I am an Associate Professor in Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.  I am an affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) (Development and Labour programmes), Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL), the Institute of Labour Economics (IZA), and the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE).

My CV is here.  

Here are my research and teaching statements.

Email: kate.orkin [at] bsg.ox.ac.uk. Personal assistant: eva.lovejoy [at] bsg.ox.ac.uk.

My work is in labour, public, behavioural and development economics. I study market failures or patterns in decision-making that prevent people in low- and middle-income countries finding work or improving their earnings over time. I create new interventions with NGOs and governments which aim to tackle these barriers and test these in large-scale field experiments, producing both papers relevant to academic debates and findings which can be applied in policy and programme design. I have three strands of research.

1.  Frictions in urban developing country labour markets that prevent young people finding work or reduce the quality of matches between firms and workers. 

2. The role of mental health in labour market decisions and outcomes.

3. Whether psychological interventions can increase future-oriented investment.   Some recent work shows:

More details are on the 'work in progress' page. 

Information on my policy advisory role with the South African Presidency is here.

Media pieces on social protection and behavioural messaging during COVID19 are here.