CEPR’s Structural Transformation and Economic Growth (STEG) programme is proud to present the fifth Annual Conference on Structural Transformation and Economic Growth and Theme Workshops between 8 and 11 January 2025. Funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), STEG is a research initiative that aims to provide a better understanding of structural change, productivity, and growth in low- and middle-income countries
Workshops on STEG Themes 0, 2 and 4 will take place in-person on Wednesday 8 January and workshop on STEG Themes 1, 3 and 5 will take place in-person on Saturday 11 January. The plenary session will take place in-person on Thursday 9 January and Friday 10 January. All events will be held at Oxford University with the support from the Department of Economics at the University of Oxford.
About the events
The STEG conference will showcase keynote talks, academic and policy panels, ongoing projects, and recent research papers related to structural transformation. Along with full-length presentations, shorter sessions will display a wide range of research, particularly by young scholars. We hope to highlight the field's diverse research and disseminate outstanding projects funded by STEG. We also hope to provide networking and engagement opportunities for early-career researchers across various institutions and geographies.
Join Us Online
If you are keen to attend the conference online, please fill out this form. Zoom links for online participation will be sent to you a few days prior to the start of the event.
Annual Conference Programme
A PDF version of the Annual Conference programme can be found here. Kindly note that the programme is subject to minor changes; the PDF version will reflect the latest changes.
Wednesday, 8 January
Theme 0, 2 and 4 workshops in parallel, with joint lunch
Theme 0 Workshop on Data, Measurement, and Conceptual Framing
Location: Seminar Room A
Organisers: Akos Valentinyi (University of Manchester and CEPR) and Gaaitzen de Vries (University of Groningen), the STEG Theme 0 leaders.
Click here to join the Zoom livestream of the Theme 0 workshop using the password STEG.RoomA
9:00-9:45: Nadine Yamout: “Unemployment in a Commodity-Rich Economy: How Relevant Is Dutch Disease?”, American University of Beirut (AUB) (with Mariano Kulish, James Morley, Francesco Zanetti) Slides
9:45-10:30: Prashant Garg*: “The Rise of Onshoring: Evidence from a new AI Production Network”, Imperial College London (with Thiemo Fetzer, Peter John Lambert, Bennet Feld) Slides
10:30-11:00: Break
11:00-11:45: Zebang Xu*: “The (Mis)Allocation Channel of Climate Change: Evidence from Global Firm-level Microdata”, Cornell University (with Tianzi Liu)
11:45-12:30: Emmanuel B. Mensah: “The Role of Exports for Income and Jobs in Sub-Saharan African Countries: New Evidence from ASUT Database”, Utrecht University (with Gaaitzen de Vries) Slides
12:30-13:30: Lunch
13:30-14:15: Jan Grobovsek: “Occupational Choices, Human Capital, and Cross-Country Income Differences”, University Of Edinburgh (with Charles Gottlieb, Alexander Monge-Naranjo) Slides
14:15-15:00: Akos Valentinyi: “Structural Transformation or Marketization? The Role of Household Production in Consumption Expenditure”, University of Manchester and CEPR (with Benjamin Bridgman) Slides
15:00-15:30: Break
15:30-16:15: Heng Chen: “Bottom-up Institutional Change and Growth: Theory and Evidence from China”, University of Hong Kong (with Bingjing Li and Xiaodong Zhu) Slides
16:15-17:00: Adriano Fernandes: “K Wasn't Built in a Day: Investment with Endogenous Time to Build”, International Monetary Fund (with Rodolfo Rigato)
Theme 2 Workshop on Labour, Home Production, and Structural Transformation at the Level of the Household
Location: Seminar Room C
Organisers: L. Rachel Ngai (LSE and CEPR) and Taryn Dinkelman (Notre Dame and CEPR), the STEG Theme 2 leaders.
Click here to join the Zoom livestream of the Theme 2 workshop using the password STEG.RoomC
9:00-10:00: Niharika Singh: “Gender Dynamics in Entry into Competitive Careers: Evidence from Indian Civil Services”, University of Notre Dame (with Kunal Mangal) Slides
10:00-11:00: Nathan Barker: “Flexibility versus Performance: The Determinants of Labor Contracts in Nairobi, Kenya”, University of Chicago (with Inbar Amit, Alison Andrew, Robert Garlick, Kate Orkin, and Carol Nekesa) Slides
11:00-11:30: Break
11:30-12:30: Angelica Martinez Leyva*: “Job Flexibility and Informality”, University of Warwick Slides
12:30-13:30: Lunch
13:30-14:30: L. Rachel Ngai: “Gendered Change: 150 Years of Transformation in US Hours”, LSE and CEPR (with Claudia Olivetti and Barbara Petrongolo) Slides
14:30-15:30: Quynh Huynh*: “Gender Norms and Female Labor Supply: Evidence from Export Shocks in Vietnam”, University College London (with Hyejin Ku)
15:30-16:00: Break
16:00-17:00: Brian McCaig: “Foreign Manufacturing Jobs and Women: Impacts on Work, Marriage, and Childbirth”, Wilfrid Laurier University (with Natalia Drozdoff and Nina Pavcnik) Slides
Theme 4 Workshop on Trade and Spatial Frictions
Location: Skills Lab
Organisers: Michael Waugh (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis) and Paula Bustos (Universitat Pompeu Fabra and CEPR), the STEG Theme 4 leaders.
Click here to join the Zoom livestream of the Theme 4 workshop using the password STEG.RoomD
9:00-10:00: Aishwarya Kekre*: “Ports, Roads, and Structural Change: The Role of Internal Geography in Trade Liberalization”, University of Virginia (with Anmol Agarwal) Slides
10:00-11:00:Sarah Schroeder: “Mobility Frictions, Partial Migration and the Distributional Effects of International Trade”, Aarhus University (with Rui Zhang) Slides
11:00-11:30: Break
11:30-12:30: Lucas Zavala: “Quality Regulation Creates and Reallocates Trade”, World Bank (with Ana Fernandes, Ryan Haygood, Tristan Reed, Jose Daniel Reyes) Slides
12:30-13:30: Lunch
13:30-14:30: Yuhei Miyauchi: “Unpacking Aggregate Welfare in a Spatial Economy”, Boston University (with Eric Donald, Masao Fukui) Slides
14:30-15:30: Florian Oswald: “Structural Change, Land Use and Urban Expansion”, SciencesPo (with Nicolas Coeurdacier, Marc Teignier) Slides
15:30-16:00: Break
16:00-17:00: Jordan Norris: “Diet, Economic Development and Climate Change”, NYU Abu Dhabi (with Heitor Pellegrina and Lucas Correa) Slides
Thursday, 9 January
Plenary Session Day 1
Location: Lecture Theatre
Organisers: Gabriel Ulyssea (UCL and CEPR), Isabela Manelici (LSE and CEPR), and Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis (NYU Abu Dhabi and CEPR), the STEG Annual Conference 2025 Organisers, along with Douglas Gollin (Tufts University and CEPR) and Joseph Kaboski (University of Notre Dame and CEPR), the STEG Research Director and STEG Head of Commissioning and Chair of the Academic Steering Committee respectively.
Click here to join the Zoom livestream of the Plenary Session using the password STEG.RoomD
08:50: Gabriel Ulyssea, Isabela Manelici, and Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis: Welcoming Remarks from the STEG Annual Conference Organisers
09:00-10:00: Lucas Conwell: “Privatized Provision of Public Transit”, University College London [Discussant: Gharad Bryan, London School of Economics and CEPR] Slide 1 & Slide 2
10:00-11:00: Julien Wolfersberger: “Deforestation and Structural Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa”, AgroParisTech and Paris-Saclay University (with Kenneth Houngbedji, Clément Imbert, Samuel Marshall, and Liam Wren-Lewis) [Discussant: Taryn Dinkelman, University of Notre Dame and CEPR] Slides
11:00-11:15: Break
11:15-12:15: Robert Townsend: STEG Academic Keynote (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Slides
12:15-13:35: Speed Round Session 1
12:15: Eva Van Leemput: “Internal Trade Barriers in India”, Federal Reserve Board (with Prabhat Barnwal, Jonathan Dingel, Daniil Iurchenko, and Pravin Krishna) Slides
12:35: Arinze Nwokolo: “Gas Flaring, Agricultural Productivity and Labor Reallocation: Evidence from Nigeria”, Lagos Business School Slides
12:55: Harrison Mitchell*: “Land inequality and rural structural transformation: Evidence from India”, University of California San Diego (with Frances Lu and Manaswini Rao) Slides
13:15: Anisha Garg*: “Safe Travels: Transport Development and Women’s Safety in India”, University Of Warwick Slides
13:35-14:30: Lunch
14:30-15:30: Kei-Mu Yi: “Structural Change in sub-Saharan Africa: An Open Economy Perspective”, University of Houston, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and NBER (with Gaaitzen de Vries, Hagen Kruse, Emmanuel Mensah, and Yabo Vidogbena) [Discussant: Michael Waugh, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis] Slide 1 & Slide 2
15:30-15:45: Break
15:45-16:45: Anand Chopra: “The Equilibrium Impact of Agricultural Support Prices and Input Subsidies”, University Of Liverpool (with Pubali Chakraborty and Lalit Contractor) [Discussant: Jan Grobovšek, University of Edinburgh] Slides
16:45-17:45: STEG Policy Keynote delivered by Beata Javorcik: "Navigating Industrial Policy in a Turbulent World", University of Oxford, EBRD, and CEPR Slides
Friday, 10 January
Plenary Session Day 2
Location: Lecture Theatre
Organisers: Gabriel Ulyssea (UCL and CEPR), Isabela Manelici (LSE and CEPR), and Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis (NYU Abu Dhabi and CEPR), the STEG Annual Conference 2025 Organisers, along with Douglas Gollin (Tufts University and CEPR) and Joseph Kaboski (University of Notre Dame and CEPR), the STEG Research Director and STEG Head of Commissioning and Chair of the Academic Steering Committee respectively.
Click here to join the Zoom livestream of the Plenary Session using the password STEG.RoomD
09:30-10:30: Felix Samy Soliman*: “Slack and Economic Development”, University of Zurich (with Michael Walker, Nachiket Shah, Edward Miguel, Dennis Egger, and Tilman Graff) [Discussant: Federico Rossi, University of Warwick] Slides
10:30-11:30: Johannes Boehm: “The Network Origins of Firm Dynamics: Contracting Frictions and Dynamism with Long-Term Relationships”, The Graduate Institute Geneva and CEPR (with Ezra Oberfield, Ruairidh South, and Mazhar Waseem) [Discussant: Yuhei Miyauchi, Boston University] Slides
11:30-11:45: Break
11:45-12:45: STEG Climate Policy Keynote delivered by Rachel Kyte: "A To-Do List for 2025: How Can We Strengthen Cooperation for Just Transitions in an Era of Fraying Multilateralism and Growing Economic Nationalism", University of Oxford and UK Special Representative on Climate
12:45-13:45: Lunch
13:45-14:45: Speed Round Session 2
13:45: Claudia Gentile: “Relying on Intermittency: Clean Energy, Storage, and Innovation in a Macro Climate Model”, London School of Economics and CEP Slides
14:05: Adam Szeidl: “Firm-to-firm referrals”, Central European University (with Jing Cai and Wei Lin) Slides
14:25: Clement Minaudier: “Spillovers in State Capacity Building: Evidence from the Digitization of Land Records in Pakistan”, City University (with ShanAman-Rana) Slides
14:45-15:00: Break
15:00-16:00: Marieke Kleemans: “Selection and Heterogeneity in the Returns to Migration”, University of Illinois (with Eduardo Cenci and Emilia Tjernstrom) [Discussant: Dennis Egger, University of Oxford] Slides
16:00-17:00: Ting Chen and Jia Jia Gu: “Sowing Seeds of Mobility: Gender-biased Impact of Land Reforms”, Hong Kong Baptist University and IMF (with L. Rachel Ngai and Jin Wang) [Discussant: Julieta Caunedo, Cornell University and CEPR] Slide 1 & Slide 2
17:00: Doug Gollin and Joe Kaboski: Closing Remarks
Saturday, 11 January
Theme 1, 3 and 5 workshops in parallel, with joint lunch
Theme 1 Workshop on Firms, Frictions and Spillovers, Industrial Policy
Location: Seminar Room A
Organisers: Ezra Oberfield (Cornell University) and Francisco Buera (Washington University in St. Louis and CEPR), the STEG Theme 1 leaders.
Click here to join the Zoom livestream of the Theme 1 workshop using the password: STEG.RoomA
9:00-10:00: Gustavo de Souza: “More Trade, Less Diffusion: Technology Transfers and the Dynamic Effects of Import”, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (with Ruben Gaetani and Marti Mestieri) Slides
10:00-10:30: Luis Felipe Sáenz: “Jobless Industrialization”, University Of South Carolina (with Laura Alfaro, Marcela Eslava, Martí Mestieri) Slides
10:30-11:15: Break
11:15-12:15: Jeremy Majerovitz: “Measuring Misallocation with Experiments”, University of Notre Dame (with David Hughes) Slides
12:15-12:45: Megha Patnaik: “Big India vs Big US”, Luiss Guido Carli Free International University for Social Studies and CEPR (with Nick Bloom, Pete Klenow, Shelby Buckman) Slides
12:45-13:15: Kriti Khanna: “Credit Contract Enforcement and Income Disparities Across Indian States”, Plashka University Slides
13:15-14:15: Lunch
14:15-15:15: Martin Rotemberg: “Gaining Steam: Technology Switching and Entrant Leapfrogging”, New York University (with Richard Hornbeck, Shanon Hsuan-Ming Hsu, Anders Humlum) Slides
15:15-15:45: Yongseok Shin: “Risky Business and the Process of Development”, Washington University in St. Louis (with Paco Buera, Jeremy Majerovitz, Kuldeep Singh) Slides
15:45-16:00: Break
16:00-17:00: Xiaomei Sui: "Innovation Potential, Firm Life Cycle, and Cross-Country Productivity Differences”, University Of Hong Kong Slides
Theme 3 Workshop on Agricultural Productivity and Sectoral Gaps
Location: Seminar Room C
Organisers: Julieta Caunedo (Cornell University and CEPR) and Kevin Donovan (Yale School of Management), the STEG Theme 3 leaders.
Click here to join the Zoom livestream of the Theme 3 workshop using the password STEG.RoomC
9:00-10:00: Wyatt Brooks: “Global Trade Shocks and Local Agricultural Policy in Rwanda”, Arizona State University (with Kevin Donovan) [Discussant: Kristina Manysheva, Columbia University] Slides & Slides (Discussion)
10:00-11:00: Eduardo Pinheiro Fraga: “Fertilizer Import Bans, Agricultural Exports, and Welfare: Evidence from Sri Lanka”, London Business School (with Devaki Ghose and Ana Fernandes) [Discussant: Minki Kim, University of Mannheim] Slides & Slides (Discussion)
11:00-11:15: Break
11:15-12:15: Yulu Tang: “Quality Incentives and Upgrading in Uganda's Coffee Supply Chain”, Harvard University [Discussant: Lucas Zavala, World Bank] Slides & Slides (Discussion)
12:15-13:15: Florian Trouvain: “A General Equilibrium Analysis of Income Risk and Consumption Volatility in Rural-Urban Economies”, University of Oxford [Discussant: Kevin Donovan, Yale School of Management] Slides & Slides (Discussion)
13:15-14:15: Lunch
14:15-15:15: Marco Sanfilippo: “The Local (Informal) Multiplier of Industrial Jobs”, University of Turin (with Francesco Amodio, Elia Benveniste, Hoang Pham) [Discussant: Brian McCaig, Wilfrid Laurier University] Slides & Slides (Discussion)
15:15-16:00: Break
16:00-17:00: Tomás Budí-Ors: “Rural-Urban Migration and Structural Change: A Reinterpretation”, European University Institute [Discussant: Dennis Egger, University of Oxford] Slides
Theme 5 Workshop on The Role of the Public Sector
Location: Skills Lab
Organisers: Abdoulaye Ndiaye (New York University and CEPR), Manuel García-Santana (World Bank and CEPR), and Martina Kirchberger (Trinity College Dublin and CEPR), the STEG Theme 5 leaders.
Click here to join the Zoom livestream of the Theme 5 workshop using the password STEG.RoomD
9:00-10:00: Honghao Zheng*: “Imperfect (Re)allocation in Imperfect Markets: Evidence from China's Pilot Carbon ETS”, KU Leuven (with Johannes Van Biesebroeck) Slides
10:00-11:00: Olivia Wirth*: “Mobile Technologies and Firm Formalization: Evidence from Uganda”, University of Passau (with Marina Dodlova, Krisztina Kis-Katos, Anna Kochanova) Slides
11:00-11:15: Break
11:15-12:15: Philipp Barteska: “Bureaucrats and the Korean Export Miracle”, London School of Economics (with Jay Euijung Lee) Slides
12:15-13:15: Fidel Pérez-Sebastian: “Electricity Access and Structural Transformation: Evidence from Brazil's Electrification”, Universite of Alicante Slides
13:15-14:15: Lunch
14:15-15:15: David Henning*: “Tax audits and their economic distortions”, University Of California Los Angeles (with Joseph Okello) Slides
15:15-16:00: Break
16:00-17:00: Gabriel Leite Mariante*: "Cash transfers and women's labour supply: evidence from the world's largest programme" Slides
