Harnessing the potential of urbanisation in Africa: Raising capacity of local governments

The success of urban policies depends on municipal and state capacity. Government in Africa, especially at the local level, suffers from low fiscal capacity, but there are signs of improvement. We have seen through this series that government policy has a role to play in ensuring that cities develop productively. However, without public funds and…

Social Finance: Bridging the gap between Philanthropy and Sustainable Investing

Ms. Phyllis Costanza, Head of Social Impact and CEO of the UBS Optimus Foundation was recently hosted by the student-led Social Impact Club. In conversation with Akhil Pawar and Jane Lu, Ms. Costanza discussed the foundation’s work and shared her experience in pioneering innovative financing mechanisms and impactful interventions as well as her vision for…

Incorporating Climate Risks and Opportunities: Insights from a leading Credit Agency

As part of the Wheeler Institute Climate Initiative, Lucrezia Reichlin, London Business School Professor of Economics and trustee of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, recently hosted a webinar on “The need for and impact of high quality globally comparable reporting” on 10th March 2022. Lucrezia was joined by Richard Cantor, Chief Risk Officer of Moody’s…

Partnering to Scale Sustainable Innovation

Over the past decade, corporations have moved away from traditional corporate social responsibility – a ‘nice to have’ – to corporate sustainability, now an imperative that is embedded in a corporation’s systems, practices and products. This year, the Social Impact Club launched its Corporate Sustainability and Innovation (CSI) pillar to signify the increasing push for…

Rethinking Capitalism with Oded Galor

The fifth event in the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development’s flagship Rethinking Capitalism series will focus on the deep origins of comparative development and the emergence of vast and persistent inequalities across countries, regions, and groups. Despite the remarkable transformations in China, Asia, and more recently Africa, in the past decade, capitalism and globalization have come…

Professional Opportunity | Pre-Doctoral Research Assistant programme

Applications are now closed. What is the Wheeler Institute Research Assistant programme? Our Pre-Doctoral Research Assistant programme offers a unique opportunity for recent or imminent postgraduates to pursue their career in a top business school PhD programme. Successful candidates will be responsible for assisting faculty in a number of tasks, depending on the type of…

The new-challenge of being carbon neutral by 2050

Attention on climate change and efforts to mitigate its impact has increased exponentially from investors and financial markets in the last decade. From a financial perspective, this focus has led to considerable investment towards climate change mitigation initiatives, such that the pressure is now on businesses that are not doing enough.  As part of the…

“It’s the best way to gain real-world insights” | Pre-Doctoral Research Assistants at the Wheeler Institute

Two Pre-Doctoral Researchers at the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development reveal how the experience has profoundly shaped their academic ambitions – and yielded some surprising insights along the way Whatever preconceptions Pre-Doctoral students have before they join the Wheeler Institute, they are always surprised to find that the experience is much broader than they…

Building global consensus on how to measure and manage impact

As part of the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development’s Climate Initiative, Lucrezia Reichlin, London Business School Professor of Economics and trustee of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, recently hosted a webinar on “Building global consensus on how to measure and manage impact” on 21 March 2022. The guest speaker for this webinar…

African Colonisation: Unpacking a Complex Phenomenon

African History through the Lens of Economics: An introduction to African development and history The Wheeler Institute’s open access online course, African History through the Lens of Economics, recently covered colonisation in three lectures with Elias Papaioannou, Academic Director of the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development, and Leonard Wantchekon, Professor of Politics and International…