Popular searches

About Nesta

Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society.

More about us

Why some countries win and others lose: international development with Stefan Dercon

25 Apr 2023 12:00 – 13:30
Online

This event took place on Tuesday 25 April. You can watch the recording below.

Over the past few decades, the developing world has experienced significant changes including poverty reduction, increased life expectancy and economic transformation. However, some countries have succeeded in this transformation while others have failed.

Professor Stefan Dercon, a renowned economist, argues that the reason for this lies in what he calls the 'developmental bargain'. This involves a country's elite taking a gamble by prioritising wealth maximisation over national interest. His recent book Gambling on Development: Why some countries win and others lose examines the development trajectories of over 40 countries over three decades. From Ebola in Sierra Leone to scandals in Malawi and relief programmes in South Sudan, Dercon identifies how development has been achieved and why some countries have simply missed the boat.

Why you should watch the recording

This event was of particular interest to those with links to international development, policy making, behavioural science and research.

Why some countries win and others lose

The opinions expressed in this event recording are those of the speaker. For more information, view our full statement on external contributors.

Speakers

Ravi

Ravi Gurumurthy

Ravi Gurumurthy joined Nesta as Chief Executive in December 2019. Ravi was previously responsible for the International Rescue Committee’s work in designing, testing and scaling products and services for people affected by crisis in over 40 countries – from reducing acute malnutrition and intimate partner violence, to expanding employment for Syrian refugees. Prior to joining the International Rescue Committee in 2013, Ravi held a number of roles in the UK government, including Director of Strategy at the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and as a strategic advisor to the foreign secretary. Ravi has also worked as a researcher at the think-tank Demos and in local government in London.

stefan dercon

Stefan Dercon

Stefan Dercon is Professor of Economic Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and the economics department, and a fellow of Jesus College. He is also Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. He combines his academic career with work as a policy advisor, providing strategic economic and development advice, and promoting the use of evidence in decision making. Between 2011 and 2017, he was Chief Economist of the Department of International Development (DFID), the government department in charge with the UK’s aid policy and spending. Between 2020-2022, he was the Development Policy Advisor to successive Foreign Secretaries at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. His research interests concern what keeps some people and countries poor: the failures of markets, governments and politics, mainly in Africa, and how to achieve change. His latest book, Gambling on Development: Why some countries win and others lose was published in May 2022. It draws on his academic research as well as his policy experience across three decades and 40-odd countries, exploring why some countries have managed to settle on elite bargains favouring growth and development and others did not.

Liz Sugg

Baroness Liz Sugg

Baroness Sugg CBE is a Member of the House of Lords, where she specialises in foreign affairs, international development and the health and rights of women and girls. She is a member of the International Relations and Defence Select Committee. She was previously Minister for Sustainable Development at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for International Development and was the first UK’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education. She resigned from this role in 2020 in response to cuts in UK development aid funding. She served as Director of Operations and Campaigns under then Prime Minster David Cameron in No. 10 Downing Street from 2010 to 2016. She is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the charity Malaria No More UK, a trustee of MedAccess Trust and a member of the Advisory Council for Transparency International.

Event information

25 Apr 2023 12:00 – 13:30
Online