EGC Quarterly Newsletter, Winter 2025: Read the Economic Growth Center Annual Report
A Focus on Institutions
Historic patterns of structural transformation – where economies shift labor and resources from agriculture to industry and eventually to services, driving widespread income and productivity growth – are evolving with technological development and shifting geopolitics. Faculty affiliates at the Economic Growth Center are documenting these changes and analyzing what they mean for global poverty and inequality.
This year’s EGC Annual Report: A Focus on Institutions highlights how our researchers, frequently working together through EGC initiatives, are examining ways to strengthen institutions. This comes at a time when institutions across the world are being tested – with many failing.
Institutions are a technology like any other: the best allow people to cooperate freely and fairly for mutual benefit. A vital task for economists – particularly development economists – is not just to develop and test policies they hope institutions will implement, but also to investigate how to improve or redesign institutions themselves.
It’s a task we economists cannot achieve alone. We will need to partner with computer scientists, political scientists, sociologists, lawyers, psychologists, and economic historians, among others – as well as those working in existing institutions – all of whom will bring different perspectives and techniques to the problem.
We invite you to explore this work alongside the EGC community’s research, programming, teaching, and mentoring across a broad range of international development topics. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions on our priorities and direction in the years ahead – please feel free to email us.
Rohini Pande
Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics
Director, Economic Growth Center
Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan
Deputy Director, Economic Growth Center
Last chance to register for the Kuznets livestream!
Oriana Bandiera will deliver the 2025 Kuznets lecture, “Development and the Organization of Labor,” on Thursday, February 27 from 4-5:30pm. Bandiera is the Sir Anthony Atkinson Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics.
In the News: EGC affiliates share research insights to inform current trade and tariff debates
What will steep new U.S. tariffs mean for the global economy, manufacturing in “bystander” countries, and poverty reduction in lower-income countries? Pinelopi (Penny) Koujianou Goldberg, Amit Khandelwal, and other EGC researchers offer valuable insights.
EGC launches “Development Dialogues,” a collaborative podcast with VoxDevTalks
The series fosters direct dialogue between researchers and policymakers on critical development challenges. Learn more.
Financing climate adaptation
Namrata Kala (MIT Sloan School of Management), Catherine Wolfram (MIT Sloan and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate and Energy Economics), and EGC Director Rohini Pande examine the complexities of climate adaptation finance, the potential of voluntary carbon markets, and the urgent need for innovative solutions.
How can emerging economies break free from the sidelines of global trade?
Isabela Manelici (London School of Economics), Arvind Subramanian (Peterson Institute for International Economics and former Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India), and EGC Affiliate Amit Khandelwal discuss the challenges lower-income countries face when opening their markets to trade.
The future of evidence-based policymaking and international development
Stefan Dercon (Oxford and former Chief Economist at DFID, the UK’s foreign aid agency), Trudi Makhaya (Boston Consulting Group and former economic advisor to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa), and Rory Stewart (Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs and former UK Secretary of State for International Development) discuss the challenges of evidence-based policy in an era where populism and narratives often overshadow facts.
Events
Firms, Trade, and Development Conference 2024
October 24-25, 2024, New Haven: This year’s conference featured economic research on digital adoption, migrant networks, and environmental and market policies, offering insights into transformative strategies for low- and middle-income countries. Co-hosted by EGC and the International Growth Centre.
Rohini Pande Delivers the 3rd Annual Ashok Kotwal Memorial Lecture
December 11, 2024, Delhi: EGC Director Rohini Pande explored the challenges of scaling carbon compliance markets and the case for prioritizing voluntary carbon markets.
Last-Mile Innovations for Inclusive Governance: Research and Policy Symposium
December 13, 2024, Delhi: This symposium showcased innovations in last-mile governance aimed at improving social programs and strengthening community resilience. Hosted by Inclusion Economics India Centre and Yale Inclusion Economics.
Insights for Enhancing Women's Political Participation in Nepal’s Local Elections
December 20, 2024, Kathmandu: A panel of distinguished women leaders and thinkers examined barriers to women’s political representation in Nepal. Hosted by Inclusion Economics Nepal as part of the Nepal National Governance Symposium.
EGC Affiliate Spotlight
Pascual Restrepo
The newest EGC affiliate reflects on his journey from studying the economics of conflict to examining automation’s impact on labor markets, and offers insights on the future of work and inequality.
Recent Publications
Argente on estimates of the consumer surplus from using alternative payment methods in the context of Uber rides in Mexico; Arkolakis on the equilibrium properties of spatial models; Attanasio & Meghir on why consumption insurance against income shocks has declined in rural China; Attanasio & Meghir on the social networks of mothers of young children in rural Odisha, India; Bergquist on how a lockbox can boost farm investment and household consumption among small loan recipients in Kenya; Donovan on the role of labor market frictions in structural transformation; Fieler on how the gains from trade break down into changes in the quantity and price of goods traded; Fenichel on scientifically sound biodiversity valuation; Fenichel on biodiversity and conservation finance; Goldberg on how removing barriers to female entrepreneurs would affect female labor force participation in India; Hasanbasri with evidence on individual wealth inequality from low- and middle-income countries; Kortum on the assumptions behind recent quantitative equilibrium modeling of the global economy; Schott on a new method for identifying exposure to changes in trade policy based on asset prices.