Event recap: Clare Balboni (IDE ’09) returns to Yale for a conversation on economics and policy

Since 1955, Yale’s International and Development Economics (IDE) program has provided students with rigorous training in microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, and development economics. Many graduates have pursued careers in policy, academia, and the private sector – including Clare Balboni (IDE ’09), who went on to join MIT’s faculty and is now an assistant professor at the London School of Economics.

Balboni returned to Yale on February 27 and spoke with the current IDE cohort about her career in academia and policy. She reflected on her experiences in research and policy and offered insights on bridging both worlds.

Balboni’s path to development economics was anything but conventional. Originally from the UK, she began her academic journey studying physics at Cambridge University. Her interest in social sciences led her to the IDE program, where her strong quantitative background allowed her to explore real-world policy applications, leading to a career at the intersection of research and policy.

As an IDE student, she had the opportunity to work once a week at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York and gain first-hand exposure to how research translates into policy action.

Balboni’s career trajectory has spanned research and policy, from working at the UK Treasury during the global financial crisis, and engaging in climate and energy policy. Her fieldwork in Sudan, Uganda, Ghana, India and Bangladesh shaped her current research on how people and economies adapt to environmental change in lower-income countries. During the discussion, IDE co-directors Ana Cecilia Fieler and Michael Boozer asked Balboni about global versus local approaches to environmental issues, bridging the gap between research and policy, and her path as an economist.

Balboni argued that environmental challenges often incorporate  fundamentally economic problems where market failures require appropriately structured incentives. While engineers and environmental scientists provide technical expertise, economists can also play a crucial role in modeling behavior and designing policy interventions.

She discussed the effectiveness of addressing environmental challenges at the global versus local levels from a political economy perspective. She noted that global coordination is increasingly difficult, whereas targeting local externalities may provide an alternative means to help achieve effective policies.

In her research on Indonesian wildfires, Balboni focused on the local externalities associated with these environmental disasters. Although her focus on local externalities was for pragmatic reasons and empirical feasibility, she believes that the approaches and findings are significantly relevant to regional and global consequences. Similarly, her ongoing work on global waste trade examines waste disposal in low and middle -income developing countries – much of it involving waste imported from high-income developed nations. Using shifts in China’s waste import policies, she examines how local externalities have far-reaching policy and welfare implications.

A significant portion of Balboni’s discussion revolved around the dual objectives of policy relevance and intellectual curiosity in her research. She emphasized that research does not always need to be directly policy-driven from the outset; rather, policy engagement often evolves alongside research.

As Balboni’s research experience grew over time, she took on more policy-facing roles, including co-leading the energy and environment research program at LSE’s International Growth Centre (IGC), and the climate and environment theme at Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL).

Balboni also shared insights on her career decisions after IDE. She forayed into different areas of economics and policy before ultimately deciding to pursue a PhD at LSE and focus on research. She described academic life as rewarding, flexible and demanding, requiring self-motivation and careful intentional project selection. She encouraged students to consider not only what they are good at but also what they enjoy, suggesting that different career paths – academia, policy, and private sector – offer distinct experiences.

Reflecting on her academic path, Balboni said, "Within the academic realm, I wanted to focus on policy-relevant research to contribute at the boundary between research and policy. Coming at it from an academic position, I think carefully about my choice of projects. An important component of that is being very passionate about new research projects."