Pieter Sayer awarded the Luca D’Agliano Prize for Best Dissertation in MSc Economics for Development

Pieter Sayer (MSc Economics for Development, 2017) has been awarded the Luca D’Agliano Prize for Best Dissertation by the MSc in Economics for Development Exam Board. His dissertation is titled 'Access & Excess - The Effect of Internet Access on the Consumption Decisions of the Poor'.

Pieter’s work analyses the impact of internet access on the spending behaviour of those in the lowest classes of Colombian society. The headline results show that internet access leads to people increasing the share of conspicuous consumption in their overall consumption basket. Given the financial constraints faced by this subset of the population, this likely represents an inefficient allocation of their limited resources from a long-term financial and welfare perspective. Pieter’s findings work against the wholly positive nature of the development community's discourse on the merits of internet access expansion. 

Upon receiving the prize, Pieter commented: ‘I was really pleased and honoured to receive the prize, particularly given the quality of my cohort. It was the product of a lot of hard work and I'm hoping it will set me in good stead as I continue to research the intersection of technology and development. I'm now working on the piece with the aim of getting it to the point where I can get it published.’