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Max Roser - Wikipedia Jump to content

Max Roser

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Max Roser
Born1983 (age 41–42)
Kirchheimbolanden, West Germany
Academic background
InfluencesTony Atkinson
Academic work
DisciplineEconomics of income distribution, poverty, global development, global health
InstitutionsNuffield College, Oxford
Oxford Martin School
Website

Max Roser (born 1983) is an economist and philosopher who focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality.[1][2][3]

Roser is a professor at the University of Oxford, where he directs the program on global development, based at the Oxford Martin School.[3] He is the founder and director of the research publication Our World in Data.[4]

In 2025, he received an honorary doctorate from the Universities of KU Leuven and UCLouvain.[5][6]

Early life and education

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Roser was born in Kirchheimbolanden, Germany, a village close to the border with France. In 1999, he and a friend won a prize in the German youth science competition Jugend forscht with a model of a self-navigating vacuum cleaner.[7] According to Der Spiegel, in his youth he undertook extended travel, including along the Nile and across the Himalayas and the Andes.[8]

He has two undergraduate degrees (in geoscience and philosophy) and two master's degrees (in economics and philosophy).[8] Roser completed his doctoral dissertation in 2011 at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.[9]

Career

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After completing his doctorate, Roser joined the University of Oxford in 2012 under the mentorship of economist Sir Tony Atkinson, a scholar of poverty and inequality. At Oxford, he collaborated with Piketty, Morelli, and Atkinson.[10]

Roser founded Our World In Data, a scientific web publication presenting "research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems."[11]

In the early years, Roser largely built and funded Our World in Data on his own, financing the project through seasonal work as a bicycle tour guide in Europe.[12]

Roser credits Atkinson with encouraging him to publish his growing dataset on global living conditions, an idea that directly led to the creation of Our World in Data. In 2015, he established a research team at the University of Oxford, which is studying global development.[13] In 2019, he worked with Y Combinator on Our World in Data.[14]

Our World in Data

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Cartogram by Max Roser showing the distribution of the global population. Each of the 15,266 pixels represents the home country of 500,000 people.

Our World In Data presents articles, datasets, and visualisations on topics including global health, hunger, economic growth, income inequality, violence, war, technology, education, and environmental change. The publication makes use of data visualisations which are licensed under Creative Commons and are used in research, media, and teaching.[15]

Roser has argued that an emphasis on long-term indicators can complement event-focused news coverage.[16] In contrast to the event-focused reporting of the news media Roser advocates the adoption of a broader perspective on global change, and in particular a focus on those living in poverty.[16] The focus on the upper classes, especially in historical perspective, is misleading since it does not expose the hardship of those in the worst living conditions.[17]

He said that there are three messages of his work: "The world is much better; The world is awful; The world can be much better".[18] He wrote, "The mission of this work has never changed: from the first days in 2011, Our World in Data focused on the big global problems and asked how it is possible to make progress against them. The enemies of this effort were also always the same: apathy and cynicism."[19]

Life expectancy by world region, from 1770 to 2018

Roser has published on changes in global living conditions and produced visualisations of the respective data.[20][21][22] He has shown that in many societies in the past, a large share (over 40%) of children died.[23]

He advocates for academics and researchers to openly share their knowledge to benefit the public. OWID publishes its content under open licenses. Its content is licensed for free reuse, and the tools and code are shared openly.

As of May 2025, his research was cited more than 50,000 times, according to Google Scholar. As of 2025, Our World in Data has an annual readership of 100 million people.[24]

Research

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Beyond building public resources, Roser has published original research. Poverty is a central focus: Roser’s work has examined how poverty is defined and measured worldwide. He has criticized the practice of focusing on the international poverty line alone and has suggested additional higher poverty lines: a poverty line at 10.89 international dollars per day in the context of basic health[25] and a global poverty line at $30 per day.[26] They stated this is the minimum level people needed to have access to basic healthcare. The reason for the low global poverty line is to focus attention on the world's very poorest population.[27] He proposes using several different poverty lines to understand what is happening to global poverty. In 2015 research, he studied with Tony Atkinson, Brian Nolan, and others how benefits from economic growth are distributed.[28][29][30] With Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, he studied the history of international trade.[31]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the OWID team compiled global datasets on testing, vaccinations and other datasets on the pandemic, and built tools to access them.[32]

Economic inequality is a theme of Roser’s academic work, building on his doctoral research. In one of his studies, they investigated why median household incomes in many OECD countries have grown more slowly than GDP per capita, exploring factors behind the divergence between overall economic growth and typical living standards. To make historical inequality data more accessible, Roser co-published the Chartbook of Economic Inequality, which presents over a century of inequality indicators for 25 countries.

In the field of global health, Roser has published several studies. In 2019, he co-authored a Nature study of child mortality at subnational levels.[33][34] He contributed to a textbook on global health textbook,[35] and published on environmental and climate change. In 2017, Roser and Felix Pretis found that the growth rate in CO2 emission intensity exceeded the projections of all climate scenarios.[36]

Global CO2 emissions by world region since 1750 – a chart from Our World in Data

In 2015, Tina Rosenberg wrote in The New York Times that Roser's work presents a "big picture that’s an important counterpoint to the constant barrage of negative world news."[37] He has been part of the Statistical Advisory Panel of UNDP and spoke at UN institutions.[38][39]

Data visualization

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The data visualization expert Edward Tufte reprinted the work by Max Roser in his books.[40][41] His population cartogram has been reproduced in outlets such as The Financial Times and The Economist, and in open source applications.

In 2015, Roser collaborated with Hans Rosling to produce a data visualization documentary for the BBC.[42]

Recognition

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In 2019, he was listed among the "World’s Top 50 Thinkers" by Prospect Magazine.[43] In the same year, Our World in Data won the Lovie Award.[44]

In 2021, he received the Covid Innovation Heroes Award.[45] He was selected as one of "The Future Perfect 50", as one of 50 scientists and writers who are building a better future.[46] In 2025, the Universities of KU Leuven and UCLouvain awarded him an honorary doctorate.[5][6]

References

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  1. ^ "About". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  2. ^ Akhtar, Muizz (20 October 2022). "Max Roser doesn't want us to lose sight of progress". Vox. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Dr Max Roser". Oxford Martin School. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Our World in Data". Global Health Education and Learning Incubator, Harvard University. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Meet the honorary doctorates 2025 — Patron Saint's Day 2025". KU Leuven. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  6. ^ a b "5 personnalités honorées pour les 600 ans de l'UCLouvain | Université catholique de Louvain". www.uclouvain.be. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  7. ^ imfernsehen GmbH & Co. KG (3 July 1999). "Tigerenten Club Folge 183 Jugend forscht '99". Fernsehserien.de (in German). Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  8. ^ a b Schmundt, Hilmar (2 January 2016). "Statistiken Frohe Botschaft". Der Spiegel (in German). Vol. 1. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.(subscription required)
  9. ^ mb (February 2016). "Gute Nachrichten" (PDF). zukunft forschung (in German). Vol. 2016, no. 2. University of Innsbruck. p. 49. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  10. ^ "INET Oxford Highlights: 2012—2014" (PDF). The Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Our World in Data". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  12. ^ "History of Our World in Data". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  13. ^ "The Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development". Oxford Martin School. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  14. ^ Roser, Max; Ritchie, Hannah; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Mispy, Jaiden; Hasell, Joe; Gavrilov, Daniel (25 January 2019). "Our World in Data is at Y Combinator". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Media Coverage of OurWorldInData.org — Our World in Data". ourworldindata.org. Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Data Stories #57: Visualizing Human Development with Max Roser". Data Stories. 8 July 2015. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  17. ^ Roser, Max (27 March 2015). "Income inequality: poverty falling faster than ever but the 1% are racing ahead". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  18. ^ Roser, Max (20 July 2022). "The world is much better; The world is awful; The world can be much better". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  19. ^ Roser, Max (December 2020). "History of Our World in Data". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  20. ^ "Here's how many people have died in war in the last 600 years". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  21. ^ Matthews, Dylan (10 February 2015). "How Obama's optimism about the world explains his foreign policy". Vox. Archived from the original on 10 October 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  22. ^ Rudež, Tanja (30 October 2014). "Zbog ebole i terorizma čini nam se da je svijet užasan, ali istina je suprotna: Nikad nam nije bilo ovako dobro". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  23. ^ Roser, Max (11 April 2023). "Mortality in the past – around half died as children". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  24. ^ "Our World in Data: Transforming data into global impact". socsci.web.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  25. ^ Sterck, Olivier; Roser, Max; Ncube, Mthuli; Thewissen, Stefan (5 February 2018). "Allocation of development assistance for health: is the predominance of national income justified?". Health Policy and Planning. 33 (suppl_1): i14 – i23. doi:10.1093/heapol/czw173. ISSN 0268-1080. PMC 5886300. PMID 29415236.
  26. ^ Roser, Max (24 September 2024). "Opinion | We Need a New Global Measure for Poverty". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  27. ^ Hasell, Joe; Roser, Max (5 February 2019). "How do we know the history of extreme poverty?". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  28. ^ Nolan, Brian; Roser, Max; Thewissen, Stefan (2019). "GDP Per Capita Versus Median Household Income: What Gives Rise to the Divergence Over Time and how does this Vary Across OECD Countries?". Review of Income and Wealth. 65 (3): 465–494. doi:10.1111/roiw.12362. ISSN 1475-4991. S2CID 158875885.
  29. ^ Smeeding, Tim; Roser, Max; Nolan, Brian; Kenworthy, Lane; Thewissen, Stefan (15 May 2018). "Rising Income Inequality and Living Standards in OECD Countries: How Does the Middle Fare?". Journal of Income Distribution. 27 (2): 1–23. ISSN 1874-6322. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  30. ^ Atkinson, Hasell, Morelli, and Roser. "The Chartbook of Economic Inequality – Data on Economic Inequality over the long-run". www.chartbookofeconomicinequality.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ Roser, Max; Cuaresma, Jesus Crespo (1 July 2012). "Borders Redrawn: Measuring the Statistical Creation of International Trade". Working Papers in Economics and Finance. Rochester, NY. SSRN 2111864.
  32. ^ Harford, Tim (5 February 2021). "Why investing in data is never money wasted". Financial Times.
  33. ^ Burstein, Roy; Henry, Nathaniel J.; Collison, Michael L.; Marczak, Laurie B.; Sligar, Amber; Watson, Stefanie; Marquez, Neal; Abbasalizad-Farhangi, Mahdieh; Abbasi, Masoumeh; Abd-Allah, Foad; Abdoli, Amir (October 2019). "Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017". Nature. 574 (7778): 353–358. Bibcode:2019Natur.574..353B. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1545-0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 6800389. PMID 31619795.
  34. ^ Bachelet, Michelle (16 October 2019). "Data on child deaths are a call for justice". Nature. 574 (7778): 297. Bibcode:2019Natur.574..297B. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03058-6. PMID 31619786.
  35. ^ Kohler, Stefan; Roser, Max; Geldsetzer, Pascal; Bärnighausen, Till (2021). "Ökonomie und globale Gesundheit" [Economics and Global Health]. In Bonk, Mathias; Ulrichs, Timo (eds.). Global Health (in German). De Gruyter. pp. 523–556. doi:10.1515/9783110448474-020. ISBN 978-3-11-044847-4.
  36. ^ Pretis, Felix; Roser, Max (15 September 2017). "Carbon dioxide emission-intensity in climate projections: Comparing the observational record to socio-economic scenarios". Energy. 135: 718–725. Bibcode:2017Ene...135..718P. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2017.06.119. ISSN 0360-5442. PMC 5625523. PMID 29033490.
  37. ^ Rosenberg, Tina (9 April 2015). "Turning to Big, Big Data to See What Ails the World". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  38. ^ "| Human Development Reports". www.hdr.undp.org. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  39. ^ "Max Roser | Blavatnik School of Government". www.bsg.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  40. ^ "Edward Tufte: Books - Seeing with Fresh E". www.edwardtufte.com. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  41. ^ "Striving for Graphical Excellence with Edward Tufte". Ask your data (in German). Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  42. ^ "Max Roser collaborates with Hans Rosling on BBC Documentary". INET Oxford. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  43. ^ Prospect Team (16 July 2019). "The world's top 50 thinkers 2019". Prospect. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  44. ^ "Meet The 2019 Lovie Awards Special Achievement Winners". The Lovie Awards. 7 October 2019. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  45. ^ "Covid Innovation Heroes Awards". The Oxford Trust. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  46. ^ Chittal, Nisha (20 October 2022). "The Future Perfect 50". Vox. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
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Work

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