VoxDev Development Economics

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, professor of economics at the University of Warwick, and Munshi Sulaiman, Director of Research at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development and a professor in the Master of Development Studies program at BRAC University, to ask what it takes to make job skills programs work.

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, about the challenges women face in commuting to work and about how safe transport can change career opportunities for millions of women.

Photo credit: ADB

Read the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/infrastructure/how-safe-transport-could-unlock-womens-labour-force-participation-pakistan

How does rising external debt in low-income countries affect the natural capital that
sustains 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 the 21 countries whose wealth relies on the river basins that they border, and how debt-for-nature swaps may be our best hope of avoiding both an economic and ecological disaster.

Read the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/energy-environment/debt-leading-unsustainable-exploitation-natural-resources

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 future.

And of course, what it was like to win the Nobel Prize.

Read the full show notes on VoxDev: https://voxdev.org/topic/macroeconomics-growth/geopolitics-ai-future-global-development-conversation-simon-johnson

Sahel and West Africa Club: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/directorates/sahel-and-west-africa-club.html

Power and progress: https://shapingwork.mit.edu/power-and-progress/

Civil war – the latest in a long series of armed conflicts – broke out in Sudan in April
2023. 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 the
risks to Sudan’s population if it is not.

Read the full show notes on VoxDev: https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/rebuilding-sudans-digital-infrastructure-amidst-conflict

Bangladesh's development story in the 21st century is often regarded as a model of
resilience 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 are
attempting to discover and communicate a clearer picture of the country’s present – and its options for the future. He talks to Tim Phillips about how evidence-based policy can give the country a path forward.

With populist politicians taking power around the world, policymakers are relying less
on 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 the
collaboration between Yale’s Economic Growth Center and VoxDev, host Catherine
Cheney asks Rory Stewart, former UK Secretary of State for International
Development, Stefan Dercon of the University of Oxford and formerly chief
economist of the UK Department for International Development, and Trudi Makhaya,
former economic advisor to the President of South Africa, how we can ensure that
facts and evidence still matter in policymaking.

Check out the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/development-dialogues-future-evidence-based-policymaking-and

What are the price impacts of cash transfer programs? Do they raise prices as well
as 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.

How does a healthy ecosystem benefit humanity? How does the normal functioning
of 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: https://voxdev.org/topic/energy-environment/economics-ecosystems-how-nature-and-economies-interact

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.

Read the full show notes on VoxDev: https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/peacemaking-peacebuilding-and-post-war-reconstruction