News & Updates
March 2026: Presented my paper on public goods in Africa at CSAE
March 2026: Got something exciting accepted for publication...
Jan 2026: Joint work presented at ASSA by a superior co-author
Jan 2026: I joined LSE's Department of Geography and Environment full time :-)
Jan 2026: I left the Cities that Work initiaive :-(
December 2025: I created this box
Hello, I'm Oliver Harman, a economic geographer and spatial economist working on urbanisation, decentralisation and internationalisation.
I'm a Research Officer at LSE's Department of Geography and Environment & Global School of Sustainability, a Lecturer at the African School of Economics' Africa Urban Lab, and a DPhil candidate in Sustainable Urban Development at Oxford. I also held research and policy roles at Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government and LSE's Department of Economics.
My research focuses on global value chains and sustainable development, as well as on urbanisation in Africa and South Asia, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods.
Before my current role, I spent nearly a decade working directly with local government Ministries and Mayoral teams across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean---mostly as a Senior Policy Economist for the International Growth Centre's (IGC) Cities that Work initiative and as an ODI Fellow in the Ministry of Communities, Guyana. I translated research into actionable policy guidance for cities with limited resources across 27 countries.
This site collects my policy research, academic literature (updating), teaching, commentary and talks. My CV is here.
My best email is o.harman@lse.ac.uk, feel free to connect on LinkedIn too.
If you are ever in London (or Oxford) I am (nearly) always available for a cup of tea!
Work in Progress
Unequal Progress and Barriers to Women in Economics. with Berland, O., and Moreau-Kaslter, N.. (Under Review)
Green Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Development with Crescenzi, R. (Under Review)
Green FDI in Africa with Alvarez-Vilanova, J., and Crescenzi, R.
Transforming SME Integration into Global Value Chains with Shukla, R., and Nasir, R.
Degree of Urbanisation in Ethiopia with Franklin, S., Kakoulaki, G., Molla. K. and Read, M.
Regional Studies Association Policy Impact Book. Routledge. Open access overview here
See the book's homepage with associated materials here
A short overiew in LSE's Research for the World here
