disruptive forces in the contemporary global economic and political system. With respect to economic ramifications, nationalist populism often manifests as weaponization of protective tariffs, fragmentation of supply chains, impeding foreign investment by multinational corporations, and disrupting multilateral trade agreements. Politically and socially, it often leads to democratic backsliding, the erosion of judicial independence, and heightened political polarization that marginalizes immigrants and minority populations. Nationalist populism has also not just spread but has firmly established itself as powerful force across democracies in the developed and developing world. Moving beyond the well-documented debates surrounding the root causes of this phenomenon, this Special Issue seeks to explore the economic and political consequences of nationalist populism on international trade dynamics, cross-border capital flows, international law and conflict, democratic backsliding, the weakening of independent judiciaries, and marginalization of immigrants and minority groups. We invite original research articles that speak directly to these topics by exploring how nationalist populism systematically impacts the issue-areas listed above. We welcome multi-disciplinary approaches—bridging economics, political science, and sociology—leveraging both quantitative data and comparative qualitative case studies from advanced industrial democracies and the Global South.
Submission topics:
• Trade Protectionism and Supply Chains: how populism affects tariffs, economic nationalism, and retreat of trade agreements.
• Labor and Immigration Policies: Effect of nationalist populism on labor markets and immigration flows.
• Foreign Direct Investment and Financial Markets: Investor (including multinational corporations) reactions to unpredictable policies in populist regimes.
• Democratic Backsliding: How populist leaders weaken checks and balances, independent judiciaries, civil liberties, and legislative oversight.
• Alliances and Conflict: How populist rhetoric changes regional security dynamics, cross-border tensions, and diplomatic negotiations.
• Erosion of Public Trust: Effect of populist rhetoric on citizens’ trust in public institutions, science, and the media.

Submission details:
• Submission deadline: submissions must be submitted via the journal submission portal at http://www.editorialmanager.com/jdp.
• Peer review: submitted manuscripts will undergo the standard peer-review process.
• As noted above, we invite scholars from diverse research methodologies to contribute to this special issue and scholars are more than welcome to focus on the special issue topic of interest in countries in Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia.

For questions or to explore the suitability of a research topic or paper for this special issue, please contact the issue editor: Bumba Mukherjee, Penn State University, bumba.mukherjee@psu.edu

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