Programme Area Development & Growth

Development Economics

Development Economic researchers explore the factors that contribute to the persistence of poverty and/or to slow growth, such as the country’s infrastructure, the standards of health and education services, the functioning of markets, and government policy. By studying the decisions of households, firms and policymakers, they formulate theories and test them empirically, with the goal of offering solutions for improvement.

Key areas covered are:

poverty reduction
social services and human capital: health and education policies
private sector development in low-income countries
microeconomics of growth
markets and market failures: land, credit, insurance

Annual Symposium

The Development Economics annual symposium is a chance for researchers to come together over two days to discuss recent research in the field. In recent years, it has been jointly hosted with organisations such as the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), Trinity Impact Evaluation Unit and the Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD)

Event Series

Development Economics Symposium

Development

Virtual Development Economics Webinar Series

VDEV/CEPR/BREAD Seminars is an online seminar series, featuring invited speakers in the area of Development Economics. It was set up in the spring semester of 2020 as the VDEV seminar and now continues jointly with CEPR and BREAD. It is organised jointly by CEPR, the University of Geneva (UniGe), Barcelona School of Economics (BSE), Paris School of Economics (PSE), Stockholm School of Economics and BREAD.

Event Series

Virtual Development Economics Series

Development

Development Economics

VoxDev

Development economics from research to practice

VoxDev is a platform for economists, policymakers, practitioners, donors, the private sector and others interested in development to discuss key policy issues. Expert contributors provide insightful commentary, analysis, and evidence on a wide range of policy challenges in formats that we hope are accessible to a wide audience interested in development. We aim to put evidence from decades of academic research into the hands of decision-makers and civil society in developing countries in a way that they can be easily accessed and actually put to use, ultimately encouraging the design and implementation of more evidence-based policy.

Programme Directors

Eliana La Ferrara

Professor of Public Policy Harvard Kennedy School; Scientific Director Laboratory for Effective Anti-poverty Policies Bocconi University

Research Fellows

Daron Acemoglu

Institute Professor in the Department of Economics Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Abigail Adams-Prassl

Philippe Aghion

Professor Collège De France; The Kurt Björklund Chaired Professor in Innovation and Growth European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD); Visiting Professor London School Of Economics And Political Science

Sule Alan

Professor of Economics Bilkent University; Professor of Economics and Public Policy Cornell University; Professor of Economics European University Institute

Ingvild Almås

Professor of Economics Institute For International Economic Studies (IIES), Stockholm University; PI for Development Research at FAIR Centre of Excellence Norwegian School of Economics (NHH); Visiting Professor at Economics Department 2024/2025 Yale University

Siwan Anderson

Professor in the Vancouver School of Economics University Of British Columbia

Sam Asher

Cofounder Development Data Lab; Associate Professor Imperial College London, Business School

Nava Ashraf

Co-Lead Academic International Growth Centre; Professor of Economics London School Of Economics And Political Science

David Atkin

Professor of Economics Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Orazio Attanasio

Cowles Professor of Economics Yale University

Emmanuelle Auriol

Professor Toulouse School Of Economics

Jean-Marie Baland

Professor in the Department of Economics University Of Namur

Oriana Bandiera

Sir Anthony Atkinson Professor of Economics London School Of Economics And Political Science

Abhijit Banerjee

Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Natalie Bau

Associate Professor in the Department of Economics University Of California, Los Angeles

Erik Berglöf

Chief Economist Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Marianne Bertrand

Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Willard Graham Faculty Scholar in the Booth School of Business University Of Chicago

Tim Besley

School Professor of Economics and Political Science and the W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics London School Of Economics And Political Science

Michael Best

Assistant Professor of Economics Columbia University

Sonia Bhalotra

Professor of Economics University Of Warwick

Martina Björkman Nyqvist

Executive Director of Misum, Mistra Center of Sustainability Center; Carl Bennet & Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Professor in Economics Stockholm School Of Economics

Christopher Blattman

Co-Lead of the Development Economics Centre and the International Policy & Development Programme, the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at the Harris School of Public Policy University Of Chicago

Nicholas Bloom

William Eberle Professor of Economics Stanford University

Matteo Bobba

Professor of Economics Toulouse School Of Economics

Tessa Bold

Associate Professor Institute For International Economic Studies (IIES), Stockholm University

Francois Bourguignon

Global Professor New York University Abu Dhabi; Emeritus Professor Paris School of Economics (PSE)

Gharad Bryan

Associate Professor of Economics London School Of Economics And Political Science

Konrad Burchardi

Research Affiliate Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development; Professor of Economics Institute For International Economic Studies (IIES), Stockholm University

Robin Burgess

Professor of Economics, Co-Founder and Director of the International Growth Centre and Director of the Economics of Environment and Energy Research Programme London School Of Economics And Political Science

Paula Bustos

ICREA Research Professor Pompeu Fabra University

Michael Callen

Associate Professor of Economics London School Of Economics And Political Science

Pedro Carneiro

Professor of Economics University College London

Lorenzo Casaburi

Associate Professor (with Tenure) in the Department of Economics University Of Zurich

Francesco Caselli

Norman Sosnow Chair in Economics London School Of Economics And Political Science

Guilhem Cassan

Professor of Economics University Of Namur

Julie Chytilová

Associate Professor of Economics Charles University; Researcher Czech Academy of Sciences

Antonio Ciccone

Professor of Macroeconomics in the Department of Economics University Of Mannheim

Lucia Corno

Executive Director, Laboratory for Effective Anti-poverty Policies (LEAP) Bocconi University; Associate Professor of Economics Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore

Giacomo De Giorgi

Visiting Professor of Economics University of California, Berkeley; Professor of Economics University Of Geneva

Stefan Dercon

Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies and Fellow of Jesus College; Professor of Economic Policy in the Blavatnik School of Government and Economics Department University Of Oxford

Taryn Dinkelman

Loughrey Associate Professor of Economics University Of Notre Dame

Matthias Doepke

Professor of Economics London School Of Economics And Political Science; Gerald F. and Marjorie G. Fitzgerald Professor of Economic History Northwestern University

Dave Donaldson

Professor of Economics Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Oeindrila Dube

Philip K. Pearson Professor, Harris School of Public Policy University Of Chicago

Pierre Dubois

Senior Member Institut Universitaire de France; Professor of Economics, Toulouse School of Economics Toulouse School Of Economics

Esther Duflo

Co-Director Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL); Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); President

Pascaline Dupas

Professor of Economics and Public Affairs Princeton University

Ruben Enikolopov

Researcher, Barcelona Institute of Political Economy and Governance; Affiliate Professor Barcelona School Of Economics; Visiting Professor New Economic School; ICREA Research Professor Pompeu Fabra University

Benjamin Faber

Associate Professor of Economics University of California, Berkeley

Marcel Fafchamps

Satre Family Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute Stanford University

Raquel Fernandez

Silver Professor of Economics New York University

Erica Field

Professor of Economics and Global Health Duke University

Garance Genicot

Maitreesh Ghatak

Director of the Development Economics Programme, STICERD; Professor of Economics London School Of Economics And Political Science

Douglas Gollin

Governing Body Fellow at St. Antony’s College and Professor of Development Economics University Of Oxford

Michael Greenstone

Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, Director of the Becker Friedman Institute and the Interdisciplinary Energy Policy Institute University Of Chicago

Selim Gulesci

Associate Professor of Economics Trinity College Dublin

Sergei Guriev

Dean and Professor of Economics London Business School; Dean and Professor of Economics Provost and Professor of Economics Sciences Po Paris

Rema Hanna

Jeffrey Cheah Professor of South-East Asia Studies and Chair of the International Development Area at the Kennedy School, Faculty Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) at the Center for International Development Harvard University

Johannes Haushofer

Goh Keng Swee Professor of Economics National University Of Singapore; Professor of Economics Stockholm University

Moshe Hazan

Professor of Economics Monash University

Chang-Tai Hsieh

Phyllis and Irwin Winkelried Professor of Economics and PCL Faculty Scholar University Of Chicago

Seema Jayachandran

Director of the Research Programme of Development Economics and Professor of Economics and Public Affairs Princeton University

Simon Johnson

Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship, Head of the Global Economics and Management Group and Faculty Chair of the Sloan Fellows Programme Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Joseph Kaboski

David F. and Erin M. Seng Foundation Professor of Economics University Of Notre Dame

Ravi Kanbur

T. H. Lee Professor of World Affairs, International Professor of Applied Economics and Management, Professor of Economics Cornell University

Martin Kanz

Senior Economist, Development Research Group The World Bank

Dean Karlan

Frederic Esser Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance, Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University; Chief Economist, USAID

Supreet Kaur

Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics University of California, Berkeley

Asim Khwaja

Director of the Center for International Development and Sumitomo-FASID Professor of International Finance and Development, Harvard Kennedy School Harvard University

Michael Kremer

Faculty Fellow for the Center for International Development at Harvard Kennedy School Harvard University; University Professor in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and Director of the Development Innovation Lab University Of Chicago

Pramila Krishnan

Professor of Development Economics University Of Oxford

Eliana La Ferrara

Professor of Public Policy Harvard Kennedy School; Scientific Director Laboratory for Effective Anti-poverty Policies Bocconi University

Victor Lavy

William Haber Chaired Professor of Economics Hebrew University Of Jerusalem; Chaired Professor in the Department of Economics University Of Warwick

Rocco Macchiavello

Professor of Managerial Economics & Strategy London School Of Economics And Political Science

Karen Macours

Professor Paris School of Economics (PSE)

Andreas Madestam

Professor of Economics Stockholm University

David McKenzie

Lead Economist in the Development Research Group, Finance and Private Sector Development Unit The World Bank

Costas Meghir

Douglas A. Warner III Professor of Economics Yale University

Guy Michaels

Edward Miguel

Faculty Co-Director of the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) and Oxfam Professor in Environmental and Resource Economics University of California, Berkeley

Ahmed Mobarak

Dilip Mookherjee

Professor of Economics Boston University

Ameet Morjaria

Associate Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences Kellogg School Of Management, Northwestern University

Hannes Mueller

Programme Director of the M.Sc. Data Science for Decision Making and Associate Research Professor Barcelona School Of Economics; Tenured Researcher Institute for Economic Analysis

Sendhil Mullainathan

Roman Family University Professor of Computation and Behavioral Science at Chicago Booth University Of Chicago

Karthik Muralidharan

Tata Chancellor's Professor of Economics University of California, San Diego

Benjamin Olken

Jane Berkowitz Carlton and Dennis William Carlton Professor of Microeconomics Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Ralph Ossa

Kühne Foundation Professor of International Trade and Director of the Kühne Center for Sustainable Trade and Logistics University Of Zurich; Chief Economist and Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division World Trade Organization

Gerard Padró i Miquel

Director of the Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy and Professor of Economics and Political Science Yale University

Rohini Pande

Professor (Courtesy), Jackson School of Global Affairs; Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center Yale University

Torsten Persson

Swedish Research Council Distinguished Professor at the Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES) Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University

Thomas Piketty

Co-director, World Inequality Lab & World Inequality Database; Professor of Economics Paris School of Economics (PSE)

Jean-Philippe Platteau

Active Emeritus Professor of Economics University Of Namur

Dina Pomeranz

Assistant Professor University Of Zurich

Yingyi Qian

Professor in the School of Economics and Management and Distinguished Professor of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Tsinghua University

Nancy Qian

James J. O'Connor Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences at Kellogg MEDS Northwestern University

Fellow, Development Economics / Fellow, Political Economy / RPN Member, Preventing Conflict: Policies for Peace / RPN Member, Geoeconomics

Hillel Rapoport

Professor Paris School of Economics (PSE); Professor University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne

Imran Rasul

Professor of Economics and Co-director of the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre on Wealth Concentration, Inequality and the Economy University College London

Marta Reynal-Querol

ICREA Research Professor, Professor of Economics, Director of IPEG, Department of Economics and Business Pompeu Fabra University

James A. Robinson

The Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies University Professor University Of Chicago; Fellow of the Institute of African Studies

Dani Rodrik

Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University

Dominic Rohner

Co-Director of the Department of Economics and Professor of Economics HEC Lausanne

Fellow, Development Economics / Fellow, Political Economy / RPN Leader, Preventing Conflict: Policies for Peace / RPN Member, Geoeconomics / Fellow, Climate Change and the Environment

Gérard Roland

E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science University of California, Berkeley

Christopher Roth

Senior Research Fellow Max Planck Institute For Research On Collective Goods; Professor of Economics and Management University Of Cologne

Paul Seabright

Professor of Economics Toulouse School Of Economics; Professor of Economics and Fellow of All Souls College University Of Oxford

Sandra Sequeira

Associate Professor at the International Development Department London School Of Economics And Political Science

Tavneet Suri

Louis E. Seley Professor of Applied Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Jakob Svensson

Director and Professor of Economics Institute For International Economic Studies (IIES), Stockholm University

Adam Szeidl

Professor in the Department of Economics and Business Central European University

Alessandro Tarozzi

Associate Professor (with tenure) in the Department of Economics and Business Barcelona School Of Economics; Professor of Economics European University Institute; Associate Professor (with tenure) Pompeu Fabra University

Silvana Tenreyro

External Monetary Policy Committee Member Bank Of England; Professor London School Of Economics And Political Science

Michèle Tertilt

Professor of Economics University Of Mannheim

Andrea Tesei

Professor of Economics Queen Mary University Of London

Edoardo Teso

Associate Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences at the Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University

Duncan Thomas

Norb F. Schaefer Distinguished Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics, Global Health and Public Policy Duke University

Robert Townsend

Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Christopher Udry

Co-Director, Global Poverty Research Lab King Professor of Economics Northwestern University

Oliver Vanden Eynde

Research Fellow French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS); Chaired Professor Paris School of Economics (PSE)

Anthony Venables

Research Director The Productivity Institute; Professor of Economics University Of Manchester

Marcos Vera-Hernández

Professor of Economics at UCL Research Fellow at IFS Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

Eric Verhoogen

Founding Director and Current Co-Director of the Center for Development Economics and Policy and Professor in the Department of Economics and School of International and Public Affairs Columbia University

Pedro Vicente

Founder and Scientific Director, the Nova Africa Center for Business and Economic Development; Professor of Economics NOVA University Lisbon

Shang-Jin Wei

N.T. Wang Professor of Chinese Business and Economy, Professor of Finance and Economics at the Graduate School of Business and School of International and Public Affairs Columbia University