It seems that there is a critical endogenous factor for location; the people really interested in running EA projects, and who are capable of running them best, gravitate to EA hubs, and have moved there. Many of the most dedicated and capable EAs moved to these hubs and work at these organizations, while the less dedicated/capable ones did not try to do so, or weren’t hired. It’s clear that many of the groups are pulling in EAs from other parts of the world, so the concentration is in fact reflecting this movement. This doesn’t explain the entire bias, and I agree that networks matter for funding and this can be very problematic, but it’s a critical factor.
I think this cuts both ways. Having many EA organizations near a hub means there are lots of people associated with those locations, and therefore more potential recipients of CB grants. However, it also means that there are lots of EA jobs in that area (relatively speaking), making people less reliant on “official” CB grants. For example, the EA London group has had paid staff since well before the CBG program started, because it was a large enough group to fund its own staff.
I also wonder whether there’s a chicken-and-egg dynamic at play. If more funding were available to people outside of main hubs, would those hubs still attract so many people?
I haven’t looked at the specific grants, but my understanding was that EA orgs with specific purposes would not usually fund many of the activities that EA grants are used for, since the purpose of the grants is to do something new or different than extant organizations. (Also, organizations usually have organizational and logistical constraints that make expanding to new areas of work inadvisable—look at how badly most mergers go in the corporate world, for instance.
But I agree there are some chicken-and-egg issues. I’m less sure, however, whether geographic diversity is as useful as it normally would be given the advantages of concentrating people in places with significant extant EA infrastructure and networks that enable collaboration.
I’m less sure, however, whether geographic diversity is as useful as it normally would be given the advantages of concentrating people in places with significant extant EA infrastructure and networks that enable collaboration.
I agree there’s value to concentration, but I think a world where most dedicated and talented EAs feel compelled to move to London or the Bay is going too far in that direction. There are other locations that also have established infrastructure (albeit on a smaller scale), and have a comparative advantage for some types of work (e.g. policy work in Washington DC, finance earning to give in NYC, great powers conflict prevention in China, etc.)
For those of us (like myself) who, for family reasons or otherwise, are unable to move to a hub or location with a comparative advantage for any type of EA work, there are local chapters in many places. (Even if mine is a 30 minute drive or 45 miute bus ride away.) Those can sometimes benefit from more support, but where it is most needed, and where there is capacity to do so, I understand that it is already happening, or at least starting to. But it doesn’t mean it makes sense to fund EA orgs everywhere, because coordination costs and duplication are real issues. And communities that want EA infrastructure can build their own, and often have done so. On the other hand, if they are so small that they don’t have locals that want to build a community and can support doing so, I don’t think funding them from EA grants makes sense anyways.
Given that, I certainly agree that there are orgs that would benefit from being located in the “EA Diaspora” specifically in the places you listed. But in many cases, they DO have such organizations already, and a large EA community. Not coincidentally, they are also very well connected with the EA hubs, so that I’d guess many grants to those places would have been excluded in the analysis. S There is no lack of EA policy-focused orgs or EA community infrastructure in DC and the surrounding area, given the number of EA-aligned orgs that are working there—notably, Georgetown’s CSET and Johns Hopkins’ CHS. Similarly the NYC EA chapter is among the largest, and not only is it a vibrant community, but is also where GiveDirectly is located. China I’m less familiar with, and is a very different discussion but I don’t see anything stopping people interested in those types of work from moving to those places instead of SF / Oxford to be involved in EA orgs. Otherwise, starting EA orgs that replicate work being done in the hubs seems like a low priority, ineffective activity.
It seems that there is a critical endogenous factor for location; the people really interested in running EA projects, and who are capable of running them best, gravitate to EA hubs, and have moved there. Many of the most dedicated and capable EAs moved to these hubs and work at these organizations, while the less dedicated/capable ones did not try to do so, or weren’t hired. It’s clear that many of the groups are pulling in EAs from other parts of the world, so the concentration is in fact reflecting this movement. This doesn’t explain the entire bias, and I agree that networks matter for funding and this can be very problematic, but it’s a critical factor.
Good point, thanks for raising it!
I think this cuts both ways. Having many EA organizations near a hub means there are lots of people associated with those locations, and therefore more potential recipients of CB grants. However, it also means that there are lots of EA jobs in that area (relatively speaking), making people less reliant on “official” CB grants. For example, the EA London group has had paid staff since well before the CBG program started, because it was a large enough group to fund its own staff.
I also wonder whether there’s a chicken-and-egg dynamic at play. If more funding were available to people outside of main hubs, would those hubs still attract so many people?
I haven’t looked at the specific grants, but my understanding was that EA orgs with specific purposes would not usually fund many of the activities that EA grants are used for, since the purpose of the grants is to do something new or different than extant organizations. (Also, organizations usually have organizational and logistical constraints that make expanding to new areas of work inadvisable—look at how badly most mergers go in the corporate world, for instance.
But I agree there are some chicken-and-egg issues. I’m less sure, however, whether geographic diversity is as useful as it normally would be given the advantages of concentrating people in places with significant extant EA infrastructure and networks that enable collaboration.
I agree there’s value to concentration, but I think a world where most dedicated and talented EAs feel compelled to move to London or the Bay is going too far in that direction. There are other locations that also have established infrastructure (albeit on a smaller scale), and have a comparative advantage for some types of work (e.g. policy work in Washington DC, finance earning to give in NYC, great powers conflict prevention in China, etc.)
For those of us (like myself) who, for family reasons or otherwise, are unable to move to a hub or location with a comparative advantage for any type of EA work, there are local chapters in many places. (Even if mine is a 30 minute drive or 45 miute bus ride away.) Those can sometimes benefit from more support, but where it is most needed, and where there is capacity to do so, I understand that it is already happening, or at least starting to. But it doesn’t mean it makes sense to fund EA orgs everywhere, because coordination costs and duplication are real issues. And communities that want EA infrastructure can build their own, and often have done so. On the other hand, if they are so small that they don’t have locals that want to build a community and can support doing so, I don’t think funding them from EA grants makes sense anyways.
Given that, I certainly agree that there are orgs that would benefit from being located in the “EA Diaspora” specifically in the places you listed. But in many cases, they DO have such organizations already, and a large EA community. Not coincidentally, they are also very well connected with the EA hubs, so that I’d guess many grants to those places would have been excluded in the analysis. S There is no lack of EA policy-focused orgs or EA community infrastructure in DC and the surrounding area, given the number of EA-aligned orgs that are working there—notably, Georgetown’s CSET and Johns Hopkins’ CHS. Similarly the NYC EA chapter is among the largest, and not only is it a vibrant community, but is also where GiveDirectly is located. China I’m less familiar with, and is a very different discussion but I don’t see anything stopping people interested in those types of work from moving to those places instead of SF / Oxford to be involved in EA orgs. Otherwise, starting EA orgs that replicate work being done in the hubs seems like a low priority, ineffective activity.