astronomy

Robin Burgess

Robin Burgess is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Robin Burgess rather than just read about it. In short: Robin Burgess is a British economist who is professor of economics, co-founder and director of the International Growth Centre, as well as co-founder and director of the Economics of Energy and the Environment (EEE) program at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His areas of research interest include environmental economics, development economics and political economy.

Key takeaways

Robin Burgess belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Robin Burgess to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Robin Burgess from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Robin Burgess is a British economist who is professor of economics, co-founder and director of the International Growth Centre, as well as co-founder and director of the Economics of Energy and the Environment (EEE) program at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His areas of research interest include environmental economics, development economics and political economy. He has also worked in labour economics and public economics. He has published on a variety of topics, including natural disasters, mass media, rural banks, land reform, labour regulation, industrial policy, taxation, poverty and growth.

Early life and education Burgess holds the following degrees:

BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 1985 MSc Economics, London School of Economics, 1988 D.Phil Economics, University of Oxford, 1998

Professional activities Burgess currently serves as the director of the International Growth Centre. He has founded the Economics of Energy and the Environment (EEE) program at the LSE, serving as a platform to connect young and established researchers in environmental economics and to mainstream issues of environment, energy, and climate within economics and economic policy. He also serves as the current president of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), on the editorial board of VoxDev, on the board of CEGA and is an affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and Y-RISE, a research fellow in the CEPR and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is also a fellow of the European Economic Association.

Research and selected publications Robin Burgess' main research areas include:

development economics political economy environmental economics Below is a list of his main publications:

"The Glittering Prizes: Career Incentives and Bureaucrat Performance." Marianne Bertrand, Robin Burgess, Arunish Chawla, and Guo Xu. 2020, In: The Review of Economic Studies, 87 (2): 626–655. "Tackling Youth Unemployment: Evidence from a Labour Market Experiment in Uganda." Livia Alfonsi, Oriana Bandiera, Vittorio Bassi, Robin Burgess, Imran Rasul, Munshi Sulaiman, and Anna Vitali. 2020, In: Econometrica, 88 (6): 2369–2414. "Labor Markets and Poverty in Village Economies." Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Narayan Das, Selim Gulesci, Imran Rasul, and Munshi Sulaiman. 2017, In: The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132 (2): 811–870. "The Value of Democracy: Evidence from Road Building in Kenya." Robin Burgess, Remi Jedwab, Edward Miguel, Ameet Morjaria, and Gerard Padró i Miquel. 2015, In: American Economic Review, 105 (6): 1817–1851. "The Political Economy of Deforestation in the Tropics." Robin Burgess, Matthew Hansen, Benjamin A. Olken, Peter Potapov, and Stefanie Sieber. 2012, In: The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127 (4): 1707–1754. "Can Openness Mitigate the Effects of Weather Shocks? Evidence from India’s Famine Era." Robin Burgess and Dave Donaldson. 2010, In: American Economic Review, 100 (2): 449–453. "The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India." Philippe Aghion, Robin Burgess, Stephen Redding, and Fabrizio Zilibotti. 2008, In: American Economic Review, 98 (4): 1397–1412. "Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment." Robin Burgess and Rohini Pande. 2005, In: American Economic Review, 95 (3): 780–795. "Can Labor Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India." Timothy Besley and Robin Burgess. 2004, In: The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 119 (1): 91–134. "Land Reform, Poverty Reduction, and Growth: Evidence from India." Timothy Besley and Robin Burgess. 2000, In: The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115 (2): 389–430.

References

External links Robin Burgess' personal website Robin Burgess' publications on Google Scholar

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Robin Burgess

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Robin Burgess claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Robin Burgess before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Robin Burgess ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Robin Burgess

In research: Robin Burgess appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Robin Burgess in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Robin Burgess is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academics of the London School of Economics, Alumni of the London School of Economics, Alumni of the University of Edinburgh, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Robin Burgess outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Robin Burgess in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Robin Burgess means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Robin Burgess out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Robin Burgess in simple terms?

Why does Robin Burgess matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Robin Burgess?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Robin Burgess.