A master-class in bridging research and policy, ODIOverseas Development Institute (London) Blog, Oct 2007

I approached The Bottom Billion with trepidation, but do you know what – I loved it.  I was wary because I’m not naturally sympathetic to the kind of heavy-duty econometrics which is Paul Collier’s stock-in-trade, especially when the results depend on the use of unexpected transformations or recondite instrumental variables.  Let’s be honest: it doesn’t help that I can’t do that kind of work and don’t usually understand it.  However, I have always recognised that Paul has an extraordinary ability to apply sophisticated technique to answering high-level common-sense questions about the world, and that he then uses his results to tell stories that, In Diane Stone’s phrase, ‘capture the political imagination’................. (see link in title for full article)