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VoxDev Development Economics

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Hear about the cutting edge of development economics from research to practice.

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18:36

S6 Ep20: How does social media influence conflict?

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/05/21

The Reducing Conflict and Improving Performance in the Economy (ReCIPE) programmewas established in April 2024 as a CEPR research initiative to provide a better understanding of the links between conflict, economic growth, and public policies. One of its themes is the link between conflict and hate speech, social media use, media bias, and propaganda. We need to know more about how media has influenced violence, xenophobia, and recruitment for armed groups. Also, how we can use media sentiment to

32:49

S6 Ep19: Lovegrass Ethiopia: Building a business from...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/05/14

As aid programs are cut across the developing world, the focus falls on what investors can do to help create economic growth. Someone who knows all about impact investing is Yonas Alemu, the founder of Lovegrass Ethiopia, which creates products from teff, a gluten- free grain that's native to Ethiopia and sells them across the world. Yonas abandoned a successful career in investment banking in London to create a business in the country of his birth. He spoke to Tim Phillips about how

18:41

S6 Ep18: Improving sanitation: What works and what...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/05/08

Millions of people around the world have no access to sanitation. They defecate in the open, or in facilities where it’s hard to avoid human contact, unavoidably spreading disease. One of the Sustainable Development Goals that you don’t hear about so much is the call to end open defecation by 2030. What progress are we making, and what health improvements are we seeing so far? In the latest of our episodes based on J-PAL’s policy insights, Karen Macours of the Paris School of Economics, also

30:36

S6 Ep17: Improving worker well-being

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/05/01

We often talk about providing not just jobs, but decent jobs, in developing countries. But in many parts of the world, workers still have incredibly harsh working conditions.There have been interventions at the firm level to create safer workplaces, better health, higher job satisfaction. But have they succeeded? And, if these policies succeed in raising worker well-being, is there a cost or a benefit for the employer? In the latest in our collaborations with J-Pal to discuss their policy

36:10

S6 Ep16: What have we learned about the informal sector?

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/04/24

A large proportion of economic activity takes place in the informal sector in every country, particularly in LMICs. Informality, and the lack of rights and protection that goes with it, affects the families who live in slums, the people who take off-the-books jobs, and the firms that choose to skirt regulations. It also affects the governments who want to increase the size of the formal sector – and the revenue they can collect from it.Gabriel Ulyssea of UCL and Mariaflavia Harari of the

22:14

S6 Ep15: How poverty fell

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/04/17

In 1981, 44% of the world’s population were living in extreme poverty. By 2019, that number had fallen to 9%. This seems like a good news story, but how did it happen?Tom Vogl of UC San Diego is one of the authors of a paper called simply, “How Poverty Fell”. In it, they use surveys to track the progress out of poverty of individuals and generations, to discover whether this progress has been driven by individuals and families becoming less poor over their lives or by successive generations who

39:28

S5 Ep5: Development Dialogues: Who will pay for the...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/04/15

In the latest episode of the collaboration between Yale’s Economic Growth Center and VoxDev, host Catherine Cheney is asking one of the most complex questions in global development: how can the clean energy transition move forward quickly and equitably, particularly for low- and middle-income countries still grappling with poverty? There is a balance between emissions reductions and economic growth. While wealthy nations historically contributed the most to climate change, LMICs are now under

34:17

S6 Ep14: Graduation programmes: BRAC’s approach to...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/04/09

The Graduation approach to helping people to escape from poverty was pioneered in 2002 by BRAC in Bangladesh. Today the approach is used around the world. In more than 20 years, what have we learned about how it works, when it works best, and how to implement it at scale? Shameran Abed, the Executive Director of BRAC International talks to Tim Phillips about how the Graduation approach reaches people that other programmes miss, why it works, and how it can be scaled up to meet needs around the

24:26

S6 Ep13: Profit shifting hits developing countries...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/04/02

Multinational enterprises in every industry are shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions. These corporate tax havens reduce tax revenues everywhere, but that hits hardest in developing countries where corporate taxes are a larger part of the overall tax take. The International Growth Centre has published a policy toolkit report into corporate tax havens. Ludvig Wier, the author, explains to Tim Phillips how profit shifting works, how a global initiative is reducing the allure of tax havens, and how

37:40

S5 Ep4: Development Dialogues: Are vocational...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/04/01

Vocational training is often seen as a silver bullet for unemployment and poverty, but does the evidence support that view? Why do so many training programs fail to lead to real job opportunities, and are we asking too much of these programs – or maybe the wrong questions entirely? In the latest episode of the collaboration between Yale’s Economic Growth Center and VoxDev, host Catherine Cheney is joined by Oriana Bandiera, professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, Stefano Caria,

23:38

S6 Ep12: Can safe transport unlock women’s labour...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/03/27

A fundamental part of women’s economic empowerment is helping women who want to work outside the home to find and keep a job. A major part of that decision is ensuring that they can travel to work without fear of stigma, harassment or violence on public transport. In Pakistan, a study set out to discover whether an offer of safe commuter transport would tempt women who are currently not looking for a job.Kate Vyborny of the World Bank spoke to Tim Phillips from Lahore, where the study took place,

29:45

S6 Ep11: Is debt leading to the unsustainable...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/03/19

How does rising external debt in low-income countries affect the natural capital thatsustains our livelihoods? A new paper focuses on three river basins that are vital to the livelihoods and biodiversity of the countries that surround them, suggesting ways that we can both measure and conserve that natural capital in the face of the economic forces that threaten it. Pushpam Kumar of UN Environment Programme talks to Tim Phillips about the alarming rise in the ratio of debt to natural capital for

32:49

S6 Ep10: Simon Johnson on geopolitics, AI, and the...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/03/12

Geopolitical alliances are changing rapidly. Technological innovation is reshaping our economies. These trends offer a cocktail of risk and reward for countries in the global south. They are also both topics that are familiar to Simon Johnson of MIT.Simon speaks to Tim Phillips about how policy in developing countries should respond to President Trump’s deglobalization agenda, how artificial intelligence changes the future for all countries, and where growth and jobs will come from in the

26:20

S6 Ep9: Rebuilding Sudan’s digital infrastructure...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/03/05

Civil war – the latest in a long series of armed conflicts – broke out in Sudan in April2023. Today, more than half of the population needs humanitarian aid, and almost 15 million people have been displaced. The war has also devastated the digital infrastructure in Sudan, deepening the crisis. African Renaissance Ventures is a VC firm that backs entrepreneurs who use technology to solve major development challenges. Magdi Amin tells Tim Phillips about how its infrastructure might be restored, and

23:25

S6 Ep8: Bangladesh’s path forward: Leveraging...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/02/26

Bangladesh's development story in the 21st century is often regarded as a model ofresilience and progress. But on 5 August 2024, student-led protests and public unrest caused Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s prime minister, to resign and flee to India. An interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, took over. Six months on, Bangladesh’s political and economic future is unclear. Imran Matin, Executive Director, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), is one of the experts in Bangladesh who

42:19

S5 Ep3: Development dialogues: The future of...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/02/24

With populist politicians taking power around the world, policymakers are relying lesson research and expertise, as their political narratives prioritise emotion and identity over facts. This may have long-term consequences for global development: not least in the US, where the Agency for International Development has been dismantled, with thousands of staff laid off. Critical development programs have been halted, and the future of US foreign assistance is in limbo. In the latest episode of

25:30

S6 Ep7: How do cash transfers impact prices?

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/02/19

What are the price impacts of cash transfer programs? Do they raise prices as wellas incomes? And what is the impact on people in the community who don’t receive the transfer? Eeshani Kandpal of the Center for Global Development is one of the researchers who has investigated this topic. She talks to Tim Phillips about the conclusions of her own research, the insights of other economists, and the implications for policy.

36:08

S6 Ep6: The economics of ecosystems

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/02/12

How does a healthy ecosystem benefit humanity? How does the normal functioningof the economy impact natural habitats and animal populations? And what are the costs and benefits of conservation? Eyal Frank of the University of Chicago works at the intersection of economics and conservation. He speaks to Tim Phillips about how economic growth often has a hidden environmental cost. Read the full show notes on VoxDev:

31:26

S6 Ep5: Peacemaking, peacebuilding and post-war...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/02/05

The Reducing Conflict and Improving Performance in the Economy (ReCIPE)programme, established in April 2024, aims to provide a better understanding of the links between conflict, economic growth, and public policies. One of its many themes is on what happens post-conflict: peacemaking, peacebuilding, and reconstruction. Salma Mousa and Lisa Hultman, theme leaders, talk to Tim Phillips about why peacebuilding must always be both bottom-up and top-down if it is going to work.

31:11

S6 Ep4: What have we learned about microfinance?

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2025/01/30

Published this week: the latest VoxDevLit covers microfinance. After many decades,microfinance is pervasive and popular in developing countries but is often controversial. What have we learned about what works, how it works, and who it helps – and what is there still to understand? Authors Simon Quinn, Muhammad Meki, and Jing Cai talk to Tim Phillips about the problems of evaluation, the surprising uses to which microfinance has been put, and the lessons that policymakers can learn from the story

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