Olivier Sterck – The Conversation

Does drawing a line make sense at any step of the way to wealth? fatido/iStock via Getty Images Plus

March 6, 2026

Measuring poverty on a spectrum instead of an arbitrary line conveys a more accurate picture of inequality

Olivier Sterck, University of Oxford

An economist proposes a new method of estimating the scope of poverty in different countries.

An aerial view of Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana, Kenya. Photo by Wang Guansen/Xinhua via Getty Images

June 18, 2025

Olivier Sterck, University of Oxford and Vittorio Bruni, University of Oxford

Aid in contexts like Kakuma should not be treated as optional or discretionary, but as a structural necessity.

A woman in one of the world’s largest refugee complexes, Dadaab, in Kenya. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

October 9, 2024

Olivier Sterck, University of Oxford; Julia R Pozuelo, Harvard University; Maria Flinder Stierna, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and Raphael Bradenbrink, University of Oxford

Depression can severely hinder the ability of refugees to rebuild their lives and integrate into host communities.

Cash transfers allow refugees to buy goods from shops in the settlement. Photo by Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

September 22, 2020

Cory Rodgers, University of Oxford; Jade Siu, University of Oxford, and Olivier Sterck, University of Oxford

Unrestricted cash transfers bring huge benefits, but these may not be realised because they can also cause debts.