Esteban Ortiz-Ospina
Esteban is the Executive Co-Director of ¿ÈöÓéÀÖ alongside Max Roser. In tandem, they lead , the non-profit organization responsible for publishing ¿ÈöÓéÀÖ.
Esteban is also an Honorary Researcher at the , where his research and writing cover topics including economic development, public sector analysis, education, and a wide range of related issues.
Prior to joining the team at ¿ÈöÓéÀÖ, Esteban was a Departmental Lecturer in Economics at the University of Oxford’s , from 2013 to January 2016.
Esteban completed his doctoral studies at the University of Oxford (DPhil Economics).
Esteban Ortiz-Ospina
Esteban is the Executive Co-Director of ¿ÈöÓéÀÖ alongside Max Roser. In tandem, they lead , the non-profit organization responsible for publishing ¿ÈöÓéÀÖ.
Esteban is also an Honorary Researcher at the , where his research and writing cover topics including economic development, public sector analysis, education, and a wide range of related issues.
Prior to joining the team at ¿ÈöÓéÀÖ, Esteban was a Departmental Lecturer in Economics at the University of Oxford’s , from 2013 to January 2016.
Esteban completed his doctoral studies at the University of Oxford (DPhil Economics).
All work
Poverty
In order to make progress against poverty in the future, we need to understand poverty around the world today and how it has changed.
Key lessons from our work on the COVID-19 pandemic are now published in Lancet Public Health
Our peer-reviewed article outlines seven ways to publish data better.
Life Expectancy
People are living longer across the world, but large differences remain. Explore global data on life expectancy and how it has changed over time.
Economic Growth
See all our data, visualizations, and writing on economic growth.
Homelessness
How many people are affected by homelessness? How is their number changing over time? Explore global data and research on homelessness.
Democracy
How has democracy spread across countries? Are we moving towards a more democratic world? Explore global data and research on democracy.
Economic Inequality
See all our data, visualizations, and writing on economic inequality.
Women’s Rights
How has the protection of women’s rights changed over time? How does it differ across countries? Explore global data and research on women’s rights.
Economic Inequality by Gender
How big are the inequalities in pay, jobs, and wealth between men and women? What causes these differences?
Suicides
Suicide rates can be reduced with greater understanding and support for people at risk.
Trust
Trust is essential for effective cooperation. How does trust vary between different societies and locations and what matters for levels of trust?
Corruption
How common is corruption? What impact does it have? And what can be done to reduce it?
Migration
Migration has been an important source of economic development and poverty reduction. Explore data on global migration.
Working Hours
How much time do people across the world spend working? How have working hours changed over time, and what do these changes matter for people’s lives? Explore data and research on working hours.
Internet
More than half of the world is online. But the internet is still young.
Literacy
Being able to read and write opens up the world of education and knowledge. When and why did more people become literate? How can progress continue?
Time Use
How do people across the world spend their time? How do daily activities differ across countries, and how do these differences matter for people’s lives? Explore data and research on time use.
Marriages and Divorces
How is the institution of marriage changing? What percentage of marriages end in divorce? Explore global data on marriages and divorces.
Women's Employment
How does women’s labor force participation differ across countries? How has it changed over time? What is behind these differences and changes?
Happiness and Life Satisfaction
Self-reported life satisfaction differs widely between people and between countries. What explains these differences?
Loneliness and Social Connections
In this topic page, we explore data on loneliness and social connections and review available evidence on the link between social connections and well-being.
Is there a loneliness epidemic?
The media claims we are experiencing a ‘loneliness epidemic’. What is the evidence for this?
Are people more likely to be lonely in so-called 'individualistic' societies?
In countries such as Denmark and Switzerland, it is very common for people to live alone; but contrary to what many believe, this does not translate into higher loneliness. Loneliness and aloneness are not the same.
The importance of personal relations for economic outcomes
Social connections matter for economic outcomes. Personal relations, even those that we maintain for non-economic reasons, often give us access to information and provide us with social collateral for economic transactions.
The importance of social networks for innovation and productivity
Social networks facilitate the diffusion of ideas across individuals and firms. Because of this, they play an important role in productivity growth.
How are working hours measured and what can we learn from the data?
The primary way to measure working hours is with surveys, but the data can have limitations that are important to understand.
Do workers in richer countries work longer hours?
Workers in richer countries tend to work fewer hours than those in poorer countries.
Are we working more than ever?
Working hours for the average worker have decreased dramatically over the last 150 years.
The rise of social media
Social media sites are used by more than two-thirds of Internet users. How has social media grown over time?
Are Facebook and other social media platforms bad for our well-being?
What does the research tell us about the causal impact of social media use on our well-being?
Does democracy lead to better health?
There is a cross-country correlation between democracy and health. Is there good evidence to suggest it is causal?
¿ÈöÓéÀÖ is at Y Combinator
We are one of the few non-profits that Y Combinator has decided to accept.
Is trade a major driver of income inequality?
Trade and Globalization
How did international trade and globalization change over time? What do they look like today? And what are their impacts?
Government Spending
What do governments spend their financial resources on?
Global Health
An overview of our research on global health.
Global Education
See all our data, visualizations, and writing on global education.
Taxation
Taxes are the most important source of government revenue. Who is paying how much and how do tax systems differ?
Child Labor
Why and where do children work? How did child labor change over time?
Military Personnel and Spending
How large are countries’ militaries? How much do they spend on their armed forces? Explore global data on military personnel and spending.
How is literacy measured?
An overview of how literacy is defined, and how estimates compare to other measures of educational achievement.
Long-run trends in military spending and personnel: four key facts from new data
Do most countries devote resources to maintain armies even when they are not immersed in a critical conflict? How are military capabilities changing in the 21st century?
How and why should we study ‘economic complexity’?
The Economic Complexity Index offers insights into how diversified and sophisticated a country's export profile is. This matters for economic growth and development potential.
Are emerging economies deindustrializing too quickly?
As today’s developed countries grew richer, they experienced a process of ‘structural transformation’. Are developing countries following a similar process?
Historical poverty reductions: more than a story about 'free-market capitalism'
The reduction of poverty has also happened because public spending and redistribution have increased significantly.
Income inequality and happiness inequality: a tale of two trends
How could it be that happiness inequality falls with rising income inequality?
Collective pessimism and our inability to guess the happiness of others
We tend to underestimate the average happiness of people around us. One possible explanation is that we are positive about ourselves, but negative about those we don't know.
"Life Expectancy" – What does this actually mean?
How is life expectancy calculated, what does it mean, and what’s the difference between period and cohort life expectancy?
Is globalization an engine of economic development?
There is a 'happiness gap' between East and West Germany
Healthcare Spending
How is healthcare financed? How much do we spend on it? What are the returns?
Structural transformation: how did today’s rich countries become ‘deindustrialized’?
Most of the advanced economies of the world have been deindustrializing for decades and have moved into a new ‘post-industrial’ phase of development. This post asks how they got there.