The yearly conference serves as a meeting point for development economists active in the Nordic countries, but is also targeted more generally to academic researchers in Europe and beyond, with a special aim to provide an arena for junior scholars to present their work.
We gratefully acknowledge financial support of the conference from P.W. Keilhaus minnefond, Oslo Business School, and Finansmarkedsfondet.
Program overview
June 17
- 09:00–09:20: Registration and coffee
- 09:20–09:30: Info and welcome
- 09:30–10:30: Plenary Session in PI170: Kalle Moene.
- 10:30–11:00: Coffee
- 11.00–12:30: Parallel Session #1
- 12.30–13:30: Lunch
- 13.30–15:00: Parallel Session #2
- 15.00–15:30: Coffee
- 15.30–17:00: Parallel Session #3
- 18.30: Conference Dinner
June 18
- 09:00–09:30: Coffee
- 09.30–10.30: Plenary Session in PI170: Eliana La Ferrara, "Digging deeper: Mining companies and armed bands in the DRC"
- 10.30–11.00: Coffee
- 11.00–12.30: Parallel Session #4
- 12.30–13.30: Lunch
- 13.30–15.00: Parallel Session #5
- 15:00–16:00: Light Refreshments and Mingling
See below for details on the parallel sessions.
Detailed program for parallel sessions
June 17, parallel session 1, 11:00–12:30
Parallel 1a: Partner violence and sexual harassment
Room: PI451 (4th floor)
- Arne Nasgowitz, Centre for Applied Research at NHH: Women empowerment against sexual harassment: Evidence from Tanzania
- Hanna Bony, Université Gustave Eiffel: Unseen Collateral: The Link Between Political and Intimate Partner Violence
- Åshild Johnsen, Oslo Metropolitan University: Targeting Attitudes to Combat Sexual Harassment— A Randomized Intervention in the Norwegian Military
Parallel 1b: Aid
Room: PI460 (4th floor)
- Workineh Ayenew Mossie, Oslo Metropolitan University: Infant mortality, conflict and aid
- Vittorio Bruni, Oxford University: The Welfare and Market of Effects of Delays in Humanitarian Assistance
- Dick Durevall, University of Gothenburg: Foreign aid and adolescent childbearing
Parallel 1c: Immigration
Room: PI246 (2th floor)
- Laurence Go, University of Oslo: Pride and Prejudice: Impact of National Days on Patriotism and Attitudes Toward Immigrants
- Tobias Hillenbrand, United Nations University: Not as innocent as it seems? The effects of ‘neutral’ messaging on refugee attitudes
- Rune Jansen Hagen, Oslo Metropolitan University: Cross-Boundary Asylum Policy Spillovers: Evidence from Sweden
Parallel 1d: History and inequality
Room: PI248 (2th floor)
- Henrique Pita Barros, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management: The Legacy of Coercive Cotton Cultivation in Colonial Mozambique
- Espen Beer Prydz, University of Oslo: Global Inequality when Relative Income Matters for Welfare
- Jørgen Modalsli, Oslo Metropolitan University: Inequality and development in Norway, 1865-2025
June 17, parallel session 2, 13:30–15:00
Parallel 2a: Political economy
Room: PI451 (4th floor)
- Pushkar Maitra, Monash University: The Relevant Third: Threat of Coalition and Economic Development
- Henrik Sigstad, BI Norwegian Business School: Corruption and Impunity
- Amrita Dhillon, King's College London: The Role of Information and Beliefs in Online Activism
Parallel 2b: Education and labor
Room: PI460 (4th floor)
- Balasurya Sivakumar, Oslo Metropolitan University: Coal Power Expansion and Human Capital Production in India
- Inbar Amit, University of Oxford: Go Your Own Way? Peer Effects, School Choice, and Educational Inequality
- Vincent Somville, Norwegian School of Economics: Shaping Futures: Empowering students in the transition to the labor market
Parallel 2c: Measurement and Methods
Room: PI246 (2th floor)
- Haakon Gjerlow, PRIO: Token Representation, Electoral Accountability, and Discrimintation in the Legislative Council of Northern Rhodesia
- Nada Rostom, University of Antwerp: Striking the Right Balance: Why Standard Balance Tests Over-Reject the Null, and How to Fix It
- Stein T. Holden, School of Economics and Business: Missing Parcels and Farm Size Measurement Error: Do Nationally Representative Surveys Provide Reliable Estimates?
Parallel 2s: Culture, Identity and Welfare
Room: PI248 (2th floor)
- Jedediah Silver, Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Credit and Welfare Across the Lean Season
- Ankush Asri, Chr. Michelsen Institute: Does Affirmative Action Deepen Identity Divides? Exploring Inequality in Competitive Environments
- Andy McKay, University of Sussex: Successful Cross-Cultural Interactions in Heterogeneous Societies: A Study of the Nature of Diversity and Cross-Cultural Interactions in Mauritius
June 17, parallel session 3, 15:30–17:00
Parallel 3a: Health and sex education
Room: PI451 (4th floor)
- Miri Stryjan, Aalto University: Dictating Development? The Political Economy of Contraceptive Adoption and Bed-Net Use in Rwanda
- Femke Maes, Ghent University: Drinking water treatments on trial
- Laura Derksen, The Frisch Centre: Online Information is Not a Substitute for Sex Education
Parallel 3b: Labor markets
Room: PI460 (4th floor)
- Lukas Delgado-Prieto, University of Oslo: The Impact of Hard Discount Stores on Local Labor Markets: Evidence from Colombia
- Sebastian Espinoza Rojas, University College London: Local Labor Markets and Market Power
- Andreas Kotsadam, The Frisch Centre: Jobs and Fertility in Ethiopia
Parallel 3c: Poverty and altruism
Room: PI246 (2th floor)
- Ivar Kolstad, Norwegian School of Economics: Impacts of effective altruism on donor behaviour: A randomized discrete choice experiment
- Aysun Hiziroglu Aygun, Istanbul Technical University: Unconditional Cash Transfers and Child Labor and Schooling in Turkey: Short-Term Evidence from the Family Support Program
- Jo Thori Lind, University of Oslo: Poverty amidst Affluence. Measuring miserliness in rich and poor countries
Parallel 3d: Firms and private sector development
Room: PI248 (2th floor)
- Paolo Falco, University of Copenhagen; Does incentivizing formal trade improve firm performance?
- Henrik Wiig, Oslo New University College: To subsidize or to profit maximize – Norfund strategies to crowd-in private capital in blended finance
- Lore Vandewalle, KU Leuven: Customer Knowledge and the Price-Quality Gradient
June 18, parallel session 4, 11:00–12:30
Parallel 4a: Gender and labor markets
Room: PI451 (4th floor)
- Celine Zipfel, Stockholm School of Economics: Female Wage Labor and Fertility: Evidence from the Cut-Flower Industry in Kenya
- Tarsha Vasu, London School of Economics and Political Science: Keeping women out: Incumbency and renomination patterns for female politicians in India
- Viola Asri, Chr. Michelsen Institute: Unlocking young women’s potential? The impact of a low-cost career guidance program
Parallel 4b: Child development
Room: PI460 (4th floor)
- Bet Caeyers, Chr. Michelsen Institute: Enhancing early childhood development at scale: Trade-offs and interactions between a cash transfer programme and an integrated parenting programme in Tanzania
- Shruti Shukla, Technical University of Munich: Pedalling Progress? Assessing the Long-Term Impact of a Bicycle Intervention on Adolescent Maternal and Child Health in Zambia
- Damien de Walque, The World Bank: Medium-Term Impacts of Integrated Social Safety Nets: Cash Transfers, Information Meetings, and Home Visits for Child Development
Parallel 4c: Environment
Room: PI246 (2th floor)
- Tillmann von Carnap, University of Oslo: Using satellite imagery to monitor remote rural economies at high frequency
- Conrad Nunnenmacher, Maastricht University: Road infrastructure, economic development and forest loss in the Republic of the Congo
- Elena Perra, University of Turin: From Oil to Soil: Agricultural and Environmental Externalities from Oil Spills in the Niger Delta
Parallel 4d: Mental Health
Room: PI248 (2th floor)
- Qinyou Hu, Aalto University: Sad! I Got Talent but My Mom Doesn’t Know It: Parental Belief Gap and Adolescent Depression
- Eugenia Maria Frezza, Universita della Svizzera Italiana:The Mental Health Costs of Domestic Abuse: Evidence from Ethiopia
- Tara Bedi, Trinity College Dublin: Natural Disasters, Mental Well-being and the Ultra-poor: Intra-household Impacts of Cyclone Idai in Malawi
June 18, parallel session 5, 13:30–15:00
Parallel 5a: Crime and Conflict
Room: PI451 (4th floor)
- Charlotte Ringdal, Chr. Michelsen Institute: Beyond the Battlefield: Armed Conflict and Domestic Violence in Ethiopia
- Monica Beeder, University of Southampton: Military Drones in Africa: Analyzing Civilian Backlash and Extremist Support
- Annika Lindskog, University of Gothenburg: A war against education? On violent extremism and the provision of quality education in Burkina Faso
Parallel 5b: Political Behavior and State Capacity
Room: PI460 (4th floor)
- Gustav Agneman, Norwegian University of Science and Technology: The Uneven Reach of the State: A Novel Approach to Mapping Local State Presence
- Olle Hammar, Linnaeus University: How Has the War in Ukraine Affected Russian Sentiments?
- Francesca R. Jensenius, University of Oslo: Loyal Voters in Volatile Elections: Partisanship and Voting Behavior in India
Parallel 5c: Gender and Family
Room: PI246 (2th floor)
- Pallavi Prabhakar, Norwegian School of Economics: From Beliefs to Action: How Information Drives Civic Participation in India
- Tillmann Eymess, IIES, Stockholm University: Mom’s Purse or Dad’s Wallet? Experimental Evidence on Parental Spending in Tanzania
- Manisha Mukherjee, Maastricht University: Scorching Heat and Shrinking Horizons: The Impact of Rising Temperatures on Marriages and Migration in Rural India
Parallel 5d: Macro and trade
Room: PI248 (2th floor)
- Anton Heil, London School of Economics: Economic Growth and Occupational Variety
- Thilo Kroeger, University of Copenhagen: Sovereign defaults, trade, and export credit insurance
- Subhasish Dey, University of Warwick: Trade liberalisation and intergenerational educational mobility in India
Practicalities
Conference participants are expected to finance travel and accommodation by their own means or by support from their home universities.
There is no conference fee.
Conference address
The conference will be held at Oslo Metropolitan University, Pilestredet 35, 0166 Oslo
The public entrance is the revolving doors, located beside Holbergs Plass.
Important: Please ensure you enter "Pilestredet 35" in your maps or navigation app. Please do not select "Pilestredet Park 35," as this is a different location.
Conference rooms
The plenary session will take place at room PH170 on the 1st floor.
The parallel sessions will take place in the following rooms:
- Room PI246, 2nd Floor
- Room PI248, 2nd Floor
- Room PI451, 4th Floor
- Room PI460, 4th Floor
Accommodation
Below is a list of hotels conveniently located near the conference venue. They are just a 5-minute walk from OsloMet, as well as within easy reach of the city center and the train station.
Three-star Hotels:
- Scandic St. Olavs Plass
- Thon Hotel Europa
- Thon Hotel Slottsparken
Four-star Hotels:
- Scandic Holberg Hotel
- Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel
We recommend booking early to secure the best rates and availability.
Keynote speakers
Eliana La Ferrara
Eliana La Ferrara is a Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. She is also President of the Econometric Society and Program Director of Development Economics for the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Her research focuses on Development Economics and Political Economics, particularly on the role of social factors in economic development.
Kalle Moene
Kalle Moene is a Professor (Emeritus) in Economics at the University of Oslo. His research focuses on economic development and institutional change in rich and poor countries.
Contact
For all questions regarding the conference please contact the organising committee (e-mail).
