PODCAST

VoxDev Development Economics

VoxDev.org

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

science social sciences

All Episodes

29:47

S4 Ep48: The high price of Pakistan’s polluting power...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/11/27

Where does electricity come from? In developing countries, the power sector useslong-term, rigid contracts called power purchase agreements (PPAs) between a private generator and government-owned utilities. These PPAs are not usually competitive, their terms – including payment guarantees by which suppliers get paid even when there is no demand – are often secret, they can last for up to 30 years, and they guarantee the use of fossil fuels far into the future. Sugandha Srivastav tells Tim Phillips

46:23

S4 Ep47: How government analytics can improve public...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/11/20

Can better data analysis improve the way that a government functions. The Government Analytics Handbook, published by the World Bank, is both a practical how-to guide and a fascinating insight into how administrators can improve the quality of government analytics. Daniel Rogger and Christian Schuster are the editors. They talk to Tim Phillips about the challenges, the potential – and their work to create a community of analysts. Read the full show notes on VoxDev:

31:34

S4 Ep46: Designing cities in developing countries

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/11/13

As cities grow and spread, the uses to which land is put, and the value of that land,will also change. The challenges of urban planning, construction and renewal are complicated. But the way we address those challenges has profound impacts for the people who live, and will live, in that physical city. Vernon Henderson and Maisy Wong of University of Pennsylvania explain to Tim Phillips how cities adapt, change and grow – and how that affects the lives and prospects of the people who live

22:46

S4 Ep45: Strengthening climate resilience in agriculture

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/11/07

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and so it has never been more important to increase the resilience of small-scale farmers. What does research tell us are the most effective interventions and policies to do this? In the latest of our special episodes to discuss J-PAL policy insights, Tavneet Suri talks to Tim Phillips about how we can strengthen the resilience of farmers to climate change. Read the full show notes on VoxDev:

34:19

S5 Ep1: Development Dialogues: Financing climate...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/11/05

In the first episode of a regular collaboration between Yale's Economic GrowthCenter and VoxDev, host Catherine Cheney speaks to Catherine Wolfram and Namrata Kala of the MIT Sloan School, and Rohini Pande of Yale, about how to finance climate adaptation. They discuss what works and what doesn't, what role carbon markets play, and also discuss the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Summit, COP 29.

23:36

S4 Ep43: The role of cities in economic development

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/10/30

If you go to the IGC web site, you will discover the BREAD-IGC virtual PhD-levelcourse in economics. The topic for 2024 is urbanisation and the economics of cities in low and middle-income countries. Ed Glaeser and Diego Puga gave the first talk, about the dynamic city. They talk to Tim Phillips about what attracts people to cities, how those cities constantly change and adapt to the needs of those new arrivals, and the urgent need for research into how cities grow and change outside high- income

30:47

S4 Ep42: Can we use experiments to understand...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/10/23

Institutions help to determine economic growth. But studying how they do this using the rigorous experimental techniques popularised in the credibility revolution is difficult. A new review highlights an exciting new wave of empirical research into the consequences of institutional change. Michael Callen and Jonathan Weigel talk to Tim Phillips about how we can do experiments about institutions. Read the full show notes here:

32:40

S4 Ep41: What can we learn from food economics?

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/10/16

A new open access textbook called Food Economics analyses the connectionsbetween agriculture and resource use, commodity trade, food businesses, and retail markets. It covers how food is produced, brought to market, and sold. But it also looks at consumption: why many have too little food, and the problems caused by malnutrition. Will Masters and Amelia Finaret, the authors, tell Tim Phillips who is it for, and what they can learn.

19:18

S4 Ep40: How connecting firms to markets can promote...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/10/09

Small businesses in LMICs provide most of the employment. But they could provide many more jobs if the best of them could unlock their potential to grow. In the latest of our series of VoxDev Talks based on J-PAL special reports, Tim Phillips talks to David Atkin about how we can do a better job of connecting firms and entrepreneurs to markets. Read the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/firms/how-connecting-firms-markets-can-promote-economic-development

18:13

S4 Ep39: The gap between education policy and practice

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/10/03

More children than ever in LMICs go to school – but they still don’t learn as much aswe would want, and the difference between the educational haves and the have-nots is widening. Noam Angrist joins Tim Phillips to talk about the size of the gap between education policy and practice, why it exists, why economic development alone isn’t closing it, and how we can improve policy implementation in future. Read the full show notes here:

39:01

S4 Ep38: Navigating macroeconomic shocks in...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/09/25

Since 2020, governments everywhere have had to grapple with the impacts of first Covid-19 and then a series of global shocks, not least the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The challenges have been particularly acute in Africa. Christopher Adam has seen the impacts of these shocks at first hand – and has also advised some of the people who have been making policy in Africa to mitigate their effects. He talks to Tim Phillips about how global shocks constrain Africa’s policymakers and how

28:44

S4 Ep37: How do floods impact economic development?

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/09/18

Dev Patel of Harvard describes Bangladesh as “ground zero for the harmful effectsof climate change”. Extreme weather events, particularly floods, are already affecting the lives of millions of people who live there and are making life more difficult for the country’s farmers. He tells Tim Phillips how he harnessed machine learning to create for the first time reliable global data on flooding – and also used his methods to find a way to give Bangladesh’s beleaguered farmers better data on what crops

17:32

S4 Ep36: How meritocracy varies across the world

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/09/11

In a meritocracy more people can do jobs that match their skills, making them more productive. It’s not just good for them, it’s good for the economy too. So how effective are the policies that try to make countries more meritocratic? Oriana Bandiera and Ilse Lindenlaub tell Tim Phillips how much productivity countries are sacrificing because the wrong people are in the wrong jobs, which countries are most meritocratic, and how we can best help the others to catch up.Check out the full show notes

22:26

S4 Ep35: Improving access to clean water

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/09/04

More people die from contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation than fromwater-related disasters. What are the consequences if we don’t provide safe drinking water, especially for children, and what technologies and policies can accelerate that change? In the first of a series of VoxDev Talks based on J-PAL Policy Insights, Pascaline Dupas of Princeton, also Scientific Director for J-PAL Africa, explains the importance of clean water to Tim Phillips.

38:34

S4 Ep34: The past, present and future of development...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/08/28

Pranab Bardhan of Berkeley has recently published a memoir called Charaiveti: AnAcademic’s Global Journey. It takes in his childhood in India, and his academic career in the UK, India and the US. The book takes in topics as diverse as whether the questions Marx asked are still relevant today, what economists can learn from anthropologists, what the Chinese government got right (and wrong), and the dangers of offering policy prescriptions for places we have never visited. He talks to Tim Phillips

35:04

S4 Ep33: Measuring upward mobility in developing...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/08/21

We don’t know much about economic mobility in developing countries compared tothe wealthier, data-rich societies which have been the subjects of so much recent research. What does the data tell us so far, and what is important to find out? Debraj Ray and Garance Genicot tell Tim Phillips why measuring upward mobility in low- and middle-income countries is both difficult and important, and what their research is revealing about the impact of growth on that mobility.

25:48

S4 Ep32: Communicating evidence on education policy

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/08/14

In May 2024 the world’s largest gathering of education and skills ministers took place in London. Tahir Andrabi was there to meet policymakers in his capacity as a member of the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP). GEEAP analyses existing research in education to discover which policies are “smart buys” for governments, and which are not. He talks to Tim Phillips to talk about how policymakers respond when their ideas are challenged, and the potential benefits from making better

18:57

S4 Ep31: The role of economics in promoting lasting...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/08/01

Conflict destroys people, communities, and entire economies. If we reduce the amount of conflict in the world, we save lives and reduce poverty. Dominic Rohner of the University of Lausanne tells Tim Phillips about his new book called The Peace Formula, which sets out a different way to prevent and resolve conflict.

21:35

S4 Ep30: Vocational and apprenticeship training in...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/07/30

It makes sense that vocational training and apprenticeships would be an effective way to help young people find productive work in the global south. But evidence to support this reasonable assumption has been weak, and many researchers find little or no effect. Subha Mani and Neha Agarwal have reviewed the evidence, and they tell Tim Phillips that one type of training shows strong results. It’s just not the type that is often implemented.

22:33

S4 Ep29: How do fathers influence early childhood...

VoxDev Development Economics ·

2024/07/24

Mothers traditionally provide most of the care for children in early years. What roledo fathers play, what difference would it make if they did more, and how could policy incentivise them to do exactly that? David Evans and Pamela Jakiela talk to Tim Phillips about the benefit of involving fathers in early childhood development, but also how adapting parenting programmes to involve fathers isn’t straightforward.

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