Development microeconomist. Senior Research Officer @DPRU_UCT🇿🇦, Consultant @WorldBank, Research Associate @RESEPgroup, PhD @UCT_news
Cape Town, South Africa
Joined August 2010
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Tim Köhler retweeted
Reminder: If you're on the econ job market, interested in doing research to help build a more prosperous (South) Africa, and would actually like to spend two or three years in the most beautiful part of the world doing so, then please apply for the postdoc fellowships at @StellenboschUni in 2027!
Many thanks to @NRF_News and my colleagues at @UCT_news and @DPRU_UCT as well as the reviewers and committee for supporting me!
Congratulations to Dr Köhler, Senior Research Officer at the DPRU, on receiving a Y1 rating from South Africa’s National Research Foundation. The Y1 rating recognizes young researchers who show strong promise of establishing themselves as leaders in their fields. @TimothyKohler
Tim Köhler retweeted
Join our team in Pretoria, South Africa!
We are looking for an Associate Partnerships & Programme Officer (P2) and an Associate Communications Officer (P2) to join our SA-TIED programme.
Applications open until 10 November 2026, don't miss your chance: go.unu.edu/YJ5iz
Tim Köhler retweeted
African firms seem to be adopting AI faster than firms in other middle-income countries (India, Jordan, Mexico, Thailand)
We have a new paper with @elwyndavies @DFDC11 @Gaurav__Nayyar @KathAStapleton and Shu Yu that looks at firm adoption of AI across 7 countries (India, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand, and the U.S.). We present 10 stylized facts from the data we collected (1/12)
Tim Köhler retweeted
That’s a wrap on #JobsAndDev2026! 🇭🇰
Huge thanks to @HKUST_IEMS for fantastic hosting & to all presenters & attendees for 2 days of brilliant discussions!
Grateful to our partners: @HKUST_IEMS @UNUWIDER @WorldBank @ilo @AFD_en @giz_gmbh @IBS_Warsaw
See you in 2028! 🌍
Always a pleasure to see @UNUWIDER colleagues! Great to chat and catch up @rod_coliveira @esamjones @kunalsen5
That’s a wrap on #JobsandDev2026 in Hong Kong!
Researchers & policymakers tackled key issues like AI, climate change, and inequality. Big thanks to our speakers including Rodrigo Oliveira, Sam Jones, and Manisha Mukherjee, and former Director Kunal Sen & @hkustiems for hosting!
Tim Köhler retweeted
That’s a wrap on #JobsandDev2026 in Hong Kong!
Researchers & policymakers tackled key issues like AI, climate change, and inequality. Big thanks to our speakers including Rodrigo Oliveira, Sam Jones, and Manisha Mukherjee, and former Director Kunal Sen & @hkustiems for hosting!
Tim Köhler retweeted
UCT congratulates Judge Navi Pillay, who received an honorary doctorate from the university in 2010, on being awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her contributions to justice and human rights. This prestigious honour celebrates her impact on the pursuit of peace, equality and human dignity.
Tim Köhler retweeted
After a great evening of Chinese cuisine & performances, Day 2 of #JobsAndDev2026 at @HKUST is live! 🇭🇰
Today features a keynote on manufacturing by Prof. Uta Schönberg, a policy panel on AI & work, two parallel sessions and more.
🔗 jobsanddevelopmentconference…
Tim Köhler retweeted
Day 1 of the #JobsAndDev2026 at @HKUST in Hong Kong 🇭🇰 wrapped up!
Today featured a DPRU special session with researchers @mj_oos, Ben Stanwix, Francois Steenkamp & @TimothyKohler presenting on social protection policy, intergenerational mobility & the Just Energy Transition.
Tim Köhler retweeted
Today is a proud day! One of our own, win the Peace Nobel Prize! Congratulations Prof Navi Pillay, an alumni, staff, and professor of @UKZN in South Africa. Fighting for justice, peace and freedom is one of things that drive us.
Tim Köhler retweeted
Request for research proposals 📢
UNU-WIDER and South Africa’s National Treasury invite research proposals under SA-TIED’s macro-fiscal analysis and policy modelling workstream.
📅 9 November, 23:59 (UTC+2)
Learn more and apply🔗 go.unu.edu/Egcqx
Excited and grateful to be in Hong Kong🇭🇰 for the #jobsanddev2026 conference, beginning today!
The 2026 Jobs & Development Conference is officially underway today at @HKUST in Hong Kong! 🇭🇰
Hosted by @HKUST_IEMS and supported by the DPRU and other partners @UNUWIDER, @WorldBank, @ilo, @AFD_en, @giz_gmbh & @IBS_Warsaw.
jobsanddevelopmentconference…
#jobsanddev2026
Tim Köhler retweeted
Last moments to apply for our visiting programmes!
Applications are closing soon for our popular Visiting PhD Fellowship and Visiting Scholar programmes. Join our vibrant research community in Helsinki!
Apply by Sept 30👉 go.unu.edu/x5AD
Tim Köhler retweeted
Can social grants help people find jobs? @TimothyKohler @HaroonBhorat and Ben Stanwix find in the short-term, yes: "..a cash transfer can make it easier to search for work, but cash alone... is unlikely to generate jobs at scale." @SALDRU1 @DPRU_UCT
econ3x3.org/articles/promise…
Tim Köhler retweeted
📢 Request for Research Proposals!
UNU-WIDER and South Africa’s National Treasury invite proposals on public revenue mobilization; poverty, inequality and labour markets.
Open to South Africa-based and international researchers.
Apply 🔗go.unu.edu/IOzHK
ALT Request for research proposals on public revenue mobilization, poverty, inequality, and labour markets. Apply by 15 October, 23:59 (UTC+2).
ALT Decription of research topics for this request for research proposals: public revenue mobilization, taxes' effect on individual and firm behaviour, tax-benefit policies, tax compliance
ALT Decription of research topics for this request for research proposals: poverty, inequality, and labour markets. Self-employment and informal market, The Social Relief of Distress, tourism and green economy.
ALT Apply by 15 October.
Tim Köhler retweeted
The African Inequality Review launched this week in Cape Town. Opening remarks by Trevor Manuel and a panel chaired by Michael Sachs focused on the evidence African policymakers need to understand how policy choices shape who gains and who loses.
Watch: go.unu.edu/KqtgH
ALT Panelists and programme contributors at the AIR event in Cape Town.
ALT Patricia Justino speaking at the AIR event in Cape Town.
ALT Panelists at the AIR event in Cape Town
ALT Trevor Manuel Former Minister of Finance, South Africa
Tim Köhler retweeted
What do African policy leaders need from inequality research?
Join the discussion online at the Africa launch of the African Inequality Review on Sept 15, 2026!
📅 15 Sept 2026
🕟 16:30–17:30 SAST
💻 Online
Register: go.unu.edu/O0VB1
Tim Köhler retweeted
Very interesting post from Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham on the rise of AI writing in economics. He got a large token budget from Pangram to analyse a large number of preprints.
One of the interesting results of his analysis, which aligns with my experience, is that AI writing is harder for humans to read. It’s not just the overused AI expressions. AI outputs are written in very good English but they are not optimised for human psychology, including our limited attention and memory spans.
paulgp.substack.com/p/how-do…
Tim Köhler retweeted
If you're an economics PhD student working on Africa, join @AbdouNdiayeNYU, @sararlowes, and @YanagizawaD at @StellenboschUni in November for the first @PSGWealth Economics PhD workshop.
Deadline to apply is 18 September, so visit the website linked below and get your applications in. (We can cover accommodation and, in rare cases, travel as well.)
