Georgina Ferry interviews Kate Orkin, Associate Professor in Economics and Public Policy, 15 March 2023.
Topics discussed include (00:00:39) interest in economics, particularly in labour market and social protection policy, PhD at Oxford, work in Ethiopia, Fellowships at Cambridge and Princeton; (00:03:50) fieldwork, including in Western Kenya and work with NGO GiveDirectly; (00:10:48) first awareness of COVID-19, work relating to highlighting the issue of underinvestment in drugs and/or vaccines in developing countries, collaboration with the Jenner Institute and Adrian Hill and Stefan Dercon on this issue; (00:16:55) impact on work, including fieldwork owing to the pandemic; (00:18:18) impact of policy response on people in poor communities; (00:22:00) channels of communication with policymakers; (00:27:38) emergency budget and relief package in South Africa; (00:29:03) interventions to boost people's aspirations and increase self-efficacy; (00:33:27) cash transfer programme and additional research; (00:34:40) labour market research; (00:37:38) communication of governments and public messaging; (00:39:56) government support packages post-pandemic; (00:41:51) questions of interest for the future; (00:46:36) personal threat from COVID-19; (00:48:10) wellbeing as a result of research; (00:51:34) changes to approach to work as a result of the pandemic; (00:53:49) collaborations, including work with researchers in Cape Town and at Duke in North Carolina; (00:56:58) interventions of the World Bank; (00:58:32) hopes for future change, including in funding and foreign aid cuts.
