What kind of research would additional funding support? What are the major unanswered questions in this space researchers would tackle?
One answer: labor markets, firms, and monetary policy in developing countries.
How valuable is research at the current margin?
I think one of the main benefits would be the collection of new datasets, which would allow us to identify the most important problems (and figure out how to solve them).
What sort of policies are most likely to affect a country’s growth rate?
One answer, building on the Washington Consensus stuff you cited: having an economist “in the room” to prevent the president from implementing a policy that would cause hyperinflation.
Some thoughts regarding your uncertainties:
One answer: labor markets, firms, and monetary policy in developing countries.
I think one of the main benefits would be the collection of new datasets, which would allow us to identify the most important problems (and figure out how to solve them).
One answer, building on the Washington Consensus stuff you cited: having an economist “in the room” to prevent the president from implementing a policy that would cause hyperinflation.