CSAE Research Podcasts: Recent Episodes
Oxford University
A series of conversations between researchers and collaborators about projects taking place at the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford.
Can we measure whether countries are on track to halve poverty incidence between 2015 and 2030? This research proposes a framework for modelling projections of multidimensional poverty. It uses recently published repeated observations of multidimensional poverty, based on time-consistent indicators, for 75 countries.
Researchers discuss using field experiments with ongoing cases to analyse sources of dysfunction in Mexico's largest labour court.
Can student progression test scores improve as a result of a custom-designed school leadership training programme? This episode discusses a custom-made training program for school leaders in Malawi's primary schools. SpeakersSalman Asim, World Bank; Ravinder Casley Gera, World Bank; Donna Harris, University of Oxford; Grace Milner, Ministry of Education (Malawi).
What is the role of international trade in economic development? Using a rich micro-level dataset from Turkey on a wide range of firms, researchers discuss strong assortative matching of skills in the firms' production networks. What is the role of international trade in economic development? Researchers discuss evidence of strong skill matching in Turkish firms' production networks.
Researchers discuss the business and price effects of a cash transfer programme delivered to 400,000 refugees in Kenya each month in the form of digital money for buying food at licensed shops. There is mounting empirical evidence around the positive and persistent effects of cash-based assistance on direct recipients but there is limited research on the indirect effects of cash-based assistance on local businesses. This project examines the business and price effects of a cash transfer programme delivered to 400,000 refugees in Kenya. The programme had large impacts on prices and businesses, which can be explained by the presence of market imperfections in the camp.
Researchers examine how an established social assistance system - not originally designed to support informal workers - can be re-purposed to provide emergency relief to support workers and their household in South Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a particular challenge to countries with high levels of labour market informality. Informal workers and their households were especially vulnerable to the negative economic consequences of the pandemic and associated lockdown measures, while the very fact of their informality made it difficult for governments to quickly provide targeted economic relief. Using South Africa as a case study, this project examines how an established social assistance system - not originally designed to support informal workers - can be re-purposed to provide emergency relief to these workers and their households.
Winner of the Frisch Medal 2024, this project examines the impact of a one-time cash transfers to over 10,500 poor households across villages in rural Kenya, on the individual households but also the community at large. How large economic stimuli generate individual and aggregate responses is a central question in economics but has not been studied experimentally. Working with the NGO GiveDirectly, this project examined the impact of a one-time cash transfers of about USD 1000 to over 10,500 poor households across 653 randomised villages in rural Kenya, on the individual households but also the community at large. The research paper produced from this project was published in Econometrica and won the Frisch Medal Award 2024.Speakers: Dennis Egger, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Oxford, and Stefan Dercon, CSAE Director and Professor of Economic Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and the Department of Economics, University of Oxford.
How can different kinds of policy help refugees and other displaced populations find work? This project focuses on three interventions designed to improve formal employment outcomes for Syrian refugees and local jobseekers in Jordan.
The CSAE's Kate Orkin has won the ESRC award for Outstanding Public Policy Impact 2023. Stefan Dercon talks to Kate about the work behind the cash grant programme in South Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic that reached an extra 26.2 million people. Stefan Dercon is the CSAE Director and Professor of Economic Policy, University of Oxford, and Kate Orkin is the Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Oxford.
Online job adverts show that the demand for AI related skills has grown rapidly in countries around the world since 2015. This project examines the demand for AI skills in India's service sector, using a new dataset of online job adverts.
Billions of dollars are spent annually on humanitarian support to households in crisis. Researchers discuss a large-scale evaluation that tests the impact of anticipatory cash transfers in response to floods in Bangladesh. Humanitarian workers carry out incredible lifesaving work every day on the front line of crisis response to assist those in the greatest need. Yet repeatedly, despite the fact that billions of dollars are spent annually on humanitarian support to households in crisis, there is very limited evidence on the impact of this support. This project is one of the first large-scale evaluations that rigorously tests the impact of humanitarian cash transfers in response to a sudden extreme weather event, and the importance of being timely for an impactful response.
Education systems need to withstand shocks that routinely close schools. Researchers discuss results from randomised trials evaluating the provision of education in emergency settings across 5 countries. Shocks such as weather, natural disasters, disease, and conflict frequently disrupt schooling. Education systems need to build resilience and be able to continue to provide education during these shocks. Following on from Youth Impact's work on distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic in Botswana, researchers ask would this approach scale to new settings, with government, and other education in emergencies? Focusing on a method called 'connectEd', a phone call tutorial programme used to deliver high quality education through mobile phone calls, this project replicated and scaled the work from Botswana in five randomised controlled trials in India, Nepal, Kenya, the Philippines, and Uganda.
Dr Greg Walton and Dr Kate Orkin discuss 'wise interventions', and how social science can use this psychologically approach to understand the major problems in social life - poverty, social exclusion, child abuse, and discrimination. One of the key goals of social science is to understand and address the major problems in social life –poverty, social exclusion, child abuse, and discrimination. Different lenses offer different tools. In this podcast, Dr Greg Walton and Dr Kate Orkin discuss a distinctly social-psychological approach, called psychologically “wise” interventions. These interventions precisely address how people make sense of themselves, other people, and social situations. Greg talks about his work synthesizing this field and developing the theory underlying wise interventions. Kate talks about her work as a development economist applying these ideas to low-income settings in Ethiopia and Kenya. Greg and Kate have demonstrated that even brief interventions can have long lasting effects on educational and economic success, as well as on wellbeing, job satisfaction, and community involvement.
References by speakers: • World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society, and Behavior (https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2015) • Wise interventions database (https://www.wiseinterventions.org/), handbook (Walton, G. M., & Crum, A. J. (Eds.). (2020). Handbook of wise interventions. Guilford Publications), and Greg Walton’s work (http://gregorywalton-stanford.weebly.com/) • Ethiopia Aspirations study (https://mbrg.bsg.ox.ac.uk/mind-and-behaviour-projects/aspirations-and-forward-looking-behaviour-rural-ethiopia), Kenya Aspirations study (https://mbrg.bsg.ox.ac.uk/mind-and-behaviour-projects/cash-transfers-and-aspirational-videos-kenya) and Kate Orkin’s other work (https://sites.google.com/site/kateorkin/home) • Bugental, D. B., Ellerson, P. C., Lin, E. K., Rainey, B., Kokotovic, A., & O'Hara, N. (2002). A cognitive approach to child abuse prevention. Journal of Family Psychology, 16(3), 243. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12238408/ • Dr Greg Walton in conversation with Professor Anandi Mani at the Blavatnik School of Government https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phu1yH42jn0&ab_channel=BlavatnikSchoolofGovernment • Bossuroy, T., Goldstein, M., Karimou, B., Karlan, D., Kazianga, H., Parienté, W., ... & Wright, K. A. (2022). Tackling psychosocial and capital constraints to alleviate poverty. Nature, 1-7. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04647-8 • Digital Green, Ethiopia https://www.digitalgreen.org/ethiopia/ • Paluck, E. L. (2009). Reducing intergroup prejudice and conflict using the media: a field experiment in Rwanda. Journal of personality and social psychology, 96(3), 574. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19254104/ • Elizabeth Tipton, generalizability research https://www.bethtipton.com/ and the National Study of Learning Mindsets (https://studentexperiencenetwork.org/national-mindset-study/)
Dr Greg Walton and Dr Kate Orkin discuss 'wise interventions', and how social science can use this psychologically approach to understand the major problems in social life - poverty, social exclusion, child abuse, and discrimination. One of the key goals of social science is to understand and address the major problems in social life –poverty, social exclusion, child abuse, and discrimination. Different lenses offer different tools. In this podcast, Dr Greg Walton and Dr Kate Orkin discuss a distinctly social-psychological approach, called psychologically “wise” interventions. These interventions precisely address how people make sense of themselves, other people, and social situations. Greg talks about his work synthesizing this field and developing the theory underlying wise interventions. Kate talks about her work as a development economist applying these ideas to low-income settings in Ethiopia and Kenya. Greg and Kate have demonstrated that even brief interventions can have long lasting effects on educational and economic success, as well as on wellbeing, job satisfaction, and community involvement.
References by speakers: • World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society, and Behavior (https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2015) • Wise interventions database (https://www.wiseinterventions.org/), handbook (Walton, G. M., & Crum, A. J. (Eds.). (2020). Handbook of wise interventions. Guilford Publications), and Greg Walton’s work (http://gregorywalton-stanford.weebly.com/) • Ethiopia Aspirations study (https://mbrg.bsg.ox.ac.uk/mind-and-behaviour-projects/aspirations-and-forward-looking-behaviour-rural-ethiopia), Kenya Aspirations study (https://mbrg.bsg.ox.ac.uk/mind-and-behaviour-projects/cash-transfers-and-aspirational-videos-kenya) and Kate Orkin’s other work (https://sites.google.com/site/kateorkin/home) • Bugental, D. B., Ellerson, P. C., Lin, E. K., Rainey, B., Kokotovic, A., & O'Hara, N. (2002). A cognitive approach to child abuse prevention. Journal of Family Psychology, 16(3), 243. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12238408/ • Dr Greg Walton in conversation with Professor Anandi Mani at the Blavatnik School of Government https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phu1yH42jn0&ab_channel=BlavatnikSchoolofGovernment • Bossuroy, T., Goldstein, M., Karimou, B., Karlan, D., Kazianga, H., Parienté, W., ... & Wright, K. A. (2022). Tackling psychosocial and capital constraints to alleviate poverty. Nature, 1-7. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04647-8 • Digital Green, Ethiopia https://www.digitalgreen.org/ethiopia/ • Paluck, E. L. (2009). Reducing intergroup prejudice and conflict using the media: a field experiment in Rwanda. Journal of personality and social psychology, 96(3), 574. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19254104/ • Elizabeth Tipton, generalizability research https://www.bethtipton.com/ and the National Study of Learning Mindsets (https://studentexperiencenetwork.org/national-mindset-study/)
How do we change a corrupt norm? This project looks to address this question through a policy intervention, working with the Ghana Police Service, to try to change the behaviour of the traffic police through an innovative ethics training programme. One of the important factors that drive successful organisation is the behaviour of the people within that organisation. In many places, corruption has become a norm - a way of life - something that is generally accepted as a behavioural standard, and has long been one of the major obstacles to improving economic efficiency and reducing poverty in developing countries.
Speakers: Donna Harris, Researcher at the University of Oxford; Oana Borcan, Associate Professor in Economics at the University of East Anglia; Bruno Schettini Secretariat for Coordination and Governance of the Heritage of the Union, Ministry of Economy, Danila Serra, Associate Professor in Economics at Texas A&M University; Henry Telli, Country Economist at the International Growth Centre.
Can Africa learn from the Chinese urbanisation project? In the next 30 years, African cities need to make zoom for roughly 500 million more citizens, roughly tripling the current urban population. This offers great opportunities for growth and prosperity, but also significant challenges for public policy. China is the only other place in the world to have experienced a similar urbanisation challenge. This project seeks to understand how the successes and limitations of China’s experience could inform urbanisation challenges currently being faced in Africa and how to design policies that harness the full economic potentials of cities.
Speaker: Astrid Haas (independent urban economist, currently based in Kampala, Uganda) Sebastian Kriticos (transport and infrastructure economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) Nicolas Lippolis (PhD Candidate and Research and Policy Officer at the CSAE, Department of Economies).
A discussion about some of the first experimental evidence on distance education during the covid-19 pandemic in Botswana. The conversation goes under the hood of the randomised control trials to discuss some critical implementation lessons and research insights that don’t always make it into the final academic paper, and what is next on the horizon. The Botswana paper is available here (School’s Out: Experimental Evidence on Limiting Learning Loss Using “Low-Tech” in a Pandemic) and was co-authored by Noam Angrist, Peter Bergman, and Moitshepi Matsheng. The intervention and trial were the product of a collaboration between the Botswana Ministry of Basic Education and Young 1ove, in partnership with CSAE and J-PAL. A series of flexible funders and partners enabled the rapid COVID-19 response and trial in Botswana, including the Mulago Foundation, the Douglas B. Marshall Foundation, J-PAL Post-Primary Education (PPE) Initiative, TaRL Africa, the Global Challenges Research Fund, and Northwestern University’s “economics of nonprofits” class.
Speakers featured: Noam Angrist (Fellow at the CSAE, University of Oxford, and Co-founder of Young 1ove) Claire Cullen (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Young 1ove and University of Oxford) Thato Letsomo (Senior Manager for Content and Training, Young 1ove) Moitshepi Matsheng (Co-founder and country coordinator Young 1ove, Chairperson Botswana National Youth Council)
Standard microcredit contracts seem to have modest if any effects on the performance of small firms and no effects on household consumption. Could we construct a better design product to improve on the standard contract? Researchers discuss their project in Pakistan which explores if alternative contracts do better, and what the effects of offering larger financial products are. You can also find out more about the project on the CSAE website: https://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/asset-based-microfinance-for-microenterprises-in-pakistan#/
Featured speakers: Faisal Bari (Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives, and Lahore University of Management Sciences) Kashif Malik (Associate Professor in Economics, Lahore University of Management Sciences) Pramila Krishnan (Professor of Development Economics at Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford) Muhammad Meki (Departmental Lecturer, Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford) Simon Quinn (Deputy Director, CSAE and Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford)