NYU Abu Dhabi DevLab

SEMINAR: Join us on Wednesday, April 6th, 5:45-6:45pm GST for a presentation on "Perpetual Motion: Human Mobility and Spatial Frictions in Three African Countries" with Douglas Gollin (Oxford).

Abstract:
Recent literature points to the importance in developing countries of spatial and sectoral gaps in wages and living standards. These gaps seemingly imply frictions to human mobility. In this paper, we present new evidence on mobility within three African countries. We use a novel data source that provides highly detailed location data on more than one million smartphone devices across three large African countries for an entire year. This allows us to examine high-frequency mobility patterns for a subset of people for whom we can determine home locations confidently. The data offer insights into patterns of mobility, with corresponding implications for the nature and extent of mobility frictions. In particular, our data point to the ubiquity of relatively high-frequency journeys within countries – i.e., visits. We observe that many users travel to relatively distant within-country locations, with big cities acting as particularly attractive magnets. We develop a conceptual framework that characterizes the role of visits for individuals and provides a number of testable predictions that are consistent with the movement patterns that we observe in the data. The analysis suggests that distance-linked mobility costs are not so high as to discourage travel. In fact, travel enables users to benefit from the opportunities that large cities provide, without having to incur the costs of relocation. The frictions sustaining spatial and sectoral gaps thus seem to reflect deep fixed costs associated with the dislocations of migration and sectoral change, rather than the direct costs of movement.

RSVP: The seminar is for researchers and academics interested in Development topics. If you are interested in joining the seminar, please email us at [email protected].

The DevLab is hiring Research Assistants for the NYU Abu Dhabi Postgraduate Practical Training Program (PPTP). This is open to NYU Abu Dhabi students graduating in summer 2022. Apply by April 1, 2022!

More info: https://bit.ly/3Lj0sUX

CONFERENCE: Join the DevLab for the “Economic Policy and Research in the UAE and Beyond” conference on Wednesday, March 23rd. Hosted by the UAE Ministry of Economy working with a consortium of four universities – American University of Sharjah, New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates University, and Zayed University - the conference brings together scholars working in economics and finance from academics, policy institutions, and industry leaders in order to provide an opportunity for presenting novel research, as well as discussing current challenges and opportunities, with a focus on the UAE economy.

Find more information here:
https://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/events/2022/march/economic-policy-and-research-in-the-uae-and-beyond.html

Economic Policy and Research in the UAE and Beyond Economic Policy and Research in the UAE and Beyond, conference, hosted at NYU Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with Zayed University, United Arab Emirates University, American University of Sharjah, and the UAE Ministry of Economy.

SEMINAR: Join us on Wednesday, March 2nd, from 5:45-6:45pm GST for a presentation on “Futures Markets and Spot Prices” with Martin Rotemberg (New York University).

Abstract:
How do futures markets affect prices? We study an important historical event in order to shed light on this question: in 1865, the Chicago Board of Trade set up formal futures markets for some but not all commodities. We digitize weekly information on spot prices and storage for both affected and unaffected crops. Futures markets lead both prices and storage to fall in the short run, but prices recover within a year. We describe a model of forward looking buyers and sellers with access to storage that can fit this pattern.

The seminar is for researchers and academics interested in Development topics. If you are interested in joining the seminar, please email us at [email protected].

NYU Abu Dhabi NYUAD Journal of Social Sciences

SEMINAR: Join us on Wednesday, February 16th, from 5:45-6:45pm GST for a presentation on "Harvesting the Rain: The Adoption of Environmental Technologies in the Sahel” by Jenny Aker (Tufts University).

See more here: https://bit.ly/3hIx26u.

The seminar is for researchers and academics interested in Development topics. If you are interested in joining the seminar, please email us at [email protected].

NYU Abu Dhabi NYUAD Journal of Social Sciences

STUDENT GROUP: Are you an NYU Abu Dhabi student interested in global development topics? Join our wonderful DevLab student Facebook group to meet like-minded students!

Join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/694060654892019/

SEMINAR: Join the first DevLab seminar of the spring semester on Wednesday, February 2nd, from 5:45-6:45pm GST with David Lagakos (Boston University) for a presentation on “Technology and Local State Capacity: Evidence from Ghana,” joint work with James Dzansi, Anders Jensen, and Henry Telli.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3hIx26u.

The seminar is for researchers and academics interested in Development topics. If you are interested in joining the seminar, please email us at [email protected].

NYU Abu Dhabi NYUAD Journal of Social Sciences

Join us for upcoming DevLab programs this spring! Read the latest DevLab newsletter with upcoming seminar series speakers and calls for papers.

See more:

DevLab Spring 2022 Announcements

SEMINAR: Join the final DevLab seminar of the fall semester on Wednesday, December 8th, from 5:45-6:45 GST with Torsten Figueiredo Walter (NYU Abu Dhabi) for a presentation "On the Microfoundations of National Statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa" (joint work with Niclas Moneke (Oxford)). See more here: https://bit.ly/3hIx26u.

The seminar is for researchers and academics interested in Development topics. If you are interested in joining the seminar, please email us at [email protected].

BOOK LAUNCH: Join us on Wednesday, November 10th, from 5-7pm Eastern Time for "Does Skill Make Us Human? Migrant Workers in 21st-Century Qatar and Beyond" presented by Dr. Natasha Iskander and co-sponsored by NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service Office of International Programs and the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU.

Overview:
Skill—specifically the distinction between the “skilled” and “unskilled”—is generally defined as a measure of ability and training, but Does Skill Make Us Human? shows instead that skill distinctions are used to limit freedom, narrow political rights, and even deny access to imagination and desire. Natasha Iskander takes readers into Qatar’s booming construction industry in the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup, and through her unprecedented look at the experiences of migrant workers, she reveals that skill functions as a marker of social difference powerful enough to structure all aspects of social and economic life, including responses to climate change.

Natasha Iskander is an Associate Professor at NYU Wagner, whose research investigates the ways in which migrants shape the political and cultural landscapes of the spaces they occupy. Professor Iskander will be joined by NYU Wagner Dean Sherry Glied who will introduce the panelists Miriam Ticktin, Yaw Nyarko, and Andrew Ross, whose work and projects span from urbanism and environmental justice to alternative economics and humanitarianism.

Register here: https://wagner.nyu.edu/community/events/does-skill-make-us-human-migrant-workers-21st-century-qatar-and-beyond-2021-11-10?mc_cid=fad0c2a552&mc_eid=95239c5309

NYU Abu Dhabi NYUAD Journal of Social Sciences NYUAD Social Science Students

SEMINAR: Join us on Wednesday, November 3rd, from 4:00-5:30pm GST for the Afrobarometer presentation “African Voices on African Issues” with Professor Robert Mattes, co-founder and board member of Afrobarometer.

Afrobarometer is non-partisan, pan-African research institution conducting public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, the economy and society in 30+ countries repeated on a regular cycle. They are the world’s leading source of high-quality data on what Africans are thinking. They are the world’s leading research project on issues that affect ordinary African men and women. Afrobarometer collects and publishes high-quality, reliable statistical data on Africa which is freely available to the public.

To attend the seminar, please register via email at [email protected].

TOMORROW, September 30th: Join DevLab Faculty Director Prof. Yaw Nyarko in conversation with H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. Register here: https://bit.ly/nyuafcfta

African Union African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat