Economics

The benefits of localisation economies have been extensively examined and used to inform industrial and urban strategy within developed countries. In my doctoral thesis, I am keen to apply this knowledge within Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). To achieve the welfare benefits of input sharing, labour pooling and knowledge spill-overs that occur from proximity between similar or complementary industries, LMICs must also overcome inefficient land use
models, institutional frictions and weak transport infrastructure than inhibit the optimal concentration of economic activity. I therefore hope to build on the research of Henderson, Regan, Venables (2018) and Bird and Venables (2019) to make an important contribution to: (i) quantify the potential welfare gains from land reform; and (ii) undertake (quasi-)experimental research to provide evidence on the firm- and household-level effects of input sharing, labour
pooling and knowledge spill-overs within emerging urban economies (Marshall, 1920). In particular my research interests lie in testing how land use reform and better transport can reduce spatial mismatch and search costs across ethnic and social groups. I am especially keen to expand on Simon Franklin's work (2018) at Oxford's CSAE, which uses randomised controlled trials to explore the effect of lower transport costs on employment outcomes amongst groups that live far from urban centres.