Conversations on Transformation

Recorded at the 2025 annual conference of the Structural Transformation and Economic Growth Programme, held at the University of Oxford. We have a mental model of structural transformation, and we have decades of empirical data to test our ideas about how that process works. But does it happen in the same way everywhere? This question has been hard to answer, not least because in some parts of...

Recorded at the 2025 annual conference of the Structural Transformation and Economic Growth Programme, held at the University of Oxford. If you have ever tried the private minibus routes that millions of people in low-income countries rely on to get to work, to shops, or to school, they can seem chaotic. But would it require large or small policy tweaks to make them work efficiently, and what ...

Recorded at the 2025 annual conference of the Structural Transformation and Economic Growth Programme, held at the University of Oxford. In China, the Hukou system has traditionally controlled migration from rural areas to cities. But if structural transformation is powered by exactly that type of migration, how did the Hukou system affect the life chances of Chinese people? Ting Chen of Hong ...

Recorded at the 2025 annual conference of the Structural Transformation and Economic Growth Programme, held at the University of Oxford. We know that inequality has an impact on development – but there are many types of inequality, and equally many ways to measure it. One of its most important dimensions, especially at the early stages of the transformation of an economy, is land inequality. H...

Recorded at the 2025 annual conference of the Structural Transformation and Economic Growth Programme, held at the University of Oxford. For many economies in the Global South, fossil fuel extraction has been both a blessing and a curse. Nowhere more so than Nigeria, where oil production generates huge revenues, but also creates an environmental and social burden for the people who live in oil...

Recorded at the 2025 annual conference of the Structural Transformation and Economic Growth Programme, held at the University of Oxford. For years, economists hardly dared speak in public about industrial policy, for fear of being laughed out of the room. Now, thanks partly to deglobalisation and trade wars, it’s back on the agenda. Beata Javorcik of the University of Oxford is the chief econ...

Recorded at the 2025 annual conference of the Structural Transformation and Economic Growth Programme, held at the University of Oxford. What do economists mean when they talk about “slack” in an economy, and why is it an important concept for development? Felix Samy Soliman of the University of Zurich and his co-authors have analysed firms in Kenya to find out whether they underuse their labo...

Recorded at the 2025 annual conference of the Structural Transformation and Economic Growth Programme, held at the University of Oxford. Why do people migrate to cities? Alternatively, if you have read the research on the large financial benefits of migration, you might wonder: if those estimates are correct, why doesn’t everyone migrate to a city? New research by Marieke Kleemans of the Unive...

Recorded at the 2025 annual conference of the Structural Transformation and Economic Growth Programme, held at the University of Oxford. When we think about digital technologies in business, we tend to think about payments and transactions. Throughout his career, Robert Townsend of MIT has studied the impact of financial systems, insurance and credit in development, especially in rural Thailan...

In the 2024 season of the Conversations on Transformation series, recorded at the STEG Annual Conference in Abu-Dhabi NYU, Tim Phillips talks to some of the speakers about the challenges and opportunities of structural transformation, growth, and economic development. In the last episode of this year’s series, Tim talks to Melanie Gräser about her research on how Liberia’s growth depends on mi...

In the 2024 season of the Conversations on Transformation series, recorded at the STEG Annual Conference in Abu-Dhabi NYU, Tim Phillips talks to some of the speakers about the challenges and opportunities of structural transformation, growth, and economic development. The health benefits for children and adults of the recent malaria vaccination efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa are very clear. In ...

In the 2024 season of the Conversations on Transformation series, recorded at the STEG Annual Conference in Abu-Dhabi NYU, Tim Phillips talks to some of the speakers about the challenges and opportunities of structural transformation, growth, and economic development. Creative destruction is the process by which failing businesses are replaced by new, more entrepreneurial firms. In the fifth e...

n the 2024 season of the Conversations on Transformation series recorded at the STEG Annual Conference at NYU Abu Dhabi, Tim Phillips talks to some of the speakers about the challenges and opportunities of structural transformation, growth, and economic development. Informal employment in Mexico amounts to half of all employment. In the fourth episode, Tim talks to Brenda Samaniego de la Parra...

In the 2024 season of the Conversations on Transformation series, recorded at the STEG Annual Conference at NYU Abu-Dhabi, Tim Phillips talks to some of the speakers about the challenges and opportunities of structural transformation, growth, and economic development. In the third episode, Tim talks to Felipe Sáenz about his latest research on the Industrial Revolution and the patterns of grow...

In the 2024 season of the Conversations on Transformation series recorded at the STEG Annual Conference at NYU Abu Dhabi, Tim Phillips talks to some of the speakers about the challenges and opportunities of structural transformation, growth, and economic development. In the second episode, Tim talks to Yaw Nyarko, who set up a microcredit system and nano-commodity exchanges for maize farmers i...

In the 2024 season of the Conversations on Transformation series, recorded at the STEG Annual Conference 2024 (https://steg.cepr.org/events/steg-annual-conference-2024-abu-dhabi) at NYU Abu-Dhabi, Tim Phillips talks to some of the speakers about the challenges and opportunities of structural transformation, growth, and economic development. The focus of the first episode is industrial policy. ...

The Conversations on Transformation series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this fifth and final episode, Tim talks to Marina Ngoma (Tufts University) about how Chinese imports have spurred manufacturing employment in Ethiopia. Read Chinese Imports and Industrialization in Africa: ...

The Conversations on Transformation series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this fourth episode of five, Tim talks to Nina Pavcnik (Dartmouth College) about how multinational affiliates and domestic firms in Vietnam adjusted to new export opportunities in the United States. Read FD...

The Conversations on Transformation series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this third episode of five, Tim talks to Allan Hsiao (Princeton University) about how Jakarta has adapted to sea level rise and why government intervention might have actually complicated the issue. Read Se...

The Conversations on Transformation series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this second episode of five, Tim talks to Nathan Lane (University of Oxford) about a new approach to measuring industrial policy and the new insights this offers. Read The Who, What, When, and How of Indust...

The Conversations on Transformation series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this first episode of five, Tim talks to Adnan Khan (Chief Economist at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) about how research is put into practice and the importance of structural transformat...

The Transforming Growth series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this fifth and final episode, Tim talks to Nicola Limodio (Bocconi University) about the investment of Chinese firms in developing economies. Read The Impact of Chinese FDI in Africa: Evidence From Ethiopia (https://id...

The Transforming Growth series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this fourth episode of five, Tim talks to Katherine Stapleton (World Bank) about automation in advanced economies and what this means for trade and globalisation. Read Automation, Trade and Multinational Activity: Micr...

The Transforming Growth series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this third episode of five, Tim talks to Federico Huneeus (Bank of Chile) and Richard Rogerson (Princeton University) about one of the biggest questions on economic development, what determines the differential pathways...

The Transforming Growth series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this second episode of five, Tim talks to Stephie Fried (Arizona State University and San Francisco Fed) about how important a reliable source of electricity is for firms that want to grow. Read Electricity and Firm Pr...

The Transforming Growth series, narrated by Tim Phillips, investigates some of the most important new research in structural transformation, growth and economic development. In this first episode of five, Tim talks to Doug Gollin (CEPR & University of Oxford) & Joe Kaboski (CEPR & University of Notre Dame), the academic leads of the Structural Transformation & Economic Growth (STEG) programme,...