“The impact of religion in the context of developing countries has been little studied” | EUROtoday

Benjamin Marx, 37 years previous, is among the three nominated, other than the winner Alexandra Roulet, for the Best Young Economist Prize 2024. Bringing collectively representatives from the Cercle des Economistes and Le Monde, the jury highlights the work of researchers throughout the utilized economics and selling public debate.

Why did you select to specialise in improvement economics?

Development is a topic that fascinated me very early on, to the purpose that I as soon as imagined working in worldwide organizations devoted to it. I lastly opted for analysis in economics, notably political economic system and improvement economics, which offer worthwhile experience and make it attainable to make clear sure public coverage decisions with stable arguments. My first discipline experiences in Sierra Leone and Kenya, which consisted of learning agricultural improvement and concrete poverty from a political economic system perspective, rapidly satisfied me of this.

You say that we nonetheless have so much to find out about what determines the trajectories of financial improvement…

Development raises a lot of inquiries to which we don’t but have the solutions. But we should attempt to resolve these questions. This implies having the ability to consider sure public insurance policies as we do with the randomization strategies popularized by the J-PAL laboratory. Other analysis objects do not need a right away translation when it comes to public insurance policies, however they’re no much less important. It is important, for instance, to review the historical past of slavery and colonization in Africa. Even although these episodes are previously, the query of their legacy may be very actual, and understanding how they proceed to affect improvement is totally essential.

Why, as an economist, are you interested by religions?

The affect of faith within the context of growing international locations has been little studied by economists, whereas, since Max Weber [1864-1920], a lot has been written in regards to the Protestant Reformation and capitalism within the West, for instance. In Africa, we’re at an necessary second of emergence of evangelical religions. However, many had theorized that beliefs would weaken with financial development and improvement, however what we’ve got noticed for the reason that finish of the twentieth century^e century is, quite the opposite, a robust resilience of non secular truth.

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