Welcome to the Economic Development Working Group !

This Working Group started in 2015 and has since then organized a range of different activities, in the form of webinars, seminars, conferences, and reading groups. We have also publised an e-book on Dependency Theory and many of our members contribute to the blog Developing Economics. We place great emphasis on welcoming a diversity of approaches, theories and methodologies in our group. We prioritize research areas and approaches that are neglected in contemporary development economics. You can read more about our work on our WG web page.

What are some examples of activities the Working Group has done?

• Webinars on work of the working group members, as well as with guest speakers such as Sanjay Reddy, Morten Jerven, Erik Reinert, Elisa Van Waeyenberge and Kate Bayliss
• Conferences in New York, USA (see the livestream here) (2016) and Bloemfontein, South Africa (2017). The topic of the NYC conference was "Debating Development" and the Bloemfontein conference focused on Decolonizing Africa.
• Side-events to conferences in Budapest (on the role of methodology in Development Economics), Trento (on alternative approaches to trade and globalization), and Berlin (on alternative approaches to poverty)

What are some concrete plans for the future?

• We hope to launch a new webinar series soon, on the role of productive structures for understanding issues of institutions and distribution
• We are collaborating with other WGs and institutions to organize several conferences in 2018, generally focusing on 1) the role of productive structures and 2) the role of finance in development
• We are also working on a new e-book on institutions

How can you get involved?

Contact us, the coordinators! You can do so directly through YSD. We are looking forward to hearing from you, as we always welcome new members willing to take an active role in the group. You can get involved in an ongoing project or we can help you start your own project (e.g. webinar, webinar series, e-book, research agenda, conference, reading group).

Here are some photos from our activities

YSI Economic Development members during a workshop at the New York conference in 2016.

YSI Economic Development members during our workshop in Budapest, 2016. With Sanjay Reddy, Natalia De Lima Bracarense, and Ajit Singh.

YSI Economic Development and YSI Africa members in Bloemfontein, South Africa in June 2017. With Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni and Gareth Austin.

The YSI Economic Development coordinators Jenny Tue Anh Nguyen (Harvard University) and Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven (The New School). With our new e-book at the Trento Festival of Economics, 2017.