We don’t know much about economic mobility in developing countries compared to

the 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.

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 decisions about education policy.

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.

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.

Mothers traditionally provide most of the care for children in early years. What role

do 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.

Paul Collier has for many years challenged the conventional wisdom of development

economics, bringing our attention to the real-world impact of policies many of us take

for granted. His new book is called Left Behind. It is about how some countries or

regions in the world fall behind, and what we can do to help them recover. In this

week’s episode he talks to Tim Phillips about what causes a place to be left behind,

the difficulty in stopping that downward spiral, and what the places that have

recovered have in common.

If women in developing countries want to work, what keeps them out of the labour

force? Is it the other tasks they have to do, or the expectations of the people around

them? Two new papers experiment with the effect of offering flexible working to

women in India, Lisa Ho talks to Tim Phillips about what the results might mean for

the millions of women in India and beyond who would like to work, but don’t.

If you want to do good, and do not have unlimited funds, how do you choose? Which

places, people, and situations are most deserving? Do you invest in economic

benefits or lives saved? Open Philanthropy in an organisation that aims to rigorously

optimise the impact of every dollar it spends. Emily Oehlsen tells Tim Phillips about

its successes so far, and how it still sometimes gets it wrong.

Many of us can recall when we first discovered there were more than a billion people

in the world who lived on “a dollar a day”. This extreme poverty line been effective at

raising awareness of the goals of development. But, if we want to eradicate poverty

rather than describe it, is it a useful tool – and what could improve on it? Charles

Kenny discusses how the line is drawn, and how it could be improved, with Tim

Phillips.

In developing countries, we know comparatively little about how well the elderly cope

with problems like depression and loneliness. There are few policies to support

sufferers, partly because of this lack of data. Maddie McKelway and Garima Sharma

tell Tim Phillips about some of the surprising revelations of a new cross-country

study and suggest ways in which policy can improve the mental health of seniors.