Christopher Udry delivered the 33rd Kuznets Memorial Lecture, "Structural Change and Declining Agricultural Productivity: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," on Thursday, April 4, 2024, hosted by the Yale Economic Growth Center (EGC). Udry is the Robert E. and Emily King Professor of Economics at Northwestern University, Co-director of the Global Poverty Research Lab, and a former director of EGC.

Christopher Udry is a development economist whose research focuses on rural economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa. His current research examines technological change, risk and financial markets, gender and households, property rights, psychological well-being and economic decision-making, and a variety of other aspects of rural economic organization. 

Hosted annually by EGC since 1987, the Simon Kuznets Memorial Lecture features a prominent economist speaking on issues in economic development. The series was founded by EGC Faculty members in 1986 to honor Simon Kuznets, the famous Belarusian-American economist who helped establish EGC in 1961 and went on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics.

As part of the 33rd Kuznets programming, Prof. Udry also organized a mini-conference spotlighting work of early-career economists focusing on “Agriculture and Development” on April 5, 2024. Information on the conference and links to papers are available here: https://egc.yale.edu/events/kuznets/k...