How Flexible Jobs Can Help Women: A Conversation with Suhani Jalota | Economics, Applied

Suhani Jalota joins Steve to discuss her study of how digital jobs can draw women into paid work in countries like India. The jobs, performed on smartphones, produce data that help train and evaluate AI models. Several job design features help overcome practical barriers to work and sidestep social norms that inhibit work for pay by married women. Jalota tells Steve how this idea can work in practice, how outcomes for women in these jobs can be evaluated, the broader effects of drawing women into this type of work, and what is next on her research agenda. This episode was recorded on November 13, 2023. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS: Suhani Jalota is a PhD candidate in Health Economics at the Stanford School of Medicine, and a Knight Hennessy Scholar. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Global Health from Duke University (2016). She is also the founder and director of a women's health organization, the Myna Mahila Foundation, based in Mumbai, India. She has been working in urban slum areas and rural communities researching and designing strategies on projects including the health of adolescent girls, as well as public policies concerning water, sanitation, and social protection. Her economics honors thesis topic looks at how slum redevelopment has negatively affected child health outcomes, even as rapid urbanization calls for policies that keep people healthy and safe. She wants to further explore national health systems, their design, as well as challenges and outcomes, especially from a developing country context. Steven J. Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is an economic adviser to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty. ABOUT THE SERIES: Each episode of Economics, Applied, a video podcast series, features senior fellow Steven Davis in conversation with leaders and researchers about economic developments and their ramifications. The goal is to bring evidence and economic reasoning to the table, drawing lessons for individuals, organizations, and society. The podcast also aims to showcase the value of individual initiative, markets, the rule of law, and sound policy in fostering prosperity and security. For more information, visit https://www.hoover.org/podcasts/economics-applied.