Description:

GPRL Coffee Chat with Prof. Robert Osei

Director, Ghana Node of the Africa Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research, University of Ghana

Wednesday, May 19 | 11 am - 12 pm CDT | Zoom (RSVP to receive link)

The Global Poverty Research Lab is proud to bring you a Coffee Chat with Prof. Robert Osei, the Associate Professor in the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), and also the Vice Dean for the School of Graduate Studies, at the University of Ghana.  He will describe how he got his start in development economics, and also present his recent work, “The Dynamics and Interactions of Income Inequality and the Inequality of Opportunity in Ghana.” The last 30 minutes are reserved for questions from the audience about any subject, as well as resources for how students can get involved in research.

RSVP here for Zoom link

Speaker Bio: Robert is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), and also the Vice Dean for the School of Graduate Studies, at the University of Ghana. Robert’s main areas of research include evaluative poverty and rural research, macro and micro implications of fiscal policies, aid effectiveness and other economic development policy concerns. Robert is currently the Head of the Ghana node of the African Centre of Excellence in Inequality Research (ACEIR Ghana node) and serves on a number of public and private boards.

Project Abstract: While Ghana’s growth since 2000 has reduced poverty, inequality has persisted and indeed increased over the period. On the face of it, one may suggest that this is consistent with Kuznets hypothesis where growth and development are associated with increasing inequality. However, an analysis that looks at structural transformation and inclusive growth points to evidence of adverse Kuznets tension in the sense that increasing inequality has been associated with limited structural transformation in Ghana. In this presentation, two main questions relating to inequality are addressed.

1. What really drives inter-household inequality in Ghana? In particular, we try to shed some light on the common correlates between poverty and inequality with the aim of gaining a better understanding of how policy can achieve the twin objectives of poverty and inequality reduction.

2. Additional insights on economic inequality, and the inequality of opportunity for Ghana.

In terms of the first research question, we argue that to achieve the twin objectives of reducing poverty and inequality, policy will need to target increased education access, expand social safety nets, and tackle the problem of unemployment. For the second research question, we argue that inequality of opportunity tends to affect education outcomes, which in turn exacerbates economic inequality.

Mission: The mission of GPRL Coffee Chats is to connect students to faculty (and other professionals) in an informal setting so they can learn more about a career in international development.