Claim OwnershipVoices in Development: A Podcast from Yale's Economic Growth Center
Subscribed: 5Played: 86
Subscribe
© 2025 Voices in Development: A Podcast from Yale's Economic Growth Center
Description
A regular series exploring issues related to sustainable development and economic justice in low and middle income countries. Produced by the Economic Growth Center at Yale University.
21 Episodes
Reverse
In this episode of Development Dialogues, a panel of experts dissect one of Africa’s most persistent development challenges: the low productivity of smallholder farmers. Despite decades of investment, innovation, and policy reform, yields on African small farms remain significantly below those in high-income countries—even when similar technologies are used. The discussion explores the nuanced landscape of African agriculture with panelists Gérardine Mukeshimana, Christopher Udry and Mark Ros...
In this episode of Development Dialogues, host Catherine Chaney is joined by Max Bearak, Anant Sudarshan and Jessica Seddon to examine one of the most complex challenges in global development: how can the clean energy transition move forward both quickly and equitably, particularly for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) still grappling with poverty? A central tension throughout the discussion is the balance between emissions reductions and economic growth. While wealthy nations historic...
Vocational training programs are designed to boost employment in low- and middle-income countries — but often they fall short. In the fourth in our series of Development Dialogues, we examine the real impact of vocational training programs in low- and middle-income countries. Our guests take on pressing questions around evidence, expectations, market realities, and coordination challenges in designing skills-based interventions for employment: Oriana Bandiera is the Sir Anthony Atkinson Profe...
In this episode of Development Dialogues, Rory Stewart, Stefan Dercon, and Trudi Makhaya join host Catherine Cheney to discuss the challenges of evidence-based policy in an era where populism and narratives often outweigh facts. The conversation centers around how to ensure facts and evidence still matter in policymaking and international development, especially as political landscapes become increasingly divided. Visit the Voices in Development homepage. To hear about new episodes, subscribe...
In the second episode of Development Dialogues, our new series with VoxDevTalks, host Catherine Cheney is joined by Amit Khandelwal, Isabela Manelici and Arvind Subramanian to discuss the challenges that developing countries encounter when opening their markets to trade, the effectiveness of industrial policy and the implications of Trump's presidency for trade in these nations. Amit Khandelwal is the Dong-Soo Hahn Professor of Global Affairs and Economics at Yale University. He holds affili...
Financing climate adaptation: What works, what doesn’t, and can carbon credits help to bridge the gap? In first episode of Development Dialogues, our new series with VoxDevTalks, host Catherine Cheney is joined by Namrata Kala, Rohini Pande, and Catherine Wolfram to discuss research on climate adaptation measures in lower-income countries, how to pay for them, and the role voluntary carbon markets and compliance markets can play. Namrata Kala is an Associate Professor at MIT Sloan School of ...
Rising sea levels are already creating intersecting crises in Bangladesh, often described as “the ground zero of climate change." How can social scientists aid in the response? When economists Islamul Haque and Mushfiq Mobarak began to examine the economic impact of rising salinity levels in coastal areas of Bangladesh, they expected to focus on labor and migration issues among farmers shifting from agriculture to aquaculture. However, when they began to talk to community members, they foun...
In Latin America, inequality has persisted despite major structural economic and social change. In order to help develop effective policies for a more equitable society, a new research initiative explores the causes and consequences of inequality within the Latin American context. In this episode of Voices in Development, three leading social scientists discuss a project to develop “a shared vision” of inequality in Latin America. Marcela Eslava, Professor of Economics and Dean of the School ...
Although women around the world have joined the labor market in rising numbers over the past several decades, the percentage of women in the labor force in India has declined, even while their education levels have risen and the country has experienced rapid economic growth. In this episode of Voices in Development, Farzana Afridi, a professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute in Delhi, and Kanika Mahajan, Associate Professor of Economics at Ashoka University in Sonipat, ...
Much of the research on economic development in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, is led by researchers who are outsiders to the regions they study. While this outsider perspective can help them see elements of the social or economic structure less visible to those who are deeply embedded in local institutions, partnerships with individuals and communities living and working in the area provide crucial insights for both the research process and its application to poli...
Despite the widespread acknowledgment of the potential for digital technologies to accelerate inclusive economic growth, not everyone has access to the mobile devices, internet connectivity, and affordable data they need to participate meaningfully in the digital economy. This digital divide, which includes gender specific barriers, prevents billions of people from accessing the fundamental digital resources necessary for participation in the modern economy. Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI...
The vast majority of climate financing is directed towards mitigating, reducing, or preventing greenhouse gas emissions. However, there is a vital need for climate financing aimed at adaptation, protecting the lives and livelihoods of the people most affected by climate change. Low-income countries are disproportionately suffering from climate breakdowns, particularly among the poorest and most vulnerable people within these countries. In this episode of Voices in Development, Kelsey J...
Today’s environmental crises are affecting lower-income countries – and within those countries, poor and marginalized communities – most of all. Policymakers in these countries are seeking new ways to balance trade-offs between the economic growth that can provide citizens with income-generating opportunities, and the harmful emissions that industrial production usually entails. For over a decade, EGC affiliate Nick Ryan and colleagues have worked with policymakers in the highly industrialize...
How do social norms – the set of informal rules, beliefs, and biases that govern behavior in a given group or society – affect the development process? While positive norms can support and accelerate development, harmful ones like slavery or female genital cutting can constrain it, exacerbating poverty and inequality. While social change in many high-income countries has reduced the prevalence of the most harmful norms over time, they continue to exist in many low- and middle-income countrie...
Almost 60 years after the passing of the Civil Rights Act in the US, race continues to determine patterns of income, wealth and opportunity. For Black Americans in particular, the predominance of exploitative practices such as sharecropping following the slave trade has enabled inequality to persist through a number of generations. In order to develop policies that tackle these injustices, what can economics or other disciplines reveal to us about past and present inequalities in societies wi...
Recent research has revealed how often life outcomes such as income, health, and wellbeing are set in the first few years of life. Parenting practices can foster positive gains in childhood development, but they may not be widely known or prioritized among poorer and marginalized groups in society, and millions of children around the world continue to face barriers that stop them reaching their potential. This often results in deprived home environments where poverty travels through generatio...
The upcoming 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF with its focus on “reshaping development for a new era” is an important reminder that systemic change does not happen overnight. Strong economic development requires adequate infrastructure, and individual access to markets and opportunities. However, many communities face social, environmental, and economic barriers that hobble development. Harsh landscapes and remote settings can constrain access to markets, and crises su...
Every year on January 26th, India celebrates Republic Day – the day the Indian Constitution went into effect in 1950, after three years of drafting and debate by independent India’s first Constituent Assembly. The Indian constitution outlined a vision of radical transformation. It established equality before the law for men and women – granting women the right to vote, prohibiting gender pay gaps, criminalizing gender-based discrimination, and creating provisions to protect the interest...
The global food system has been knocked off its axis by conflict, Covid-19, and climate change. Food prices have soared to record heights around the world, and lower-income countries face food shortages. As an economist with a focus on agricultural market research, Lauren Falcao Bergquist, Assistant Professor of Economics and Global Affairs and EGC affiliate, is motivated by her passion for improving the quality of life in the communities where she conducts her research. In this episode...
Once embraced as a pathway to global prosperity, globalization has come under attack in recent years. International trade has decreased inequality between nations, but at the cost of sometimes increasing inequalities within nations. As countries try to deal with the unequal benefits of trade by turning to protectionism, how can global coordination and poverty reduction be sustained? Pinelopi (Penny) Koujianou Goldberg – Elihu Professor of Economics and Global Affairs at Yale and an EGC affi...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States