Test Format and Calculator Use in the Testing of Basic Math Skills for Principles of Economics: Experimental Evidence

August 2020

Irene R. Foster (George Washington University),  Melanie Allwine Fennell (Randolph-Macon College)

IIEP working paper 2020-20

Abstract: Results from an experiment in Fall 2013 of 902 incoming students at this university are reported. In this experiment, after students were given a basic math assessment to ensure they had the necessary math skills to take a principles of economics course, they were randomly allocated to a treatment or control group to test if there was a significant impact of test format, calculator use, and calculator type on students’ scores. The interaction of calculator use/type and test format was also tested. The results from this experiment suggest that each treatment had a significant positive impact on students’ assessment scores, with much variation depending on the type of question asked and the level of performance.

JEL Codes: A22, C23

Key Words: Economic Education, Teaching Economics, Math Assessment, Microeconomics,
Calculator Use, Test Format

Theory and Practice: The Economics of Implementation and India’s Covid-19 Response

Thursday, November 12, 2020
9:00 am – 10:30 am EDT
WebEx

This was the third webinar in the “Envisioning India” series, co-sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Institute for International Economic Policy. It is a platform for dialogue and debate. We invited you to engage with us in this series of important discussions.

The “Envisioning India” series is organized under the stewardship of IIEP Co-Director James Foster, Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics, and IIEP Distinguished Visiting Scholar Ajay Chhibber. The third event, “Theory and Practice: The Economics of Implementation and India’s Covid-19 Response” featured Rohini Pande, Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University, Ravi Kanbur, T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs, International Professor of Applied Economics and Management, and Professor of Economics at Cornell University, and Jayati Ghosh, former Chair of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at the Jawaharal Nehru University.

The onset of Covid-19 has changed the trajectory of global poverty reduction, especially in South Asia. India is now predicted to see large increases in the number of people living in extreme poverty. And, in an environment of low economic growth, this heightened socio-economic inequality is likely to persist unless the state can redistribute adequate resources towards the poor. As a short-run response during the lockdown, India announced gender-targeted cash transfers and increased free food rations. However, with the `unlocking’ of the economy now near complete, the Indian state is largely relying on labor markets, undergirded by the employment guarantee program in rural areas, to provide the poor and vulnerable the resources they need. How well did India’s social protection system protect the vulnerable in the short-run? What did we learn about the relative success of food versus cash transfers when state capacity is low? In the medium-run, are labor markets succeeding in protecting the poor? How are the less powerful – especially women – faring in the covid-19 economy? Looking ahead, how should we factor in considerations of state capacity and accountability in evaluating policy proposals, such as Universal Basic Income and urban employment guarantees? Or, in devising policies to eventually put an end to the pandemic?

About the Panelists:

Picture of Panelist Rohini Pande Rohini Pande is the Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center, Yale University. She is a co-editor of American Economic Review: Insights. Pande’s research is largely focused on how formal and informal institutions shape power relationships and patterns of economic and political advantage in society, particularly in developing countries. She is interested in the role of public policy in providing the poor and disadvantaged political and economic power, and how notions of economic justice and human rights can help justify and enable such change. Her most recent work focuses on testing innovative ways to make the state more accountable to its citizens, such as strengthening women’s economic and political opportunities, ensuring that environmental regulations reduce harmful emissions, and providing citizens effective means to voice their demand for state services. In 2018, Pande received the Carolyn Bell Shaw Award from the American Economic Association for promoting the success of women in the economics profession. She is the co-chair of the Political Economy and Government Group at Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a Board member of Bureau of Research on Economic Development (BREAD) and a former co-editor of The Review of Economics and Statistics. Before coming to Yale, Pande was the Rafik Harriri Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School, where she co-founded Evidence for Policy Design. Pande received a Ph.D. in economics from London School of Economics, a BA/MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and a BA in Economics from Delhi University.

Ravi Kanbur is the T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs, International Professor of Applied Economics and Management, Professor of Economics, Cornell University. He researches and teaches in development economics, public economics and economic theory. He has served on the senior staff of the World Bank including as Chief Economist for Africa. He has also published in the leading economics journals, including Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Economic Theory and Economic Journal. He is Co-Chair of the Food Economics Commission and Co-Chair of the Scientific Council of the International Panel on Social Progress. The positions he has held include: Chair of the Board of United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research, member of the OECD High Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance, President of the Human Development and Capability Association and President of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

Picture of Panelist Jayati Ghosh Jayati Ghosh taught economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi for nearly 35 years. From January 2020 she will join the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA. She has authored and/or edited 19 books (including “Never Done and Poorly Paid: Women’s Work in Globalising India”, Women Unlimited, New Delhi 2009; the co-edited “Elgar Handbook of Alternative Theories of Economic Development, 2014, “Demonetisation Decoded”, Routledge 2017 and “Women workers in the informal economy”, Routledge forthcoming) and nearly 200 scholarly articles. She has received several prizes, including for distinguished contributions to the social sciences in India in 2015; the International Labour Organisation’s Decent Work Research Prize for 2010; the NordSud Prize for Social Sciences 2010, Italy. She has advised governments in India and other countries, including as Chairperson of the Andhra Pradesh Commission on Farmers’ Welfare in 2004, and Member of the National Knowledge Commission of India (2005-09). She is the Executive Secretary of International Development Economics Associates, an international network of heterodox development economists. She has consulted for international organisations including ILO, UNDP, UNCTAD, UN-DESA, UNRISD and UN Women and is member of several international commissions, including the International Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT) and the Commission for Global Economic Transformation of INET. She writes regularly for popular media like newspapers, journals and blogs.

 

About the Organizers:

Picture of James E. Foster James E. Foster is the Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs, Professor of Economics, and Co-Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy at the George Washington University. He is also a Research Associate at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at Oxford University. Professor Foster’s research focuses on welfare economics — using economic tools to evaluate and enhance the wellbeing of people. His joint 1984 Econometrica paper (with Joel Greer and Erik Thorbecke) is one of the most cited papers on poverty. It introduced the FGT Index, which has been used in thousands of studies and was employed in targeting the Progresa CCT program in Mexico. Other research includes work on economic inequality with Amartya Sen; on the distribution of human development with Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva and Miguel Szekely; on multidimensional poverty with Sabina Alkire; and on literacy with Kaushik Basu.

Professor Foster’s work underlies many well-known social indices including the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) published annually by the UNDP in the Human Development Report, dozens of national MPIs used to guide domestic policy against poverty, the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) at USAID, the Gross National Happiness Index of Bhutan, the Better Jobs Index of the InterAmerican Development Bank, and the Statistical Performance Index of the World Bank.

Picture of Ajay Chhibber Ajay Chhibber is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Institute of International Economic Policy, George Washington University and Non-Resident Senior Fellow, the Atlantic Council, Washington DC. He was earlier Director General, Independent Evaluation Office, Government of India and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the National Institute of  Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), India. He held senior positions at the UN as Assistant Secretary General and Assistant Administrator, UNDP and managed their program for Asia and the Pacific. He also served in senior positions at the World Bank. He has a Ph.D. from Stanford University, a Masters from the Delhi School of Economics. He taught at Georgetown University and at the University of Delhi.

13th Annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Relations

Virtual Conference Series

Beginning October 30, 2020

via Webex

Schedule of Events

Friday, October 30: Keynote:

                              Carmen M. Reinhart (World Bank Group): Debt After COVID

Tuesday, November 10, 2020: International Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region

Christopher J. Fussner (TransTechnology Worldwide)

Frank Wong (Scholastic Asia)

Maggie Chen (Institute for International Economic Policy)

Friday, November 20, 2020: 13th China conference panel – Michael Song and John Rogers

Moderator: Remi Jedwab

Michael Song (Chinese University of Hong Kong): 

John Rogers (Federal Reserve Board):

Friday, January 15, 2021: The Biden Administration Turns to a Deteriorating US-China Relationship

                               Moderator: Barbara Stallings

                              David M. Lampton (Foreign Policy Institute and Johns Hopkins–SAIS)

                              Deborah Lehr (Paulson Institute)

Friday, March 5th, 2021: China’s Outward Investments: State Capitalism or Capital Flight?

                                Moderator: Jay Shambaugh 

                              Meg Rithmire (Harvard)

                              Deoborah Brautigam (JHU)

                                Stephen B. Kaplan

Friday, April 9th, 2021: Minimum Performance Targets, Multitasking and Incentives: Theory and Evidence from China’s Air Quality Controls

                                Moderators: Jay Shambaugh, Chao Wei

                             Li-An Zhou

                             Matthew E. Kahn

Friday, April 30th, 2021: Globalizing Patient Capital: The Political Economy of Chinese Finance in the Americas

                               Moderators: Jay Shambaugh

                             Stephen Kaplan

                              Carol Wise (University of Southern California) 

                              Roselyn Hsueh (Temple University) 

An archive of all previous Annual Conferences on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations is available here.

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Cosponsored by:

Immunocapital: Disease, Power, and Inequality in the Antebellum Cotton Kingdom

Monday, October 26, 2020
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
WebEx

We were pleased to invite you to a new webinar series, “Facing Inequality”, hosted by the Institute for International Economic Policy. This virtual series focused on current and emerging inequality issues in the U.S. and around the globe. The series brought attention to aspects of inequality being made increasingly relevant by the current COVID-19 pandemic and associated crises. The series was organized under the stewardship of IIEP Director James Foster, Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics, and IIEP Faculty Affiliate Trevor Jackson, Assistant Professor of History. The series was co-sponsored by the GW Interdisciplinary Inequality Series, co-organized by Prof. Jackson from the Department of History and Prof. Bryan Stuart from the Department of Economics.

This was the ninth event in the facing inequality series. Our distinguished guest was Dr. Kathryn Olivarius. Based on Olivarius’s current book project, this talk discussed the impact of yellow fever in New Orleans in the antebellum period and how disease and immunity became agents of inequality. Yellow fever killed upwards of eight percent of antebellum New Orleans’ population each summer. It was terrifying: there was do cure, no inoculation, no conclusive evidence of disease transmission, and no satisfactory proof for why it killed some while leaving others symptomatic. It was, moreover, a sudden and horrible way to die, with victims famously vomiting up thick black vomit at the end of their illness. About half of all nineteenth-century victims died; the other half became “acclimated” or immune for life. The Cotton Kingdom was a slave society where whites dominated free people of color and enslaved people through legally sanctioned violence. But another invisible hierarchy came to co-mingle with the racial order; white “acclimated citizens” stood atop the social pyramid, followed by white “unacclimated strangers,” followed by everyone else. Here, the acclimated wielded their immunity at every turn, making epidemiological discrimination a major form of bias in this already unequal society.

Agenda:

12:30 p.m. – Welcome Remarks by IIEP Director James Foster and Facing Inequality co-organizer Prof. Trevor Jackson
12:35 p.m. – Introductory Remarks and Setting the Stage by Dayna Matthew, GW Law School Dean
12:50 p.m. – “Immunocapital: Disease, Power, and Inequality in the Antebellum Cotton Kingdom” by Kathryn Olivarius, Stanford University
1:30 p.m. – Discussant Remarks by Martin Saavedra, Oberlin College
1:40 p.m. – Response by Kathryn Olivarius
1:45 p.m. – Audience Q&A moderated by IIEP Director James Foster
2:00 p.m. – Event Conclusion

About the Speakers:

Picture of Kathryn Olivarius, Featured speakerKathryn Olivarius is an Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University, where she has taught since 2017. Her research and teaching focus on slavery’s rise and fall in the American South and the wider Atlantic World, disease in the nineteenth century, the history of race and ethnicity, and the social upheaval of the Age of Revolutions. Last year, she was awarded Stanford’s Phi Beta Kappa teaching prize for undergraduate teaching. Before moving to California, she was a Past and Present postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Historical Research in London. Her book entitled Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom will be published by Harvard University Press in Fall 2021. Her article “Immunity, Power, and Belonging in Antebellum New Orleans,” was published by the American Historical Review last year.

About the Discussant:

Picture of Martin SaavedraMartin Saavedra is an Associate Professor of Economics at Oberlin College and earned his PhD in Economics from the    University of Pittsburgh in 2014. He primarily works in the fields of economic history, health economics, and labor economics, and his research focuses on the economics of infectious disease, infant health, and the WW2 internment of Japanese Americans. His work has been published in the Journal of Economic History, Explorations in Economic History, the Journal of Economic Literature, among others.

 

About GW Law School Dean Danya Bowen Matthew:

Picture of Dayna Matthew, Dean of GW Law SchoolDayna Bowen Matthew, JD, PhD, is the Dean and Harold H. Greene Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. Dean Matthew is a leader in public health and civil rights law who focuses on racial disparities in health care. She joined the UVA Law faculty in 2017 and is the author of the book Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care. At UVA, she served as Co-Founder and Inaugural Director of The Equity Center, a transdisciplinary research center that seeks to build better relationships between UVA and the Charlottesville community through community-engaged scholarship that tangibly redresses racial and socioeconomic inequality.

Dean Matthew previously served on the University of Colorado law faculty as a Professor, Vice Dean, and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. She was a member of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities on the Anschutz Medical Campus. Dean Matthew held a joint appointment at the Colorado School of Public Health. In 2013, she co-founded the Colorado Health Equity Project, a medical-legal partnership incubator aimed at removing barriers to good health for low-income clients by providing legal representation, research, and policy advocacy. In 2015, she served as the Senior Adviser to the Director of the Office of Civil Rights for the US Environmental Protection Agency, where she expedited cases on behalf of historically vulnerable communities besieged by pollution. She then became a member of the health policy team for US Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and worked on public health issues. During 2015-16, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow in Residence in Washington, DC, and pivoted her work toward population-level clients.

India’s COVID-19 Challenge: Outcomes and Options

Thursday, October 15, 2020
10:30 am – 12:00 pm EDT
WebEx

This was the second webinar in the “Envisioning India” series, co-sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Institute for International Economic Policy. It is a platform for dialogue and debate. We invited you to engage with us in this series of important discussions.

The “Envisioning India” series is organized under the stewardship of IIEP Co-Director James Foster, Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics, and IIEP Distinguished Visiting Scholar Ajay Chhibber. The second event, “India’s COVID-19 Challenge: Outcomes and Options” featured Raghuram Rajan, Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago, and Bina Agarwal, Professor of Development Economics and Environment at the University of Manchester. The discussion was moderated by Professor James Foster, with an introduction by Dr. Ajay Chhibber.

India has been hit hard by the Coronavirus. Today it has amongst the highest number of cases world-wide and daily rising death rates. One of the world’s strictest lockdowns in March, with no warning, flattened the economy instead of flattening the Covid-19 curve. In Q1 FY 2020-21 (April to June), India’s GDP fell by almost 24%, while the FY 2020-21GDP growth is projected to be between -5% and -10%, amongst the largest drop globally. The economy was already ailing prior to Covid, with growth falling for 7 previous quarters. COVID will set it back further, perhaps by at least 5 years and push millions out of work and into poverty. India’s ambitious goal of becoming a $5 Trillion economy by 2025 seems a distant dream now.

The lockdown also forced millions of urban migrants to return to their rural homes, under great hardship, carrying with them the virus and the despair of joblessness. India’s woefully inadequate public health system is now overwhelmed. Central and State finances are in deep trouble and the GST (as a sign of Cooperative Federalism) is beset with intense political friction. The already struggling financial system is likely to sink even deeper into the mire. The Rs 20 Trillion (10% of GDP) package announced by the government with much fanfare under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-reliant India scheme), is too small – especially its fiscal component -to repair the economic damage or revive livelihoods. The package includes a series of reforms in agricultural markets and labor markets as well as a greater push for “ Make in India”. But will these reforms help India at this stage?

India is between a rock and a hard place. Did it have to get so bad? Is there any good news? A silver lining anywhere? Is there scope for some transformative change? Or do we, as with the virus, have to brace ourselves to “live with” this economic downturn for a long stretch ahead?

Our distinguished panelists discussed these challenges and possible options and solutions.

About the Panelists:

Picture of Raghuram Rajan, panelist

Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between 2013 and 2016, and also served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Bank for International Settlements between 2015 and 2016. Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2006.

Dr. Rajan’s research interests are in banking, corporate finance, and economic development, especially the role finance plays in it. He co-authored Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists with Luigi Zingales in 2003. He then wrote Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, for which he was awarded the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book in 2010. His most recent book, The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State hold the Community Behind was published in 2019.

Dr. Rajan was the President of the American Finance Association in 2011 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Group of Thirty. In 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Dr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize for the best finance researcher under the age of 40. The other awards he has received include the Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics in 2013, Euromoney magazine’s Central Banker of the Year Award 2014 and The Banker magazine’s Global Central Banker of the Year award in 2016.

Picture of Bina Agarwal, Panelist Bina Agarwal is Professor of Development Economics and Environment at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK, and former Professor and Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. She has been President,  International Society for Ecological Economics; Vice-President, International Economic Association; President,                    International Society for Feminist Economics; and held distinguished positions at the Universities of Cambridge, Harvard,    Princeton, Michigan, Minnesota, and the New York University School of Law. Dr. Agarwal’s publications include the multiple award-winning book, A Field of One’s Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia (Cambridge University Press, 1994), Gender and Green Governance (OUP, 2010) and Gender Challenges (OUP, 2016), a three volume compendium of her selected papers on Agriculture, Property, and the Environment. Her pioneering work on gender inequality in property and land and on environmental governance, has had global impact. Her many awards include a Padma Shri, 2008; book prizes; the Leontief Prize 2010; Louis Malassis Scientific Prize 2017; and the International Balzan Prize, 2017.

 

About the Organizers:

Picture of James E. Foster James E. Foster is the Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs, Professor of Economics, and Co-Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy at the George Washington University. He is also a Research Associate at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at Oxford University. Professor Foster’s research focuses on welfare economics — using economic tools to evaluate and enhance the wellbeing of people. His joint 1984 Econometrica paper (with Joel Greer and Erik Thorbecke) is one of the most cited papers on poverty. It introduced the  FGT Index, which has been used in thousands of studies and was employed in targeting the Progresa CCT program in Mexico. Other research includes work on economic inequality with Amartya Sen; on the distribution of human development with Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva and Miguel Szekely; on multidimensional poverty with Sabina Alkire; and on literacy with Kaushik Basu.

Professor Foster’s work underlies many well-known social indices including the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) published annually by the UNDP in the Human Development Report, dozens of national MPIs used to guide domestic policy against poverty, the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) at USAID, the Gross National Happiness Index of Bhutan, the Better Jobs Index of the InterAmerican Development Bank, and the Statistical Performance Index of the World Bank.

Ajay Chhibber is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Institute of International Economic Policy, George Washington University and Non-Resident Senior Fellow, the Atlantic Council, Washington DC. He was earlier Director General, Independent Evaluation Office, Government of India and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), India. He held senior positions at the UN as Assistant Secretary General and Assistant Administrator, UNDP and managed their program for Asia and the Pacific. He also served in senior positions at the World Bank. He has a PhD from Stanford University, a Masters from the Delhi School of Economics. He taught at Georgetown University and at the University of Delhi.

Short and long-run distributional impacts of COVID-19 in Latin America

Monday, October 12, 2020
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
WebEx

“Facing Inequality” is a webinar series hosted by the Institute for International Economic Policy. This virtual series focuses on current and emerging inequality issues in the U.S. and around the globe. The series brings attention to aspects of inequality being made increasingly relevant by the current COVID-19 pandemic and associated crises. It is organized under the stewardship of IIEP Director James Foster, Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics, and IIEP Faculty Affiliate Trevor Jackson, Assistant Professor of History. The series is co-sponsored by the GW Interdisciplinary Inequality Series, co-organized by Prof. Jackson from the Department of History and Prof. Bryan Stuart from the Department of Economics.

This was the eighth event in the facing inequality series. Our distinguished speakers, Nora Lustig and Guido Neidhöfer discussed their paper, “Short and long-run distributional impacts of COVID-19 in Latin America ” (Lustig, Neidhöfer and Tommasi). They simulate the short- and long-term distributional consequences of COVID-19 in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. They show that the short-term impact on income inequality and poverty can be very significant but that additional spending on social assistance has a large offsetting effect in Brazil and Argentina. The effect is much smaller in Colombia and nil in Mexico, where there has been no such expansion. To project the long-term consequences, they estimate the impact of the pandemic on human capital and its intergenerational persistence. Hereby, they use information on school lockdowns, educational mitigation policies, and account for educational losses related to parental job loss. Their findings show that in all four countries the impact is strongly asymmetric and affects particularly the human capital of the most vulnerable. Consequently, educational inequality and inequality of opportunity are expected to increase substantially, in spite of the mitigation policies.

 

About the Speakers:

Picture of Panelist Nora Lustig Nora Lustig is Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics and the founding Director of the Commitment to    Equity Institute (CEQ) at Tulane University. She is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, the  Center for Global Development and the Inter-American Dialogue. Professor Lustig’s research focuses on economic development, inequality and social policies with emphasis on Latin America. Her recent publication Commitment to Equity Handbook: Estimating the Impact of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty is a step-by-step guide to assessing the impact of taxation and social spending on inequality and poverty in developing countries. Prof. Lustig is a founding member and President Emeritus of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA) and was a co-director of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2000, Attacking Poverty. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Economic Inequality and is a member of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality’s Executive Council. Prof. Lustig served on the Atkinson Commission on Poverty, the High-level Group on Measuring Economic Performance and Social Progress, and the G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance. She received her doctorate in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Picture of Panelist Guido Neidhöfer Guido Neidhöfer is an advanced researcher in the Labor Markets and Human Resources department at ZEW Mannheim, Germany, as well as a fellow at the College for Interdisciplinary Educational Research (CIDER), visiting scholar at the Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS) of the National University of La Plata, and an associated researcher of the Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Humano (CEDH) of the Universidad de San Andres in Argentina. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of economic inequality, social mobility, education and migration.

 

About the Discussants:

Picture of Professor Stephen. B. Kaplan Stephen B. Kaplan is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs. Professor Kaplan’s research and teaching interests focus on the frontiers of international and comparative political economy, where he specializes in the political economy of global finance and development, the rise of China in the Western Hemisphere, and Latin American politics.

Professor Kaplan joined the GWU faculty in the fall of 2010 after completing a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University and his Ph.D at Yale University. While at Yale, Kaplan also worked as a researcher for former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo at the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. Prior to his doctoral studies, Professor Kaplan was a senior economic analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, writing extensively on developing country economics, global financial market developments, and emerging market crises from 1998 to 2003.

Picture of Michael Wolfson Dr. Michael C. Wolfson received his B.Sc with honours from University of Toronto jointly in mathematics, computer science and economics in 1971, and then a Ph.D. from Cambridge in economics in 1977.  He retired as Assistant Chief      Statistician, Analysis and Development (which included the Health Statistics program and the central R&D function) at Statistics Canada in 2009.  He was awarded a Canada Research Chair in Population Health Modeling in the Faculty of      Medicine at the University of Ottawa for 2010-2017.  Prior to joining Statistics Canada, he held increasingly senior positions in the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Department of Finance, the Privy Council Office, the House of Commons, and the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office.  While a senior public servant, he was also a founding Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Program in Population Health (1988-2003). He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, and a member of the recently created Canadian Statistics Advisory Council.

No Going Back: Post Corona Reconstruction Program

Tuesday, September 29, 2020
11 am EDT
WebEx

We are pleased to invite you to a conversation with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh who created a model for combating poverty through microlending. He is also the founder of the Yunus Centre, a think tank for issues related to social business. He is the author of three books, including Banker to the Poor. The event will be moderated by Dr. James Foster, Co-Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy and Oliver T. Carr Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics at the George Washington University. This event is jointly sponsored by IIEP, the Elliott School of International Affairs, the LEAP Initiative, and the George Washington University.

About the Speaker:
Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus is the father of both social business and microcredit, the founder of Grameen Bank, and of more than 50 other companies in Bangladesh. For his constant innovation and enterprise, Fortune magazine named Professor Yunus in March 2012 as “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. In 2006, Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to “create economic and social development from below.”

Dr. Yunus is the recipient of 61 honorary degrees from universities across 24 countries. He has received 136 awards from 33 countries including state honours from 10 countries. He is one of only seven individuals to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, the United State Presidential Medal of Freedom and the United States Congressional Gold Medal. He has appeared on the cover of Time magazine, Newsweek and Forbes magazine. In 2016 GWU awarded him the President’s Medal in recognition of his service.

 

About the Moderator:

Picture of James FosterJames E. Foster is the Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs, Professor of Economics, and Co-Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy at the George Washington University. He is also a Research Associate at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at Oxford University. Professor Foster’s research focuses on welfare economics — using economic tools to evaluate and enhance the wellbeing of people. His joint 1984 Econometrica paper (with Joel Greer and Erik Thorbecke) is one of the most cited papers on poverty. It introduced the FGT Index, which has been used in thousands of studies and was employed in targeting the Progresa CCT program in Mexico. Other research includes work on economic inequality with Amartya Sen; on the distribution of human development with Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva and Miguel Szekely; on multidimensional poverty with Sabina Alkire; and on literacy with Kaushik Basu.

Professor Foster’s work underlies many well-known social indices including the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) published annually by the UNDP in the Human Development Report, dozens of national MPIs used to guide domestic policy against poverty, the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) at USAID, the Gross National Happiness Index of Bhutan, the Better Jobs Index of the InterAmerican Development Bank, and the Statistical Performance Index of the World Bank.

The IMF’s Financial Catch 22: Global Banker or Lender of Last Resort?

August 2020

Stephen B. Kaplan (George Washington University), Sujeong Shim (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

IIEP working paper 2020-18

Abstract: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has dual institutional roles: a steward of international financial stability and a global banker safeguarding the resources of its sovereign shareholders. But, how does the IMF behave when its balance sheet becomes exposed to higher-than-usual credit risk, creating a financial catch-22? We expect the IMF varies its lending behavior, based on the nature of sovereign credit crises. When there is high contagion risk, the IMF aims to preserve global financial stability as a lender of last resort by extending large loans, notwithstanding its balance sheet strains. The IMF employs policy conditionality to hedge its lending risk, but prioritizes alleviating global market turmoil over program compliance. When market contagion is contained, however, the IMF is more likely to act as a traditional banker, suspending programs for non- compliance. Ironically, given its tendency to forgive non-compliance as a lender of last resort, our theoretical framework suggests that the Fund intensifies its moral hazard problem.

We test our theoretical priors by conducting a comparative case study analysis of IMF decision-making over time for two of its largest borrowers: Argentina and Greece. Leveraging volumes of hundred-paged minutes from IMF executive board
meeting archives and extensive field research interviews, we illustrate the lending stances of IMF directors evolve in response to changes in global contagion risk. By examining the IMF’s own institutional agency under high financial risk, this study offers new insights for the study of international political economy and international organizations.

JEL Codes

Key Words: IMF; lender of last resort; financial crises, institutional financial risk; contagion risk; Argentina; Greece

Epidemics, inequality and poverty in preindustrial and early industrial times

August 2020

Guido Alfani (Bocconi University, Dondena Centre, IGIER, and Stone Center for Research on Socio-Economic Inequaltiy)

IIEP working paper 2020-16

Abstract: *This paper is part of a Symposium organized by Dr. Remi Jedwab of the George Washington University that will appear in the Journal of Economic Literature.* Recent research has explored the distributive consequences of major historical epidemics, and the current crisis triggered by Covid-19 prompts us to look at the past for insights about how pandemics can affect inequalities in income, wealth, and health. The fourteenth-century Black Death, which is usually believed to have led to a significant reduction in economic inequality, has attracted the greatest attention. However, the picture becomes much more complex if other epidemics are considered. This article covers the worst epidemics of preindustrial times, from Justinian’s Plague of 540-41 to the last great European plagues of the seventeenth century, as well as the cholera waves of the nineteenth. It shows how the distributive outcomes of lethal epidemics do not only depend upon mortality rates, but are mediated by a range of factors, chief among them the institutional framework in place at the onset of each crisis. It then explores how past epidemics affected poverty, arguing that highly lethal epidemics could reduce its prevalence through two deeply different mechanisms: redistribution towards the poor, or extermination of the poor. It concludes by recalling the historical connection between the progressive weakening and spacing in time of lethal epidemics and improvements in life expectancy, and by discussing how epidemics affected inequality in health and living standards.

 

JEL Codes: D31, D63, I14, I30, J11, N30, N33

Key Words: epidemics; inequality; poverty

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its Lessons for COVID-19

August 2020

Brian Beach (Vanderbilt University and NBER), Karen Clay (Carnegie Mellon University and NBER), Martin Saavedra (Oberlin College)

IIEP working paper 2020-15

Abstract: *This paper is part of a Symposium organized by Dr. Remi Jedwab of the George Washington University that will appear in the Journal of Economic Literature.* This article reviews the global health and economic consequences of the 1918 infuenza pandemic, with a particular focus on topics that have seen a renewed interest because of COVID-19. We begin by providing an overview of key contextual and epidemiological details as well as the data that are available to researchers. We then examine the effects on mortality, fertility, and the economy in the short and medium run. The role of nonpharmaceutical interventions in shaping those outcomes is discussed throughout. We then examine longer-lasting health consequences and their impact on human capital accumulation and socioeconomic status. Throughout the paper we highlight important areas for future work.

 

JEL Codes: I10, N0, J10, J24

Key Words: Pandemics; 1918 Influenza; COVID-19; epidemics

The Economic Impact of the Black Death

June 2020

Remi Jedwab (George Washington University), Noel D. Johnson (George Mason University), Mark Koyama (George Mason University)

IIEP working paper 2020-14

Abstract: *This paper is part of a Symposium organized by Dr. Remi Jedwab of the George Washington University that will appear in the Journal of Economic Literature.* The Black Death was the largest demographic shock in European history. We review the evidence for the origins, spread, and mortality of the disease. We document that it was a plausibly exogenous shock to the European economy and trace out its aggregate and local impacts in both the short-run and the long-run. The initial effect of the plague was highly disruptive. Wages and per capita income rose. But, in the long-run, this rise was only sustained in some parts of Europe. The other indirect long-run effects of the Black Death are associated with the growth of Europe relative to the rest of the world, especially Asia and the Middle East (the Great Divergence), a shift in the economic geography of Europe towards the Northwest (the Little Divergence), the demise of serfdom in Western Europe, a decline in the authority of religious institutions, and the emergence of stronger states. Finally, avenues for future research are laid out.

 

JEL Codes: N00, N13, I15, I14, J11, O10, O43

Key Words: Pandemics; Black Death; Institutions; Cities; Urbanization; Malthusian Theory; Demography; Long-Run Growth; Middle Ages; Europe; Asia;

Pandemics, Poverty, and Social Cohesion: Lessons from the Past and Possible Solutions for COVID-19

June 2020

Remi Jedwab (George Washington University), Amjad M. Khan (The World Bank),Richard Damania (The World Bank), Jason Russ (The World Bank), Esha D. Zaveri (The World Bank)

IIEP working paper 2020-13

Abstract: Since COVID-19 broke out, there has been renewed interest in understanding the economic and social dynamics of historical and more recent pandemics and epidemics, from the plagues of Antiquity to modern-day outbreaks like Ebola. These events can have significant impacts on the interplay between poverty and social cohesion, i.e. how different groups in society interact and cooperate to survive and prosper. To that effect, this survey paper provides an overview of how social responses to past pandemics and epidemics were determined by the epidemiological and non-epidemiological characteristics of these outbreaks, with a particular focus on the scapegoating and persecution of minority groups, including migrants. More precisely, we discuss existing theories as well as historical and quantitative studies, and highlight the cases and contexts where pandemics may lead to milder or more severe forms of scapegoating. Finally, we conclude with a summary of priorities for future research on pandemics and social cohesion and discuss the possible effects and policy implications of COVID-19.

 

JEL Codes: O15, O18, I15, I19, J61, J71

Key Words: COVID-19; Pandemics; Epidemics; Disasters; Social Cohesion; Stigmatization; Minority Persecution; Conflict; Poverty; Migration; Social Capital; Trust

Fiscal Dominance: A Theory of Everything in India

Wednesday, September 9, 2020
10:00 am – 11:30 am EDT
WebEx

Read Prof. Acharya’s responses to our discussants here.

This was the first webinar in the “Envisioning India” series, co-sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Institute for International Economic Policy. It is a platform for dialogue and debate. We invited you to engage with us in this series of important discussions.

The “Envisioning India” series is organized under the stewardship of IIEP Co-Director James Foster, Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics, and IIEP Distinguished Visiting Scholar Ajay Chhibber. The first talk in the Envisioning India Series was “Fiscal Dominance: A Theory of Everything in India” and featured Viral V. Acharya of NYU-Stern.

He discussed the following: Financial stability is perhaps the most important prerequisite for stable growth. It is surprisingly also the most compromised one. Encouraging cheap credit and rapid balance-sheet growth in the financial sector is a temptation that many governments find hard to resist to register well on the short-run growth scorecard. Post 1991 reforms, India undertook an upward and onward march in economic progress for close to two decades. Since then, lack of financial stability has emerged as its Achilles’ heel. The reasons for this are many but a first and foremost contributor has been the increasing dominance of banking and financial sector regulation by the unyielding deficit situation of the consolidated government balance-sheet. Reining in this fiscal dominance requires not just a strengthening of the institutional framework of financial sector regulation but also the right balance between the role played by the government, the central bank, the markets, and the private sector in the economy.

 

About the Speaker:

Viral V. Acharya is the C.V. Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern) and an Academic Advisor to the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia. Viral was a Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during 23rd January 2017 to 23rd July 2019 in charge of Monetary Policy, Financial Markets, Financial Stability, and Research. His speeches while at the RBI will release in the end of July 2020 in the form of a book titled “Quest for Restoring Financial Stability in India” (SAGE Publications India), with a new introductory chapter “Fiscal Dominance: A Theory of Everything in India”. Viral completed Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai in 1995 and Ph.D. in Finance from NYU-Stern in 2001. Prior to joining Stern, he was at London Business School (2001-2008), the Academic Director of the Coller Institute of Private Equity at LBS (2007-09) and a Senior Houblon-Normal Research Fellow at the Bank of England (Summer 2008). Viral’s primary research interest is in theoretical and empirical analysis of systemic risk of the financial sector, its regulation and its genesis in government-induced distortions, an inquiry that cuts across several other strands of research – credit risk and liquidity risk, their interactions and agency-theoretic foundations, as well as their general equilibrium consequences. He has published articles in the American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Review of Finance, Journal of Business, Journal of Financial Intermediation, Rand Journal of Economics, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, and Financial Analysts Journal. He is currently associate editor of the Review of Corporate Finance Studies (RCFS, 2011-) and Review of Finance (2006-), and was an editor of the Journal of Financial Intermediation (2009-12) and associate editor of the Journal of Finance (2011-14).

 

Discussants:

Liaquat Ahamed is the author of the critically acclaimed best-seller, Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, about central bankers during the Great Depression of 1929-1932. The book won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for History, the 2010 Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Gold Medal, and the 2009 Financial Times-Goldman Sachs Best Business Book of the Year Award. Ahamed was a professional investment manager for twenty-five years. He has worked at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and the New York-based partnership of Fischer Francis Trees and Watts, where he served as chief executive. He is currently a director of the Putnam Funds. He is on the board of trustees of the Journal of Philosophy, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference and a former trustee of the Brookings Institution and the New America Foundation. He has degrees in economics from Harvard and Cambridge.

Rakesh Mohan is one of India’s senior-most economic policymakers and an expert on central banking, monetary policy, infrastructure and urban affairs. Most recently he was executive director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., representing India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan, and chairman, National Transport Development Policy Committee, Government of India, in the rank of a Minister of State. He is also a former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India. As deputy governor he was in charge of monetary policy, financial markets, economic research and statistics. In addition to serving in various posts for the Indian government, including representing India in a variety of international forums such as Basel and G20, Mohan has worked for the World Bank and headed prestigious research institutes. He is also Senior Advisor to the McKinsey Global Institute and Distinguished Fellow of Brookings India. Mohan has written extensively on urban economics, urban development, Indian economic policy reforms, monetary policy and central banking.

A Paradox of Morality: Using Games to Understand Group Moral Responsibility

Thursday, August 20, 2020
10:00 am – 11:30 am EDT
WebEx

This event is co-sponsored by the Elliott School, the Leadership, Ethics, and Practice (LEAP) Initiative, the GW Economics Department‘s Microeconomics Workshop, and the GW Philosophy Department.

The challenge of distributing moral responsibility when a group behaves badly occurs in many walks of life, from war and politics to corporate behavior. This has been discussed at length in economics, philosophy and law. This lecture will draw on moral philosophy and game theory to shed light on this topic, and demonstrate how we often make mistakes when attributing responsibility for collective behavior to individuals. The lecture will present real-life contexts where this problem arises and develop some new games which help us deal with the challenge. It will also present some open-ended questions for further research.

Event Schedule:

Welcome Remarks by IIEP Director James Foster and LEAP Director Christopher Kojm
Address by Prof. Kaushik Basu
Discussant Remarks by James Foster
Q&A moderated by James Foster

About the Speaker:

Kaushik Basu is Professor of Economics and Carl Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. He is currently the President of the International Economic Association and a nonresident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. He recently served as Chief Economist at the World Bank and before that was Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. During his four years at the Bank he co-taught a popular course in the Elliott School with James Foster, entitled Introduction to Game Theory and Strategic Thinking, which every week brought 150 GW students and many visitors from the Bank and other neighboring institutions to the Harry Harding Auditorium of the Elliott School. One class per term was held in Preston Auditorium of the World Bank. As one student commented “Being taught by Prof. Basu was definitely an only at GW moment!” He has now returned to Cornell but fondly remembers his time in DC – especially his weekly chats with GW students and his daily strolls across the GW campus from home to work in the Bank, and back again.

Professor Basu has research interests that span across development economics, welfare economics, game theory, industrial organization, and law. As a professor at the Delhi School of Economics, he founded the Centre for Development Economics in 1992 and served as its first Executive Director. Kaushik Basu holds a B.A. in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and M.Sc. and PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics, and several honorary degrees, including doctorates from IIT Bombay, Fordham University New York, Bath University, England, and the University of Florence. His recent books are “An Economist in the Real World” and “The Republic of Beliefs.”

In this presentation, Professor Basu will be recounting his latest research which shows how simple insights from game theory can shed light on problems in moral philosophy. After the presentation, Professor Foster will provide a short commentary and then will moderate an extended session for Q&A from the audience.

A tale of two wage subsidies: The American and Australian fiscal responses to COVID-19

July 2020

Steven Hamilton (George Washington University)

IIEP working paper 2020-12

Abstract: Australia suppressed the virus with swift and strong public health measures including stringent border controls. As of July 2020, the virus continues to spread uncontrolled across the US, resulting in the most recorded cases and deaths of any country. Both countries instituted widespread lock-downs and similarly generous fiscal support, yet Australia has experienced a far milder recession, highlighting the critical role of public health measures in protecting the economy. The role of broad cash stimulus necessarily has been more limited than in an ordinary recession, justifying the use of wage subsidies that encourage businesses to retain workers. The Australian wage subsidy, delivered via the tax authority, was better targeted, more generous, more accessible, but slower to deliver liquidity than the American wage subsidy delivered via private banks. The experience highlights the critical need for significant investments in IRS infrastructure to better prepare for future crises.

 

JEL Codes:

Key Words

Women at Work in the Pre-Civil War United States: An Analysis of Unreported Family Workers

June 2020

Barry R. Chiswick (George Washington University) and RaeAnn Halenda Robinson (George Washington University)

IIEP working paper 2020-11

Abstract: Rates of labor force participation in the US in the second half of the nineteenth century among free women were exceedingly (and implausibly) low, about 11 percent. This is due, in part, to social perceptions of working women, cultural and societal expectations of female’s role, and lack of accurate or thorough enumeration by Census officials. This paper develops an augmented free female labor force participation rate for 1860. It is calculated by identifying free women (age 16 and older) who were likely providing informal and unenumerated labor for market production in support of a family business, that is, unreported family workers. These individuals are identified as not having a reported occupation, but are likely to be working on the basis of the self-employment occupation of other relatives in their households. Family workers are classified into three categories: farm, merchant, and craft. The inclusion of this category of workers more than triples the free female labor force participation rate in the 1860 Census, from 16 percent to 56 percent, which is comparable to today’s rate (57 percent in 2018).

 

JEL Codes: N31, J16, J21, J82

Key Words: Women, Labor Force Participation, Occupational Attainment, Unpaid Workers, Unreported Family Workers, 1860 Census

A Discussion of the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2020

Wednesday, July 29, 2020
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
WebEx

Please join the Institute for International Economic Policy for a virtual discussion of the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative’s Global MPI 2020: – Charting pathways out of multidimensional poverty: Achieving the SDGs

 

Participants:

James E. Foster is the Oliver T. Carr Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics at the George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University and holds a Doctorate Honoris Causa from Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (Mexico). Professor Foster’s research focuses on welfare economics — using economic tools to evaluate and enhance the wellbeing of people. His joint 1984 Econometrica paper (with Joel Greer and Erik Thorbecke) is one of the most cited papers on poverty. It introduced the FGT Index, which has been used in thousands of studies and was employed in targeting the Progresa CCT program in México. Other research includes work on economic inequality with Amartya Sen; on the distribution of human development with Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva and Miguel Szekely; on multidimensional poverty with Sabina Alkire; and on literacy with Kaushik Basu. Foster regularly teaches introductory and doctoral courses on international development and each spring joins with Professor Basu in presenting an undergraduate course on Game Theory and Strategic Thinking, to which staff and Board members of the World Bank are also invited. Professor Foster is also Research Fellow at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), Department of International Development, Oxford University, and a member of the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity (HCEO) Working Group, Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics, University of Chicago. He also previously served as an Advisory Board Member on the World Bank’s Commission on Global Poverty.

 

Sabina Alkire directs the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), a research centre within the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Dr Alkire works on a new approach to measuring poverty and well-being that goes beyond the traditional focus on income and growth. This multidimensional approach to measurement includes social goals, such as health, education, nutrition, standard of living and other valuable aspects of life. She devised a new method for measuring multidimensional poverty with her colleague James Foster (OPHI Research Associate and Professor of Economics at George Washington University) that has advantages over other poverty measures and has been adopted by the Mexican Government, the Bhutanese Government in their ‘Gross National Happiness Index’ and the United Nations Development Programme. Dr Alkire has been called upon to provide input and advice to several initiatives seeking to take a broader approach to well-being rather than just economic growth, for example, the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (instigated by President Sarkozy); the United Nations Human Development Programme Human Development Report Office; the European Commission; and the UK’s Department for International Development.

 

Pedro Conceição has been Director of the Human Development Report Office and lead author of the Human Development Report since 1 January 2019. Prior to this, Pedro served as Director, Strategic Policy, at the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (from October 2014), and Chief Economist and Head of the Strategic Advisory Unit at the Regional Bureau for Africa (from 1 December 2009). Before that, he was Director of the Office of Development Studies (ODS) from March 2007 to November 2009, and Deputy Director of ODS, from October 2001 to February 2007. His work on financing for development and on global public goods was published by Oxford University Press in books he co-edited (The New Public Finance: Responding to Global Challenges, 2006; Providing Global Public Goods: Managing Globalization, 2003). He has published on inequality, the economics of innovation and technological change, and development in, amongst other journals, the African Development Review, Review of Development Economics, Eastern Economic Journal, Ecological Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Food Policy, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change. He co-edited several books including: Innovation, Competence Building, and Social Cohesion in Europe- Towards a Learning Society (Edward Elgar, 2002) and Knowledge for Inclusive Development (Quorum Books, 2001). Prior to coming to UNDP, he was an Assistant Professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, teaching and researching on science, technology and innovation policy. He has degrees in Physics from Instituto Superior Técnico and in Economics from the Technical University of Lisbon and a Ph. D. in Public Policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied with a Fulbright scholarship.

 

Ajay Chhibber is Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Institute of International Economic Policy, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University and Non-Resident Senior Fellow, the Atlantic Council, Washington DC. He is Chief Economic Advisor, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He was earlier the first Director General ( Minister of State) , Independent Evaluation Office, Government of India and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), India – affiliated institute of the Ministry of Finance – where he completed a major study on India’s Public Sector Enterprises. He held senior positions at the UN as Assistant Secretary General and Assistant Administrator, UNDP and managed their program for Asia and the Pacific. At the World Bank he served as Country Director in Turkey and Vietnam and Division Chief for Indonesia and the Pacific and Lead Economist, West Africa Department. He was also Director of the 1997 World Development Report on the Role of the State. He also worked in the World Bank’s Research Department, as Advisor to the Chief Economist of the World Bank and at the Public Economics Division. He has a Ph.D from Stanford University, a Masters from the Delhi School of Economics. He also has attended advanced management programs at the Harvard Business School, Harvard University and INSEAD, France. He taught at Georgetown University and at the University of Delhi. He has published widely including 5 books in development economics, and is a contributor (columnist) to several newspapers. He is now writing a book on “India: A Reset for the 21st Century” under contract with Harper-Collins.

 

Monica Pinilla-Roncancio is a Physiotherapist with a Master’s degree in Economics from Universidad del Rosario. She has also a Master’s degree in Health Economics, Policy and Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. She finished her PhD in Social Policy at the University of Birmingham, UK. From 2016 to 2018 she was as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Universidad de los Andes and currently is an Assistant Professor at the same university. She is the Co-director of Metrics and Policy at OPHI and has been working in OPHI since 2014. She coordinates the work in Latin America, East Asia and some countries in Africa and Middle East. Her main research interest are disability, multidimensional poverty, inequality and health economics.

 

Frances StewartFrances Stewart was Director of ODID from 1993-2003 and Director of the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE) at the department between 2003 and 2010. She has a DPhil from the University of Oxford and an honorary doctorate from the University of Sussex. Among many publications, she is coauthor of UNICEF’s influential study, Adjustment with a Human Face (OUP 1987); War and Underdevelopment (OUP 2001); and leading author and editor of Horizontal Inequalities and Conflict: Understanding Group Violence in Multiethnic Societies (Palgrave, 2008). She has directed a number of major research programmes including several financed by the UK Government’s Department for International Development, and others by the Swedish Development Agency and the Carnegie Corporation. An Emeritus Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford, Frances has acted as consultant for early Human Development Reports; she has been President of the Human Development and Capability Association; President of the British and Irish Development Studies Association; Chair of the United Nations Committee on Development Policy and Vice-Chair of the Board of the International Food Policy Research Institute. She received the Leontief prize in 2013 for advancing the frontiers of economic thought from Tufts University. She was given the UNDP’s Mahbub ul Haq award for her lifetime’s achievements in promoting human development in 2009; and named one of fifty outstanding technological leaders for 2003 by Scientific American (Policy Leader in Economic Development Strategies for promoting anti-poverty campaigns to help quell armed conflicts in developing countries).

Ricardo Nogales is a Research Officer at OPHI since May 2018. He holds a BSc. and a MSc. In Economics and a PhD in Econometrics, all from the University of Geneva (Switzerland). Before joining OPHI, he was a Professor of Economics at the School of Economics and Finance of the Universidad Privada Boliviana in Bolivia and a Research Assistant at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) in Switzerland. He carried on research activities in the field of development economics, poverty reduction and human development with the IDB, UNDP, ILO, World Bank, Oxfam and IDRC. He has been an external consultant for several public organizations in Bolivia, including the Program for Strategic Research, the Central Bank, the Institute for Agricultural Insurance and the Ministry of Economics and Public Finance.

 

Dean JolliffeDean Jolliffe is a Lead Economist in the Development Data Group of the World Bank and member of the LSMS-ISA team. He has extensive experience in the design and implementation of household surveys and is currently managing ongoing LSMS-ISA work in Ethiopia. He has also worked in the South Asia region at the Bank on poverty assessments for Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Previously, he was a Research Economist at the Economic Research Service of USDA, an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, an Assistant Professor at the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education in Prague, and a Post-doctoral Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Dean holds appointments as a Research Fellow with the Institute for the Study of Labor in Bonn, and as a Research Affiliate with the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.

Reckoning with Systemic Hazards

The International Monetary Fund’s journal, Finance and Development, recently published an 1800-word article authored by IIEP Distinguished Visiting Scholar Sunil Sharma and Ann Florini of the Thunderbird School of Management at Arizona State University. Pandemics, climate volatility, economic and financial fragility, and political polarization are wicked problems that the world seems ill-equipped to handle. In this article, the authors argue that managing systemic hazards will require a new mind-set and principles for policy design and action.

Dr. Sharma’s article can be found on the IMF website here. A PDF version is available here. A podcast discussion featuring he and Dr. Florini is available here.

Are Informal Workers Benefiting from Globalization? Evidence from a Survey Experiment in India

Tuesday, August 4, 2020
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
WebEx

We were pleased to invite you to the webinar series “Facing Inequality”, hosted by the Institute for International Economic Policy. This virtual series focuses on current and emerging inequality issues in the U.S. and around the globe. The series brings attention to aspects of inequality being made increasingly relevant by the current COVID-19 pandemic and associated crises. The series is organized under the stewardship of IIEP Director James Foster, Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics, and IIEP Faculty Affiliate Trevor Jackson, Assistant Professor of History. The series is co-sponsored by the GW Interdisciplinary Inequality Series, co-organized by Prof. Jackson from the Department of History and Prof. Bryan Stuart from the Department of Economics.

The seventh event, “Are Informal Workers Benefiting from Globalization? Evidence from a Survey Experiment in India” featured Dr. Nita Rudra of Georgetown University. The discussion focused on the following: Are citizens in the developing world convinced about the benefits of globalization? By leveraging their comparative advantage in low labor costs, economists predict once-poor citizens will be better off with open markets. Yet, surprisingly little rigorous research exists on if and how workers in developing countries actually experience the benefits of increasing trade and foreign direct investment (FDI), particularly in an era of rapidly expanding global supply chains. To answer this question, we focused on the largest cluster of low-wage laborers in developing countries, informal workers, and their experience with FDI. Using observational and experimental methods, we find that both formal and informal workers in India strongly approve of foreign investment. However, the latter are deeply skeptical that the benefits of FDI will ever trickle down to themselves or their future generations. India’s much smaller population of formal workers, by contrast, are confident that they have privileged access to coveted jobs in foreign firms – regardless of skill level- and social mobility prospects will improve. These findings provide new insights on (macro and micro-level) drivers of growing global inequalities, and call for caution amongst scholars, policymakers, the international business community, and all those who anticipate that globalization is lifting all boats.

About the Moderator:

Picture of James FosterJames Foster is the Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs, Professor of Economics, and Co-Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy at the George Washington University. He is also a Research Associate at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at Oxford University. Professor Foster’s research focuses on welfare economics — using economic tools to evaluate and enhance the wellbeing of people. His work underlies many well-known social indices including the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) published annually by the UNDP in the Human Development Report, dozens of national MPIs used to guide domestic policy against poverty, the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) at USAID, the Gross National Happiness Index of Bhutan, the Better Jobs Index of the InterAmerican Development Bank, and the Statistical Performance Index of the World Bank. Prof. Foster received his PhD in Economics from Cornell University and has a Doctorate Honoris Causa from Universidad Autónoma del Estado Hidalgo (Mexico).

About the Speaker:

Nita Rudra is a Professor of Government at Georgetown University. Her research interests include: the distributional impacts of trade and financial liberalization as they are mediated by politics and institutions; the influence of international organizations on policies in developing economies; the politics of trade agreements involving developing economies, and the causes and effects of democracy in globalizing developing nations. Her most critical works appear in the British Journal of Political Science, World Politics, Journal of Politics, American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, International Organization and International Studies Quarterly . Her most recent book with Cambridge University Press is entitled: Democracies in Peril: Taxation and Redistribution in Globalizing Economies. Her current projects analyze how and why widespread poverty persists in rapidly globalizing economies, the politics supporting/resisting changes to the informal sector, the anti-globalization backlash, and the politics of trade and trade agreements.

About the Discussants: 

Picture of Maggie ChenMaggie Chen is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University. She has served as Director of GW’s Institute for International Economic Policy and worked as an economist in the research department of the World Bank and a consultant for the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. Professor Chen’s research areas include multinational firms, international trade, and regional trade agreements. Her work has been published in academic journals such as the Review of Economics and Statistics, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of International Economics, and Journal of Development Economics. She is a co-editor of Economic Inquiry and an associate editor of Economic Modeling.

 

Picture of Deepa OllapallyDeepa Ollapally is a political scientist specializing in Indian foreign policy, India-China relations, and Asian regional and maritime security. She is Research Professor of International Affairs and the Associate Director of the Sigur Center. She also directs the Rising Powers Initiative, a major research program that tracks and analyzes foreign policy debates in aspiring powers of Asia and Eurasia. Dr. Ollapally is currently working on a funded book, Big Power Competition for Influence in the Indian Ocean Region, which assesses the shifting patterns of geopolitical influence by major powers in the region since 2005 and the drivers of these changes. She is the author of five books including Worldviews of Aspiring Powers (Oxford, 2012) and The Politics of Extremism in South Asia (Cambridge, 2008). Her most recent books are two edited volumes, Energy Security in Asia and Eurasia (Routledge, 2017), and Nuclear Debates in Asia: The Role of Geopolitics and Domestic Processes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016). Dr. Ollapally has received grants from the Carnegie Corporation, MacArthur Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Asia Foundation for projects related to India and Asia. Previously, she was Associate Professor at Swarthmore College and has been a Visiting Professor at Kings College, London and at Columbia University. Dr. Ollapally also held senior positions in the policy world including the US Institute of Peace, Washington DC and the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India. She is a frequent commentator in the media, including appearances on CNN, BBC, CBS, Diane Rehm Show and Reuters TV. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.

IMF’s Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Economic Outlook (REO)

Thursday, July 23, 2020
11:00 am – 12:30 pm EDT
WebEx

Please join the Institute for International Economic Policy for a virtual discussion of the International Monetary Fund’s Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Economic Outlook

Schedule
11:00 – 11:05 a.m. Welcoming Remarks:

James Foster, George Washington University

Jennifer Cooke, IAFS Director, George Washington University

11:05 – 11:35  a.m. Chapter 1: Covid-19: An Unprecedented Threat to Development

Presenter: Andrew Tiffin John, Senior Economist, International Monetary Fund

Discussant: Louise Fox, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings, and on the Advisory Board of the G-7
Inclusive Growth Financing Forum, former USAID Chief Economist and World Bank official

11:40 – 12:05 p.m. Chapter 2: Adapting to Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa

Presenter: Seung Mo Choi, Senior Economist, International Monetary Fund

Discussant: Stephen C. Smith, Chair, Economics Department, and Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University

12:05 – 12:30 p.m. Chapter 3: Digitalization in Sub-Saharan Africa


Presenters: Preya Sharma, Special Assistant to the Director, African Department, International Monetary Fund

Discussant: Esther Chibesa, Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions for SSA, Citigroup; and Michael Mutiga,
Managing Director and Head of Corporate Finance for SSA, Citigroup

12:30 p.m.  Concluding Remarks


Summary Chapter: A Cautious Reopening

The outlook for 2020 for sub-Saharan Africa is considerably worse than was anticipated in April and subject to much uncertainty. Economic activity this year is now projected to contract by some 3.2 percent, reflecting a weaker external environment and measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Growth is projected to recover to 3.4 percent in 2021 subject to the continued gradual easing of restrictions that has started in recent weeks and, importantly, if the region avoids the same epidemic dynamics that have played out elsewhere. Africa’s authorities have acted swiftly to support the economy, but these efforts have been constrained by falling revenues and limited fiscal space. Regional policies should remain focused on safeguarding public health, supporting people and businesses hardest hit by the crisis, and facilitating the recovery. The region cannot tackle these challenges alone, and a coordinated effort by all development partners will be key.

 

Chapter 2: Adapting to Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is especially vulnerable to climate change, as it relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture and has limited resilience and coping mechanisms. On average, climate change could reduce GDP growth by at least 1 percentage point in the month a climate shock occurs. Improving access to finance and insurance, education, health, telecommunications, and physical infrastructure would be most effective in raising resilience. Ensuring food security and raising agricultural productivity in the face of intensifying weather shocks will require targeted social assistance, crop diversification, and improved irrigation. While these measures involve large public spending, they should be prioritized as they will be more cost-effective than frequent disaster relief. Limited fiscal space poses a challenge and means that development partners’ support will be critical.

 

Chapter 3: Digitalization in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is rapidly becoming digitally connected and closing gaps with the rest of the world. Digital solutions have taken on added importance as countries grapple with the unprecedented fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. While countries have leveraged digital solutions and policy responses, the connectivity gap between sub Saharan Africa and the rest of the world suggests that greater digital readiness could have allowed the region to do even more. Analysis conducted before the pandemic found that a one percentage point increase in internet penetration in the region can raise per capita growth by 0.1–0.4 percentage points. There does not appear to be an impact on overall employment, although the share of service sector jobs increases. Evidence suggests that digitalization can help reduce corruption, improve public sector accountability and efficiency, and support financial development. However, digitalization brings new risks (e.g., cybersecurity, business continuity) and challenges to macro-policy making (e.g., monetary policy transmission, changes to the tax base). As attention turns to policies for the recovery, the pandemic will likely serve to accelerate the digital transformation. Policies to enable and leverage greater connectivity include investing in complementary infrastructure and human capital; developing legislative and regulatory frameworks; and supervisory powers to ensure consumer protection and address risks.

Participants:

James E. Foster is the Oliver T. Carr Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics at the George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University and holds a Doctorate Honoris Causa from Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (Mexico). Professor Foster’s research focuses on welfare economics — using economic tools to evaluate and enhance the wellbeing of people. His joint 1984 Econometrica paper (with Joel Greer and Erik Thorbecke) is one of the most cited papers on poverty. It introduced the FGT Index, which has been used in thousands of studies and was employed in targeting the Progresa CCT program in México. Other research includes work on economic inequality with Amartya Sen; on the distribution of human development with Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva and Miguel Szekely; on multidimensional poverty with Sabina Alkire; and on literacy with Kaushik Basu. Foster regularly teaches introductory and doctoral courses on international development and each spring joins with Professor Basu in presenting an undergraduate course on Game Theory and Strategic Thinking, to which staff and Board members of the World Bank are also invited. Professor Foster is also Research Fellow at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), Department of International Development, Oxford University, and a member of the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity (HCEO) Working Group, Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics, University of Chicago. He also previously served as an Advisory Board Member on the World Bank’s Commission on Global Poverty.

 

Jennifer CookeJennifer G. Cooke is director of the Institute for African Studies at The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs. The Institute serves as central for research, scholarly discussion, and debate on issues relevant to Africa. She is a professor of practice in international affairs, teaching courses on U.S. Policy Toward Africa and Transnational Security Threats in Africa. Cooke joined George Washington University in August 2018, after 18 years as director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she led research and analysis on political, economic, and security dynamics in Africa. While at CSIS, Cooke directed projects on a wide range of African issues, including on violent extremist organizations in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, China’s growing role in Africa, democracy and elections in Nigeria, religion and state authority in Africa, “stress-testing” state stability in Africa, Africa’s changing energy landscape, and more. She is a frequent writer and lecturer on U.S.-Africa policy and has provided briefing, commentary, and testimony to the media, US Congress, AFRICOM leadership and the U.S. military. She has traveled widely in Africa and has been an election observer in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, and Nigeria. As a teenager, she lived in Cote d’Ivoire and the Central African Republic. She holds an M.A. in African studies and international economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. in government, magna cum laude, from Harvard University.

 

Andrew TiffinAndrew Tiffin is a senior economist at the IMF, working in the regional studies division of the Fund’s African Department. He is also keenly involved in the effort to incorporate artificial intelligence/machine-learning techniques into the standard analytical toolkit of the Fund. Previously, he has worked on Middle Eastern countries, with a particular interest in refugee issues in Jordan and Lebanon, as well as numerous countries in Europe–he was part of the Italy team during the debt crisis of 2012, and part of the Russia team for the global financial crisis of 2008. Raised in Sydney, Andrew is an Australian national. He received his post-graduate training at Princeton University, where he obtained both a Ph.D. in economics and an M.P.A. in international relations. In addition to his work with the Fund, Andrew has held positions at the Reserve Bank of Australia, and with the Australian Government.

 

Louise Fox Louise Fox is an experienced development economist who specializes in strategies for employment creation, opportunity expansion, economic empowerment, and poverty reduction. She has advised governments in the developed and developing world, international organizations, and philanthropic and non-profit organizations on problem diagnosis, strategies for results, and outcome measurement. She held full-time positions at USAID (as Chief Economist) and at the World Bank. She is currently affiliated with the African Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution and the Blum Center for Developing Economies, University of California, Berkeley. She was previously affiliated with the Overseas Development Institute, where she led a major research project. Louise has published in the areas of inclusive growth, structural transformation, youth employment, the political economy of poverty reduction, gender and women’s economic empowerment, employment, labor markets, and labor regulation, pension reform, reform of child welfare systems, social protection, effective public expenditures in the social sectors, and female-headed households and child welfare. Her most recent book was Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, published by the World Bank in 2014.

 

Seung Mo Choi is a Senior Economist working on regional surveillance in the IMF’s African Department. He has worked on banking crises, financial market policies, climate change, low-income country issues, and capacity development, including in the IMF’s European Department and in the Institute for Capacity Development. His research has been published in economics and finance journals such as International Economic Review. Prior to joining the IMF, he worked as an Assistant Professor at Washington State University and obtained a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in economics from Seoul National University.

 

Stephen C. SmithStephen C. Smith is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University. In 2018 he was UNICEF Senior Fellow at the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, Florence, Italy. Smith received his Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University and has been a Fulbright Research Scholar, a Jean Monnet Research Fellow, a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings, a Fulbright Senior Specialist, a member of the Advisory Council of BRAC USA, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. He has twice served as Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy at GWU. Smith is the co-author with Michael Todaro of Economic Development (12th Edition, Pearson, 2014). He is also author of Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works (paperback edition Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), and co-editor with Jennifer Brinkerhoff and Hildy Teegen of NGOs and the Millennium Development Goals: Citizen Action to Reduce Poverty (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007). He is also author or coauthor of about 45 professional journal articles and many other publications. Smith’s recent research has focused on extreme poverty and strategies and programs to address it; and on the economics of adaptation and resilience to climate change in low-income countries, emphasizing autonomous adaptation by households and communities and its effects, and adaptation financing.

 

Preya SharmaPreya Sharma is a senior economist in the African Department of the IMF where she is Special Assistant to the Director. Her research has focused on structural transformation, the future of work, and digitalization in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as emerging market crises and development. Before joining the IMF she was the Head of Emerging Markets at HM Treasury in the UK. She holds a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.

 

Esther Chibesa Picture

Esther Chibesa has 20 years of diverse corporate banking experience, serving in various capacities for Citigroup in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. In her current role, Esther is driven by Africa’s promise, and seeks to realize the opportunities presented at the intersection of technology, regulatory evolution, and inclusive finance. She leads a team in the visioning and execution of a transaction services strategy that addresses the continent’s ongoing financial services transformation. She leads the execution and deployment of innovative treasury & trade finance solutions for multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations across Sub-Saharan Africa. In her various roles within the organization, she has championed the development of several groundbreaking solutions such as fully integrated tax & fiscal collections systems, receivables digitization solutions, automated mobile money channels and settlement processes, and enhanced, digitized trade and supply chain solutions. She is a past recipient of the prestigious Top 40 Women under 40 (Business Daily Kenya), past member of the Junior Achievement Zambia Board, is an alum of University of Botswana (First Class Honors), and holds an MBA from Heriot Watt Business School, Edinburgh University.

 

 

Long-Run Effects of Incentivizing Work After Childbirth

May 2020

Elira Kuka (George Washington University, IZA, and NBER) and Na’ama Shenhav (Dartmouth College and NBER)

IIEP working paper 2020-10

Abstract: This paper uses a panel of SSA earnings linked to the CPS to estimate the impact of increasing post-childbirth work incentives on mothers’ long-run career trajectories. We implement a novel research design that exploits variation in the timing of the 1993 reform of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) around a woman’s first birth and in eligibility for the credit. We find that single mothers exposed to the expansion immediately after a first birth (“early-exposed”) have 3 to 4 p.p. higher employment in the 5 years after a first birth than single mothers exposed 3 to 6 years after a first birth (“late-exposed”). Ten to nineteen years after a first birth, early-exposed mothers have the same employment and hours as late-exposed mothers, but have accrued 0.5 to 0.6 more years of work experience and have 6 percent higher earnings. Incorporating long-run effects on EITC benefits and earnings increases the implied marginal value of public funds (MVPF) of the expansion. Our results suggest that there are steep returns to work incentives at childbirth that accumulate over the life-cycle.

 

JEL Codes: J16, J31, H2

Key Words: child penalty, EITC

Medieval Cities Through the Lens of Urban Economic Theories

May 2020

Remi Jedwab (George Washington University), Noel D. Johnson (George Mason University), and Mark Koyama (George Mason University)

IIEP working paper 2020-9

Abstract: We draw on theories and empirical findings from urban economics to explore and explain patterns of city growth in the Middle Ages (c. 800-1500 CE). We discuss how agricultural development and physical geography determined the location and size of cities during the medieval period. We also consider the relative importance of economies of scale, agglomeration, and human capital spillovers in medieval cities and discuss how their growth was limited by disamenities and constraints on mobility. We discuss how medieval cities responded to shocks such as the Black Death and describe how institutions became increasingly important in determining their trajectories. Avenues for future research are also laid out.

 

JEL Codes: R11; R12; R19; N9; N93; N95

Key Words: Medieval Era; City Growth; Urbanization; Food Surplus Hypothesis; Agglomeration Effects; Labor Mobility; Pandemics; Institutions; Europe; Asia

Central Banking in the Age of Inequality

Tuesday, July 28, 2020
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
WebEx

Dr. Benjamin Braun of the Institute for Advanced Study

We are pleased to invite you to a new webinar series, “Facing Inequality”, hosted by the Institute for International Economic Policy. This virtual series will focus on current and emerging inequality issues in the U.S. and around the globe. The series will bring attention to aspects of inequality being made increasingly relevant by the current COVID-19 pandemic and associated crises.

The series is organized under the stewardship of the following IIEP Director James Foster, Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics, IIEP Faculty Affiliate and Assistant Professor of History Trevor Jackson and Aditi Sahasrabudde, PhD Candidate in the Department of Government at Cornell University. The series is co-sponsored by the GW Interdisciplinary Inequality Series, co-organized by Prof. Jackson from the Department of History and Prof. Bryan Stuart from the Department of Economics.

The sixth event, “Central Banking in the Age of Inequality,” will feature Dr. Benjamin Braun of the Institute for Advanced Study. Monetary policy during the so-called Great Moderation was defined by the trinity of price stability as the primary goal; central bank independence as the institutional arrangement; and short-term open market operations as the central bank’s sole instrument. The distributional consequences of monetary policy were considered negligible, and inequality was not a concern for central bankers. After more than a decade of ever-expanding central bank interventions and balance sheets, this narrow conception of monetary policy looks unlikely to return anytime soon. Focusing primarily on the European Central Bank, this talk will examine the political economy of central bank actions beyond conventional open market operations. This includes large-scale asset purchases as well as central bank forays into regulatory policy-making, notably in the areas of financial and labor market policies. The unequal distributional consequences of these actions raise important questions about central bank mandates, independence, and democratic accountability.

Aditi Sahasrabudde, PhD Candidate in the Department of Government at Cornell University (discussant) 

Trevor Jackson, IIEP Faculty Affiliate and Assistant Professor of History (discussant) 

How Should We Measure Multidimensional Inequality? A Philosopher’s Approach (with COVID applications)

Tuesday, July 14, 2020
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
WebEx

We are pleased to invite you to a new webinar series, “Facing Inequality”, hosted by the Institute for International Economic Policy. This virtual series will focus on current and emerging inequality issues in the U.S. and around the globe. The series will bring attention to aspects of inequality being made increasingly relevant by the current COVID-19 pandemic and associated crises. The series is organized under the stewardship of IIEP Director James Foster, Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics, and IIEP Faculty Affiliate Trevor Jackson, Assistant Professor of History. The series is co-sponsored by the GW Interdisciplinary Inequality Series, co-organized by Prof. Jackson from the Department of History and Prof. Bryan Stuart from the Department of Economics.

The fifth event, “How Should We Measure Multidimensional Inequality? A Philosopher’s Approach (with COVID applications)” will feature Dr. Kristi Olson of Bowdoin College. The discussion will focus on the following: When we measure multidimensional inequality, we must decide how much weight to give each dimension. The simple approach—giving each dimension equal weight—is almost certainly wrong, but what are the alternatives? This paper critiques some of the familiar approaches: subjective utility and the envy test. It then introduces a new approach. We take as the equal baseline those bundles that could be cooperatively distributed if everyone were free to choose from among all bundles. Using these bundles as the baseline, we can measure the extent of deviation from equality. The approach can be used to evaluate inequalities in, for example, the distribution of COVID risk and income.

 

About the Speakers:

Kristi Olson

Kristi A. Olson is an assistant professor of philosophy at Bowdoin College where she works on issues of distributive justice. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University under the supervision of Thomas Scanlon, Frances Kamm, and Amartya Sen. Her research has been published in such journals as Philosophy & Public Affairs, the Canadian Journal of Philosophy, and Politics, Philosophy & Economics. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., she worked as a public interest lawyer.

 

Discussants 
Luis Felipe López-Calva, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Development Programme
Jeffrey Brand, Associate Professor of Philosophy, the George Washington University

Imperfect Competition on the Cathedral Floor: Labourers in London 1672 to 1748

Tuesday, June 30, 2020
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
WebEx

We are pleased to invite you to a new webinar series, “Facing Inequality”, hosted by the Institute for International Economic Policy. This virtual series will focus on current and emerging inequality issues in the U.S. and around the globe. The series will bring attention to aspects of inequality being made increasingly relevant by the current COVID-19 pandemic and associated crises. The series is organized under the stewardship of IIEP Director James Foster, Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Economics, and IIEP Faculty Affiliate Trevor Jackson, Assistant Professor of History. The series is co-sponsored by the GW Interdisciplinary Inequality Series, co-organized by Prof. Jackson from the Department of History and Prof. Bryan Stuart from the Department of Economics.

The fourth event, “Imperfect Competition on the Cathedral Floor: Labourers in London 1672-1748” will feature Judy Stephenson and Patrick Wallis. In their paper, they present a new data set for the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century to explore the operation of the market for unskilled construction workers, the reference occupation for long run urban wage series, at one major building site in London. They find patterns of work distribution and pay which indicate characteristics of imperfect competition, most notably high worker and job flows alongside remarkable nominal wage rigidity, and evidence of an internal labour market alongside a much shorter and more fragile working year than has been previously found. The results suggest that wages, or labour’s share of income, may resist response to changes in productivity and labour supply and demand even in the long run, and highlight that labour markets created inequalities of experience, income and returns to work before modern institutions and firms. Professor Bryan Stuart will be a discussant.

About the Speakers:

Judy Stephenson

Judy Stephenson is a Professor of Construction Economics and Finance, and Economic History; a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; and a Departmental Tutor and Director of Teaching & Learning at Bartlett CPM. She is an economic historian of early modern London, its construction industry and associated markets. She researches construction, labour markets, institutions, firms, finance and industries in London between about 1600 and 1850 and is known for her work on London and English wages between 1650 and 1800. She has published on contracts and wages, and the boundaries of the firm before 1800.

Patrick Wallis

Patrick Wallis is a Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics. His research explores the economic, social and medical history of Britain and Europe from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. His two main interests are in apprenticeship and human capital and the transformation of healthcare in early modern England. He has recently published two publications, including Access to the Trade: Monopoly and Mobility in European Craft Guilds in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the Journal of Social History and Apprenticeship in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press; November 2019).

About the Discussants:

Bryan Stuart is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 2017 and joined George Washington University in August 2017. His research interests include labor, public, and urban economics. Recent and current projects examine the effects of recessions on individuals and local areas, the effects of government policies on labor market outcomes, and the determinants and consequences of household location decisions.

Barry Chiswick is a Professor of Economics and International Affairs. He received his Ph.D. in Economics with Distinction from Columbia University and joined George Washington University in 2011. He has held permanent and visiting appointments at UCLA, Columbia University, Stanford University, Princeton University, University of Chicago, City University (New York), Hebrew University (Jerusalem), Tel Aviv University, the University of Haifa, and Ben-Gurion University. From 1973 to 1977, he was Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. In addition, he served as chairman of the American Statistical Association Census Advisory Committee and past president of the European Society for Population Economics. He is currently Associate Editor of the Journal of Population Economics and Research in Economics of the Household and is on the editorial boards of four other academic journals. Since 2004, he has been the Program Director for Migration Studies at the Institute for the Study of Labor in Bonn, Germany. 

Reckoning with Systemic Hazards

Thursday, June 25, 2020
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EDT
Zoom

From the pandemic to global social protests to economic and financial crises to the ever-more-evident impacts of climate upheaval, we are seeing in real time the consequences of decades of misguided mindsets about how systems operate. Managing systemic hazards will require a new mind-set and new principles for policy design and action.

In this webinar, IIEP Distinguished Visiting Scholar Sunil Sharma and his co-author ASU-Thunderbird School of Global Management professor Ann Florini will discuss why and how to develop policy and business solutions to these systemic fragilities, based on principles that foster resilience.

Works Councils and Workplace Health Promotion in Germany

February 2019

Stephen C. Smith, Uwe Jirjahn and Jens Mohrenweiser

IIEP Working Paper 2019-1

Abstract: From a theoretical viewpoint, there can be market failures resulting in an underprovision of occupational health and safety. Works councils may help mitigate these failures. Using establishment data from Germany, our empirical analysis confirms that the incidence of a works council is significantly associated with an increased likelihood that the establishment provides more workplace health promotion than required by law. This result also holds in a recursive bivariate probit regression accounting for the possible endogeneity of works council incidence. Furthermore, analyzing potentially moderating factors such as collective bargaining coverage, industry, type of ownership, multiestablishment status and product market competition, we find a positive association between works councils and workplace health promotion for the various types of establishments examined. Finally, we go beyond the mere incidence of workplace health promotion and show that works councils are positively associated with a series of different measures of workplace health promotion.

JEL Classification: I18, J28, J50, J81.

Keywords: Non-union employee representation, works council, occupational health and safety, workplace health promotion.

Artificial Intelligence: What Can We Learn from Other Countries’ Approaches?

Friday, January 25, 2019

12:30pm to 2:00pm – Lunch will be provided

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are changing the way that we live, work and learn. In many countries, policymakers and business leaders recognize the transformational importance of AI and are developing policies to ensure that their country is competitive. To be competitive in AI requires not only significant capital, but also skills, research, an adequate supply of data, and effective governance policies. Hence, the United States has the “Artificial Intelligence for the American People” strategy. The EU has a Euros 20 billion AI investment strategy and the European AI Alliance. Canadian officials have drafted a Pan-Canadian AI Strategyand the Superclusters initiative. Germany has prepared a new plan, investments and a marketing strategy for AI services. In addition, Japan has created an initiative to fund collaborative AI projects between start-ups and large companies.  

This event will examine what policymakers can learn from these distinct government approaches. Should governments take the lead in AI investment and in prioritizing areas for research, development and commercialization? Or should the private sector lead with taxpayer investment in basic AI R & D and public-private partnerships where needed? Please join IIEP, the GWU Institute for International Science and Technology Policy, and the Software & Information Industry Association(SIIA) for a lunchtime discussion on these important issues.

Welcoming remarks: Susan Ariel Aaronson, Research Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Moderator: Carl Schonander, Senior Director, International Public Policy, SIIA

Confirmed Speakers:

Anthony J. Scriffignano, Ph.D., SVP / Chief Data Scientist, Dunn and Bradstreet
Jesse Spector, Policy Officer, Digital Economy; ICT, European Union
Dr. Tim Persons, Chief Scientist and Managing Director of the Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics team of the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Brad Wood, Senior Policy Advisor, Embassy of Canada
Masayuki Matsui, Counselor, Economic Section, Embassy of Japan

Organizers: Carl Schonander and Dr. Susan Ariel Aaronson

Professor Aaronson will provide an overview document on comparative advantage in AI to all attendees.

Event Summary

This well attended event entitled: “Artificial Intelligence: What Can be Learned from Other Countries Approaches?” can be viewed on youtube here.   Some takeaways included the reality that there are no meaningful estimates of the impact of AI on job creation – in fact, available data can be used to posit both that it contributes to job loss or gain; cybersecurity will include an AI component; and, the AI use skills deficiency in people capable of an inter-disciplinary approach to AI use is both real but also an opportunity.  Given that McKinsey (among other estimates of the economic impact of AI) estimates that AI could deliver up to 16% higher global GDP by 2030, understanding and taking advantage of this technology in a “human-centric” way will be crucial to building popular acceptance of the technology if countries and companies are going to be able to take full advantage of possible AI applications.   

 

Panelists

 

Japanese Embassy Economic Counselor Masayuki Matsui provided valuable information on the Japanese approach to AI development, especially in the international space.  Japan is hosting the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Trade and the Digital Economy on June 8-9, 2019, which will include discussions on AI.  The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Chief Scientist and Managing Director, Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics Timothy M. Persons spoke (link needed) about the GAO’s work on Artificial Intelligence, as well as Administration policy in “Artificial Intelligence for the American People.”  The GAO has focused on AI’s impact for cybersecurity, automated vehicles, criminal justice and financial services.  Canadian Embassy Senior Policy Advisor Brad Wood focused on the AI ecosystem in Canada, especially efforts to foster research excellence, promote AI across sectors, enhance public trust in the technology, and spearhead international collaboration.  European Union Digital Policy Officer Jesse Spector spoke about the “four pillars” of the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Policy, which includes policies around investment, data, skills and trust.  With respect to trust, the Digital Policy Officer noted the European Commission’s draft ethics guidelines on Artificial Intelligence developed by a multi-stakeholder High Level Expert Group (SIIA will submit a comment on those guidelines on February 1, 2019).    Dun and Bradstreet Senior Vice President and Chief Data Scientist Anthony J. Scriffignano talked  about how while there are many “head winds” propelling AI adoption, there are “tail winds,” including a serious skills gap, something all the panelists agreed was a serious problem. 

 

Some Takeaways

 

Cybersecurity and law enforcement in general will depend on smart applications of AI:  The “changing face of malfeasance,” as Anthony J. Scriffignano puts it, involves using AI to combat it.  The GAO considers that AI will be crucial in ensuring cybersecurity.  For instance, automated systems can help by identifying vulnerabilities; patching vulnerabilities; detecting attacks, and defending against active attacks.  In general, AI technologies are important to the SIIA member companies that are engaged in providing anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, know-your-customer and other services important to law enforcement. 

 

There are no meaningful estimates of the impact of AI on net job creation or destruction:  There is a wide debate on the possible impact of AI on jobs.  And there are many reports with estimates based on seemingly large data sets and solid methodologies.  But the reality seems to be that available data can support the notion that AI leads to job loss and vice versa.  For instance, many reports are based on what computer scientists guess with respect to which tasks in which jobs can possibly be done technically by today’s machine learning programs.  So, for example, salad making could be programmed; therefore that part of the job of short order cooks is at risk and therefore there will be a need for fewer of them.  However, often the cost of using a robot to make that salad is not factored into the analysis, thereby not providing a realistic sense of whether an employer would want to use AI technologies to make the salad in the first place.     

 

There is a consensus that there is a need for skills development, especially in inter-disciplinary work: If there was one thing that all panelists agreed upon, other than than that AI will have a profound impact, it is that there is a growing need for skills development.  Interestingly, that does not mean that everybody needs to learn how to write code and become a computer programmer, although there is certainly a need for more coders and more computer programmers.  There is a reason why U.S. college students are demanding more courses in this field as the NYT recently reported.   What it does mean, particularly in this era of growing calls for “explainable AI” (itself a challenging concept), is that there will be an increasing need for individuals who know how to use AI technologies appropriately.  There was a discussion, for instance, about how AI is going to become an increasingly important part of the criminal justice system.  So that means that prosecutors and others have to work with professionals who are conversant with the technology and who also understand the laws and ethical considerations underpinning criminal justice work.  That is a different skill set from the work conducted by today’s IT professionals.    

 

Conclusion

 

There is a reason why AI dominated the conversation at the Davos World Economic Forum.  Although AI has experienced period of hype in the past, it seems like “this time it is different,” in terms of usable relatively near term potential AI applications in fields as different as drug discovery, criminal justice, cybersecurity, financial services, fraud prevention and many many other spaces.  SIIA will continue to work with academic institutions such as George Washington University in exploring the policy implications of AI developments.  We also hope to work with the U.S. Congress and international institutions in understanding better what kind of inter-disciplinary training is needed to prepare the professionals of tomorrow.   Given the U.S., Japanese, EU, and Canadian interest in skills development, this need for inter-disciplinary expertise could perhaps be supported at the June 8-9, 2019 G20 meeting in Japan. 

What Are We Talking about When We Talk about Digital Protectionism?

December 2018

Susan Ariel Aaronson

IIEP Working Paper 2018-13

Abstract: For almost a decade, executives, scholars, and trade diplomats have argued that filtering, censorship, localization requirements, and domestic regulations are distorting the cross-border information flows that underpin the internet. Herein I use process tracing to examine the state and implications of digital protectionism. I make five points: First, I note that digital protectionism differs from protectionism of goods and other services. Information is intangible, highly tradable, and some information is a public good. Secondly, I argue that it will not be easy to set international rules to limit digital protectionism without shared norms and definitions. Thirdly, the US, EU, and Canada have labeled other countries policies’ protectionist, yet their arguments and actions sometimes appear hypocritical. Fourth, I discuss the challenge of Chinese failure to follow key internet governance norms. China allegedly has used a wide range of cyber strategies, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks (bombarding a web site with service requests) to censor information flows and impede online market access beyond its borders. WTO members have yet to discuss this issue and the threat it poses to trade norms and rules. Finally, I note that digital protectionism may be self-defeating. I then draw conclusions and make policy recommendations.

Data is Different: Why the World Needs a New Approach to Governing Cross-border Data Flows

November 2018

Susan Ariel Aaronson

IIEP Working Paper 2018-10

Executive Summary: Companies, governments and individuals are using data to create new services such as apps, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). These data-driven services rely on large pools of data and a relatively unhindered flow of data across borders (few market access or governance barriers). The current approach to governing cross-border data flows through trade agreements has not led to binding, universal or interoperable rules governing the use of data. Trade diplomats first established principles to govern cross-border data flows, and then drafted e-commerce language in free trade agreements (FTAs), rather than through the World Trade Organization (WTO), the most international trade agreement. Data-driven services will require a different domestic and international regulatory environment than that developed to facilitate e-commerce. Most countries with significant datadriven firms are in the process of debating how to regulate these services and the data that underpins them. But many developing countries are not able to participate in that debate. Policy makers must devise a more effective approach to regulating trade in data for four reasons: the unique nature of data as an item exchanged across borders; the sheer volume of data exchanged; the fact that much of the data exchanged across borders is personal data; and the fact that although data could be a significant source of growth, many developing countries are unprepared to participate in this new data-driven economy and to build new data-driven services. This paper begins with an overview and then describes how trade in data is different from trade in goods or services. It then examines analogies used to describe data as an input, which can help us understand how data could be regulated. Next, the paper discusses how trade policy makers are regulating trade in data and how these efforts have created a patchwork. Finally, it suggests an alternative approach.

Development and Microfinance: Learning from Steve Hollingworth

Steve Hollingworth

President and CEO of the Grameen Foundation

Co-Sponsored with Sigma Iota Rho, Official Honor Society of the Elliott School

Thursday, November 29, 2018

7:30pm to 9:00pm – Reception to Follow

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Room B12
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Steve HollingworthSteve Hollingworth’s unflagging commitment through 30 years of work in international development has been to ensure that the delivery of financial services benefits the world’s poorest people and fulfills its promise of alleviating poverty.

Prior to joining Grameen Foundation, Steve was President of Freedom from Hunger. Beginning in 2011, he focused that organization on the intersection of financial services and ending hunger through the empowerment of women in rural communities. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer for CARE, where he was instrumental in developing and implementing the organization-wide strategy and was responsible for direct-line management of global operations and programs with a total of 13,000 employees and a budget of $650 million. He has also held senior field positions in Asia (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), Africa (Lesotho) and Latin America (Bolivia), building collaboration between practitioners, technical assistance providers, donors and government agencies.

Steve’s roots in financial services for the very poor go back to early days with CARE-Bangladesh, the largest CARE mission in the world. Based on his leadership in the financial services sector, he also served for many years as a member of the Microfinance CEO Working Group. His areas of expertise include microenterprise and microfinance, education, agriculture, health and civil society strengthening.

Steve has an M.S. in Economics, Development Studies, from Victoria University of Manchester, in Manchester, England. He enrolled there as a Rotarian Fellow, and his thesis analyzed the field of microcredit and the role of Grameen Bank. In that sense, Steve’s position as President and CEO of Grameen Foundation brings him full circle. Steve has a B.A. in Economics from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, not far from his home town of Elgin, Illinois.

Is There a Kuznets Curve for Intra-City Earnings Inequality?

November 2018

Haixiao Wu

IIEP Working Paper 2018-9

Abstract: Many papers have found a positive relation between income inequality and city size in the US and other countries. This literature has assumed that the relation is linear. Tests performed here find that it is concave, resembling the classic Kuznets curve. A theoretical model based on the Income Elasticity Hypothesis (IEH), explains that inequality is a concave function of housing prices that tend to increase with city size. Further tests confirm the concavity of the relation between Gini and housing costs that is predicted by the IEH. Although for most cities, inequality still rises with housing costs, if housing costs continue to grow in large cities, inequality should eventually fall, resembling the Kuznets Curve at the country level

The International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook

We are delighted to invite you to the International Monetary Fund’s 2018 World Economic Outlook at the George Washington University. The talk will consist of three sections, starting with an overview of global prospects and policies and then moving onto a discussion of the global recovery 10 years after the global financial crisis and challenges for monetary policy in emerging economies.

 

Tuesday, November 6, 2018
9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
The Commons, 6th Floor
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

Schedule of Events

9:30 –  9:45 a.m. Opening Remarks

  • Maggie Chen, George Washington University

9:45 – 10:15 a.m. Chapter 1: Global Prospects and Policies

  • Presenter: Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, International Monetary Fund

10:15 – 10:30 a.m. Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:15 a.m. Chapter 2:  The Global Recovery 10 Years after the 2008 Financial Meltdown

  • Presenter: Wenjie Chen, International Monetary Fund
  • Discussant: David Dollar, Brookings Institute

11:15 – 11:30 a.m. Coffee Break

11:30 – 12:15 p.m. Chapter 3:  Challenges for Monetary Policy in Emerging Economies as Global Financial Conditions Normalize

  • Presenter: Rudolfs Bems, International Monetary Fund
  • Discussant: Jay Shambaugh, George Washington University

12:15 p.m. Concluding remarks

Chapter 1: Global Prospects and Policies

Global growth for 2018–19 is projected to remain steady at its 2017 level, but its pace is less vigorous than projected in April and it has become less balanced. Downside risks to global growth have risen in the past six months and the potential for upside surprises has receded. Global growth is projected at 3.7 percent for 2018–19—0.2 percentage point lower for both years than forecast in April. The downward revision reflects surprises that suppressed activity in early 2018 in some major advanced economies, the negative effects of the trade measures implemented or approved between April and mid-September, as well as a weaker outlook for some key emerging market and developing economies arising from country-specific factors, tighter financial conditions, geopolitical tensions, and higher oil import bills.

Chapter 2:  The Global Recovery 10 Years after the 2008 Financial Meltdown

This chapter takes stock of the global economic recovery a decade after the 2008 financial crisis. Output losses after the crisis appear to be persistent, irrespective of whether a country suffered a banking crisis in 2007–08. Sluggish investment was a key channel through which these losses registered, accompanied by long-lasting capital and total factor productivity shortfalls relative to precrisis trends. Policy choices preceding the crisis and in its immediate aftermath influenced postcrisis variation in output. Underscoring the importance of macroprudential policies and effective supervision, countries with greater financial vulnerabilities in the precrisis years suffered larger output losses after the crisis. Countries with stronger precrisis fiscal positions and those with more flexible exchange rate regimes experienced smaller losses. Unprecedented and exceptional policy actions taken after the crisis helped mitigate countries’ postcrisis output losses.

Chapter 3:  Challenges for Monetary Policy in Emerging Economies as Global Financial Conditions Normalize

Inflation in emerging market and developing economies since the mid-2000s has, on average, been low and stable. This chapter investigates whether these recent gains in inflation performance are sustainable as global financial conditions normalize. The findings are as follows: first, despite the overall stability, sizable heterogeneity in inflation performance and in variability of longer-term inflation expectations remains among emerging markets. Second, changes in longer-term inflation expectations are the main determinant of inflation, while external conditions play a more limited role, suggesting that domestic, not global, factors are the main contributor to the recent gains in inflation performance. Third, further improvements in the extent of anchoring of inflation expectations can significantly improve economic resilience to adverse external shocks in emerging markets. Anchoring reduces inflation persistence and limits the pass-through of currency depreciations to domestic prices, allowing monetary policy to focus more on smoothing fluctuations in output.

11th Annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations

We are delighted to invite you to the 11th annual conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations at GWU. The importance of understanding China’s economic development has only become more important over the last decade. Understanding the structural building blocks of domestic Chinese economic activity is as necessary as understanding China’s foreign economic activity, whether regionally across the globe or in it’s interactions with the United States.  Amidst talk of a “trade war” between the U.S. and China, it is vital that we have a shared understanding of what is taking place within the Chinese economy, how that affects relations with the U.S., and what it means for China’s global ambitions. We look forward to hosting you on the 26th to continue studying these important questions. For information on previous conferences, see our signature initiatives page. The entire conference can be viewed here.

Schedule of Events

08:15-08:50:  Coffee and Registration

08:50-09:00:  Welcoming Remarks: Maggie Chen (IIEP Director, GWU) 

09:00-09:45: Keynote: Hanming Fang (University of Pennsylvania) (Watch Video)

“Growing Pains” in the Chinese Social Security System

09:45-10:45: Trends in China’s Macro Economy (Watch Video)

                              Moderator: Chao Wei (GWU)

Kaiji Chen (Emory University): Macroeconomic Impacts of China’s Financial Policies”

Grace Li (IMF): The State and China’s Productivity Deceleration: Firm-level Evidence

10:45-11:00: Coffee Break

11:00-12:00: Technology, Institution and Firm Growth (Watch Video)

                              Moderator: Susan Aaronson (GWU)

Nancy Qian (Northwestern University): The Dynamic Effects of Computerization on VAT in China”

Maggie Chen (GWU): “’Omnia Juncta in Uno’: Foreign Powers, Institutions and Firms in Shanghai’s Concession Era”

12:00-12:50: Lunch 

12:50-13:00: Remarks by Elliott School Dean, Ambassador Reuben Brigety II

13:00-13:45: Keynote: Caroline Freund (World Bank)

                              “U.S.-China Trade Tensions” (Watch Video)

13:45-14:45: The Myths of U.S.-China Trade War (Watch Video)

                              Moderator: Steve Suranovic (GWU)

Jiandong Ju (Tsinghua University): US-China Trade Dispute and Restructuring the Globalization”

Mary Lovely (Peterson Institute for International Economics): China’s Techno-Industrial FDI Policy”

14:45-15:00: Coffee Break

15:00-16:00: Going Out: China’s Aid, Investment, and Finance to Developing Countries

                              Moderator: Joseph Pelzman (GWU)

Barbara Stallings (Brown and GWU): “China and its Neighbors: Aid and Investment in East Asia”

Stephen Kaplan (GWU): The Rise of Patient Capital: The Political Economy of Chinese Finance in the Western Hemisphere”

16:00-17:00: Gender, Migration and Labor Market in China (Watch Video)

                              Moderator: Yao Pan (Aalto University)

Peter Kuhn (UC – Santa Barbara): Gender-Targeted Job Ads in the Recruitment Process:  Evidence from China”

Suqin Ge (Virginia Tech): Assimilation and the Wage Growth of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China”

An archive of all previous Annual Conferences on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations is available here.

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Cosponsored by:

Private Sector Policymaking

October 2018

David Szakonyi

IIEP Working Paper 2018-8

Abstract: Many papers have found a positive relation between income inequality and city size in the US and other countries. This literature has assumed that the relation is linear. Tests performed here find that it is concave, resembling the classic Kuznets curve. A theoretical model based on the Income Elasticity Hypothesis (IEH), explains that inequality is a concave function of housing prices that tend to increase with city size. Further tests confirm the concavity of the relation between Gini and housing costs that is predicted by the IEH. Although for most cities, inequality still rises with housing costs, if housing costs continue to grow in large cities, inequality should eventually fall, resembling the Kuznets Curve at the country level

The Digital Revolution and the State: The Great Reversal

William H. Janeway

Senior Advisor and Managing Director, Warburg Pincus

Friday, October 12, 2018

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.


Lindner Commons, 6th floor
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

William H. Janeway is a Senior Advisor and Managing Director of Warburg Pincus.  He joined Warburg Pincus in 1988 and was responsible for building the information technology investment practice.  Previously, he was executive vice president and director at Eberstadt Fleming. Dr. Janeway is a director of Magnet Systems and O’Reilly Media. He is an Affiliated member of the Faculty of Economics at Cambridge University.

Dr. Janeway is a co-founder and member of the board of governors of the Institute for New Economic Thinking.  He is a member of the board of directors of the Social Science Research Council and of the Field Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences and of the Advisory Board of the Princeton Bendheim Center for Finance.  He is a member of the management committee of the Cambridge-INET Institute, University of Cambridge and a Member of the Board of Managers of the Cambridge Endowment for Research in Finance (CERF).  He is the author of Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy: Reconfiguring the Three-Player Game between Markets, Speculators, and the State, the 2nd edition of the book initially published by Cambridge University Press in November 2012.

Dr. Janeway received his doctorate in economics from Cambridge University where he was a Marshall Scholar. He was valedictorian of the class of 1965 at Princeton University.

William H Janeway

Development Economics Meets the Challenges of Lagging U.S. Areas Applications to Education, Health and Nutrition, Behavior, and Infrastructure

September 2018

Stephen C. Smith

IIEP Working Paper 2018-7

Abstract: This chapter examines the development economics evidence base for insights into policy reforms that would benefit struggling areas in the United States. My focus is on improving education, physical and mental health, infrastructure, and institutions. First, consistent with findings on education policy effectiveness, I propose raising the legal minimum dropout age (prospectively to 19), providing better information about the benefits of completing high school, supporting targeted paraprofessional tutoring, and providing family financial incentives for attending school and graduating from high school. Second, to improve health outcomes in struggling areas, the focus is using and building on existing effective health and nutrition programs and services, identifying ways to include more families who are eligible for but not participating in these programs. Moreover, the recent development and behavioral economics evidence base has extended our understanding of the psychological, cognitive, and economic behavioral lives of the poor; the literature highlights the ways that poverty can impede cognitive functioning, with implications for policies to uplift lagging U.S. areas. Third, a review of evidence on the benefits of improving lagging rural and urban area transportation infrastructure points to the likely benefits of improved connectivity for lagging U.S. areas: reversing the legacy of past discriminatory policies, encouraging sector-based clusters, and extending access to high-speed internet. Finally, the chapter highlights the relevance of some cross-cutting themes in development economics, including the high returns to reliable household microdata and the importance of improving institutions to enable more inclusive, substantial, and lasting progress.

Forging Pathways Out of Poverty: The Global Journey of BRAC

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

4:00 to 5:30 p.m.

Elliott School of International Affairs
Room 602
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Institute for International Economic Policy invites you to a talk by Faruque Ahmed, the executive director of BRAC International, on his organization’s efforts to spread innovative poverty solutions born in Bangladesh to the rest of Asia and Africa.

Faruque Ahmed is the executive director of BRAC International. He previously held the position of senior director at BRAC International. He is also a member of the executive management committee.

Prior to this, Mr Ahmed was the director of BRAC’s health programme for 10 years, playing a critical role in shaping the organisation’s health strategy and scaling several community-based health and nutrition interventions.

Before joining BRAC, Mr Ahmed worked as senior operations officer in the health, nutrition and population team at the World Bank, Bangladesh.

Mr Ahmed started his career as a research and planning officer in 1976, and then worked in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. He serves as a member of the working group of Bangladesh Health Watch and formerly represented civil society on the GAVI Alliance board.

Mr Ahmed completed his master’s in health sciences from Johns Hopkins University, and master’s in economics from the University of Dhaka.

An Examination of the Link between Urban Planning Policies and the High Cost of Housing and Labor

September 2018

Anthony Yezer, William Larson, Weihua Zhao 

IIEP Working Paper 2018-6

Abstract: Past research has established positive empirical relation between city-level land use regulations and housing costs. One interpretation of these findings is that building restrictions raise the cost of producing housing. Alternatively, these price effects could reflect greater willingness to pay for quality urban design. Disentangling and identifying cost versus amenity factors empirically is an unresolved challenge. This paper presents an alternative to empirical tests, relying instead on the predictions of neoclassical urban theory. Simulations of an open city model demonstrate that theoretical predictions differ substantially from those obtained from empirical testing in two main ways. First, restrictions on land use and housing density influence the price level but not the elasticity of housing supply. Second, the effects of land use restrictions on average house prices are ambiguous and depend on the precise location of the planning restriction. Furthermore, the model generates direct estimates of effects on wages and demonstrates that transportation impediments are more consequential for housing prices than land use restrictions. This indicates a potentially fruitful path for future empirical work, and the possibility of omitted variable bias if transportation impediments are correlated with land use regulation.

JEL Codes: R30, R31, R38

Keywords: monocentric city model, price gradient, zoning, standard urban model

Modelling Economic Development: The Lewis Model Updated

September 2018

Carmel Chiswick 

IIEP Working Paper 2018-5

Abstract: This analysis updates the dual-economy model of economic development suggested by W. Arthur Lewis in 1954. The updated aggregate model incorporates advances since then in modern labor economics and the findings of empirical studies of LDC economies and it removes Lewis’ implicit assumption that capital-formation is costless to the host LDC country. Specifying investment in human capital for both sectors refocuses attention on workers’ well-being as the ultimate measure of development. Specifying the cost of capital formation permits the distinction between earnings that recover investment costs and the “surplus” available to workers for consumption. Policy implications include resolution of tradeoffs between “trickle-down” vs. “grass roots” development policies.

Keywords: Economic development, growth, human capital, dual-economy model

5th Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Research Conference

 

Friday, September 7, 2018
8:30am to 7:30pm

Preston Auditorium, The World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C., 20433

Across the developing world, the growth of cities is outpacing effective policy. Low density land use results in rapidly expanding cities, raising the costs of infrastructure and service provision and limiting liveability and productivity. At the same time, limited investments in transport infrastructure such as roads limits the connectivity between individuals and opportunities that make cities engines for growth. Effective policy to address these challenges requires an understanding of the spatial organisation of cities, and how the distribution of private and public investments across a city affect economic growth.

On 7 September 2018, the 5th Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Conference will bring together academics and development practitioners to present and discuss questions relating to the spatial organisation of cities and economic growth. In particular, the conference will be focusing on effective land and transport policy in cities and the implications of urban development for national growth. This conference is hosted by the World Bank (Development Research Group), George Washington University (Institute for International Economic Policy),  the International Monetary Fund, and the International Growth Centre.

 

  • 8:30-9:00 – Coffee and Registration
  • 9:00-10:45 – Welcoming Remarks
    • Chair and Moderator: 
      Shantayanan Devarajan
      Senior Director, Development Economics, World Bank
    • Panelists:
      Aisa Kirabo Kacyira
      Deputy Director UN-Habitat, former mayor of Kigali
      Edward Glaeser
      Professor of Economics, Harvard and International Growth Center
  • 10:45-11:00 – Coffee Break
  • 11:00 -12:30 – Session One: Land
    • Mini Keynote: Informal Land Use
      Harris Selod
      Development Research Group, The World Bank
    • Backyarding
      Jan Brueckner, Claus Rabe, and Harris Selod
    • Compactness
      Vernon Henderson
    • Chair:
      TBC
    • Discussant: 
      Mariaflavia Harari
      Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania
  • 12:30-13:30 – Lunch
  • 13.30-14:15 – Keynote Address:
    • The Geography of Development
      Esteban Rossi-Hansberg
      Princeton University
    • Chair:
      Asli Demirguc-Kunt
      Research Director, Development Research Group, World Bank
  • 14:15 -15:45 – Session Two: Transportation
    • Mini Keynote: “Cars in Cities”
      Matthew Kahn
    • Transport in a Congested City – A Computer Equilibrium Model Applied to Kampala City
      Louise Bernard, Julia Bird, Tony Venables
    • Who Wins? Who Loses? Understanding the Spatially Differentiated Effects of Belt and Road within Central Asia
      Bader El Hifnawy, Somik Lall, Mathilde Lebrand
    • Chair:
      Marianna Fay
      Chief Economist, Climate Change
    • Discussant:
      Leah Brooks
      Assistant Professor, George Washington University
  • 15:45-16:00 – Coffee Break
  • 16:00-17:30 – Session Three: Urbanization, Growth, and Development
    • Mini Keynote:
      Douglas Gollin
    • In Search of a Spatial Equilibrium in the Developing World
      Douglas Gollin, Martina Kirchberger, David Lagakos
    • Modern Urban Technology and the Future of the New Urban Giants
      Remi Jedwab, Prakash Loungani, Anthony Yezer
    • Chair:
      Chris Papageorgiou
      International Monetary Fund
    • Discussant:
      Deniz Igan
      Deputy Division Chief, Research Department’s Macro Financial Division, IMF
  • 17:30-18:00 – Break
  • 18:00-19:30 – Cocktail Reception and Welcome Speech by Maggie Chen
    • At George Washington University, Lindner Commons Room (6th Floor) of the Elliott School of International Affairs, 1957 E St. N.W. (at the intersection of E and 19th Streets, on E Street), Washington, DC.

Fiscal Policy over the Business Cycle in Emerging Markets

Carlos Vegh

World Bank Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean

Fiscal Policy over the Business Cycle in Emerging Markets

Monday, April 30, 2018

5:30 to 7:00pm – Reception to Follow

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Carlos Vegh is the World Bank Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to this, Vegh was the Fred H. Sanderson Professor of International Economics at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
He received his doctorate degree in economics from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in economics from American University and Universidad de la República.

This event is the fifth in a series celebrating IIEP’s 10th Anniversary. Louise Fox, Chief Economist at USAID, joined us in November for the series’ inaugural event. Bob Koopman, Chief Economist at WTO, visited on March 5th for the series’ second installment. On April 9th Martin Fleming, Chief Economist of IBM, presented his research on Artificial Intelligence and the future of work for the series’ third installment. Lastly, for the fourth installment, Santiago Levy of the Inter-American Development Bank, presented on April 23rd.

Carlos Vegh

Data Minefield: How AI is Prodding Governments to Rethink Trade in Data

April 2018

Susan Ariel Aaronson

IIEP Working Paper 2018-11

Key Points: No nation alone can regulate artificial intelligence (AI) because it is built on crossborder data flows; countries are just beginning to figure out how best to use and to protect various types of data that are used in AI, whether proprietary, personal, public or metadata; countries could alter comparative advantage in data through various approaches to regulating data — for example, requiring companies to pay for personal data; and Canada should carefully monitor and integrate its domestic regulatory and trade strategies related to data utilized in AI.

Opening Up Argentina to the World: Some Strategic Observations

May 2018

Danny Leipziger

IIEP Working Paper 2018-4

Introduction: Argentina is at a decisive point with respect to economic policy, and nowhere is this more apparent than in its external outlook. Exports have never been the main economic driver for economic growth, although, at times, due to domestic issues, they have played an incredibly important role. The Macri Administration has rightly identified trade and investment policies as crucial stepping-stones in the rebuilding of the economy and the repositioning of Argentina to be a competitive international player. Major domestic reforms in the areas of tax and pensions, as well as prudent macro-policies to both gradually reduce fiscal deficits and inflation, will be prerequisites for sustained positive results. These efforts need to be complemented by microeconomic reforms to improve the productivity and efficiency of the economy. This note aims to examine how Argentina, as a late mover into the global economy and as an economy that has experienced serious prior setbacks, can now position itself in a world that that requires the utmost in efficiency and innovation, and in which distance is an increasingly less important constraint to economic activity. We take as given the fact that Argentina has been somewhat isolated from global value chains, that it has not benefited as much as it should have from regional trade agreements, and that it now faces an international economy that is both less robust in terms of commercial trade and also more open to disruptive forces. In other words, Argentina faces internal as well as external obstacles in its announced desire to better integrate into the world economy

8th Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Friday, April 27, 2018

Inter-American Development Bank CR-200
1330 New York Avenue NW
Washington DC 20577

The Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) is a forum that highlights trade research at institutions in the Washington D.C. area. Its primary activity is sponsoring an annual research conference where scholars present their latest academic work. Researchers from George Washington University, American University, the Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board, Georgetown University, the Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), the U.S. International Trade Commission, the University of Maryland, and the World Bank have all participated in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions. Please note that WAITS conferences are open to the public but participants are asked to register here.

View the Schedule
8:15 – 8:50 AM: Continental Breakfast and Registration
8:50 – 9:00 AM: Opening Remarks
Antoni Estevadeordal, Manager, Integration and Trade Sector, Inter-American Development Bank
Mike Moore, George Washington University
9:00 – 9:45 AM: Policy Credibility and Firm Growth in the Global Economy
Nuno Limao, University of Maryland
Discussant: Luciana Juvenal, IMF
9:45 – 10:30 AM: Uncertainty and Trade Elasticities
Olga Timoshenko, George Washington University
Discussant: Ina Simonovska, University of Maryland
10:30 – 10:45 AM: Coffee Break
10:45 – 11:30 AM: Information and Exports: Firm-Level Evidence From an Online Platform
Christian Volpe Martincus, Inter-American Development Bank
Discussant: Maggie Chen, George Washington University
11:30 – 12:15 PM: The Impact of Trade on Managerial Incentives and Productivity
Cristina Tello-Trillo, U.S. Census Bureau
Discussant: Anna Maria Mayda, Georgetown University
12:15 – 1:00 PM: Investment Responses to Trade Liberalization: Evidence from U.S. Industries and Establishments
Justin Pierce, Federal Reserve Board
Discussant: Fariha Kamal, U.S. Census Bureau
1:00 – 2:00 PM: Lunch (Provided)
2:00 – 2:45 PM: Goods and Factor Market Integration: A Quantitative Assessment of the EU Enlargement
Fernando Parro, SAIS– Johns Hopkins University
Discussant: Mariano Somale, Federal Reserve Board
2:45 – 3:30 PM: Assessing Market (Dis) Integration in Pre-Modern China and Europe Dan Bernhofen, American University
Discussant: Paulo Bastos, World Bank
3:30 – 3:45 PM: Coffee Break
3:45 – 4:30 PM: The Trade Effects of the New Silk Road
Michele Ruta, World Bank
Discussant: Mauricio Mesquita Moreira, Inter-American Development Bank
4:30 – 5:15 PM: How Does Industry Comparative Advantage Affect Establishments?
Serge Shikher, USITC
Discussant: Kara Reynolds, American University
5:15 – 6:00 PM: Endogenous Trade Policy in a Global Value Chain: Evidence from Chinese Micro-level Processing Trade
Rod Ludema, Georgetown University
Discussant: Paul Piveteau, SAIS– Johns Hopkins University
6:00 – 6:15 PM: Closing Remarks
Aaron Flaaen, Federal Reserve Board
Christian Volpe Martincus, Inter-American Development Bank

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

Misallocation, Informality, and Firm Dynamics in Mexico

Santiago Levy

Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge, Inter-American Development Bank

Misallocation, Informality, and Firm Dynamics in Mexico

Monday, April 23, 2018

5:30 to 7:00pm – Reception to Follow

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Santiago Levy  is the Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge for the Inter-American Development Bank. Previously, he was General Manager and Chief Economist for the IDB Research Department.

Prior to joining the IDB he was General Director at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) from December 2000 to October 2005. Under his tenure, he promoted changes to the Social Security Act to increase transparency and accountability in IMSS finances and create long-term reserves.

From 1994 to 2000, Levy served as the Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico, becoming the main architect of the renowned social program Progresa-Oportunidades that benefits the poor. He managed budgetary adjustments during the 1994-95 economic crisis and the 1998 fall in oil prices. Previous positions include President of the Federal Competition Commission and Director of the Economic Deregulation Program at the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Promotion.

Levy holds a Ph.D. in economics from Boston University and a Masters in political economy from the same university. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Cambridge University.

Santiago Levy

6th Annual Conference Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES)

Friday, April 20, 2017

Elliott School of International Affairs
Room 212
1957 E St. NW
Washington D.C. 20052

The Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES) is an annual research conference which highlights academic work from researchers at leading economics institutions in development economics in the Washington DC area. Researchers from George Washington University, University of Maryland, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Virginia, the World Bank, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), American University, George Mason University, and the Center for Global Development are all participants in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions.

View the Schedule

Day:  Friday 20 April, 8.50-5.00.

8.30 Light breakfast

8.50 Welcome remarks by Maggie Chen (GWU)

9.00-9.50 Adriana Kugler (Georgetown). – “Do CCTs improve employment and earnings in the very long term? Evidence from Mexico”

9.50-10.20 Paper by PhD student: Kodjo Aflagah (Maryland) “Internal migrants’ ethnic capital and labor market outcomes in South Africa”

10.20-10.35 Discussion by Andrew Zeitlin (Georgetown) and additional questions from faculty

10.35-10.50 Coffee break

10.50-11.40 Isaac Mbiti (UVA). The Returns to Apprenticeships: Experimental Evidence from Ghana

11.40-12.10 Paper by PhD student: Amjad Khan (GWU). “Islam, Institutions and Child Investment: Evidence from Gender Discrimination in Pakistan”

12.10-12.25 Discussion by Sandip Sukhtankar (UVA) and additional questions from faculty

12.25-1.30 Lunch

1.30-2.20 Sarah Baird. (GWU). “Building Businesses among the Vulnerable: Experimental Evidence from Tanzania”

2.20-2.50 Paper by PhD student: Dario Sansone (Georgetown). “Man vs. machine in predicting successful entrepreneurs:  Evidence from a business plan competition in Nigeria”

2.50-3.05 Discussion by Kenneth Leonard (Maryland) and additional questions from faculty

3.05-3.20 Coffee break

3.20-4.10 Jessica Goldberg (Maryland). ​Leveraging Patients’ Social Networks to Overcome Tuberculosis Under-detection in India: A Field Experiment

4.10-4.40 Paper by PhD student Ramiro Burga (UVA). “Fixing an Instructional Mismatch: The Case of Bilingual Education among Indigenous Students in Peru”

4.40-4.55 Discussion by Jennifer Muz (GWU) and additional questions from faculty

5.00 Reception

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

Marketcraft: How Governments Make Markets Work in the US and Japan

Dr. Steven Vogel

Il Han new professor of Asian studies, University of California, Berkeley.

Marketcraft: How Governments Make Markets Work in the US and Japan

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

12:30 to 1:45pm

Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
Sigur Center for Asian Studies
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503
Washington, DC 20052

Dr. Steven Vogel is the Il Han new professor of Asian studies and a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley. He specializes in the political economy of advanced industrialized nations, especially Japan and the United States. Vogel’s new book is entitled Marketcraft: How Governments Make Markets Work and builds on three decades of scholarship. He is also the author of Japan Remodeled: How Government and Industry Are Reforming Japanese Capitalism, and his first book,Freer Markets, More Rules: Regulatory Reform in Advanced Industrial Countries, won the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize. He has a B.A. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Steven Vogel

International Economic Policy Forum: Special Series in Celebration of IIEP’s 10th Anniversary

Robert Koopman

Chief Economist and Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division of the WTO

International Economic Policy Forum: Special Series in Celebration of IIEP’s 10th Anniversary

Monday, March 5, 2018

5:30 to 7:00pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

View the Presentation Slides Here

The Institute for International Economic Policy welcomes Bob Koopman to discuss “Trade and Growth: Past, Present, and Future.” Koopman serves as the Chief Economist and Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division at the World Trade Organization. In this post Koopman provides the Secretariat and Member Countries with analysis and information that promotes a deeper understanding of trade and trade policy’s role in economic growth and development.

He previously has served as the Director of Operations and Chief Operating Officer for the United States International Trade Commission, the Chief Economist and Director of the USITC Office of Economics, as a professor at Georgetown University, and in numerous leadership and research positions at the Economic Research Service of USDA.

This event is the second in a series celebrating IIEP’s 10th Anniversary. Louis Fox, Chief Economist at USAID, joined us in November for the series’ inaugural event, and Martin Fleming, Chief Economist at IBM, will be visiting on April 9th for the series’ third installment.

Brazilian Trade Policy: Standards and Strategy

Aluisio De-Lima Campos

Adjunct Professor and Chairmain of the ABCI Institute – American University Washington College of Law

Diego Eugenio Pizeta

PhD Candidate in International Political Economy and Guest Researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology

 

Brazilian Trade Policy: Standards and Strategy

Join the Brazil Initiative for the panel:

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

7:00 to 9:00pm – Reception to Follow

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

A Fresh Look at Digital Trade in North America

Susan Ariel Aaronson

Research Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Jessica Nicholson

Department of Commerce

A Fresh Look at Digital Trade in North America

Friday, December 1, 2017

12:00 to 2:00pm

 

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

While TPP has the first binding language in its e-commerce chapter, NAFTA could be the first digital economy trade agreement designed to facilitate data-driven sectors such as the cloud, AI, and the Internet of Things. The Institute for International Economic Policy (IIEP) and the Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program (LAHS) at the George Washington University as well as the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) present a free event on the data-driven economy in North America. To read Susan Ariel Aaronson’s paper, please click here.

Agenda
Panel 1: Measuring the North American Digital Economy
  • Speaker: Jessica Nicholson, Department of Commerce
  • Commentary by:
    • Martha Lawless, USITC
    • Jordan Khan, Embassy of Canada
    • Nicholas Bramble, Google
  • Moderator: Carl Schonander, Software & Information Industry Association
Panel 2: A Comprehensive Approach to Digital Trade in NAFTA 2.0
  • Speaker: Professor Susan Ariel Aaronson
  • Commentary by:
    • Dan Ciuriak, Centre for International Governance Innovation
    • Guillermo Malpica Soto, Embassy of Mexico
  • Moderator: Dan Ikenson, Cato Institute

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

NAFTA Renegotiation: International Trade and Arbitration Going Forward

A Panel on NAFTA Renegotiation

International Trade and Arbitration Going Forward

Thursday, November 16, 2017

12:00 to 1:30pm

 

George Washington University Law School
Tasher Great Room (Burns 101)
2000 H St NW
Washington, DC 20052

With the fifth round of NAFTA renegotiations set to commence on November 17, 2017, the Trump Administration’s objects for investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the final agreement have been front and center. Given the timeliness and the importance of the renegotiation efforts, the panelists will be in a unique position to discuss the merits of potential changes to the ISDS provisions as well as other aspects of the trade agreement.

Our panelists and moderator will discuss, among other things, potential changes to Chapter 11 ISDS provisions, the intersection of U.S. industry and ISDS, and substantive protections. The International Arbitration Student Association and International Law Society of The George Washington University Law School hopes that you will be able to join us for this panel discussion.

 

Moderator:

  • Steve Charnovitz (Professor, The George Washington University Law School) Professor Charnovitz is an associate professor at the GWU Law School. Prior to joining the Law School in 2004, Professor Charnovitz was the director of the Global Environment and Trade Study at Yale and from 1991-1995 he was the policy director at the U.S. Competitiveness Policy Council. Professor Charnovitz serves or has served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of international Law, the Journal of International Economic Law, and the World Trade Review. He is a member of the Council on Foreign relations and the American Law Institute. He has authored, co-authored, or edited more than 215 scholarly publications over his career and written multiple books on the topic of international trade law, the most recent being The Path of World Trade Law in the 21st Century.

Panelists:

  • James Mendenhall (Partner, Sidley Austin)Mr. Mendenhall is a partner in the International Arbitration and International Trade practice groups at Sidley Austin. He is the former General Counsel of the Office of the US Trade Representative where he represented US interests before the WTO and in NAFTA disputes. In this capacity he was the chief negotiator for the US in the Softwood Lumber negotiations with Canada and served as the USTR representative on the CFIUS. Mr. Mendenhall has represented clients in numerous international arbitration and invest-state proceedings under ICSID and UNCIRAL arbitration rules and routinely advises clients on international trade negotiations, trade policy, national security regulations, and legislative matters.
  • George Kalantzakis (Manager, International Government Affairs, Hess Corporation) Mr. Kalantzakis is the Manager of International Government Affairs at Hess Corporation, a Fortune 500 American based oil and gas company with global operations. Prior to joining Hess, Mr. Kalantzakis worked under the Chief Economist at the American Petroleum Institute. He received his graduate degree from The John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Following graduation from SAIS, he received his MBA from John Hopkins.
  • Patrick Childress (Associate, Sidley Austin)Mr. Childress is an associate in the International Arbitration practice group at Sidley Austin. He focuses primarily on international dispute settlement including investment treaty arbitration and international commercial arbitration. He has represented investors and governments in proceedings before the ICSID as well as in arbitrations under the Arbitration Rules of the UNCITRAL, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the London Court of International Arbitration.
  • Todd Tucker (Fellow, Roosevelt Institute)Todd Tucker is a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute who specializes in economic governance, dispute settlement, and regulatory implications of international trade, investment, and tax treaties. He is a co-author of The Rise and Fall of Fast Track Trade Authority which explores the history of U.S. Executive-congressional relations on trade. He has authored more than 60 major reports and is often published and cited in and on CNN, NPR, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post for his expertise on the intersection of the domestic and global economy.

Brazil and China: A Developing Partnership

André Soares is a Counselor at the Inter-American Development Bank’s Board of Directors and Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and David Shambaugh is a professor of Political Science and International Affairs and Director of the China Policy Program at the Elliott School of Internation Affairs.

Monday, November 6, 2017

12:00 to 1:30pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Building Brazil’s Future: A Conference on Innovation, Investment and Economic Development

View the Agenda

Building Brazil’s Future brings together researchers, business leaders, and policymakers to discuss the country’s efforts to launch a sustainable economic recovery through game changing innovations and investments along with key policy reforms. The conference features two discussion panels. The first treats the issues surrounding the role of innovation in developing the Brazilian economy and the second focuses on how investments can promote innovation and higher productivity across sectors.

Speakers

  • Raphael Gheneim Camargo, Secretary of Planning and Innovation of the Municipality of Cotia, SP, Columbia University
  • Otaviano Canuto, Executive Director, Brazil, The World Bank Group
  • Thiago Augusto Cesar, CEO at Bit.One
  • Maggie Chen, Director of the Institute of International Economic Policy
  • Gregory Harrington, Partner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
  • Antonio Josino Meirelles, Executive Director Brazilian Industries Coalition
  • Gabriel Petrus, Executive Director, Brazil International Chamber of Commerce
  • Justin Duarte Pine, Director, International Affairs for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization
  • Antonio H. Pinheiro Silveira, Executive Director, Brazil and Suriname Inter-American Development Bank
  • Stefan Schimenes, Founder and CEO at Investorise

10th Annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations

Click Here to View Photos

The U.S.-China relationship is now second to none in importance for international economic relations and policy and accordingly is a major focus of IIEP. The centerpiece of this initiative is our annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic and Political Relations

Speakers

An archive of all previous Annual Conferences on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations is available here.

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Schedule of Events

October 6, 2017

8:15 – 8:45AM: Coffee and Registration
8:45 – 9:00AM: Welcoming Remarks

9:00 – 9:40AM: Keynote One: U.S.-China Trade and U.S. Jobs: A Value-Chain Perspective
View the session video here

9:40 – 10:30AM: Infrastructure, Environment, and Growth
View the session video here

10:30 – 10:45AM: Coffee Break

10:45 – 12:00PM: Policy Session 1: Chinese Macro-Economy in the Next Decade
View the session video here

12:00 – 12:45PM: Lunch 

12:45 – 1:25PM: Keynote Two: Lessons of China’s Experience and Experience of the US for China
View the session video here

1:25 – 2:40PM: Globalization and Human Capital
View the session video here

2:40 – 2:50PM: Dean’s Remarks
View the session video here

2:50 – 4:05PM: Policy Session 2: An Outlook of U.S.-China Trade Relations
View the session video here

  • Moderator: Steve Suranovic, GWU
  • Wendy CutlerAsia Society Policy Institute
  • Junjie Hong, University of International Business and Economics
  • Maggie ChenGeorge Washington University
4:05 – 4:20PM: Coffee Break

4:20 – 5:35PM: Policy Session 3: The China Model of Economic Development
View the session video here

5:35 – 5:40PM: Closing Remarks

4th Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Research Conference

Friday, September 8, 2017

Preston Auditorium
The World Bank
1818 H Street, N.W., 20433 Washington D.C.

This conference hosted by the World Bank, George Washington University (Institute for International Economic Policy) and the International Growth Centre Cities Program brings together academics and development practitioners to present and discuss the challenges of sustainable urban development in developing countries.

One of the great challenges of 21st century cities in developing countries is that they must fulfill the requirements of connectivity in production for businesses and address the negative externalities for consumers of density with extremely limited financial resources and public capacity. This raises the following questions: What national policies strengthen and weaken developing world cities, and what infrastructure investments deliver the largest growth benefits? In particular, the aim of this conference will be to reflect upon how cities in developing countries should focus their efforts on improving their land and housing sector (see Session 1: Land), their transportation networks (see Session 2: Transportation), or their sanitation infrastructure (see Session 3: Public Services). In other words, how can we build, or rebuild, cities in the future in order to promote economic growth and reduce poverty?

Rémi Jedwab, Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University

Rémi Jedwab is an associate professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Elliott School and the Department of Economics of George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the Paris School of Economics. He was also a visiting Ph.D. student at the London School of Economics for three years. Professor Jedwab’s main fields of research are development and growth, urban economics, public economics and political economy. Some of the issues he has studied include urbanization and structural transformation, the relationship between population growth and economic growth, the economic effects of transportation infrastructure, and the roles of institutions, human capital and technology in development. His research has been published in the American Economic Review, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Economic Journal, the Journal of Economic Growth and the Journal of Urban Economics. Recently, Professor Jedwab’s research areas have included the phenomenon of urbanization without economic growth, and his research has been highlighted by The Atlantic’s CityLab and the Boston Globe.

 

Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics, Harvard

Edward Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard, where he also serves as Director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. He studies the economics of cities, and has written scores of articles on urban issues, including the growth of cities, segregation, crime, and housing markets. He has been particularly interested in the role that geographic proximity can play in creating knowledge and innovation. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1992 and has been at Harvard since then.

 

Harris Selod, Senior Economist, The World Bank

Harris Selod is a Senior Economist with the Development Research Group of the World Bank. His current research focuses on urban development, including issues related to transport and land use, as well as land tenure, land markets and the political economy of the land sector in developing countries, with a specific interest in West Africa. His publications cover a variety of topics in urban and public economics including theories of squatting and residential informality, the political economy of transport infrastructure, the effects of residential segregation on schooling and unemployment, or the impact of land rights formalization and place-based policies. He has been chair of the World Bank’s Land Policy and Administration Thematic Group (2011-2013) and is currently leading a World Bank research program on transport.

Keynote Speaker

Paul Romer

Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, World Bank

Dr. Paul Romer took office as the World Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President in October, 2016. Romer is on leave from his position as University Professor at New York University. His initial interest in technological progress led to research on topics ranging from an abstract analysis of how the economics of ideas differs from the economics of objects to practical suggestions about how to improve science and technology policy. More recently, his research on catch-up growth in low- and middle-income countries has emphasized the importance of government policies that encourage orderly urban expansion. Before NYU, Romer taught at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, and while there, also started Aplia, an education technology company dedicated to increasing student effort. Romer has also variously taught economics at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and the University of Rochester.

Chairs and Panelists

Maggie Chen

Professor of Economics, GW and IIEP

Maggie Xiaoyang Chen is the Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy and Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University. Professor Chen’s areas of research expertise include foreign direct investment, international trade, and regional trade agreements and her work has been published extensively in academic journals. She has worked as an economist in the research department of the World Bank, a consultant for various divisions of the World Bank and the International Finance Cooperation, and a trade policy advisor at the U.S. congressional Budget Office leading policy analyses on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. She has also held visiting professor positions in various universities including Boston College and University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China and is a co-editor of the Economic Inquiry. Professor Chen received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and her B.A. in Economics from Beijing Normal University.

Craig Kesson

Executive Director for the Directorate of the Mayor, City of Cape Town, South Africa

Craig Kesson is the City of Cape Town Executive Director for the Directorate of the Mayor as well as the Chief Resilience Officer, in partnership with the 100 Resilient Cities Programme. He has worked in several senior roles in city management and has advised a number of metro governments. He previously served as the National Director of Research for South Africa’s Official Opposition. He is a graduate of the University of KwaZulu Natal, the University of Stellenbosch Business School, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Oxford where he was a Rhodes Scholar. His specialisations are in public policy and strategy; project portfolios, and operations modelling. He is the co-author with Mayor Patricia De Lille of an upcoming book on the nature of city leadership and management planned for publication in August 2017.

Marianne Fay

Chief Economist, Climate Change Group, World Bank Group

Marianne Fay is the chief economist for climate change at the World Bank. She co-directed the World Development Report 2010 on Climate Change. Ms. Fay has served in multiple regions in the World Bank, including Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa, working on infrastructure, urbanization, and more recently on climate change and green growth. Her research has explored the role of infrastructure and urbanization in development, with a particular focus on urban poverty, climate change, and green growth, on which she has authored numerous articles and books. As chief economist for sustainable development, she led the World Bank’s flagship report for the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, Inclusive Green Growth: The Pathway to Sustainable Development.

Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez

Senior Director, Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice, The World Bank

Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez is the Senior Director for the World Bank Group’s Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice. In this position, Mr. Ijjasz-Vasquez leads a team of over 600 technical experts deployed across the world, leveraging global knowledge and collaborating with partners to help tackle the world’s most complex development challenges in: social inclusion and sustainability; mainstreaming resilience in all dimensions development; territorial and rural development; and urban planning, services and institutions. Before this, he was Director for Sustainable Development of the Latin America and Caribbean Region since November 2011, covering infrastructure, environment and climate change, social development, agriculture and rural development, disaster risk management, and urban development with an active portfolio of about $17 billion. From 2007 to 2011, he was based in Beijing, where he managed the Sustainable Development Unit for China and Mongolia. Earlier in his career, he managed the global trust-funded programs ESMAP and WSP in energy and water and sanitation, respectively. Mr. Ijjasz has a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in civil and environmental engineering, with specialization in hydrology and water resources. He has been a lecturer at the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Johns Hopkins University, and at Tsinghua University. He is a Colombian and Hungarian national.

William Maloney

Chief Economist, Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, World Bank

William F. Maloney is Chief Economist for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions in the World Bank Group. Previously he was Chief Economist for Trade and Competitiveness and Global Lead on Innovation and Productivity. Prior to the Bank, he was a Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1990-1997) and then joined, working as Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America until 2009. From 2009 to 2014, he was Lead Economist in the Development Economics Research Group. From 2011 to 2014 he was Visiting Professor at the University of the Andes and worked closely with the Colombian government on innovation and firm upgrading issues.

Jennifer Semakula Musisi

Executive Director, Kampala Capital City Authority

Jennifer Semakula-Musisi is the first Executive Director of the Kampala Capital City Authority that was established to administer Uganda’s Capital City-Kampala on behalf of the Central Government. Over the past six Years, Jennifer has headed the transformation of the City and initiated a number of activities that have enhanced efficiency in services delivery and paved way for the current steady Transformation of Kampala. The achievements over the period have become an admiration and a benchmark for many upcoming municipalities and Cities in East Africa and beyond. Jennifer is a lawyer by profession. She served as the Commissioner Legal Services and Board Affairs in Uganda Revenue Authority; and; she is an entrepreneur with several successful private businesses in Uganda.

Michael Toman

Research Manager, Environment and Energy Research Program, Development Research Group, The World Bank

Michael Toman (Mike) is Lead Economist on Climate Change in the Development Research Group and Manager of the Energy and Environment Team. His current research interests include alternative energy resources, policies for responding to risks of climate change catastrophes, timing of investments for greenhouse gas reduction, and mechanisms for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through reduced deforestation. During his career Mike has done extensive research on climate change economics and policy, energy markets and policy, environmental policy instruments, and approaches to achieving sustainable development. Prior to joining the World Bank in fall 2008, he held senior analytical and management positions at RAND Corporation, Inter-American Development Bank, and Resources for the Future. His teaching experience includes adjunct positions at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the School of the Environment, University of California at Santa Barbara. Mike has a B.A. from Indiana University, a M.Sc. in applied mathematics from Brown University, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the University of Rochester.

Anna Wellenstein

Director of Strategy and Operations, Social, Urban, Rural, and Resilience (SURR) Global Practice, World Bank

Anna is a key member of the World Bank’s SURR GP senior management team that sets strategy for analytics and financing in areas such as disaster risk reduction, urban renovation, and geospatial technology. She also oversees partnerships with bilateral, UN, and regional organizations. Anna has over 20 years of experience in urban development. She’s led efforts to design and finance investments, facilitate policy reforms and build capacity to help developing countries reduce poverty and boost equity. Anna has been responsible for technical oversight of new projects financed by the Bank, the portfolio quality of ongoing projects, and setting sector and country strategies. Anna oversees $25 billion in lending to developing countries in over 200 projects, 325 studies and technical assistance projects. She’s developed strong partnerships with governments in countries ranging from large middle income to small island states as well as development agencies and academia.

Horacio Terraza

Lead Urban Specialist for the Latin American Region, The World Bank

Horacio has more than 20 years of professional experience in the urban-environmental field, having worked both in the private sector and multilateral development organizations. He has just rejoined the World Bank as Lead Urban Specialist for the Latin American Region focusing on cities and Resilience. During the previous 6 years he worked at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as the Coordinator of the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ESCI) and also as Principal Water Specialist. Before the IDB Horacio worked for 11 years as a Senior Environmental Specialist at the World Bank, leading the urban environmental agenda in the Latin American Department. Prior to that, he worked in the private sector as a Project Manager for environmental engineering companies providing treatment and final disposal of hazardous substances. Horacio was trained as a mechanical engineer at the National University of La Plata in Argentina and holds a Master’s in International Economics and International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Presenters

Robert Buckley

Affiliated Scholar, Urban Institute

Bob Buckley is an Affiliated Scholar at the Urban Institute. He was Managing Director at the Rockefeller Foundation, Advisor at the World Bank, and Senior Fellow at the New School. He has written widely on urbanization and development in both the popular press and academic journals, and has helped prepare projects in a variety of places.

Gilles Duranton

Accessibility and Mobility in Urban India, Wharton School

Gilles Duranton is Professor of Accessibility and Mobility in Urban India and holds the Dean’s Chair in Real Estate. He joined the Wharton School in 2012 after holding academic positions at the University of Toronto and the London School of Economics. A graduate from HEC Paris and Sorbonne University, he obtained his PhD in economics jointly from the London School of Economics and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales in Paris. His research focuses on urban and transportation issues. His empirical work is concerned with urban growth and the estimation of the costs and benefits of cities and clusters. He is also interested in the effects of transportation infrastructure on urban development and the evaluation of local policies. He also conducts theoretical research to gain insight about the distribution of city sizes, the skill composition, and sectoral patterns of activities in cities.

Somik Lall

Lead Economist, The World Bank

Somik V. Lall is a Lead Economist for Urban Development at the World Bank’s Urban Development and Resilience Unit in the Sustainable Development Network. He is the lead author of a World Bank report on urbanization “Planning, Connecting, and Financing Cities Now: Priorities for City Leaders.” He was a core team member of the 2009 World Development Report “Reshaping Economic Geography”, and recently Senior Economic Counsellor to the Indian Prime Minister’s National Transport Development Policy Committee. Somik currently leads a World Bank program on the Urbanization Reviews, which provides diagnostic tools and a policy framework for policymakers to manage rapid urbanization and city development. His research interests span urban and spatial economics, infrastructure development, and public finance. He has over 40 publications featuring in peer reviewed journals, edited volumes, and working papers. Somik holds a bachelors degree in engineering, masters in city planning, and doctorate in economics and public policy.

Daniel da Mata

Researcher, Institute for Applied Economic Research

Daniel Da Mata is a Tenured Researcher at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea). He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge. Since joining Ipea in 2004, he has held several positions at the institute, including Head of Urban Studies and Head of Quantitative Research Division. His research on Urban, Public and Development Economics has been published in peer reviewed journals and book chapters. He has recently won the BMZ/GIZ Public Policy Award and the European Regional Science Association EPAINOS Award.

Matthew Turner

Professor of Economics, Brown University

Matthew Turner is a Professor of Economics at Brown University. He regularly teaches courses in urban and environmental economics, and occasionally, microeconomic theory. He is broadly interested in environmental and urban policy and his recent research focuses on the economics of land use and transportation. Professor Turner holds a Ph. D. in economics from Brown University and is a Co-Editor of the Journal of Urban Economics. His research appears in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Review of Economic Studies and Econometrica, and is regularly featured in the popular press.

Anthony Venables

Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies

Tony Venables CBE is Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford where he also directs the Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies and a programme of research on urbanisation in developing economies. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Econometric Society. Former positions include Chief Economist at the UK Department for International Development, professor at the London School of Economics, research manager of the trade research group in the World Bank, and advisor to the UK Treasury. He has published extensively in the areas of international trade, spatial economics, and natural resources, including work on trade and imperfect competition, economic integration, multinational firms, and economic geography.

Discussants

Alain Bertaud

Adjunct Professor, Marron Institute

Alain Bertaud is an Adjunct Professor at the Marron Institute and a senior research scholar at the NYU Stern Urbanization Project. At the moment, he is writing a book about urban planning that is tentatively titled Order Without Design. Bertaud previously held the position of principal urban planner at the World Bank. After retiring from the Bank in 1999, he worked as an independent consultant. Prior to joining the World Bank he worked as a resident urban planner in a number of cities around the world: Bangkok, San Salvador (El Salvador), Port au Prince (Haiti), Sana’a (Yemen), New York, Paris, Tlemcen (Algeria), and Chandigarh (India).

Leah Brooks

Assistant Professor, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University

Leah Brooks is Assistant Professor in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University. After receiving her PhD from UCLA in 2005, she taught at the University of Toronto and McGill University, and worked at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Her research interest is urban political economy. Her work to date has examined Business Improvement Districts to understand the resolution of collective action problems, and the Community Development Block Grant program to analyze the political economy of grant giving at the municipal and sub-municipal levels. She has documented the existence and analyzed the impacts of municipally-imposed tax and expenditure limits, studied the premium required to assemble land, analyzed the long-term effects of streetcars on urban form, and is hard at work examining the impact of containerization on cities.

Maisy Wong

Associate Professor, Real Estate at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Maisy Wong is an Associate Professor of Real Estate at the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. Her current research interests include household mobility and sorting behavior, urbanization in developing countries, and real estate finance. Her research has been published in journals such as the American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, AEJ: Applied Economics, and Journal of Finance. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, at Berkeley.

8:30-9:00 AM Coffee and Registration

9:00-10:45 AM Opening Session: Urban Governance

Welcoming Remarks: Michael Toman, Research Manager, Energy and Environment, Development Research Group, The World Bank; Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, Senior

Director, Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice, The World Bank

Chair: William Maloney, Chief Economist, Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, The World Bank

Panelists: Craig Kesson, Executive Director for the Directorate of the Mayor, City of Cape Town, South Africa; Edward Glaeser, Professor of Economics, Harvard

and IGC; Jennifer Musisi, Executive Director, Kampala Capital City Authority, Uganda; Paul Romer, Chief Economist and Vice-President, The World Bank

10:45-11:00 AM Coffee Break

11:00 AM-12:30 PM Session 1: Land

Chair: Horacio Terraza, Lead Urban Specialist for the Latin American Region, The World Bank

11:00-11:20 AM Mini keynote (Video): “Land in the Urban Development Agenda,” Harris Selod, Development Research Group at The World Bank

11:20-11:40 AM Paper 1.1 (Video) “Building the City: Sunk Capital, Sequencing, and Institutional Frictions,” Anthony Venables (University of Oxford), joint with

Vernon Henderson (LSE) and Tanner Regan (LSE)

11:40-12:00 PM Paper 1.2 “On the Determinants of Slum Formation,” Daniel da Mata (IPEA), joint with Tiago Cavalcanti (University of Cambridge) and Marcelo

Santos (IIER)

12:00-12:15 PM Discussion (Video): Alain Bertaud, NYU Urbanization Project

12:15-12:30 PM Q&A

12:30-1:30 PM Lunch

1:30-2:15 PM Keynote Addresses: Cities, Growth, and Planning

Paul Romer, Chief Economist and Vice-President, The World Bank

Chair: Phil Hay, Communication Adviser, Development Economics, The World Bank

2:15-3:45 PM Session 2: Transportation

Chair: Marianne Fay, Chief Economist, Sustainable Development Vice-Presidency, The World Bank

2:15-2:35 PM Mini keynote (Video): “Transport Infrastructure in the Urban Development Agenda,” Somik Lall, The World Bank

2:35-2:55 PM Paper 2.1 (Video) “Congestion in Bogota,” Gilles Duranton (Wharton Business School)

2:55-3:15 PM Paper 2.2 “Subways and Urban Air Pollution,” Matthew Turner (Brown University)

3:15-3:30 PM Discussion (Video): Leah Brooks, George Washington University

3:30-3:45 PM Q&A

3:45-4:00 PM Coffee Break

4:00-5:30 PM Session 3: Public Services

Chair: Michael Toman, Research Manager, Energy and Environment, Development Research Group, The World Bank

4:00-4:20 PM Mini keynote (Video): “Urban Sanitation in the Urban Development Agenda,” Rémi Jedwab (George Washington University)

4:20-4:40 PM Paper 3.1 (Video) “Financing Sewers in the 19th Century’s Largest Cities: A Prequel for African Cities?,” Robert Buckley (The Urban Institute)

4:40-5:00 PM Paper 3.2 “Water, Health, and Wealth,” Ed Glaeser (Harvard University), with Nava Ashraf, Abraham Holland, and Bryce Steinberg

5:00-5:15 PM Discussion (Video): Maisy Wong (The Wharton School)

5:15-5:30 PM Q&A

6:00-7:30 PM Cocktail Reception and Welcome Speech by Maggie Chen (George Washington University)

At the George Washington University, Lindner Commons Room (6th Floor) of the Elliott School of International Affairs, 1957 E St. N.W. (at the intersection of E and

19th Streets, on E Street), Washington, DC

EGAP Evidence Summit on Elections and Political Accountability

Friday, June 9, 2017

9:30am to 3:300pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

You’re invited to an Evidence Summit on Elections and Political Accountability, sponsored by the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP)research network. The event will take place on Friday, June 9, 2017 from 9:30am – 3:30pm at The Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. Lunch will be provided for free; please RSVP using the free ticket option. (If you work for an organization that prevents you from accepting a free lunch, we have provided an at-cost ticket option that allows you to pay for your meal.)

EGAP researchers will be on hand to showcase six new field experimental studies that were carried out in coordination, all of which examine the consequences of making voters more informed about their politicians. EGAP will also present the integrated results from the six studies. This research is part of EGAP’s Metaketa Initiative, which is a new grant-making model designed to foster innovation and cumulative learning through simultaneous replication or research across multiple contexts. In addition, EGAP will use the event to study the potential utility of research for policymakers and practitioners.

Please RSVP, save the date on your calendars, and forward this notification to your colleagues!

Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law

Since 2002, the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University has collaborated widely with academics, policymakers and practitioners around the world to advance knowledge about the conditions for and interactions among democracy, broad-based economic development, human rights, and the rule of law.

Evidence in Governance and Politics

Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) is a cross-disciplinary network of researchers and practitioners united by a focus on experimental research and dedicated to generating and disseminating rigorous evidence on topics of governance, politics, and institutions. EGAP seeks to forge partnerships between researchers and practitioners committed to understanding the politics of global development, advancing evidence-based policy making, and improving the quality of empirical research in the social sciences.

2017 Intensive Trade Seminar: Spring Session

Thursday, June 8, 2017

9:00am to 4:30pm – Reception to Follow

 

House of Sweden
2900 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20007

The WITA Intensive Trade Seminar (ITS) Spring Session provides an in-depth look into critical trade issues, and provides an overview of how the US Government formulates and enforces trade policy.

Along with the Fall ITS, these sessions provide a unique opportunity for attendees to increase their professional knowledge base and broaden their network of contacts by learning the nuts and bolts of trade policy from career trade policymakers from the US Government and Capitol Hill, the private sector, NGO’s, and other players in the trade policy arena.

The Intensive Trade Seminar addressed four important trade issues:

US Trade Law

Speakers including Stacy J. Ettinger, Partner at K&L Gates LLP and Hon. F. Scott Kieff, Commissioner at U.S. International Trade Commission, discussed what we might expect to see from the Trump Administration’s enforcement agenda, and the impact that could have on U.S. jobs, American consumers, and the global trading system.

International Tax and Competitiveness

This session featuring James Gould, Principal at Ogilvy Government Relations, and Catherine Schultz, Vice President for Tax Policy at National Foreign Trade Council, provided an overview of the international tax regime, efforts to reform the tax treatment of foreign earnings and investment, and the implications of these policies on the competitiveness of US firms.

Digital Trade

This session highlighted new technologies and how trade policies can be adapted to 21st Century business. Speakers included Christine Bliss, President at Coalition of Services Industries, and Stephen Ezell, Vice President of Global Innovation Policy at The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.

Views on Trade from Around the World

This session looked at the future of trade in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Speakers included David Brightling, Counsellor (Trade), Embassy of Australia; Rodrigo A. Contreras, Head of Economic Department / Trade Commissioner, Embassy of Chile; Damien Levie, Head of Section – Trade and Agriculture section, Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America; Katrin Kuhlmann, President and Founder, New Markets Lab.

5th Annual Conference Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES)

Friday, May 5, 2017

This year’s conference is hosted by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University

The Mercatus Center
Founders Hall, Room 113
3351 Fairfax Dr., Arlington VA 22201

The Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES) is an annual research conference which highlights academic work from researchers at leading economics institutions in development economics in the Washington DC area. Researchers from George Washington University, University of Maryland, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Virginia, the World Bank, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), American University, George Mason University, and the Center for Global Development are all participants in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions.

View the Schedule

Download the conference schedule here.

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

7th Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Friday, April 21, 2017

Elliott School of International Affairs
George Washington University 1957 E Street NW Suite 505
Washington D.C. 20052

The Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) is a forum that highlights trade research at institutions in the Washington D.C. area. Its primary activity is sponsoring an annual research conference where scholars present their latest academic work. Researchers from George Washington University, American University, the Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board, Georgetown University, the Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), the U.S. International Trade Commission, the University of Maryland, and the World Bank have all participated in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions.

View the Schedule
8:30 – 9:00 AM: Continental Breakfast and Registration
9:00 – 9:40 AM: Eunhee Lee (University of Maryland):
“Trade, Inequality, and the Endogenous Sorting of Heterogeneous Workers”
Discussant: Lindsay Oldenski (Georgetown University)
9:40 – 10:20 AM: Ferdinando Monte (Georgetown University):
“The Local Incidence of Trade Shocks”
Discussant: Illenin Kondo (Federal Reserve Board)
10:20 – 10:40 AM: Coffee Break
10:40 – 11:20 AM: Paul Piveteau (SAIS-Johns Hopkins):
“An empirical dynamic model of trade with consumer accumulation”
Discussant: Colin Hottman (Federal Reserve Board)
11:20 – 12:00 PM: Aaron Flaaen (Federal Reserve Board):
“The Role of Transfer Prices in Profit Shifting by U.S. Multinationals: Evidence from the 2004 Homeland Investment”
Discussant: JaeBin Ahn (International Monetary Fund)
12:00 – 1:40 PM: Lunch and Keynote:
Keith Maskus (Chief Economist Department of State and University of Colorado-Boulder)
1:40 – 2:20 PM: Maggie Chen (George Washington University):
“An Anatomy of Foreign Investment News”
Discussant: Rod Ludema (Georgetown University)
2:20 – 3:00 PM: Moises Yi (Census Bureau):
“Industry Mix, Local Labor Markets, and the Incidence of Trade Shocks”
Discussant: Marisol Rodriguez Chatruc (Inter-American Development Bank)
3:00 – 3:20 PM: Coffee Break
3:20 – 4:00 PM: Juan Blyde (Inter-American Development Bank):
“The Impact of Chinese Competition on Mexican Labor Outcomes”
Discussant: Claire Brunel (American University)
4:00 – 4:40 PM: Aaditya Mattoo (World Bank):
“Trade Creation and Trade Diversion in Deep Agreements”
Discussant: Peter Herman (United States International Trade Commission)

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

Growth Strategies in a De-Globalizing World

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

4:00 to 5:30pm – Reception to Follow

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
City View Room, 7th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Institute for International Economic Policy and the Growth Dialogue cordially invite you to participate in a Ministerial Dialogue at the time of the Spring Meetings of the IMF/World Bank. The conversation, to be chaired by Danny Leipziger, Prof. of International Business and International Affairs, George Washington University and Managing Director of the Growth Dialogue, will focus on the impact of current shifts in the global economic landscape and their implications for national growth strategies.

The event will be followed by a reception at the City View Room from 5:30pm to 7:00pm.

Participants will include:

The Hon. Mauricio Cárdenas, Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Colombia

The Hon. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance, Indonesia

The Hon. Santiago Peña, Minister of Finance, Paraguay

The Hon. Malusi Gigaba, Minister of Finance, South Africa

Dr. Hyun Oh-Seok, Former Minister of Strategy & Finance, Korea

Dr, Joaquim Levy, Managing Director, World Bank

Dr. Adam Posen, President, Peterson Institute for International Economics

How Presidents Make Economic Policy in Times of Crisis” feat. Alejandro Bonvecchi

Thursday, February 16, 2017

12:00 to 2:00pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

This project argues that presidents organize decision-making to respond to economic crises not driven by personality or institutional constraints, but rather by cognitive contexts. The higher the frequency of crises, the more inclined the president to use hierarchical, rather than collegial, decision-making processes. The argument is tested comparing cases in the US and Argentina.

Alejandro Bonvecchi holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Buenos Aires and a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Essex. He is an Assistant Professor at the Torcuato Di Tella University in Buenos Aires and an Adjunct Research of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research in Argentina, where he works on presidential and legislative politics and the political economy of economic policymaking. He has published four books, and his work has appeared in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Publius, Latin American Politics and Society, and Journal of Politics in Latin America.

View the presentation here

Discussants

Stephen Kaplan, Associate Professor of Political Science and International affairs at The George Washington University

Stephen B. Kaplan is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs. Professor Kaplan’s research and teaching interests focus on the frontiers of international and comparative political economy, where he specializes in the political economy of global finance and development, the rise of China in the Western Hemisphere, and Latin American politics. Professor Kaplan joined the GWU faculty in the fall of 2010 after completing a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University and his Ph.D at Yale University. While at Yale, Kaplan also worked as a researcher for former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo at the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. Prior to his doctoral studies, Professor Kaplan was a senior economic analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, writing extensively on developing country economics, global financial market developments, and emerging market crises from 1998 to 2003. He received his B.A in International Relations and Economics from Tufts University, and an M.S in International Economic Development from Georgetown University.

Jay Shambaugh, Professor of Economics and International Affairs at The George Washington University

Jay Shambaugh is a professor of economics and international affairs at the George Washington University. He is the director of the Institute for International Economic Policy. Professor Shambaugh’s area of research is macroeconomics and international economics. His work includes analysis of the interaction of exchange rate regimes with monetary policy, capital flows, and trade flows as well as studies of international reserves holdings, country balance sheet exchange rate exposure, the cross-country impact of fiscal policy, and the current crisis in the euro area. In addition to his book, Exchange Rate Regimes in the Modern Era (MIT Press, 2009), Shambaugh has published in The American Economic Review, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, and other leading journals. Prior to joining the faculty at George Washington, Shambaugh taught at Georgetown and Dartmouth and served as first Senior Economist for International Economics and then Chief Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the NBER and a visiting scholar at the IMF. Shambaugh received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. from the Fletcher School at Tufts, and a B.A. from Yale University.

Trumping Trade Orthodoxy

Friday, February 3, 2017

9:00am to 4:00pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

President Trump has promised a markedly new direction in U.S. trade policy through tweets, appointments, and executive orders. Regardless of these first steps and initial press reports, substantial questions remain about whether some of the actions in fact can be adopted within existing legislative and constitutional constraints. In other areas, President Trump’s authority to pursue radically different policies likely are well-established. George Washington’s Institute for International Economic Policy hosted a full day conference to examine what President Trump can, and cannot, do on trade policy without new congressional authorization. Participants will hear from panels that will include a team of two leading lawyers and economists with substantial first-hand trade policy experience. This conference provided audience members with important perspectives on the limits of President Trump’s emerging trade policy.

 View video from the conference at the IIEP YouTube Channel

View the Schedule
8:15 AM – 9:00 AM: Registration and Breakfast

 

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM: Opening Remarks and Introduction, Michael Moore (George Washington University)

 

9:15 AM – 10:15 AM: Trade Remedies

The President has substantial leeway for initiating various trade remedy actions (antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguards). U.S. trade law practice and procedure may limit the scope of imposing duties under these provisions.

10:15 AM – 11:15 AM: China as a ‘Currency Manipulator’

The U.S. Treasury may determine that a country manipulates its currency but only under certain statutory conditions. Would China qualify under those provisions? What consequences might it face if China is declared a “currency manipulator”?

11:15 AM – 11:30 AM: Coffee Break

 

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Renegotiating/Leaving Existing Trade Agreements

U.S. trade agreements such as NAFTA allow for either Party to announce a withdrawal with six months’ notice. Can President Trump do so without congressional approval? What would be the impact on U.S. trade and investment flows if he were to follow through with such threats?

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM: Lunch

 

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Tax Policy, Investment Agreements, & Foreign Direct Investment

President Trump has suggested imposing 35 percent tariffs on individual U.S. firms that offshore manufacturing jobs. Can the Administration single out individual companies in this way? How might such threats increase uncertainty on inward and outward U.S. foreign investment?

2:30 PM – 2:45 PM: Coffee Break

 

2:45 PM – 3:45 PM: Possible WTO Disputes

An aggressive new U.S. trade policy may result in formal disputes with WTO members. What are the most likely cases that might arise? How might the U.S. economy be affected if the WTO rules in favor of those who contest new U.S. approaches in trade policy?

3:45 PM – 4:00 PM: Concluding Remarks

IMF Africa Regional Economic Outlook

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

9:00am to 12:00pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Africa continues to experience great opportunities for growth while also facing several great challenges. Sustained economic growth, income inequality, gender disparities, and competitiveness in the global trade arena are all issues with the potential to make or break the continent’s development as a region. The African Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) publishes the Regional Economic Outlook (REO): Sub-Saharan Africa report twice a year. Review the latest report here.

 

Panel I: Multispeed Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

  • IMF Presenter: Jesus Gonzalez-Garcia
  • Discussants: Temesgen Deressa and Marcus King

Panel II: Exchange Rate Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa: Experiences and Lessons

  • IMF Presenter: Haris Tsangarides
  • Discussants: Ajay Chhibber, Steve Suranovic, and Kingsley Moghalu

Poverty in India: Issues and Policies

S. Mahendra Dev 

Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research

International Economic Policy Forum

Co-hosted by the International Tax and Investment Center and the GW Department of Economics

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

12:30 pm to 2:00 pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Room 505
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

 

Please find the presentation from Prof. Smith here, and Prof. Dev here.

S. Mahendra Dev is the director (Vice Chancellor) of the Indira Ghandi Institute of Develpment and Research (IGIDR). He previously served as the chair of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices of the Government of India. He also worked as director at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, and as senior fellow at the Rajiv Ghandi Foundation. He has written extensively on topics such as agricultural development, food security, and poverty and public policy. He received his PhD from the Delhi School of Economics and completed postdoctoral research at Yale University’s Economic Growth Center.

Prof. Dev has more than 100 research publications in national and international journals. Oxford University Press has recently published his book  Inclusive Growth in India. He has been a consultant and adviser to many international organizations, such as UNDP, World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute, ILO, FAO, and ESCAP. He also conducted collaborative projects with IFPRI on food security and poverty. He has been a member of several government committees including the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Employment and Rangarajan Commission on Financial Inclusion.

S. Mahendra Dev

New Avenues to Govern Cross-Border Information Flows

Monday, November 14th, 2016

12:00 to 2:00pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Cross-border data flows are the life-blood of an integrated world economy.  They support manufacturing and service supply chains and enable the flow of diverse and innovative goods and services to customers all over the world. But domestic policies must allow for these flows.  In the last several years, we have seen increasing attempts to close down the flow of information across borders – through requirements for domestic location of computer facilities and explicit bans on the transfer of data into or out of countries.  While domestic policy space must be large enough to permit legitimate regulations such as privacy and consumer protection, it should also ensure that these measures are no more restrictive than necessary to accomplish these purposes. The TPP was the first trade agreement to include binding provisions regarding these flows, but it has not yet been approved by any government.  But there are additional avenues to discuss cross-border data flows. They include:

  •  the Trade in Services Agreement being negotiated at the WTO
  • the WTO E-Commerce working group
  • bilateral discussions, discussions and resolutions at meetings of international economic leaders such as the G7 and the G20.  Herein we focus on what’s happening at the multilateral level at the WTO.

Join us for a discussion with a panel of experts and advocates on these avenues.

The Institute for International Economic Policy, along with the sponsorship of the Software and Information Industry Association, is hosting a panel discussion on November 14 as part of our continuing work on digital trade.  You are invited to bring your own lunch to enjoy during the panel.

Speakers will include:

  • Sam Dupont,  Director for Digital Trade, USTR
  • Michael Joseph FerrantinoWorld Bank
  • Carl SchonanderSenior Director International Policy, SIIA
  • Deborah JamesDirector, International Programs, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Moderator: Research Professor and Cross-disciplinary Fellow Susan AaronsonPh.D. GWU

Cosponsored by the Washington D.C. Chapter of the Internet Society

9th Annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S. China Economic Relations

Click here to view videos

The U.S.-China relationship is now second to none in importance for international economic relations and policy and accordingly is a major focus of IIEP. The centerpiece of this initiative is our annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic and Political Relations

This year, key topics discussed will include China’s financial market, the state of China’s macro-economy, the China-Africa relationship, and China’s outward investments and their impacts. For more information about the conference and bios of each panelist, visit our blog

An archive of all previous Annual Conferences on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations is available here. For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Schedule of Events

November 11, 2016

8:00 – 8:50AM Coffee and Continental Breakfast

8:50 – 9:00AM Welcome and Overview of the Conference

  • Stephen Smith, Director, Institute for International Economic Policy (IIEP), Professor of Economics and International Affairs, GWU

9:00 – 11:00AM Panel 1: The Future of Trade Integration in the Asia Pacific

Moderated by IIEP affiliate Steve SuranovicProfessor of Economics and International Affairs, The George Washington University

  • Jeff Schott, Peterson Institute for International Economics, “Will the US Invest in or Divest from Asia-Pacific Economic Integration?” 
  • Michael Plummer, JHU, “Megaregionalism in the Asia-Pacific and Options for Shared Chinese-US Leadership”
  • Jiandong Ju, Shanghai University of Finance & Economics, “Huaxia Community: A FTA and a New Architecture for the Global Economic System”

11:00 – 11:15AM Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:45PM Panel 2:The Internet in China’s Economy

Moderated by IIEP affiliate Susan Aaronson, Research Professor of Intenrational Affairs, The George Washington University

  • Hong Xue, Beijing Normal University, “Chinese Electronic Commerce Law: the New Basic Law for Digital Economy”
  • Jingting Fan, UMD, “The Alibaba Effect: Spatial Consumption Inequality and the Welfare Gains from e-Commerce”
  • Maggie Chen, George Washington University, “International Trade on the Internet: Evidence from Alibaba”

12:45 – 2:00PM Lunch

2:00 – 3:30PM Panel 3: Trade, Migration, and Wage Premium in China

Moderated by IIEP affiliate Joseph PelzmanProfessor of Economics and International Affairs, The George Washington University

  • Chao Wei, George Washington University, The Short and Long of Trade and Migration Reforms in China (joint with Xiaodong Zhu)
  • RuiXue Jia, UCSD, “Access to Elite Education, Wage Premium, and Social Mobility: The Truth and Illusion of China’s College Entrance Exam”
  • Eunhee Lee, University of Maryland at College Park, “Trade, Inequality, and the Endogenous Sorting of Heterogeneous workers”
3:30 – 4:00PM: Coffee Break

4:00 – 5:30PM  Panel 4: China’s Macroeconomy, Urban Growth and Policy Analysis

Moderated by IIEP affiliate Remi Jedwab, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, The George Washington University

  • Zheng LiuFederal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (also affiliated with the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance),“Reserve Requirements and Optimal Chinese Stabilization Policy”
  • Matthew TurnerBrown University, “Highways, Market Access and Urban Growth in China”
  • Kai ZhaoUniversity of Connecticut, “The Chinese Saving Rate: Productivity, Old Age Support and Demographics

Vietnam 2035: Toward Prosperity, Creativity, Equity, and Democracy

Bui Quang Vinh

Former Vietnam Minister of Planning and Investment

Watch the event in English:

Watch the event in Vietnamese

Tuesday, November 1, 2017

2:00 to 3:30pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
City View Room, 7th Floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Download the presentation here.

Bui Quang Vinh

Countries rarely think and act long-term. The next election cycle is as far as politicians’ horizons typically extend. Vietnam has chosen a bolder, more successful approach, starting with the Đổi Mới (economic renovation) reforms in the late 1980s. Visionary leaders and a sense of shared societal purpose have allowed it a longer-term and calibrated focus on the future. Economic growth as a result has been rapid, stable, and inclusive, translating into strong welfare gains for the vast majority of the population.

But three decades of success from reforms have raised expectations for the future, especially for a young, rapidly urbanizing population that is fast joining the ranks of the global middle class. The Vietnamese people now aspire to be a modern and industrialized country, with a prosperous, creative, equitable, and democratic society.

The Vietnam 2035 report, a joint undertaking of the Government of Vietnam and the World Bank Group, captures the country’s long-term aspirations and fleshes out the supporting policy and institutional agenda. The aspirations and the reform agenda, the report argues, stand on three mutually reinforcing pillars: balancing economic prosperity with environmental sustainability; promoting equity and social inclusion to develop a harmonious middle- class society; and enhancing the capacity and accountability of the state to establish a rule of law state and a democratic society.

Minister Bui Quang Vinh, an experienced, outspoken, and highly-regarded leader within the Vietnamese political system, a strong proponent of bold institutional reform, and at the time Minister of Planning and Investment, was a guiding force behind the writing of the Vietnam 2035 report.

In this seminar, he will talk about why his government sought a long-term vision report, what made the World Bank the partner of choice, what he sees as the report’s main messages, and what now are the political economy challenges that stand in the way of implementing the report’s recommendations.

Mr. Bui Quang Vinh served as Vietnam’s Minister of Planning and Investment from 2011 – 2015. The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is responsible for preparation of Vietnam’s development strategies and plans, public investment planning, some aspects of SOE reforms, poverty reduction, and oversight and coordination of ODA. Mr. Vinh was also a member of the Central Committee of Vietnam’s Communist Party and of Vietnam’s 13th National Assembly.  He served as MPI’s Vice Minister from 2010 – 2011.  During 1999-2010 he was Chairman and Party Secretary of Vietnam’s Lao Cai Province, one of Vietnam’s poorest provinces located in the northern part of the country.  He previously held various other positions there and in the old Hoan Lien Son Province. Born in Hanoi in 1953, the Minister earned an engineering degree from Vietnam’s University of Agriculture in 1975 and studied at the Agriculture Economic Institute in Moscow.

Stephen Smith, IIEP Director, will serve as Chair and Danny Leipziger, Growth Dialogue Managing Director, as a discussant for this forum.

2nd Annual Frenzel Memorial Lecture

 See video of the event here.

 

Thursday October 6, 2016

5:00 to 6:30pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

On behalf of the Institute for International Economic Policy, GWU, and the International Tax and Investment Center, you are cordially invited to the 2nd Annual Frenzel Memorial Lecture on Tax and Trade on October 6, 2016. The event is named in honor of Bill Frenzel, the founding Chairman of the ITIC and 10-term U.S. House of Representatives Member. Frenzel, who passed away in 2014, is best known for having been a leading authority on tax and trade issues in Congress. The Frenzel Memorial Lecture will feature the Honorable Robert B. Zoellick, former World Bank President.

 

5:00 PM: Welcome and Introduction and Tribute to Bill Frenzel
  • Ambassador (Ret.) Reuben Brigety, Dean, Elliott School of International Affairs
  • The Honorable Dave Camp, Honorary Co-Chairman, ITIC Board of Directors, Senior Policy Advisor, PwC, Former Chairman, House Committee on Ways and Means
5:05 PM: Setting the Stage
  • Graciela Kaminsky, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, GWU, will share some of the research being undertaken at GWU on the challenges facing the global economy
5:15 PM: Q&A Interview Discussion: Trade & Global Macroeconomic Policy
  • The Honorable Robert B. Zoellick, former World Bank President and former U.S. Trade Representative
  • Moderated by Jeffrey E. Garten, Dean Emeritus of the Yale School of Management, Former Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade
6:30 PM: Reception
  • 6th Floor Lounge, 1957 E Street, NW

Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in India: Policy Challenges and Prospects

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052
Watch the conference videos

Click here to access the morning speakers

Click here to access the afternoon speakers

Click here to access all other remarks

To prepare for the future, India emphasizes addressing inclusive and sustainable growth, eliminating poverty, and expanding their urban sphere. The growth-orientated government faces challenges in creating efficient policy reforms to fit their agenda. Issues including poverty, inequality, lack of infrastructure, and an unfinished plan for reform limit the country’s tremendous growth prospects.

How can India utilize macro economic policy for faster growth? What additional policies are needed to boost infrastructure and urbanization? How is India responding to climate change and sustainability? How can revised policy and programs aid in eradicating poverty?

The Institute for International Economic Policy at the Elliott School of International Affairs and India’s National Institute of Public Finance and Policy hosted a conversation with top academic researchers, officials from the IMF, NIPFP, and World Bank, and current and former advisors of the Indian governments.

View the Schedule
8:30 – 9:00AM: Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 10:00AM: Opening Session
  • Welcome Address
    • Ambassador Reuben Brigety, Dean of the Elliott School
  • Key Note Address: “India’s Reform Challenges and Unfinished Reform Agenda”
    • Arvind Subramaniam, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India 
10:00 – 11:15AM: Session I – “Macro Economic Policy for Faster Growth”
  • Chair: Dr. Ajay Chhibber, IIEP & NIPFP
  • Dr. Subir Gokarn, Exective Director, India IMF
  • Dr. Rathin Roy,  Director, NIPFP, “A Macro-Fiscal Snapshot
11:15 – 11:30AM: Coffee Break
11:30AM – 1:00PM: Session II – “India’s Commitment to Climate Change and Sustainable Growth”
1:00 – 2:00PM: Lunch: Luncheon Address
  • Dr. Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Country Director, India, World Bank 
2:00 – 3:15PM: Session III – “Infrastructure and Urban Drivers of Growth”
3:15 – 3:30PM: Coffee Break
3:30 – 4:45PM: Session IV – “Equitable Growth and Poverty Eradication: Measurement, Programs, and Policies”
4:45 – 5:30PM: Closing Address: “Getting India back to the Growth Turnpike: What will it take?
  • Dr. Rakesh Mohan, Yale University, and former Executive Director, India, IMF 
  • Dr. Ajay ChhibberIIEP & NIPFP

Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Interventions on Migration and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a Quasi-Random Child Health and Family Planning Program in Bangladesh

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

2016 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index: Multidimensional Poverty in Africa

 Monday, June 6th, 2016

10:00am to 12:00pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

You are warmly invited by OPHI to the launch of the 2016 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). The focus of the launch will be on Multidimensional Poverty in Africa. We will issue a new briefing covering 44 countries in Africa, and 475 regions of 41 of those countries. The briefing also covers changes over time for over 30 Sub-Saharan African countries, portraying a wide variety of experiences in the pace and pattern of multidimensional poverty reduction. It even highlights ‘little acrobats’ – subnational regions in sub-Saharan Africa that did very well at reducing multidimensional poverty. And it explores the differences between monetary and multidimensional measures in Africa.

OPHI, the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative, is a research centre in the University of Oxford that measures global multidimensional poverty for over 100 countries using a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) that complement the $1.90/day poverty measures. The MPI was developed in collaboration with UNDP’s HDRO and is published in UNDP’s Human Development Reports.  OPHI’s website provides full details including subnational disaggregation of MPI and the composition of each region’s poverty. The MPI is related to Target 1.2. of the SDGs, and may be reported as SDG indicator 1.2.2.

The substantive event will include a concise but rich briefing on the 2016 global MPI findings by Professor James Foster of George Washington University and OPHI Director and IIEP affiliate Sabina Alkire, followed by reflections on implications for policy and for the SDGs by several eminent panelists including Linda Etim, USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Africa.

Digital Trade Conference: The End of Trade as We Know It?

Thursday and Friday, May 5-6, 2016

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Internet and associated technologies are both a platform for trade and a technology transforming trade. We define digital trade as commerce in products and services delivered via the Internet (USITC: 2013, i). Although digital trade is the fastest growing component of trade, policymakers are just learning how to create an environment to facilitate such trade in developed and developing countries alike. The Transpacific Partnership (TPP) is the first trade agreement to include binding provisions related to the information flows that power digital trade, but that agreement (and others under negotiation) say little about the domestic and international regulatory context in which the Internet functions. However, as the World Bank notes, an effective regulatory environment is essential to reaping the benefits of the information economy and digital trade (World Bank: 2016)

Trade agreements may not be the best place to regulate information flows — which are a global public good that governments should provide and regulate effectively in a cooperative manner with other governments. Moreover, many Internet issues that involve information flows, such as privacy or the security of data are not market access issues (the traditional turf of trade agreements) issues (Aaronson: 2016).

In this conference, we will examine digital trade as well as barriers to cross-border information flows. We will also discuss the role of trade agreements as tools of Internet governance; examine the domestic and international regulatory environment for information; and focus on how to cooperate to encourage cross-border information flows. We plan to encourage audience and panelist dialogue about these issues.

The Internet Society DC Chapter (ISOC-DC) will be providing a live stream of the conference to be linked to this page.

Susan Ariel Aaronson, Research Professor of International Affairs and a Cross-Disciplinary Fellow at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs

Susan Ariel Aaronson is Research Professor of International Affairs and a Cross-Disciplinary Fellow at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. She is currently the Carvalho Fellow at the Government Accountability Project and was the former Minerva Chair at the National War College. Aaronson’s research examines the relationship between economic change and human rights. She is currently directing projects on digital trade and digital rights, repression and civil conflict; trade, trust and transparency; and whistleblowers at international organizations such as the UN and WIPO. Her work has been funded by major international foundations including MacArthur, Ford, and Rockefeller; governments such as the Netherlands, U.S., and Canada; the UN, ILO, and World Bank, and U.S. corporations including Ford Motor and Levi Strauss. Dr. Aaronson is a frequent speaker on public understanding of globalization issues and international economic developments. She regularly comments on international economics on “Marketplace” and was a monthly commentator on “All Things Considered,” “Marketplace,” and “Morning Edition.” She has also appeared on CNN, the BBC, and PBS to discuss trade and globalization issues. Aaronson was a Guest Scholar in Economics at the Brookings Institution (1995–1999); and a Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute 2008-2012.

Maja Andjelkovic, World Bank Mobile Innovation Specialist

Maja is interested in the potential of entrepreneurship and human ingenuity to contribute to economic, environmental and social development. She has spent over 12 years connecting these fields, including as product manager in a web-technology startup, lead researcher at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and counselor for Canada for the World Bank Group. Since 2009, she has worked to expand infoDev’s mobile innovation program, including by extending our offering to better serve women founders of tech startups in emerging and frontier markets. Maja is pursuing a doctorate at the University of Oxford under Professor Bill Dutton, with a focus on innovation ecosystems and with support from Oxford University Press.

Michael Ferrantino, World Bank Lead Economist

Michael J. Ferrantino is Lead Economist in the World Bank Group Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice. Prior to joining the Bank, he was Lead International Economist at the US International Trade Commission. Michael’s published research spans a wide array of topics relating to international trade, including non-tariff measures and trade facilitation, global value chains, the relationship of trade to the environment, innovation, and productivity, and US-China trade. He has taught at Southern Methodist, Youngstown State, Georgetown, American, and George Washington Universities. Michael’s recent work includes: “The Benefits of Trade Facilitation: A Modelling Exercise,” prepared for the World Economic Forum’s January 2013 report on supply chains, “Enabling Trade: Valuing Growth Opportunities;” a chapter on non-tariff measures in The Ashgate Research Companion to International Trade Policy (2012); and “Evasion Behaviors of Exporters and Importers; Evidence from the U.S.-China Trade Data Discrepancy,” with Xuepeng Liu and Zhi Wang, Journal of International Economics, 2012. Michael holds a PhD from Yale University.

Kyle Renner, IIEP Operations Manager

Kyle Renner manages the Institute for International Economic Policy (IIEP) and provides career and academic advice for the International Trade and Investment Policy (ITIP) master’s program at the Elliott School for International Affairs. Kyle manages IIEP’s research agenda which is broadly concentrated on the areas of international trade, international finance, and international development; with special focus on U.S.-China economic relations, climate change adaptation, ultra-poverty, and global economic governance. He has managed sponsored research projects funded by USAID, the Asian Development Bank, the U.S. Army Research Office, and the Hewlett, Ford, and MacArthur foundations among others. He is also responsible for organizing IIEP’s many events, including scholarly seminars, working groups, policy fora, and research conferences. Kyle provides academic and professional counseling to students in the ITIP program, and serves on the ITIP Program Committee. Kyle completed his B.A. and M.A. in International Affairs at the Elliott School for International Affairs, focusing on international politics, conflict and conflict resolution, and the Middle East. He is interested in the areas of self-sustainable education and business development, and their impact on civil society and economic growth.

 

Speakers and Discussants

Keynote Speakers

Susan Lund, Partner, McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey & Company (author of Digital Globalization—the New Flows)

Susan Lund is a partner of McKinsey & Company and a leader of the McKinsey Global Institute. She conducts economic research on global financial markets, trade, labor markets, and country productivity and growth.

Her latest report focuses on how digital technologies are transforming globalization. Other recent research examines the continuing accumulation of global debt and potential risks; how digital talent platforms are transforming labor markets; and growth prospects for African economies given the collapse of commodity prices. Susan has an active travel schedule discussing research findings with business executives and policy makers, and she is a frequent speaker at global conferences.

She has authored numerous articles on digital globalization. Susan is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Association of Business Economists, and the Conference of Business Economists.

Klaus Tilmes, Senior Director, World Bank Group Global Practice on Trade and Competitiveness

Klaus Tilmes is Director of the Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice at the World Bank Group. In his position, Tilmes is responsible for such global themes as Trade, Competitive Sectors, Investment Climate and Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Prior to his current position, Klaus was the Director of the Financial and Private Sector Development (FPD) Network at the World Bank, a position he held from 2010 to 2014. Tilmes has a Master’s degree in Public Administration focused on Development Economics and Public Sector Management from Harvard University, and a Master’s in Economics from the University of Mannheim.

Panelists

Susan Ariel Aaronson, Research Professor of International Affairs and a Cross-Disciplinary Fellow at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs

Susan Ariel Aaronson is Research Professor of International Affairs and a Cross-Disciplinary Fellow at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. She is currently the Carvalho Fellow at the Government Accountability Project and was the former Minerva Chair at the National War College. Aaronson’s research examines the relationship between economic change and human rights. She is currently directing projects on digital trade and digital rights, repression and civil conflict; trade, trust and transparency; and whistleblowers at international organizations such as the UN and WIPO. Her work has been funded by major international foundations including MacArthur, Ford, and Rockefeller; governments such as the Netherlands, U.S., and Canada; the UN, ILO, and World Bank, and U.S. corporations including Ford Motor and Levi Strauss. Dr. Aaronson is a frequent speaker on public understanding of globalization issues and international economic developments. She regularly comments on international economics on “Marketplace” and was a monthly commentator on “All Things Considered,” “Marketplace,” and “Morning Edition.” She has also appeared on CNN, the BBC, and PBS to discuss trade and globalization issues. Aaronson was a Guest Scholar in Economics at the Brookings Institution (1995–1999); and a Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute 2008-2012.

Daniel Adidwa, Tour2.0, South Africa

Mr. Adidwa is a leader who is passionate about entrepreneurship and technology. He takes pleasure in channeling this passion through sourcing innovative solutions, that address current problems within the African continent and taking these solutions to market.

He is a qualified marketer and attained his BA Degree in Integrated Marketing Communication and a Diploma in Account Management from the AAA School of Advertising. Daniel has worked at various communications agencies, where he worked on various local and international blue chip accounts.

He is passionate about the African continent, its people and the stories behind African communities. He believes that technology can play a large role in getting the world to experience real African Stories. He currently holds the position of CEO of Tour2.0 and Vice-Chairman of the Regional Tourism Association of Southern Africa (RETOSA) youth steering committee.

Usman Ahmed, Director, Global Public Policy, PayPal

Usman Ahmed is the Head of Global Public Policy at PayPal Inc. His work covers a variety of global issues including financial services regulation, innovation, international trade, and entrepreneurship. He has given talks on these subjects at conferences and universities around the world and has published in the World Economic Forum Global Information Technology Report, Journal of World Trade, and the Michigan Journal of International Law. Ahmed is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law School where he teaches courses on international law and policy issues related to the Internet. Prior to PayPal, Usman worked at a number of policy think tanks in the Washington DC area focusing on good governance issues. Ahmed earned his JD from University of Michigan, his MA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and his BA from University of Maryland.

Robert D. Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

As founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Robert D. Atkinson leads a prolific team of policy analysts and fellows that is successfully shaping the debate and setting the agenda on a host of critical issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy.

He is an internationally recognized scholar and a widely published author whom The New Republic has named one of the “three most important thinkers about innovation,” Washingtonian Magazine has called a “tech titan,” and Government Technology Magazine has judged to be one of the 25 top “doers, dreamers and drivers of information technology.”

A sought-after speaker and valued adviser to policymakers around the world, Atkinson’s books include Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage (link is external) (Yale, 2012), Supply-Side Follies: Why Conservative Economics Fails, Liberal Economics Falters, and Innovation Economics is the Answer (link is external) (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), and The Past And Future Of America’s Economy: Long Waves Of Innovation That Power Cycles Of Growth (link is external) (Edward Elgar, 2005). He also has conducted groundbreaking research projects and authored hundreds of articles and reports on technology and innovation-related topics ranging from tax policy to advanced manufacturing, productivity, and global competitiveness.

Abdoul Aziz Sy, Vice President for International Rights and Strategy, Public Knowledge

Abdoul Aziz Sy holds a Master in International Sustainable Development from Brandeis University in the United States. He joined the team Upstart in March 2014 as project manager of the ICT project for Good Governance, coordinated by Upstart in partnership with OSIWA Foundation. Aziz also holds a BA in International Relations and has been for 2 years vice president of SIFE team (Students in Free Enterprise) Suffolk University with the aim to find entrepreneurial solutions to improve the lives of communities. His career includes such courses in structures such as Ernst & Young and the American NGO Ashoka.

Brian Bieron, Director of Public Policy, eBay and Main Street

Brian Bieron is Executive Director of the Public Policy Lab. Bieron has published and spoken on a broad variety of issues at the nexus of technology and commerce including taxation, telecommunications, customs, and intellectual property.

Bieron led eBay’s US Government Relations Team in Washington, DC from 2004 to 2012, overseeing eBay staff, outside lobbying firms, a DC-based PR firm, various trade associations and a federal political action committee. These resources were focused on issues important to eBay and its community of users, including sales tax collection on the Internet, net neutrality, proposals to ISP third-party liability, and cross-border trade policies impacting small businesses.

Prior to joining eBay, Bieron spent three-and-a-half years as a Director at Clark & Weinstock, one of Washington’s leading bipartisan lobbying and consulting firms. He supported a wide range of clients, including leading technology, telecommunications, and financial services companies such as Microsoft, AT&T, PhRMA, NASDAQ, and eBay. He also spent twelve years on Capitol Hill as a congressional staff person, including service as Policy Director for House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, where he played a lead role on key congressional trade and technology issues.

Nicholas Bramble, Public Policy Manager, Google

Nicholas Bramble is a Public Policy Manager at Google, where he focuses on trade policy and international relations. Prior to joining Google he was a Presidential Innovation Fellow, and served as a lecturer and director of the Law and Media Program at Yale Law School. He filed amicus briefs in Golan v. Holder and FCC v. Fox, and has published articles in Hastings Law Journal, Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review, and the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology.

Mr. Bramble earned his J.D. at Harvard Law School and holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Stanford University. He clerked for the Honorable Charles F. Lettow on the US Court of Federal Claims, and was a visiting researcher at the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy.

Ralph Carter, Managing Director, Federal Express

As Managing Director of Legal, Trade & International Affairs, Ralph Carter is responsible for coordinating FedEx’s international regulatory affairs, including trade policy. Mr. Carter joined FedEx in Brussels, Belgium in 2001 and directed FedEx’s government affairs activities with the European Commission, Parliament and Council, as well as with Member State governments. Mr. Carter also served as in-house legal counsel responsible for commercial transactions and regulatory compliance for Central and Eastern Europe.

Before joining FedEx, Mr. Carter worked in the United States Department of State, serving as the Special Assistant to the United States Ambassador to the European Union. He is currently a member of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy.

Mr. Carter has a BS and JD from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a Masters of Laws from American University.

Anupam Chander, Professor of Law, UC-Davis, author of “The Electronic Silk Road”

Anupam Chander is Director of the California International Law Center and Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, he has been a visiting professor at Yale, Chicago, Stanford, and Cornell. The author of The Electronic Silk Road (Yale University Press), he has published widely in the nation’s leading law journals, including the Yale Law Journal, the NYU Law Review, and the California Law Review. He practiced law in New York and Hong Kong with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. He served on the executive council of the American Society of International Law and serves as a judge for the Stanford Junior International Faculty Forum. The recipient of Google Research Awards and an Andrew Mellon grant on the topic of surveillance, he is a member of the ICTSD/World Economic Forum E15 expert group on the digital economy and the World Economic Forum expert group on Internet fragmentation.

Krista Cox, Director of Public Policy Initiatives, Association of Research Libraries

Krista Cox is the director of public policy Initiatives at ARL. In this role, she advocates for the policy priorities of the Association and executes strategies to implement these priorities. She monitors legislative trends and participates in ARL’s outreach to the Executive Branch and the US Congress.

Prior to joining ARL, Krista worked as the staff attorney for Knowledge Ecology International, an organization dedicated to searching for better outcomes, including new solutions, to the management of knowledge resources, particularly in the context of social justice. While at KEI, she wrote and filed amicus briefs in various intellectual property cases; attended the WIPO Diplomatic Conference that concluded the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled; and worked extensively on promoting better policies for the intellectual property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). She also has prior experience as the staff attorney for Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, an organization that promotes access to medicines, particularly those technologies created through federal funding.

Krista received her JD from the University of Notre Dame and her BA in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is licensed to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the State Bar of California.

Michael Ferrantino, World Bank Lead Economist

Michael J. Ferrantino is Lead Economist in the World Bank Group Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice. Prior to joining the Bank, he was Lead International Economist at the US International Trade Commission. Michael’s published research spans a wide array of topics relating to international trade, including non-tariff measures and trade facilitation, global value chains, the relationship of trade to the environment, innovation, and productivity, and US-China trade. He has taught at Southern Methodist, Youngstown State, Georgetown, American, and George Washington Universities. Michael’s recent work includes: “The Benefits of Trade Facilitation: A Modelling Exercise,” prepared for the World Economic Forum’s January 2013 report on supply chains, “Enabling Trade: Valuing Growth Opportunities;” a chapter on non-tariff measures in The Ashgate Research Companion to International Trade Policy (2012); and “Evasion Behaviors of Exporters and Importers; Evidence from the U.S.-China Trade Data Discrepancy,” with Xuepeng Liu and Zhi Wang, Journal of International Economics, 2012. Michael holds a PhD from Yale University.

Paul Fehlinger, Manager and Co-Founder, Internet & Jurisdiction Project

Paul Fehlinger is the Manager and Co-Founder of the Internet & Jurisdiction Project. He is actively engaged in global Internet fora, including as a speaker at venues such as the UN Internet Governance Forum, OECD, or Council of Europe. Paul was appointed to the Advisory Network of the Global Commission on Internet Governance and to the Working Group on Rule of Law of the Freedom Online Coalition. He is also a participant in the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Cross-border Flow of Internet Traffic and Internet Freedom, and the World Economic Forum’s Future of the Internet Initiative.

He holds a Master in International Relations from Sciences Po Paris, where he specialized in Internet politics and new modes of global governance. He was a scholar of the German National Merit Foundation (Studienstiftung), a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and holds a BA in European Studies from Maastricht University. Prior to launching the Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Paul wanted to become a journalist and worked for a political news broadcaster in Berlin and an international radio station in Paris.

Sean Flynn, Professional Lecturer, American University School of Law

Sean Flynn teaches courses on the intersection of intellectual property, trade law, and human rights and is the Associate Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP). At PIJIP, Professor Flynn designs and manages a wide variety of research and advocacy projects that promote public interests in intellectual property and information law and coordinates PIJIP’s academic program, including events, student advising and curriculum development. Professor Flynn’s research examines legal frameworks promoting access to essential goods and services. He serves as counsel for advocacy organizations and state legislatures seeking to promote and defend regulations that promote access to essential medicines. (PIJIP).

Prior to joining WCL, Professor Flynn completed clerkships with Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson on the South African Constitutional Court and Judge Raymond Fisher on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He also represented consumers and local governments as a senior associate with Spiegel & McDiarmid and as senior attorney for the Consumer Project on Technology, served on the policy team advising then Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval Patrick, and taught Constitutional Law at the University of Witwaterstrand, South Africa.

Damien Levie, EU Delegation, Trade and Agricultural Affairs

Damien Levie heads the Trade and Agriculture Section of the European Union Delegation in Washington, DC.

Before coming to Washington, he was a member of the Cabinet (personal office) of EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht from 2009 to 2012. He subsequently headed the USA and Canada team of the Directorate General for Trade at the European Commission. During that period, he contributed to the pursuit of an ambitious EU trade policy agenda with the Americas, in particular the launch of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations between the U.S. and the EU, for which he was deputy chief negotiator.

Damien joined the European Commission in 2001, working on issues including merger control policy and REACH, the EU’s basic chemical regulation. From 2005 to 2009, he served in the Cabinet of Louis Michel, EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. During that period, he worked on economic development policy in Africa as well as European economic integration issues.

He has law degrees from KU Leuven and the University of Chicago Law School and an economics degree from UC Louvain. He was a lawyer at a major US law firm in Brussels and New York from 1994 to 2001.

Jeremy Malcolm, Senior Global Policy Analyst, Electronic Frontier Foundation

Jeremy Malcolm joined EFF’s international team in 2014 and works on the international dimensions of issues such as intellectual property, network neutrality, Internet governance, and trade. Prior to that he worked for Consumers International coordinating its global programme Consumers in the Digital Age. Jeremy graduated with degrees in Law (with Honours) and Commerce in 1995 from Murdoch University, and completed his PhD thesis at the same University in 2008 on the topic of Internet governance. Jeremy’s background is as an information technology and intellectual property lawyer and IT consultant. He enjoys acting, writing and coding, and his ambitions include writing an original science fiction novel, learning to juggle and learning Japanese (ideally both at once).

Jeremy is admitted to the bars of the Supreme Court of Western Australia (1995), High Court of Australia (1996) and Appellate Division of New York (2009). He is a former co-coordinator of the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus, founder of Best Bits, and currently a Steering Committee member of the OECD Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council.

Joshua Meltzer, Senior Fellow, Brookings

Dr. Joshua Meltzer is a senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at the Brookings Institution and an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. Dr. Meltzer is also a reviewer for the Journal of Politics and Law. His work focuses on international trade law and policy issues relating to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Free Trade Agreements.

Sandy Reback, Director, Global Public Policy, Akamai

Sanford Reback, Director of Global Public Policy at Akamai Technologies, has more than 25 years of policy, business, and legal experience in the technology sector. He served as Deputy General Counsel for Policy at UUNET Technologies, then the world’s largest Internet service provider (ISP); Senior International Counsel at MCI, then a Fortune 100 company; and a senior executive at two venture-backed technology companies. In the Executive Office of the President at the U.S. Trade Representative, Reback helped negotiate NAFTA, the World Trade Organization agreements, and several international technology agreements. Immediately prior to joining Akamai, he was Senior Technology Analyst and Director of Global Business at Bloomberg Government. Reback holds a B.A. in political science from Stanford University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and was a Fulbright Fellow in London.

Kevin M. Rosenbaum, Of Counsel, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP; Counsel to the International Intellectual Property Alliance

Kevin Rosenbaum has over sixteen years of experience counseling on intellectual property and international trade matters as well as with legislative and regulatory processes and policy development related to international trade and the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in foreign markets. He currently serves as counsel to the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), a coalition of five copyright-based industry trade associations (comprised of over 3,200 companies), on international copyright protection and enforcement matters.

Carolina Rossini, Vice President for International Rights and Strategy, Public Knowledge

Carolina Rossini is the Vice President for International Rights and Strategy at Public Knowledge. Previously, Carolina was a Project Director at New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, the International Intellectual Property Director at Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), and a Fellow at the Berkman Center at Harvard University.

Alongside her work at Public Knowledge, she is a Global Partners Digital International Associate, an X-Lab fellow for New America Foundation, and an Advisory Board Member of Open Knowledge Foundation for both the UK and Brazil. She is also an Advisory Board Member for Saylor Foundation, Instituto Educadigital, and InternetLab. Carolina has an LLM in Intellectual Property from Boston University, an MBA from Instituto de Empresas, an MA in International Economic Negotiations from UNICAMP/UNESP, and a JD from University of Sao Paulo – USP.

Matthew Schruers, Vice President, Law & Policy, Computer & Communications Industry Association

Matthew Schruers is Vice President for Law & Policy at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), where he represents and advises the association on domestic and international policy issues including intellectual property, competition, and trade. He is also an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and the Georgetown Graduate School Program on Communication, Culture, and Technology (CCT), where he teaches courses on intellectual property.

Mr. Schruers joined CCIA from Morrison & Foerster LLP in 2005, where he practiced intellectual property, antitrust, and administrative law. Mr. Schruers received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served on the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review, and received his B.A. from Duke University.

Shawn Tan, World Bank

Shawn Tan is an Economist in the World Bank’s Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice. He is currently working on trade policy and private sector development issues for countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He was in the core team of the 2016 World Development Report “Digital Dividends”, where he authored the international trade sections. Prior to working at the World Bank, he worked at the Singapore Economic Development Board as a senior officer in the International Policy Division, where he was involved in Singapore’s trade agreement negotiations, ASEAN trade and investment forums and trade facilitation for MNCs in Singapore. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics for the University of Melbourne. His research interests are broadly in international trade and the effects of institution, policy and regulation changes on firms.

Diego Molano Vega, former ICT Minister of Colombia

Mr. Molano is Electronic Engineer, born in Boyacá and Master in Economy. Diego Molano Vega is an outstanding international expert in the telecommunications world, area in which he has been working during twenty years in entities as the Colombian Regulatory Commission of Telecommunications (CRT) and multinationals.

Moderators

Maja Andjelkovic, Mobile Innovation Specialist, World Bank

Maja is interested in the potential of entrepreneurship and human ingenuity to contribute to economic, environmental and social development. She has spent over 12 years connecting these fields, including as product manager in a web-technology startup, lead researcher at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and counselor for Canada for the World Bank Group. Since 2009, she has worked to expand infoDev’s mobile innovation program, including by extending our offering to better serve women founders of tech startups in emerging and frontier markets. Maja is pursuing a doctorate at the University of Oxford under Professor Bill Dutton, with a focus on innovation ecosystems and with support from Oxford University Press.

Victoria Guida, Trade Reporter, POLITICO

Victoria Guida has covered trade for roughly four years, first at Inside U.S. trade and now at POLITICO Pro, the subscriber-only policy side of the Washington publication. Before covering trade, she worked briefly as a business reporter for the Charlotte Observer.

Originally from Dallas, Texas, she is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where she majored in journalism and political science.

Martin Molinuevo, Consultant, World Bank

Martín Molinuevo is a consultant in the World Bank Group Trade and Competitivness Global Practice, where he focuses on international trade in services, trade agreements, and regulation. He has previously worked for a number of international organizations, including the WTO, UNCTAD, and the EU on matters related to trade in services, foreign investment, and dispute settlement. Martin, a lawyer by training, holds a Doctor Iuris magna cum laude from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and has published articles in international journals, contributed chapters to various edited books, and published a book on trade and investment agreements (“Protecting Investing in Services: Investor-State Arbitration vs. WTO Dispute Settlement,” Wolters-Kluwer, 2012).

Hanna Norberg, Tradeeconomista.com

Hanna C. Norberg is an independent Trade Policy Advisor and the founder of TradeEconomista.com. She obtained her Ph.D in International Economics from Lund University, Sweden in 2000. She has substantial experience of both micro and macro economics as well as applied economics from working as advisor, consultant, researcher and university lecturer. Her primary interests are trade, trade policy, economic integration and development. She has extensive experience in policy implication from working numerous trade policy impact assessment projects for the European Commission (FTAs covering the majority of the world e.g. T-TIP, Japan and ASEAN, Korea, various MENA countries, Mercosur) and national governments. In addition, she has done work for ECFIN, OECD, WTO and multiple parts of the Swedish government.

Tracey Samuelson, American Public Media (APM)

Tracey Samuelson is a New-York based reporter for APM’s Marketplace, covering business and economic stories, with a recent focus on international trade and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In addition to Marketplace, her radio stories have appeared on NPR, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and the Planet Money podcast, as well as in print for The New York Times, New York Magazine, and the Christian Science Monitor, among others.

 

Day 1: May 5, 2:30 – 6:30 PM

2:30 – 4:00 PM: Panel 1, The Enabling Environment for Digital Trade as a Tool for Development

Moderator: Martin Molinuevo, World Bank

Panelists: Abdoul Aziz Sy (CTIC Dakar, Senegal), Daniel Adidwa (Tour2.0, South Africa), Diego Molano Vega (former ICT Minister of Colombia), and Michael Ferrantino(World Bank)

4:00 – 4:15 PM: Coffee Break

4:15 – 5:30 PM: Panel 2, A Conversation on Rethinking IPR Online to Support Development

Moderator: Maja Andjelkovic, World Bank

Panelists: Sean Flynn (Professional Lecturer, American University School of Law), Kevin M. Rosenbaum (Of Counsel, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP; Counsel to the International Intellectual Property Alliance), Rob Atkinson (President, Information Technology and Innnovation Foundation), Krista Cox (Director of Public Policy Initiatives, Association of Research Libraries), and Matthew Schruers (Computer & Communications Industry Association)

5:30 – 6:30 PM: First Keynote, Klaus Tilmes (Director, Trade & Competitiveness, World Bank)

Day 2: May 6, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

9:00 – 10:30 AM: Panel 3, Barriers to Digital Trade as a Tool for Development

Moderator: Victoria Guida, Politico

Panelists: Shawn Tan (principal author of the international trade section of World Development Report 2016, World Bank), Ralph Carter (Managing Director, Federal Express), Anupam Chander (Professor of Law, UC-Davis, author of “The Electronic Silk Road”), and Usman Ahmed (Director, Global Public Policy, PayPal)

10:30 – 11:00 AM: Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:30 PM: Panel 4, Do Provisions Regulating Digital Trade Need a Rethink?

Moderator: Hanna Norberg, Tradeeconomista.com

Panelists: Sandy Reback (Director, Global Public Policy, Akamai), Carolina Rossini (Vice President, International Policy, Public Knowledge), Jeremy Malcolm (Senior Global Policy Analyst, Electronic Frontier Foundation), Damien Levie (EU Delegation, Trade and Agricultural Affairs), and Nicholas Bramble (Public Policy Manager at Google)

12:30 – 2:00 PM: Luncheon Keynote: Susan Lund, Partner, McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey & Company (author of Digital Globalization—the New Flows)

2:15 – 3:45 PM: Panel 5, Future Barriers to Digital Trade and Digital Trade Agreements

Moderator: Tracey Samuelson, APM

Panelists: Brian Bieron (Director of Public Policy, eBay and Main Street), Joshua Meltzer (Senior Fellow, Brookings), Paul Fehlinger (Internet and Jurisdiction), and Susan Ariel Aaronson (Research Professor and Cross Disciplinary FellowGWU).

 

Susan Aaronson has written extensively on digital trade, raising questions about both the process and the content of digital trade provisions and what they mean for the Open internet, digital rights and digital trade. View her free Course on Digital Trade and Global Internet Governance through ICANN.

Publications

E15Initiative
National Foreign Trade Council

For more informatio

6th Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Friday, April 29, 2016

School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University
Bernstein-Offit Building, Room 500
1717 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington D.C. 20036

The Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) is a forum that highlights trade research at institutions in the Washington D.C. area. Its primary activity is sponsoring an annual research conference where scholars present their latest academic work. Researchers from George Washington University, American University, the Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board, Georgetown University, the Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), the U.S. International Trade Commission, the University of Maryland, and the World Bank have all participated in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions.

View the Schedule
8:30 – 9:00 AM: Continental Breakfast and Opening Comments
9:00 – 9:45 AM: JaeBin Ahn (International Monetary Fund):
“Reassessing the Productivity Gains from Trade Liberalization”
Discussant: Jennifer Poole (American University)
9:45 – 10:30 AM: Olga Timoshenko (George Washington University):
“Learning, Prices, and Firm Dynamics”
Discussant: Luca David Opromolla (Banco de Portugal, University of Maryland and CEPR)
10:30 – 10:45 AM: Coffee Break
10:45 – 11:30 AM: Mine Senses (Johns Hopkins University):
“Trade Shocks and the Provision of Local Public Goods”
Discussant: Erhan Artuc (World Bank)
11:30 – 12:15 PM: J. Bradford Jensen (Georgetown University, Peterson Institute and NBER):
“The Tradability of Services: Geographic Concentration and Trade Costs”
Discussant: Jose Signoret (US International Trade Commission)
12:15 – 1:00 PM: Lunch Break
1:00 – 2:00 PM: Kadee Russ (University of California-Davis, Council of Economic Advisers and NBER):
“Trade Policy in Practice: The TPP from an Insider’s Perspective”
2:00 – 2:15 PM: Coffee Break
2:15 – 3:00 PM: Maria Tito (Federal Reserve Board):
“Misallocation, Trade, and Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Data”
Discussant: Maggie Chen (George Washington University)
3:00 – 3:45 PM: Chad P. Bown (Peterson Institute and CEPR):
“Global Supply Chains and Trade Policy”
Discussant: Juan Blyde (Inter-American Development Bank)
3:45 – 4:00 PM: Coffee Break
4:00 – 4:45 PM: Claire Brunel (American University):
“Green Innovation and Green Manufacturing: Links Between Environmental Policies, Innovation and Production”
Discussant: Cristina Tello Trillo (Census Bureau)
4:45 – 5:00 PM: Closing Remarks

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

Economics and Political Economy of Africa

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Hosted by the Institute for International Economic Policy at George Washington University, this conference brings together scholars to discuss important new research on the political economy and economics of sub-Saharan Africa. The core organizers are Remi Jedwab (ESIA and Department of Economics at GWU) and Eric Kramon (ESIA And Department of Political Science at GWU). Faculty presenters include Richard Akresh, Jenny Aker, Pascaline Dupas, Evan Lieberman, Edward Miguel, Ameet Morjaria, Nathan Nunn, and Leonard Wantchekon.

Core Organizers

Rémi Jedwab, Assistant Professor of Economics

Rémi Jedwab is an assistant professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Elliott School and the Department of Economics of George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the Paris School of Economics. He was also a visiting Ph.D. student at the London School of Economics for three years. Professor Jedwab’s main field of research is urban economics, though his work also has strong development economics, public economics/political economy and economic history themes. Some of the issues he has studied include urbanization and structural transformation, the economic effects of transportation infrastructure, and agricultural and economic development in Africa. His research has been published in the American Economic Review, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Economic Journal and the Journal of Economic Growth. Recently, Professor Jedwab research areas have included the phenomenon of urbanization without economic growth, and his research has been highlighted by The Atlantic’s CityLab and the Boston Globe.

Eric Kramon, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

Professor Kramon’s research focuses on barriers to accountability and good governance in developing democracies, with a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa. His current book project examines the causes and consequences of vote buying during African elections. Other projects investigate the role of election observation in promoting electoral quality; ethnicity and the politics of public goods provision; and the determinants of ethnic voting.

 

Speakers and Discussants

Keynote Speakers

 

Ambassador Reuben E. Brigety II, The George Washington University

Ambassador Reuben E. Brigety II most recently served as the appointed Representative of the United States of America to the African Union and Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN Economic Commission for Africa on September 3, 2013. Prior to this appointment, Ambassador Brigety served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs from November 14, 2011 until September 3, 2013 with responsibility for Southern African and Regional Security Affairs.

From December 2009 to November 2011, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. In this capacity, he supervised U.S. refugee programs in Africa, managed U.S. humanitarian diplomacy with major international partners, and oversaw the development of international migration policy.

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Ambassador Brigety previously served as Director of the Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress from January 2008 to November 2009 and as a Special Assistant in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development from January 2007 to January 2008. From November 2008 to January 2009, he also served as a senior advisor for Development and Security to the U.S. Central Command Assessment Team in Washington and in Doha, Qatar.

Ambassador Brigety is a 1995 distinguished midshipman graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he earned a B.S. in political science (with merit), served as the Brigade Commander and received the Thomas G. Pownall Scholarship. He also holds an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Cambridge, England. Ambassador Brigety is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a recipient of the Council’s International Affairs Fellowship.

Edward Miguel, UC Berkeley

Edward Miguel is the Oxfam Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics and Faculty Director of the Center for Effective Global Action at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 2000. He earned S.B. degrees in both Economics and Mathematics from MIT, received a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow, and has been a visiting professor at Princeton University and Stanford University. Ted’s main research focus is African economic development, including work on the economic causes and consequences of violence; the impact of ethnic divisions on local collective action; interactions between health, education, environment, and productivity for the poor; and methods for transparency in social science research. He has conducted field work in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and India. Ted is a Faculty Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, has served as Associate Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics and Journal of Development Economics, is a recipient of the 2005 Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and winner of the 2005 Kenneth J. Arrow Prize awarded annually by the International Health Economics Association for the Best Paper in Health Economics.

He co-founded the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) in 2007 and serves as Faculty Director. He has served as the Co-organizer (with Dan Posner of UCLA) of theWorklng Group in African Political Economy (WGAPE) since 2002. Ted is also the co-founder and Faculty Director of the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS).

Miguel has written two books, Africa’s Turn? (MIT Press 2009), and, with Ray Fisman, Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence and the Poverty of Nations(Princeton University Press 2008). Economic Gangsters has been translated into ten languages, and the New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof praises it as “smart and eminently readable”. Miguel’s other writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Forbes, and the New York Times.

Leonard Wantchekon, Princeton University & African School of Economics

Wantchekon is Professor in the Politics department and Woodrow Wilson School, and associated faculty in the Economics department at Princeton University. His research is broadly focused on political and economic development, particularly in Africa. His specific interests include the political economy of infrastructure provision, education and human capital externalities, democratization, clientelism and redistributive politics, the resource curse, and the long-term social impact of historical events. He is the author of numerous publications in leading academic journals such as American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal pf Economics, the American Political Science Review, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, the journal of Law, Economics and Organization and, World Politics. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the founder the African School of Economics (ASE), which opened in Benin in September 2014.

Speakers

Jenny C. Aker, Tufts University

Jenny C. Aker is an Associate Professor of Development Economics at the Fletcher School and Department of Economics at Tufts University. She is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development , a member of the Advisory Board for CDA, Frontline SMS and the Boston Network for International Development (BNID) . She also serves as the Deputy Director of the Hitachi Center for Technology and International Affairs and is the Interim Director for the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP). After working for Catholic Relief Services as Deputy Regional Director in West and Central Africa between 1998 and 2003, Jenny completed her PhD in agricultural economics at the University of California-Berkeley. Jenny works on economic development in Africa, with a primary focus on the impact of information (and information technology) on development outcomes, particularly in the areas of agriculture, agricultural markets, adult education and financial inclusion; the determinants and impacts of agricultural technology adoption; and the impact of different mechanisms and modalities of social protection (cash and in-kind transfers). Jenny has conducted field work in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, DRC, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Tanzania, as well as Haiti and Guatemala.

Richard Akresh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Richard Akresh is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University in 2004. His research focuses on child health and education in Africa and spans the fields of development, health, and labor economics. He has explored the impact of conflict on human capital and health investments for young children as well as the long-term consequences of exposure to war as a child. He has studied how household structure and sibling rivalry impact households’ decisions concerning educational investments in their children. He has conducted randomized control trials of alternative ways to deliver cash transfers to poor households in Africa to improve child health and education. He is also interested in questions about child labor, migration, and intra-household bargaining. He is a Research Associate of the NBER, a BREAD Research Affiliate, a Research Fellow at IZA, and a Senior Affiliate at HiCN.

Eric Kramon, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

Professor Kramon’s research focuses on barriers to accountability and good governance in developing democracies, with a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa. His current book project examines the causes and consequences of vote buying during African elections. Other projects investigate the role of election observation in promoting electoral quality; ethnicity and the politics of public goods provision; and the determinants of ethnic voting.

 

Evan S. Lieberman, MIT

Evan Lieberman is the Total Professor of Political Science and Contemporary Africa at MIT. Previously, Lieberman was a member of the faculty at Princeton University for 12 years, and a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar at Yale University. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BA from Princeton. Lieberman’s research is concerned with understanding the determinants of good governance and policy-making, and the causes and consequences of ethnic conflict, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. He also writes and teaches on research methods for comparative analysis. Lieberman is the author of two scholarly books, Race and Regionalism in the Politics of Taxation (Cambridge 2003) and Boundaries of Contagion: How Ethnic Politics Have Shaped Government Responses to AIDS (Princeton 2009) and numerous scholarly articles that have appeared in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, World Development, Social Science and Medicine, and other journals. He received the David Collier mid-career achievement award at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Lieberman serves on the board of directors of the Southern African Legal Services Foundation, the international advisory board of the African School of Economics, and is a member of the egap network.

Ameet Morjaria, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Ameet Morjaria is an Assistant Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Prior to joining Kellogg in 2015, he was an Academy Scholar at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs and a Giorgio Ruffolo Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Sustainability Science Program at the Centre for International Development, Harvard Kennedy School. He completed his PhD in Economics at the London School of Economics. His research interests are in development economics, organizations and political economy. His current research focuses on understanding the impact of competition on productivity and relational contracts, industrial policy in developing countries, the impact of electoral conflict on firm operations, and the political economy of resource management in weak democracies. He has consulted for the World Bank, Kaiser Associates and prior to graduate school worked in investment banking at Deutsche Bank.

Nathan Nunn, Harvard University

Nathan Nunn is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Professor Nunn was born in Canada, where he received his PhD from the University of Toronto in 2005. Professor Nunn’s primary research interests are in economic history, economic development, cultural economics, political economy and international trade. He is an NBER Faculty Research Fellow, a Research Fellow at BREAD, and a Faculty Associate at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA). He is currently a co-editor of the Journal of Development Economics. One stream of Professor Nunn’s research focuses on the long-term impact that historic events have on current economic development. In particular, he has studied how history shapes the evolution of institutions and cultures across societies. He has published research empirically examining the historical foundations of current outcomes such as distrust, gender norms, religion, and support for democracy. A second stream of Professor Nunn’s research examines economic development in a contemporary context. He has published research examining the effects of Fair Trade certification, CIA interventions, industrial policy, and foreign aid. A third stream of Professor Nunn’s research focuses on the importance of contracting institutions for international trade. He has published research showing that a country’s ability to enforce written contracts is a key determinant of comparative advantage, as well as research examining how contracting frictions affects firms decision to engage in FDI versus outsourcing.

Rebecca Thornton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Rebecca Thornton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Prior to that, Dr. Thornton was in the Department of Economics and a Research Affiliate at the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan. Dr. Thornton completed her PhD in Political Economy and Government with a joint degree from the Harvard University Economics Department and the J.F. Kennedy School of Government in 2006. She was an NIA post-doc from 2006 to 2008 at the University of Michigan Population Studies Center. Her research focuses on health and education in developing countries including topics such as HIV prevention, reproductive health, primary education, and social networks. Dr. Thornton is an affiliate with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) whose main aims are to use experimental methods to translate research into policy action and alleviate poverty in the developing world. She is also a junior affiliate in BREAD (Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development).

Discussants

 

Sarah Baird, The George Washington University

Sarah Baird is an Associate Professor of Global Health and Economics in the Department of Global Health. She is also an Affiliated Faculty at The Institute for International Economic Policy (IIEP) at the Elliot School of International Affairs. Dr. Baird is a development economist whose research focuses on the microeconomics of health and education in developing countries with an emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa. She has worked on areas as diverse as the schooling and health of young women in Malawi, community-driven development in Tanzania, deworming in Kenya, and global infant mortality. She received her Ph.D. in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Berkeley in 2007.

Markus Goldstein, The World Bank

Markus Goldstein is a development economist with experience working in Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, and South Asia. He is currently a Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for Africa at the World Bank, where he leads the Gender Innovation Lab. His current research centers on issues of gender and economic activity, focusing on agriculture and small scale enterprises. He is currently involved in a number of impact evaluations on these topics across Africa. Markus has taught at the London School of Economics, the University of Ghana, Legon, and Georgetown University. He holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

James Habyarimana, Georgetown University

James Habyarimana joined the McCourt School Public Policy in 2004 after completing doctoral studies at Harvard University. His main research interests are in Development Economics and Political Economy. In particular he is interested in understanding the issues and constraints in health, education and the private sectors in developing countries. In health he is working on understanding the impact of policy responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa and evaluating a number of health improving interventions in road safety and water, sanitation and hygiene. In education, his work focuses on identifying programs and policies to improve access and quality of secondary schooling. His primary regional focus is Africa. He has been a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development. At the McCourt School, James teaches the second course in regression methods and courses on the history of development and education and health policy in developing countries.

Adrienne LeBas, American University

Adrienne LeBas (PhD, Columbia University) joined the Department of Government in the fall of 2009. Prior to joining AU, LeBas was a Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and Assistant Professor of Political Science and African Studies at Michigan State University. Her research interests include social movements, democratization, and political violence. She is the author of the award-winning From Protest to Parties: Party-Building and Democratization in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2011) and articles in the British Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Democracy, Comparative Politics, and elsewhere. LeBas also worked as a consultant for Human Rights Watch in Zimbabwe, where she lived from 2002 to 2003. Her most recent work looks at attitudes toward taxation in urban Nigeria. During the 2015-2016 academic year, LeBas will be a residential fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. She will be working on her second book, which investigates the reasons for persistent election violence in some democratizing countries.

Kenneth Leonard, University of Maryland

Kenneth Leonard is an associate professor in the department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Maryland, specializing in the delivery of public services to rural populations in Africa. He has lived and worked in several African countries, including Cameroun, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Liberia. His work has highlighted the important roles played by both traditional healers and nongovernmental organizations in the delivery of health care as well as the ways that social networks within communities help individuals to make better decisions.

 

 

John McCauley, University of Maryland

Dr. McCauley is an Assistant Professor of Government and Politics. His research focuses on ethnic and religious conflict, economic development, and informal political institutions in Africa. He has published articles on these topics in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Political Psychology, and Political Science Research and Methods, among others. His book manuscript, The Logic of Ethnic and Religious Conflict in Africa, is currently under review. Dr. McCauley received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2010. He has a B.A. in Economics from the College of William & Mary and an M.A. in International Relations from Yale University. Prior to joining the faculty at Maryland, he was a post-doctoral research fellow in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In addition to his research, Dr. McCauley teaches courses on the Politics of the Developing World, African Politics, Field Research Methods, and Religion and Politics around the World. In 2013, he was awarded the Excellence in Teaching award from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Mũthoni Ngatia, Tufts University

Mũthoni Ngatia is an assistant professor of Economics at Tufts University. She is currently on sabbatical at the World Bank. Her research has looked at how social networks affect individuals’ behaviour in developing countries. She has an A.B. in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University. Mũthoni is the recipient of grants from J-PAL, PEDL, Kilimo Trust, and The Russell Sage Foundation among others.

 

Ken Opalo, Georgetown University

Ken Opalo is an Assistant Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. His research interests include the political economy of development; legislative development; and electoral politics in emerging democracies. Ken’s current book project examines the evolution of legislatures in emerging democracies, with a focus on explaining the observed variation in the institutionalization and strength of African legislatures.

Session Chairs

 

Derick Brinkerhoff, The George Washington University & RTI

Dr. Derick W. Brinkerhoff is Distinguished Fellow in International Public Management with RTI International (Research Triangle Institute) and is an associate faculty member at George Washington University’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. His research and consulting focuses on policy implementation, democracy and governance, decentralization, citizen participation, social accountability, partnerships, and fragile conflict-affected states. He has worked with international donors, public sector agencies, NGOs, and the US military across a broad range of development sectors in 30 countries, with a long-term focus on the health sector. From 1990-2001, he was research director of USAID’s Implementing Policy Change project. Dr. Brinkerhoff is a co-editor for the journal, Public Administration and Development; and serves on the editorial board of International Review of Administrative Sciences. He is the co-chair of the governance work group of the Society for International Development’s Washington DC chapter. He has published extensively, including eight books and numerous articles and book chapters. He holds a doctorate in public policy and administration from Harvard University and a masters in public administration from the University of California, Riverside. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Jennifer Brinkerhoff, The George Washington University

Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff is Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She holds a Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and an MPA from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She teaches courses on public service, international development policy and administration, development management, and organizational behavior. She is particularly keen on encouraging people to pursue service careers, thoughtfully grounding their commitment to change in self-awareness and working in communities. To that end, she and her husband, Derick W. Brinkerhoff, published Working for Change: Making a Career in International Public Service (Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2005). Dr. Brinkerhoff has expertise on public-private partnership, governance, NGOs, development management, and diasporas. Her publications include seven books, as well as four co-edited journal issues and over fifty articles and book chapters on topics ranging from institutional reform, to evaluation; NGOs; failed states; governance; and diaspora identity, development contributions, citizenship, and policy. She is the author of Institutional Reform and Diaspora Entrepreneurs: The In-Between Advantage (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2016), Digital Diasporas: Identity and Transnational Engagement (Cambridge University Press, 2009) and Partnership for International Development: Rhetoric or Results? (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002); and co-editor of NGOs and the Millennium Development Goals: Citizen Action to Reduce Poverty (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007). Dr. Brinkerhoff consults for multilateral development banks, bilateral assistance agencies, NGOs, and foundations. Her applied work encompasses partnership, civil society, institutional development, development management, and training methodologies, and includes work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands; and in Africa, China, Mongolia, Central Asia, and Russia for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank. She has provided policy advice to the U.S. State Department on its diaspora engagement strategy and conducted diaspora-related commissioned research for USAID, the Asia Development Bank, the Migration Policy Institute, the Nordic Africa Institute, the United Nations, and the World Bank. She has also advised studies for the Africa Diaspora Policy Centre, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. She has delivered training related to diasporas and development to U.S. State Department Foreign Service and Desk Officers, USAID staff, international development consulting firms, and diaspora organizations and other government officials in the U.S., the Netherlands, and Sweden.

James Foster, The George Washington University

James E. Foster is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University and holds a Doctorate Honoris Causa from Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (Mexico).

Professor Foster’s research focuses on welfare economics — using economic tools to evaluate and enhance the wellbeing of people. His joint 1984 Econometrica paper (with Joel Greer and Erik Thorbecke) is one of the most cited papers on poverty. It introduced the FGT Index, which has been used in thousands of studies and was employed in targeting the Progresa CCT program in México. Other research includes work on economic inequality with Amartya Sen; on the distribution of human development with Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva and Miguel Szekely; on multidimensional poverty with Sabina Alkire; and on literacy with Kaushik Basu. Foster regularly teaches introductory and doctoral courses on international development and each spring joins with Professor Basu in presenting an undergraduate course on Game Theory and Strategic Thinking, to which staff and Board members of the World Bank are also invited.

Professor Foster is also Research Fellow at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), Department of International Development, Oxford University, and a member of the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity (HCEO) Working Group, Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics, University of Chicago. This year he is serving on the World Bank’s Commission on Global Poverty.

Stephen Smith, The George Washington University

Stephen C. Smith is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University, where he is Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy. He received his PhD in economics from Cornell University and has been a Fulbright Research Scholar, a Fulbright Senior Specialist, a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Jean Monnet Research Fellow; he is currently a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, an IZA Research Fellow, and a member of the Advisory Council of BRAC USA. He is Principal Investigator for the research project, “Complementarities of Training, Technology, and Credit in Smallholder Agriculture: Impact, Sustainability, and Policy for Scaling-up in Senegal and Uganda,” funded by BASIS / USAID. From 2009-2012, Smith served a previous term as Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy, where he helped create its four signature initiatives: climate adaptation in developing countries; extreme poverty; global economic governance; and the “G2 at GW” series. In the 1990s, he designed and served as first director of GW’s International Development Studies Program. From 2004-2008, he served as co-Principal Investigator, along with Prof. Jim Williams, of GW’s partnership with BRAC University (in Bangladesh). Professor Smith has also served as director of the Research Program in Poverty, Development, and Globalization.directs the Research Program in Poverty, Development, and Globalization. Smith has done on-site research and program work in several regions of the developing world including Bangladesh, China, Ecuador, India, Uganda, and Former Yugoslavia, and has been a consultant for the World Bank, the International Labour Office (ILO, Geneva), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Institute for Development Economics Research (UN-WIDER, Helsinki). Smith has also conducted extensive research on the economics of employee participation, including works councils, ESOPs, and labor cooperatives, which has included on-site research in Italy, Spain, and Germany, as well as China and India.

Tentative Schedule for Economics and Political Economy of Africa

Lindner Commons, 1957 E St. NW, 6th floor

8:30 – 9:10AM: Breakfast and Welcome

  • 8:30 – 9:00AM: Breakfast
  • 9:00 – 9:10AM: Welcome

9:10 – 10:50AM: Session I

 Chair: Stephen Smith, Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy, George Washington University

Discussant: Adrienne Lebas (American University)

Discussant: Muthoni Ngatia (Tufts University)

10:50 – 11:00AM: Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:40PM: Session II

 Chair: James Foster (George Washington University)

    • 11:00 – 11:50AM: Child Labor, Schooling, and Child AbilityRichard Akresh (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), joint with Emilie Bagby (UIUC), Damien de Walque (World Bank), and Harounan Kazianga (Oklahoma).

Discussant: Sarah Baird (George Washington University)

Discussant: Markus Goldstein (The World Bank)

12:40 – 1:50PM: Lunch

1:50 – 3:30PM: Session III

 Chair: Jennifer Brinkerhoff (George Washington University)

    • 1:50 – 2:40PM: Bride Price and Female EducationNathan Nunn (Harvard University), joint with Nava Ashraf (LSE), Natalie Bau (Toronto), and Alessandra Voena (Chicago).

Discussant: Kenneth Leonard (University of Maryland)

Discussant: James Habyarimana (Georgetown University)

3:30 – 3:50PM: Coffee Break

3:50 – 5:30PM: Session IV

 Chair: Derick Brinkerhoff (George Washington University & RTI)

Discussant: John McCauley (University of Maryland)

Discussant: Ken Opalo (Georgetown University)

5:30 – 5:50PM: Coffee Break

5:50 – 7:00PM: Keynote Speakers

  • 5:50 – 6:00PM: Ambassador Reuben E. Brigety II, Dean, The Elliott School of International Affairs
  • 6:00 – 6:10PM: Presentation of the African School of Economics. Leonard Wantchekon, African School of Economics and Princeton University
  • 6:10 – 7:00PM: Prospects for Rural Electrification in Africa. Edward Miguel, UC Berkeley

7:00 – 8:30PM: Reception with African Beer and Wine

The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of American Jews

 

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

5:30 to 7:30pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Please join the GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs, Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, and Institute for Middle East Studies for a panel discussion featuring Michael Barnett, University Professor of Political Science and International Affairs (GWU), Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development (University of Maryland), and Tamara Wittes, Director of the Center for Middle East Policy (The Brookings Institution) on Barnett’s new book, “The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of American Jews.”

 

 

4th Annual Conference Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES)

Friday, April 8, 2016

Elliott School for International Affairs
1957 E St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20052

 

The Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES) is an annual research conference which highlights academic work from researchers at leading economics institutions in development economics in the Washington DC area. Researchers from George Washington University, University of Maryland, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Virginia, the World Bank, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), American University, George Mason University, and the Center for Global Development are all participants in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions.

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

Measuring Poverty’s depth and breadth, and shared prosperity: The World Bank/IMF Global Monitoring Report 2015/2016

8:30 – 9:00 AM: Breakfast and Registration

9:00 – 9:15 AMOpening Remarks

  • Forrest Maltzman, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, GWU
  • M. Ayhan Kose, Director, Development Prospects Group, World Bank

9:15 – 9:35 AM: Overview of Global Monitoring Report

  • Philip Schellekens, Lead Author and Manager of the Global Monitoring Report, and Lead Economist in the Prospects Group, World Bank

9:35 – 10:30AM: Session 1: Depth of Poverty

  • Stephen C. Smith, Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy, GWU
  • Discussant: Francisco Ferreira, Senior Adviser, Development Research Group, World Bank

10:30 – 10:50AM: Break with a View

10:50 – 11:45AM: Session 2: Breadth of Poverty

  • Sabina Alkire, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, GWU; and Director, Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI)
  • Discussant: Joao Pedro Azevedo, Lead Economist, Poverty and Equity Global Practice, World Bank

11:45AM – 12:40PM: Session 3: Shared Prosperity

  • Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva, co-Director of the World Development Report (WDR) 2017; Lead Economist, Poverty Global Practice, World Bank
  • Discussant: Danny Leipziger, Professor of International Business, GWU

12:40 – 1:30PM : Wrap-up and Lunch

  • James Foster, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, GWU; and External Advisor, Global Monitoring Report 2015/2016

Third Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Research Conference

This conference hosted by the World Bank, George Washington University (Institute for International Economic Policy), the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management, the NYU Urbanization Project, and The Growth Dialogue brings together academics and development practitioners to present and discuss the challenges of sustainable urbanization in developing countries.

Addressing environmental change in urban areas is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, particularly given that the world is now more than half urban, and Africa and Asia are experiencing unprecedented rates of urban population growth. Cities themselves are a major contributor to this challenge, as they consume an enormous share of the world’s energy and emit large amounts of carbon dioxide. At the same time, they are heavily vulnerable to climate change and increasingly exposed to climate induced risks (including floods from rising sea levels and higher precipitation, destruction from stronger cyclones and storms, and periods of extreme heat and cold). The phenomenon of urbanization itself is also likely to be significantly altered by environmentally induced migration. Despite these risks, many cities have not created or implemented crucially needed policies to attenuate the causes of climate change and to effectively protect cities from its impacts.

Rémi Jedwab, Assistant Professor of Economics

Rémi Jedwab is an assistant professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Elliott School and the Department of Economics of George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the Paris School of Economics. He was also a visiting Ph.D. student at the London School of Economics for three years. Professor Jedwab’s main field of research is urban economics, though his work also has strong development economics, public economics/political economy and economic history themes. Some of the issues he has studied include urbanization and structural transformation, the economic effects of transportation infrastructure, and agricultural and economic development in Africa. His research has been published in the American Economic Review, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Economic Journal and the Journal of Economic Growth. Recently, Professor Jedwab research areas have included the phenomenon of urbanization without economic growth, and his research has been highlighted by The Atlantic’s CityLab and the Boston Globe.

 

Danny M. Leipziger, Professor of International Business, GWU and Managing Director, The Growth Dialogue

Danny Leipziger is Professor of International Business, George Washington University, Managing Director, the Growth Dialogue, and an IIEP affiliate faculty member. He is former Vice President of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network (2004–09) at the World Bank. Over the course of his 28-year career at the World Bank, he has held management positions in the East Asia Region and the Latin America and Caribbean Region as well as in the World Bank Institute. Prior to joining the Bank, Dr. Leipziger served in senior positions at the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State. He also has been a Vice Chair of the independent Commission on Growth and Development (2006-2010). He has published widely on topics of development economics and finance, industrial policy, and banking, including books on Korea, Chile, and East Asia and recent volumes Globalization and Growth (with Michael Spence) and Stuck in the Middle (with Antonio Estache) and the most recent – Ascent after Decline: Regrowing Global Economies after the Great Recession (with Otaviano Canuto).

 

Paul Romer, Professor of Economics, NYU Stern School of Business and Director of the Urbanization Project

Paul Romer, an economist and policy entrepreneur, is University Professor at NYU and director of the Marron Institute of Urban Management. He is also the founding director of the Urbanization Project at the NYU Stern Urbanization Project. The Urbanization Project conducts applied research on the many ways in which policymakers in the developing world can use the rapid growth of cities to create economic opportunity and undertake systemic social reform. Before coming to NYU, Paul taught at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. While there, Paul took an entrepreneurial detour to start Aplia, an education technology company dedicated to increasing student effort and classroom engagement. Paul serves on the board of trustees for the Carnegie Endowment for the Advancement of Teaching. He is also a member of the board of directors for Community Solutions, a national not-for-profit dedicated to strengthening communities and ending homelessness. In 2002, he received the Recktenwald Prize for his work on the role of ideas in sustaining economic growth.

 

Harris Selod, Senior Economist, The World Bank

Harris Selod is a Senior Economist with the Development Research Group of the World Bank. His current research focuses on urban development, including issues related to transport and land use, as well as land tenure, land markets and the political economy of the land sector in developing countries, with a specific interest in West Africa. His publications cover a variety of topics in urban and public economics including theories of squatting and residential informality, the political economy of transport infrastructure, the effects of residential segregation on schooling and unemployment, or the impact of land rights formalization and place-based policies. He has been chair of the World Bank’s Land Policy and Administration Thematic Group (2011-2013) and is currently leading a World Bank research program on transp

 

Keynote Speakers

Jan K. Brueckner

Professor of Economics, University of California-Irvine

Jan K. Brueckner (AB, UC Berkeley; PhD, Stanford University) was long- time faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before coming to UCI in 2005. Brueckner has published extensively in the reas of urban economics, public economics, housing finance, and the economics of the airline industry, with more than 125 journal articles to his credit. He is also author of an innovative new textbook, Lectures on Urban Economics (MIT Press, 2011). Brueckner served as editor of the Journal of Urban Economics for 16 years and is currently a member of the editorial boards of 6 journals. He has served as a consultant to the World Bank, many of the major airlines, and other organizations.

Matthew Kahn

Professor, UCLA Institute of the Environment, the Department of Economics, and the Department of Public Policy

Matthew E. Kahn is a Professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment, the Department of Economics, and the Department of Public Policy. He is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Before joining the UCLA faculty in January 2007, he taught at Columbia and the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He has served as a Visiting Professor at Harvard and Stanford. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. He is the author of Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment (Brookings Institution Press 2006) and the co-author of Heroes and Cowards: The Social Face of War (Princeton University Press 2009). His research focuses on environmental, urban, real estate and energy economics.

Chairs and Panelists

Kaushik Basu

Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, World Bank

Kaushik Basu is Senior Vice President (Development Economics) and Chief Economist of the World Bank. Prior to this, he served as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India and is currently on leave from Cornell University where he is Professor of Economics and the C. Marks Professor of International Studies. Mr. Basu is a Fellow of the Econometric Society and received India’s Padma Bhushan award as well as the National Mahalanobis Memorial award. Mr. Basu’s contributions span development economics, welfare economics, industrial organization and game theory.

Michael Cohen

Director, Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy

Michael Cohen is an urban and development policy specialist. He worked at the World Bank from 1972 to 1999 and was responsible for much of the bank’s urban policy development during that period. Mr. Cohen has worked in 55 countries and was heavily involved in the World Bank’s work on infrastructure, environment, and sustainable development. His numerous published works include several books on urban development, Africa, and the impact of development assistance. Mr. Cohen has advised governments, NGOs, and academic institutions around the world. He was a member of the Infrastructure Panel and Urban Dynamics Panel of the US National Academy of Science. He has helped the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) prepare its Global Report on Human Settlements in 2005-2012. He is currently the director of The New School’s Observatory on Latin America.

Maureen Cropper

Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics, University of Maryland

Maureen Cropper is a Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland. She is also a Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future and former Lead Economist in the Research Department of the World Bank. Dr. Cropper has served as chair of the EPA Science Advisory Board’s Environmental Economics Advisory Committee, and as past president of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. Maureen is currently serving as co-Director of the National Academy of Sciences study on Assessing Approaches to Updating the Social Cost of Carbon. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her research interests include valuing environmental amenities and the tradeoffs implicit in environmental regulations, including energy regulations. Her current research focuses on energy efficiency in India and the impact of climate change on migration. Maureen received her Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University in 1973.

Asli Demirgüç-Kunt

Director of Research, Development Economics, World Bank

Asli Demirgüç-Kunt is the Director of Research in the World Bank. After joining the Bank in 1989 as a Young Economist, she has held different positions, including Director of Development Policy, Chief Economist of Financial and Private Sector Development Network, and Senior Research Manager, doing research and advising on financial sector and private sector development issues. She is the lead author of World Bank Policy Research Report 2007, Finance for All? Policies and Pitfalls in Expanding Access. She has also created the World Bank’s Global Financial Development Report and directed the issues on Rethinking the Role of the State in Finance (2013), and Financial Inclusion (2014).

Marianne Fay

Chief Economist, Sustainable Development Vice-Presidency, World Bank Group

Marianne Fay is the Chief Economist of the Climate Change Cross Cutting Solutions Area of the World Bank. She co-directed the World Development Report 2010 on Development and Climate Change and led the World Bank report on Inclusive Green growth: the Pathway to Sustainable Development. She has held positions in different regions of the World Bank (Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa) working on infrastructure, urbanization and climate change. Prior to her current position, she served as the Chief Economist of the former Sustainable Development Network of the World Bank. She is the author of a number of articles and books on these topics. Marianne Fay holds a PhD in Economics from Columbia University.

Stephen Hammer

Manager, Climate Change Group, the World Bank

Stephen Hammer joined the World Bank’s Urban Development and Resilience Unit as a Lead Urban Specialist in February 2013, leading the team’s work on cities and climate change issues. He has more than 25 years of government, consulting, and academic experience on energy, environmental, solid waste, and climate change topics. Prior to joining the Bank he was on the faculty at MIT, where he taught a range of courses on energy policy and planning. He previously founded the Urban Energy Program at Columbia University, where he focused on the policy, market, and regulatory environment of urban energy systems; how climate change will affect urban and regional energy systems; and the modeling of energy demand in cities. He also co-founded and served as co-Director of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), a global network of researchers examining climate change from an urban perspective, and he co-edited the UCCRN’s 2011 volume Climate Change and Cities, published by Cambridge University Press. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the academic journals Urban Climate and Local Environment. Dr. Hammer holds degrees from the London School of Economics, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the University of California at Davis.

Stephen C. Smith

Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University and Director, Institute for International Economic Policy

Stephen C. Smith is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University. Smith received his PhD in economics from Cornell University and has been a Fulbright Research Scholar and a Jean Monnet Research Fellow. Smith is also an IZA Research Fellow. He serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. From 2009-2012, Smith served as Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy, where he helped create its four signature initiatives: climate adaptation in developing countries; extreme poverty; global economic governance; and the “G2 at GW” series. Smith has done on-site research and program work in several regions of the developing world including Bangladesh, China, Ecuador, India, Uganda, and Former Yugoslavia. Smith has also conducted extensive research on the economics of employee participation, including works councils, ESOPs, and labor cooperatives in developed and developing countries.

Sameh Wahba

Practice Manager, Urban, Rural and Social Development, World Bank

Sameh Wahba is Sector Manager, Urban Development and Resilience Unit, World Bank, where he is responsible for the Bank’s urban policy, strategy, and analytics at the global level. Prior to this position, Wahba was the Brazil Sector Leader of the Sustainable Development Department at the World Bank’s Latin America and the Caribbean Region, where he was responsible for coordinating the bank’s investment program and policy advisory/analytical services in Brazil in the areas of urban development, infrastructure, disaster risk management, and social development, as well as coordinating the bank’s portfolio in several states including Sao Paulo. Since joining the World Bank in 2004, he has worked on urban development, housing, and infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa Regions. While at the World Bank, he has managed numerous investment and technical assistance activities related to housing, land and urban upgrading policy, infrastructure, local economic development, municipal/urban development issues, and disaster risk management in several countries. Prior to joining the bank, he worked at the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) in Rotterdam and at the Harvard Center for Urban Development Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Shahid Yusuf

Chief Economist of the Growth Dialogue

Shahid Yusuf is Chief Economist of the Growth Dialogue. Dr. Yusuf has written extensively on development issues, with a special focus on East Asia and has also published widely in various academic journals. He has authored or edited 24 books on industrial and urban development, innovation systems and tertiary education. His five most recent books are: Development Economics through the Decades (2009); Tiger Economies under Threat (co-authored with Kaoru Nabeshima, 2009); Two Dragonheads: Contrasting development paths for Beijing and Shanghai (co-authored with Kaoru Nabeshima 2010); Changing the Industrial Geography in Asia: The Impact of China and India (co-authored with Kaoru Nabeshima 2010); and China Urbanizes (co-edited with Tony Saich, 2008). Dr. Yusuf holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University, and a BA in Economics from Cambridge University. He joined the World Bank in 1974 as a Young Professional and while at the Bank spent more than 35 years tackling issues confronting developing countries. During his tenure at the World Bank, Dr. Yusuf was the team leader for the World Bank-Japan project on East Asia’s Future Economy from 2000-2009. He was the Director of the World Development Report 1999/2000, Entering the 21st Century. Prior to that, he was Economic Adviser to the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist (1997-98), Lead Economist for the East Africa Department (1995-97) and Lead Economist for the China and Mongolia Department (1989-1993). Dr. Yusuf lives in Washington DC and consults with the World Bank and with other organizations.

Discussants

Antonio Bento

Professor of Economics, University of Southern California

Antonio M. Bento is a professor at the Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Department of Economics of the University of Southern California. He is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and a research fellow of the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. Currently, he serves as the Director of the Graduate Programs in Public Policy at the Sol Price School.

Gilles Duranton

Professor of Real Estate, Wharton School

Gilles Duranton is professor of real estate and holds the Dean’s Chair in Real Estate. He joined the Wharton School in 2012 after holding academic positions at the University of Toronto and the London School of Economics. A graduate from HEC Paris and Sorbonne University, he obtained his PhD in economics jointly from the London School of Economics and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales in Paris. His research focuses on urban and transportation issues. His empirical work is concerned with urban growth and the estimation of the costs and benefits of cities and clusters. He is also interested in the effects of transportation infrastructure on urban development and the evaluation of local policies. He also conducts theoretical research to gain insight about the distribution of city sizes, the skill composition, and sectoral patterns of activities in cities.

Stéphane Hallegatte

Senior Economist, Climage Change Group, The World Bank

Stéphane Hallegatte is senior economist with the World Bank, in the office of the chief economist of the Climate Change Group. His work includes green growth and climate change mitigation strategies, urban economics, and climate change adaptation and disaster risk management. He is lead author of the IPCC for its fifth assessment report. He also co-led the World Bank report “Inclusive Green Growth” in 2012, and published dozen of articles and several books, including “Natural disasters and climate change – an economic perspective” in 2014. Stephane Hallegatte holds an engineering degree from the Ecole Polytechnique and a PhD in economics from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.

Presenters

Shlomo Angel

Senior Research Scholar, NYU Stern Urbanization Project

Shlomo (Solly) Angel is an Adjunct Professor at NYU and senior research scholar at the NYU Stern Urbanization Project, where he leads the Urban Expansion initiative. Angel is an expert on urban development policy, having advised the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He currently focuses on documenting and planning for urban expansion in the developing world. Angel earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a doctorate in city and regional planning at the University of California, Berkeley.

Alain Bertaud

Adjunct Professor, Marron Institute

Alain Bertaud is an Adjunct Professor at the Marron Institute and a senior research scholar at the NYU Stern Urbanization Project. At the moment, he is writing a book about urban planning that is tentatively titled Order Without Design. Bertaud previously held the position of principal urban planner at the World Bank. After retiring from the Bank in 1999, he worked as an independent consultant. Prior to joining the World Bank he worked as a resident urban planner in a number of cities around the world: Bangkok, San Salvador (El Salvador), Port au Prince (Haiti), Sana’a (Yemen), New York, Paris, Tlemcen (Algeria), and Chandigarh (India).

Paul E. Carrillo

Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University

Paul E. Carrillo is an Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University. His research interests are in applied microeconomics including applications in urban economics and development economics. His research has been published and/or is forthcoming in leading academic such as Review of Economics and Statistics, International Economic Review, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Real Estate Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, and Journal of Housing Economics. He currently serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Regional Science. Paul received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Virginia in 2006.

Klaus Desmet

Altshuler Professor of Cities, Regions and Globalization, Southern Methodist University

Klaus Desmet is the Altshuler Professor of Cities, Regions and Globalization at Southern Methodist University and a research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research. He holds an MSc in business and engineering from the Université catholique de Louvain and a PhD in economics from Stanford University. His research focuses on regional economics, international trade, economic growth and diversity. His work has appeared in journals such as the American Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Theory and the Journal of Development Economics.

Walker Hanlon

Assistant Professor at UCLA

Walker Hanlon is an Assistant Professor at UCLA, a Faculty Research Fellow at the NBER, and a Research Associate at the California Center for Population Research. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2012. He is currently pursuing two main lines of research. The first seeks to better understanding the forces driving innovation and economic growth over the long term using novel historical data sources. Much of his work in this area takes advantage of the economic shock to the British economy causes by the U.S. Civil War. Using this event, he explores how the sudden shortage in cotton caused by the U.S. Civil War on innovation in the British cotton textile industry, and whether the temporary recession in cotton textile cities had a long-term impact on the trajectory of city growth. His second line of research looks at the long-run impact of pollution on urban economies, with a particular focus on industrial pollution linked to coal use in the cities of 19th century Britain. In this line of research, he investigates both the health effects of pollution, as well as the impact of pollution on long-run city growth and population sorting.

Shareen Joshi

Assistant Professor of International Development, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service

Shareen Joshi is Assistant Professor of International Development at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Non-Residential Research Fellow in Quantitative Research at ICRW. She has a PhD in Economics from Yale University and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Economics from Reed College in Portland Oregon. Her research focuses on examining the impact of poverty-alleviation policies on the well-being of families. Much of her work has a strong focus on issues of gender and long-term investments in human capital. Recent work has explored the relationship between pollution and child mortality in India, the impact of India’s Janani Suraksha Yojana (Safe Motherhood) program on health-care provision in India, the impact of women’s self-help groups on women’s collective action and the long term consequences of a family planning programs in Bangladesh.

Guy Michaels

Associate Professor, London School of Economics

Guy Michaels is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a research associate at Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the LSE. He is also a research affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), an affiliate at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), and an external research associate at the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies (OxCarre). He also serves as a member of the editorial board of the Review of Economic Studies. His research interests include labor economics, economic development, and economic geography. His research focuses on urbanization, labor market inequality and resource-rich economies. He has received a B.Sc. in Mathematics, magna cum laude, from Tel-Aviv University in 2000 and a Ph.D. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006.

Adam Storeygard

Assistant Professor of Economics, Tufts University

Adam Storeygard joined Tufts after receiving his PhD from Brown University in 2012. His research interests are in development and urban economics, and particularly in urbanization, transportation, and the economic geography of sub-Saharan Africa. Before graduate school he worked at Columbia University developing and analyzing spatial datasets related to health and development. Professor Storeygard’s work has appeared in journals including the American Economic Review, Nature, and the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. His prior degrees are an A.B. in Physics from Harvard University and an M. Phil. in Environment and Development from Cambridge University.

Agenda

08:30-9:00 AM Coffee and Registration

Opening Session

09:00-9:10 AM Welcoming Remarks: Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, Director of Research, Development Economics, World Bank, and Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, Senior Director, Urban, Rural and Social Development, World Bank

9:10-9:50 AM Keynote Address 1Land-Use Regulation in India and China, Jan Brueckner, Professor of Economics, UC-Irvine

9:50-10:30 AM Keynote Address 2LDC Urban Climate Change Adaptation: Challenges and Opportunities, Matthew Kahn, Professor of Economics, UCLA

10:30-10:40 AM Closing Remarks: Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President & Chief Economist, World Bank

10:40-10:55 AM Coffee Break

Session One

Chair: Stephen Hammer, Manager, Climate Change Group, World Bank

DiscussantAntonio Bento (University of Southern California)

10:55-11:20 AM Managing Sustainable Urban Expansion: From Global Monitoring to Stakes in the Ground: Shlomo Angel (NYU Urbanization Project)

11:20-11:45 AM The Long-Term Economic Effect of High Temperatures: Evidence from Earnings Data in Ecuador: Paul Carrillo (GWU), joint with Ram Fishman (GWU) and Jason Russ (GWU)

11:45-12:10 PM Has India Improved Energy Efficiency?: Ejaz Ghani (World Bank), joint with Arti Grover (World Bank) and William Kerr (Harvard)

12:10-12:35 PM The Geography of Development: Evaluating Migration Restrictions and Coastal Flooding: Klaus Desmet (SMU), joint with David Krisztian Nagy (Princeton) and Esteban Rossi-Hansberg (Princeton)

12:35-12:50 PM Discussant and Q&A

12:50-1:30 PM Lunch

Session Two

Chair: Sameh Wahba, Practice Manager, Urban, Rural and Social Development (World Bank)

Discussant: Gilles Duranton (Wharton Business School)

1:30-1:55 PM Urbanization and Economic Development: Paul Romer (NYU Urbanization Project)

1:55-2:20 PM The Heterogeneous Effects of Transportation Infrastructure: Evidence from Sub-Sahara Africa: Adam Storeygard (Tufts), joint with Remi Jedwab (GWU)

2:20-2:45 PM Urban Spatial Structures and Urban Sustainability: Alain Bertaud (NYU Urbanization Project)

2:45-3:00 PM Discussant and Q&A

3:00-3:15 PM Coffee Break

Session Three

Chair: Michael Toman, Manager, Environment and Energy Team, Development Research Group, World Bank

DiscussantSomik Lall, Lead Urban Economist, Urban, Rural and Social Development, World Bank

3:15-3:40 PM Negative Externalities of Industrialization: Evidence on Pollution and Child Health in India: Shareen Joshi (Georgetown), joint with Toan Do (World Bank) and Samuel Stolper (Harvard University)

3:40-4:05 PM Endogenous City Disamenities: Lessons from Industrial Pollution in 19th Century Britain: Walker Hanlon (UCLA), joint with Yuan Tian (UCLA)

4:05-4:30 PM Flooded Cities: Guy Michaels (LSE), joint with Adriana Kocornik-Mina (LSE), Tom McDermott (LSE) and Ferdinand Rauch (Oxford)

4:30-4:45 PM Discussant and Q&A

4:45-5:00 PM Coffee Break

Closing Plenary and Cocktail Reception

5:00-6:00 PM Sustainable Urbanization, Round Table: Marianne Fay (World Bank), Gilles Duranton (Wharton), Danny Leipziger (Growth Dialogue), Michael Cohen (Milano School of International Affairs)

6:30-8:00 PM Cocktail reception and welcome speech by Institute for International Economic Policy Director, Stephen Smith, and Shahid Yusuf of the Growth Dialogue At the George Washington University, Lindner Commons Room (6th Floor) of the Elliott School of International Affairs, 1957 E St. N.W. (at the intersection of E and 19th Streets, on E Street), Washington, DC

TPP & the Internet: A Multistakeholder Perspective

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) includes many provisions with significant effects on the Internet and in particular on cross-border information flows. As in many trade agreements, the provisions of TPP are complex and difficult to understand. The Institute for International Economic Policy — in concert with the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) and the Internet Policy Forum of the Internet Society – DC Chapter — is hosting a breakfast discussion of the cross-border data flow provisions, focusing in particular on their impact on the free flow of information between the 12 nations that today comprise some 25% of global Internet users. IIEP is excited to host Fanny Hidvégi, International Privacy Fellow at EPIC, Mark MacCarthy, Vice President of Government Affairs at the Software and Information Industry Association, Peter Maybarduk, director of access to medicine and information at Public Citizen, Sanford Reback, Director of Global Public Policy at Akamai, and Susan Aaronson, IIEP affiliate and International Affairs professor at the George Washington University, will discuss the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Internet governance. Tracey D. Samuelson of APR Marketplace will moderate.

Speakers

 

Susan Aaronson

IIEP Affiliate and International Affairs Professor, GWU

Susan Ariel Aaronson is Research Professor at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and the former Minerva Chair at the National War College. She teaches courses in international trade issues; digital trade; and corruption, development and good governance. She directs a fellowship fund for students working on internet issues, the eBay Policy Scholars, and has organized several seminars on Internet issues and human rights metrics. While at GWU, Aaronson has received grants from the MacArthur, Ford, Swiss National Science Foundation and Ford Motor Company for her work on internet freedom and trade, corruption, and business and human rights. Her current research focuses on malware, trade and trust; the WTO and conflict; and repression, civil conflict and socio-economic outcomes.

Fanny Hidvégi

International Privacy Fellow, EPIC

Fanny Hidvégi is an International Privacy Fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). She graduated from law school (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest) in 2010. During university studies she spent one academic year at the University of Florence on an Erasmus Scholarship. After graduation she worked at the Consumer Protection Section of the Hungarian Competition Authority and, later, in a law firm specialized in the field of unfair commercial practices. From 2012 until 2015, she worked as the Head of the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Program of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, where her responsibilities varied from strategic litigation through drafting policy papers until representing the HCLU in the media. One of the most important privacy projects she has been involved with is the fight against the national data retention law in Hungary.

 

Mark MacCarthy

Senior Vice President, Public Policy, SIIA

Mark MacCarthy directs SIIA’s public policy initiatives in the areas of intellectual property enforcement, information privacy, cybersecurity, cloud computing and the promotion of educational technology. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University, where he teaches courses in information privacy and tech policy in the Communication, Culture, and Technology Program, and courses in political philosophy in their Philosophy Department. His previous public policy experience includes senior positions with Visa, Inc., the Wexler Walker Group and Capital Cities/ABC and the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds a Ph.D in philosophy from Indiana University and an MA in economics from the University of Notre Dame.

 

Peter Maybarduk

Public Citizen

Peter Maybarduk directs Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines and knowledge economy group, which helps partners around the world overcome high-price pharmaceutical monopolies and secure the benefits of science, technology and culture for all. Maybarduk is an intellectual property expert and presently a visiting fellow with the Information Society Program at Yale Law School. Maybarduk’s work has yielded HIV/AIDS medicine price reductions, new state access to medicines policies and global shifts toward anti-counterfeiting policies that safeguard generic competition. His analysis and advocacy have been instrumental in developing widespread opposition to harmful measures in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership. Maybarduk’s work for public health and an open knowledge economy has been covered in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times of India, The Washington Post, The Guardian and other major papers. Read Public Citizen’s recent profile of Maybarduk and his work.

 

Sanford C. Reback

Director, Global Public Policy, Akamai

Sanford Reback, Director of Global Public Policy at Akamai Technologies, has more than 25 years of policy, business, and legal experience in the technology sector. He served as Deputy General Counsel for Policy at UUNET Technologies, then the world’s largest Internet service provider (ISP); Senior International Counsel at MCI, then a Fortune 100 company; and a senior executive at two venture-backed technology companies. In the Executive Office of the President at the U.S. Trade Representative, Reback helped negotiate NAFTA, the World Trade Organization agreements, and several international technology agreements. Immediately prior to joining Akamai, he was Senior Technology Analyst and Director of Global Business at Bloomberg Government. Reback holds a B.A. in political science from Stanford University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and was a Fulbright Fellow in London.

 

Tracey D. Samuelson

Reporter, Marketplace Radio

Tracey D. Samuelson is a staff reporter for APM Marketplace focusing on business, finance, and technology. Samuelson’s stories have aired on NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Planet Money, and APM’s Marketplace, and in print for the Christian Science Monitor, New York Magazine, Global Post and other publications.

Election Results and Economic Prospects in Myanmar

Thursday, November 19, 2015

9:15 to 10:30am

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Suite 505
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

On November 19th at Elliott School of International Affairs, the Institute for International Economic Policy at The George Washington University hosted Vikram Nehru, a senior associate in the Asia Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to discuss the impact of the November elections in Myanmar. As Nehru has written, “For Myanmar’s leadership, international approval will be central to attracting foreign investment and maintaining the economy’s development momentum.” The international community’s support of the election result’s will be decisive as Myanmar moves forward.

Cosponsors of the event were the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the International Development Studies program.

Listen to the event here with Professor James Foster and Mr. Nehru discussing this turning point in Myanmar’s history.

8th Annual Conference on U.S.-China Economic Relations and China’s Economic Development

Click here to watch videos

The U.S.-China relationship is now second to none in importance for international economic relations and policy and accordingly is a major focus of IIEP. The centerpiece of this initiative is our annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic and Political Relations

This year, key topics discussed include China’s financial market, the state of China’s macro-economy, the China-Africa relationship, and China’s outward investments and their impacts. For more information about the conference and bios of each panelist, visit our blog

An archive of all previous Annual Conferences on U.S.-China Economic Relations and China’s Economic Development is available here. For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

David Dollar

Keynote speaker: David Dollar

Senior Fellow on Foreign Policy and Global Economy and Development, the Brookings Institution

David Dollar is a leading expert on China’s economy and U.S.-China economic relations. From 2009 to 2013 he was the U.S. Treasury’s economic and financial emissary to China.

Dollar worked at the World Bank for 20 years, and from 2004 to 2009, was country director for China and Mongolia. His other World Bank assignments primarily focused on Asian economies, including South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, and India. From 1995 to 2004, Dollar worked in the World Bank’s research department.

Schedule of Events

October 6, 2017

8:50 – 9:00AM Welcome and Overview of the Conference

  • Stephen Smith, Director, Institute for International Economic Policy

9:00 – 10:30AM Session 1: The China-Africa Relationship

10:30 – 11:00AM Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:30PM Session 2: China’s Outward Investments and Their Impact

12:30 – 2:00PM Lunch and Keynote

  • David Dollar, Senior Fellow, Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution, “China’s Economic Slowdown and Spillover to the Rest of the World”

2:00 – 2:20PM Coffee Break

2:20 – 3:50PM Session 3: China’s Financial Market

  • Jennifer Carpenter, NYU Stern, “The Real Value of China’s Stock Market”
  • Jennie Bai, Georgetown University, “The Great Wall of Debt: Corruption, Real Estate, and Chinese Local Government Credit Spreads”
  • Dennis Tao Yang, UVA, “Booms and Busts in China’s Stock Market”

4:00 – 5:30PM Session 4: State of China’s Macro-economy

An archive of all previous Annual Conferences on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations is available here.

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Co-sponsored by:

IMF Africa Regional Economic Outlook Discussion

Monday, November 9, 2015

8:45am to 12:30pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Africa continues to experience great opportunities for growth while also facing several great challenges. Sustained economic growth, income inequality, gender disparities, and competitiveness in the global trade arena are all issues with the potential to make or break the continent’s development as a region. The African Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) publishes the Regional Economic Outlook (REO): Sub-Saharan Africa report twice a year. The Africa REO reviews economic developments and trends in the region.

This event will feature presentations of the three REO chapters and a discussion by external experts and IIEP faculty of the topical areas covered in the reports. The full report is available on the IMF website.

 

  • Opening Remarks

    • Stephen Smith, Director, Institute for International Economic Policy, GWU

    Session I: Dealing with the Gathering Clouds

    • Celine Allard, Lead Author of the Africa Regional Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund
    • Fred Joutz, Professor of Economics, GWU
    • Augustin Fosu, Professor, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana

    Session II: Competitiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa: Marking Time or Moving Ahead

    • Bhaswar Mukhopadhyay, Deputy Division Chief, African Department, International Monetary Fund
    • Fariha Kamal, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Bureau of the Census
    • Danny Leipziger, Professor of Practice of International Business, GWU; Managing Director, Growth Dialogue

    Session III: Inequality and Economic Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

    • Dalia Hakura, Deputy Division Chief, African Department, International Monetary Fund
    • James Foster, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, GWU
    • Louise Fox, Visiting Professor of Development Practice, University of California-Berkeley

    For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

    Co-sponsored by:

Sustainable Development Forum: Why Investing in Nature Makes Economic Sense

Monday, September 14th, 2015

1:15 to 2:45pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

What is the role of nature in cities? How can business and government leaders align environmental stewardship with economic growth?

On September 14, the Institute for International Economic Policy at The George Washington University hosted a panel of experts to answer these questions at a live, in-person webcast at the Elliott School of International Affairs. The participants included Mark Tercek, President and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, Rob McDonald, Senior Scientist for Sustainable Land Use at The Nature Conservancy,and Professor David Rain of GWU. The panel largely discussed Mark Tercek’s book, Nature’s Fortune, and its ideas for valuing ecosystem services to be used in business plans.

Led by Marcus King from The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, they examined how public and private sector leaders can use natural resources to both impact the bottom line and benefit society, and how ecosystem services and natural infrastructure can enhance cities and neighborhoods. With their combined expertise from the fields of conservation, ecosystem services, environmental security, and corporate finance, they aimed to challenge conventional thinking about the importance of environmental resources and economics as key tools in creating a sustainable world.

The Institute for International Economic Policy

IIEP is located within the Elliott School of International Affairs at GWU. It serves as a catalyst for high quality, multi-disciplinary, and non-partisan research on policy issues surrounding economic globalization. The Institute’s research program helps develop effective policy options and academic analysis in a time of growing controversies about global economic integration. The institute’s work encompasses policy responses for those who face continued poverty and financial crises despite worldwide economic growth. IIEP has a number of signature initiatives including one on the adaptation to climate change in developing countries.

The Security and Sustainability Forum

SSF is a public interest organization that produces learning events about climate security, which we define as the threats to society from a changing climate and related disruptions to natural systems. Our main products are free webinars that convene global experts on food and water security, public health, economic vitality, infrastructure, governance and other impacts that must be solved in meeting climate security challenges.

Island Press

Island Press communicates ideas essential to solving local and global environmental problems. We do this by publishing, marketing, and disseminating books; conducting educational outreach campaigns; convening leading thinkers and activists, and utilizing new digital technology. Our goal is to ensure that those working to protect biological diversity and ecosystems services, to encourage sustainability of the natural resource base, and to promote and protect human health and the quality of life receive the best multidisciplinary information available and early exposure to new ideas.

Mark Tercek, Panelist

President and CEO, The Nature Conservancy 
Mark Tercek is president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, the global conservation organization known for its intense focus on collaboration and getting things done for the benefit of people and nature. He is the author of the Washington Post and Publishers Weekly bestselling book Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature.

A former managing director and Partner for Goldman Sachs, where he spent 24 years, Tercek brings deep business experience to his role leading the Conservancy, which he joined in 2008. He is a champion of the idea of natural capital—valuing nature for its own sake as well as for the services it provides for people, such as clean air and water, productive soils, and a stable climate.

During his time at Goldman Sachs, Tercek managed several of the firm’s key units, including Corporate Finance, Equity Capital Markets, and Pine Street, the firm’s leadership development program. In 2005, after two decades as an investment banker, Tercek was tapped to develop the firm’s environmental strategy and to lead its Environmental Markets Group.

Inspired by the opportunity to help businesses, governments, and environmental organizations work together in new, innovative ways, Tercek left Goldman Sachs in 2008 to head up The Nature Conservancy.

In 2012, Tercek was appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve on the New York State 2100 Commission, which was created in the wake of Superstorm Sandy to advise the governor and the state on how to make the state’s infrastructure more resilient to future storms. Tercek is also a member of several boards and councils, including Resources for the Future and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Tercek earned an M.B.A. from Harvard in 1984 and a B.A. from Williams College in 1979.

Robert McDonald, Panelist

Senior Scientist for Sustainable Land Use, The Nature Conservancy 
Dr. Robert McDonald is the lead scientist for the Nature Conservancy’s efforts to figure out how to make cities more sustainable. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from Duke University, and has published more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, many of them on the science of how cities impact and depend on the environment. He is author of Conservation for Cities: How to Plan and Build Natural Infrastructure (published by Island Press), blogs for The Nature Conservancy’s Cool Green Science blog and has published two recent essays on urban/environment interactions in a collection called Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Global Issues (McGraw-Hill) and in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

David Rain, Panelist

Associate Professor of Geography and International Affairs, GWU 
Professor Rain received his Ph.D. in Geography from The Pennsylvania State University. Prior to his appointment at GW, he served as a statistician-demographer with the U.S. Census Bureau. In that capacity, Professor Rain assisted numerous countries with census and cartographic capabilities. He served as an instructor at the University of Maryland and Penn State and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger.

Professor Rain is the author Eaters of the Dry Season: Circular Labor Migration in the West African Sahel (Westview Press, 1999). His book, Handbook on Geospatial Infrastructure in Support of Census Activities, is forthcoming from United Nations Publications. His articles have appeared in Urban Geography, GeoJournal, and the Proceedings of the Environmental Systems Research Institute. His current interests include demographic and environmental change in developing world cities, remote sensing and field survey methods to explore environment and well-being, and the role of geospatial technologies in improving governance and facilitating humanitarian response. Professor Rain has received several awards and fellowships, including the ComSci Fellowship from the Department of Commerce, the Bronze Medal Award from the U.S. Census Bureau, and a Fulbright Award to conduct research in Niger.

Marcus D. King, Moderator

John O. Rankin Associate Professor of International Affairs 
Marcus D. King is John O. Rankin Associate Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Elliott School’s Master of Arts in International Affairs Program. Dr. King was previously Associate Research Professor and Director of Research where he worked with the Elliott School’s nine centers and institutes to coordinate over $30 million in faculty sponsored research proposals. Dr. King joined the Elliott School from CNA Corporation’s Center for Naval Analyses where he led studies for U.S. government agencies on climate change security, resilience, adaptation and energy security. He was also project director for the CNA Military Advisory Board (MAB), an elite group of former admirals and generals that launched landmark reports on these topics. Dr. King’s research and teaching at GW focus on the nexus between environmental scarcity or abundance and conflict. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from Tufts University.

Internet Governance Forum USA 2015

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Marvin Center Grand Ballroom
800 21st Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

The IGF-USA 2015 was a full-day conference that brought together thought leaders from across the Internet multi-stakeholder community to highlight and engage in discussions about key issues that will drive the future of the Internet.

Topics

  • Encryption, Backdoors, Security and Privacy
  • The Politics of Innovation: Can the Internet Spur Too Much Disruption?
  • Truth and Trolls: Dealing with Toxic Speech while Protecting Free Speech Online
  • The state of digital rights and Free Expression Online
  • Critical Internet Resources: An update on progress and challenges remaining for the transition of IANA stewardship and enhancing ICANN accountability.
  • Enhancing Multistakeholder Cooperation
  • Internet of Things
  • The Digital Trade Imbalance: There is an imbalance in trade strategies between the US and many of its trade partners
  • Connecting the Next Billion

Confirmed keynotes

  • Catherine A. Novelli – Under Secretary of State & Senior Coordinator for International Information Technology Diplomacy
  • Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda – Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy
  • Lawrence E. Strickling – Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • Vint Cerf – Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
  • Steve Crocker – Chairman of the Board of Directors, ICANN
  • Kathryn Brown – President and CEO, The Internet Society

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Co-Sponsored by:

ARIN
ICANN
Public Interest Registry
Microsoft
NetChoice
Software and Information Industry Association

Disney
The Internet Society
Verisign
Internet Infrastructure Coalition
Verizon
Wiley Rein

Videos from the Forum

Welcome Remarks

 

Keynote by Larry Strickling

Keynote Conversation with Vinton Cerf and Steve Crocker, moderated by Nancy Scola

Breakout Session – Critical Internet Resources: An update on progress and challenges remaining for the transition of IANA stewardship and enhancing ICANN accountability

Keynote remarks by Julie Zoller – Deputy Coordinator, International Communications and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State

Keynote remarks by Kathryn Brown – President and CEO, The Internet Society

Breakout Session – Maintaining Trust Online: Cybersecurity, Encryption, Backdoors, and Privacy

Keynote Session – “Connecting the World”

Plenary – Connecting the Next Billion

Closing Plenary – Breakout Summaries

The Future of the Internet in the Wake of Charlie Hebdo and Increased Government Surveillance Online

Monday, May 18, 2015

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Governments have a special responsibility among stakeholders to make the Internet secure. However, the Snowden revelations revealed that many governments, including the US, use the Internet to monitor, spy on and attack other governments, organizations, individuals and businesses. In March, we also learned that that China is using the Great Cannon, a new malware tool to censor information. These revelations have stimulated a global backlash against pervasive Government data collection, Internet surveillance, and government use of malware. Netizens are increasingly worried about Internet stability and security.

Our panel will discuss how increasing surveillance and use of malware could impact the future of the Internet, including:

  • Increased pressure from law enforcement for backdoors to encryption;
  • Increased calls for data localization (as in France);
  • International pressure influencing the IANA transfer;
  • Less legal emphasis/protections on privacy at national levels;
  • Less trust in government policies and strategies to maintain Internet stability
  • The threat of Internet fragmentation.

Panelists:

Bruce Schneier, Security Technologist and Author. Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a “security guru” by The Economist. He is the author of 12 books – including his latest best-seller Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive – as well as hundreds of articles and essays, and many more academic papers. His influential newsletter “Crypto-Gram,” and his blog “Schneier on Security,” are read by over 250,000 people. He has testified before Congress, is a frequent guest on television and radio, served on several government technical committees, and is regularly quoted in the press.

Chris Riley, Senior Policy Manager, Mozilla. M. Chris Riley is a Senior Policy Engineer at Mozilla, working to advance the open Internet and Web through public policy analysis and advocacy, strategic planning, coalition building, and community engagement. Prior to joining Mozilla, Chris worked as a program manager at the U.S. Department of State on Internet freedom, a policy counsel with the non-profit public interest organization Free Press, and an attorney-advisor at the Federal Communications Commission. Chris holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He has published scholarship on topics including innovation policy, cognitive framing, graph drawing, and distributed load balancing.

Organizers:

This event is organized by Dr. Susan Aaronson and Kyle Renner of the Institute for International Economic Policy and David Vyorst of the Greater Washington DC Chapter of the Internet Society and is part of a larger seminar series. We are grateful to an anonymous donor for their support of these seminars, and would also like to thank our co-sponsors at the Cyber Security Policy and Research Institute.

The DC Chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC-DC) aims to build a better internet for the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia community. The chapter strives to promote open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people worldwide. ISOC-DC brings together individuals from within the DC area, as well as abroad, to engage in events, discussions, and information exchanges to advance these goals.

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Cosponsored by:

Working for All? New Ideas and Innovative Strategies to Enhance Economic and Social Benefits in Trade Agreements

Thursday, May 14, 2015

9:00am to 5:00pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

How Can TTIP benefit workers and promote employment? Read Professor Susan Aaronson’s latest paper.

The US, Canada, and Mexico agreed to the first labor rights provisions in NAFTA, which went into force in 1993. Some 22 years later, the bulk of the world’s economies, from Albania to Zimbabwe, participate in a trade arrangement with labor rights provisions, whether through a free trade agreement, a preferential trade arrangement, or in an investment agreement. Since 2008, 41 out of 93 new trade agreements included labor provisions and over 60 per cent of the trade agreements concluded in 2013 and 2014 included labor provisions.

But there is a lot that we do not know about these agreements. Scholars, policymakers, labor rights activists, and the business community do not know if these provisions are effective in improving working conditions. Moreover, in instances where they have been effective it is unclear why and what has been the role of the different stakeholders?

How can trade agreements promote employment, enhance the link between economic and social benefits and achieve sustainable development? How can the interconnectedness between economic, social and environmental objectives be protected and promoted? Which complementary policies are key to inclusive growth and help in capitalizing opportunities from trade openness?

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

 

Co-Sponsored by:

View the Schedule

Conference Agenda

8:30 – 9:00 – Registration and Breakfast

9:00 – 9:30 – Welcome and Opening Remarks

  • Dr. Jay Shambagh (Director Institute for International Economic Policy)
  • Nancy Donaldson (ILO Washington DC)
  • Carol Pier (Deputy Undersecretary, International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor)

9:30 – 11:00 – Session I: Decent work for all? How to bridge the gap between the social and economic dimensions of trade agreements?

  • Moderator: Marva Corley (ILO)
  • Rudi Delarue (European Commission)
  • Lance Compa (ILR, Cornell University)

11:00 – 11:15 – Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:45 – Session II: Roundtable: To ensure that trade agreements work for all, can we achieve coherence within and among trade agreements?

  • Moderator: Anil Verma (University of Toronto)
  • Pierre Bouchard (Bilateral and Regional Labor Affairs, Canada)
  • Silvia Formentini (Trade and Sustainable Development, EC)
  • Kevin Kolben (Rutgers University)
  • Pablo Lazo Grandi (Permanent Mission of Chile to UN in Geneva)

12:45 – 2:00 – Lunch

2:00 – 3:30 – Session III: What evidence do we have that trade agreements are working for all? How do we measure the effectiveness of labor provisions in FTAs?

  • Moderator: Jan Van Hove (University of Leuven)
  • Raymond Robertson (Macalester College)
  • Bill Gibson (University of Vermont)
  • Werner Raza (Austrian Foundation of Development Research)

3:30 – 3:45 – Coffee Break

3:45 – 5:15 – Session IV: Roundtable: What innovative ideas with regard to the promotion of labour rights and improvement of working conditions can be explored to ensure that trade agreements do work for all?

  • Moderator: Susan Aaronson (Elliott School of International Affairs, GWU)
  • Ms. Xiaoyan Qian (Chinese Embassy, Washington DC)
  • Tonia Novitz (University of Bristol)
  • Thomas Zielke (RGIT)
  • Ariel Meyerstein (USCIB)
  • Celeste Drake (AFL-CIO)

5:15 – 5:30 – Closing Remarks

IMF Africa Regional Economic Outlook Discussion

Thursday, May 7, 2015

8:45am to 12:30pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

8:45 – 9:00 – Opening remarks

  • Jay Shambaugh (GWU), Céline Allard (IMF)

9:00 – 10:00 – Session I: Overview of Recent Economic Developments in Africa

10:00 – 10:15 – Coffee Break

10:15 – 11:15 – Session II: How Can Sub-Saharan Africa Harness the Demographic Dividend?

11:15 – 11:30 – Coffee Break

11:30 – 12:30 – Session III: Sub-Saharan’s Trade Integration in the Global Economy: Progress and Ways Forward

12:30 – Conclude

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Cosponsored by:

5th Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
1957 E St. NW
Washington D.C. 20052

The Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) is a forum that highlights trade research at institutions in the Washington D.C. area. Its primary activity is sponsoring an annual research conference where scholars present their latest academic work. Researchers from George Washington University, American University, the Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board, Georgetown University, the Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), the U.S. International Trade Commission, the University of Maryland, and the World Bank have all participated in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions.

View the Schedule
8:00 AM: Continental Breakfast and Opening Comments
8:15 AM: Paulo Bastos (WB)
Session 1: “Overcoming the Tyranny of History: Evidence from Post-Apartheid South Africa”
Discussant: Remi Jedwab (GW)
9:00 AM: Anna Maria Mayda (GT)
Session 2: “The Impact of Skilled Foreign Workers on Firms: an Investigation of Publicly Traded U.S. Firms”
Discussant: Mine Senses (JHU)
9:45 AM: Coffee Break
10:00 AM: Ryan Monarch (FRB)
Session 3: “Learning and the Value of Relationships in International Trade”
Discussant: Olga Timoshenko (GWU)
10:45 AM: Christian Volpe (IDB)
Session 4: “The Border Labyrinth: Information Technologies and Trade in the Presence of Multiple Agencies”
Discussant: Justin Peirce (FRB)
11:30 AM: Lunch
12:30 PM: Maggie Chen (GWU)
Session 5: “Learning and Reputation in Trade”
Discussant: Serge Shikher (USITC)
1:15 PM: Heiwai Tang (JHU)
Session 6: “Trade-induced Quality Upgrading: Transaction-level Evidence from Portugal”
Discussant: Andrew McCallum (FRB)
2:00 PM: Overflow and Closing Remarks
2:30 PM: End

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

3rd Annual Conference Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES)

Friday, April 24, 2015

This event is hosted by the Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development and Evaluation (gui2de)

Rafik B. Hariri Building, Rom 240
Georgetown University
3700 O St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20057

 

The Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES) is an annual research conference which highlights academic work from researchers at leading economics institutions in development economics in the Washington DC area. Researchers from George Washington University, University of Maryland, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Virginia, the World Bank, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), American University, George Mason University, and the Center for Global Development are all participants in the symposium.

Contact iiep@gwu.edu with any questions.

View the Schedule

Download the conference schedule here.

George Washington University’s Institute for International Economic Policy, housed at the Elliott School of International Affairs, is dedicated to producing and disseminating high-quality non-partisan academic and policy relevant research on international economic policy. Areas of focus include international trade, international finance, and development economics.

Digital Payments/Currencies: Global Threat or Opportunity?

Thursday, April 23, 2015

9:00am to 12:00pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Institute for International Economic Policy and the Bretton Woods Committee will convene a seminar involving policymakers, regulators, and private and financial sector experts to evaluate the changes digital currencies and payment systems have brought to the market and the disruptive potential of a future in which they become more conventional

8:30-9:00 am – Registration and Light Breakfast

9:00-9:10 am – Welcome and Introduction

  • Welcome Remarks: Jay Shambaugh (IIEP, GWU) and Randy S. Rodgers (Bretton Woods)

9:10-10:25 am – Panel 1: What is the Value Proposition (Benefits and Risks?)

  • Edan Yago (CEO, Epiphyte)
  • Eric Piscini (Principal, Deloitte)
  • Ian Greenstreet (Chairman, Infinity Capital Partners)
  • Mark T. Williams (Professor, Boston University)
  • and Jerry Brito (Executive Director, Coin Center)
  • Moderator: Paul Vigna (Wall Street Journal and co-author, The Age of Cryptocurrency)

10:25 – 10:40 am – Coffee Break

10:40-12:00 pm – Panel 2: Rules of the Road – Regulatory Implications

  • Jennifer Shasky-Calvery (Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, U.S. Treasury)
  • John Beccia (General Counsel and CCO, Circle Internet Financial)
  • Jason Weinstein (Partner, Steptoe & Johnson)
  • Carol Van Cleef (Partner, Mannat, Phelps & Phillips)
  • David C. Mills (Assistant Director, Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems Division, U.S. Federal Reserve Board)
  • Moderator: Michael Casey (Wall Street Journal and co-author, The Age of Cryptocurrency)

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Cosponsored by:

Trade and Development Workshop: “Information Frictions and the Law of One Price: When the States and the Kingdom became United”

Claudia Steinwender

 IES Fellow at the International Economics Section at Princeton University

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

12:30 to 2:00pm

 

Monroe Hall of Government
2115 G Street NW, Room 321
Washington, DC 20052

With the establishment of the transatlantic telegraph, information sharing in relation to international trade experienced dramatic changes and heavily impacted global markets. Looking at historical data, we can see how exporters began to respond to information about demand.

During next week’s Trade and Development Workshop, Claudia Steinwender will present her paper, Information Frictions and the Law of One Price: “When the States and the Kingdom became United”, which examines the extent to which information friction affects international trade distortion. Dr. Steinwender will explain how she built a model of international trade that is consistent with empirical evidence in which exporters use the latest news about a foreign market to forecast expected selling prices when their exports arrive.

Claudia Steinwender is an IES Fellow at the International Economics Section at Princeton University and completed her PhD in Economics at the London School of Economics. This summer, July 2015, she will be joining the Harvard Business School as an assistant professor.

Inaugural Conference on India’s Economy

Monday, April 13, 2015

8:15am to 5:00pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Indian economy is showing signs of revival after several years of slowdown. A new growth oriented government has just presented a budget to boost recovery, inflation is on the decline and India looks poised for faster growth. Yet challenges remain as India must reduce poverty, create jobs for a young and rapidly urbanizing population while increasing its resilience to global headwinds as it continues to open up to the international economy. How can India revive growth with limited fiscal space? What reforms are needed in factor markets: land, labor and finance to ramp up private investment both domestic and foreign? What additional policies and programs are needed to address poverty? How can India become more competitive in global markets, and participate in global and regional trade partnerships? How can the promise of U.S.-India partnership be taken forward concretely? The Institute for International Economic Policy at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, invites you to a conversation with top academic researchers, officials from the IMF, World bank, OECD, and the UN, and current and former high level policy makers in the U.S. and Indian governments.

9:00-10:30 am – Session One: Economic Outlook and Macro Economic Policies

11:00 am-12:30 pm – Session Two: Finance, Urbanization, and Growth

12:30-2:00 pm – Lunch and Keynote Speaker

  • Arun Kumar, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service “India-U.S. Economic Relations: Prospects and Promise”

2:00-3:30 pm – Session Three: Poverty Eradication and Participation

  • James Foster & Sabina Alkire (GWU, OPHI): Multi Dimensional Poverty Indicators for India
  • Vijayendra Rao (World Bank): The Anatomy of Failure: An Ethnography of A Randomized Trial to Deepen Democracy in Rural India
  • Chair: Stephen Smith (GWU)
  • Discussants: Thangavel Palanivel (UNDP) and Yue Li (World Bank)

3:45-5:00 pm – Closing Session

  • Piritta Sorsa (OECD): Stronger and Better Growth in India
  • Discussants: Swami Nathan Aiyar (Economic Times and Cato Institute), Rakesh Mohan (IMF, RBI), and Ajay Chhibber (IIEP, India) on challenges facing India today

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Cosponsored by:


View the videos from the sessions here

12:30-2:00 pm – Lunch and Keynote Speake

 

2:00-3:30 pm – Session Three: Poverty Eradication and Participation

 

 

The I Theory of Money

Markus Brunnermeier

Princeton University

Thursday, April 9, 2015

3:00 to 4:30pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
Room 505
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Markus Brunnermeier is the Professor of Economics at Princeton University and Director of the Bendheim Center for Finance, also serving on several advisory groups including the IMF, the New York Federal Reserve, and the European Systemic Risk Board. He will join us to discuss “The I Theory of Money“: a project assessing the efficacy of an accommodative monetary policy on Fisher deflations and downturns for financial intermediaries. In particular, it can mitigate destabilizing adverse effects. Professor Brunnermeier will also focus on interest rate cuts and the moral hazard they can create. More generally, Brunnermeier researches financial markets, bubbles, liquidity, and monetary price stability, using models to incorporate friction and behavioral elements of global markets.

Trade and Development Workshop: “Forecasting When it Matters: Evidence from Semi-Arid India”

Xavier Gine

The World Bank

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

12:30 to 2:00pm

John W. Kendrick Seminar Room
Room 321 at 2115 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Next week’s Trade and Development Workshop will feature Xavier Gine, a Lead Economist for the World Bank’s Development Research Group. Gine joined the World Bank in 2002, where his research has focused on access to financial services and rural financial markets. In addition to working for the World Bank, Gine is a BREAD affiliate and Associate Editor for the Journal of Development Economics. His recent research has centered on the economic effects of a borrower bailout in India and forecasting. Please join us as Xavier Gine discusses the relationship between weather, forecasting, and income gains in semi-arid India – a region where an accurate prediction of monsoons can be crucial in agricultural success.

USAID and GW Discuss Ending Extreme Poverty

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

3:00 to 5:00pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

As the world achieved the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015, developed and developing countries have focused more sharply on the tougher challenge of eliminating “extreme poverty.” In 2013, USAID initiated a dialogue within the development community about how to achieve this goal. The Trachtenberg and Elliott schools welcomed USAID to provide an update on progress and approaches to the problem of ending extreme poverty and encouraging continued discussion on Tuesday, January 27.

Alex Thier, Assistant to the Administrator for the Policy, Planning, and Learning Bureau at USAID, shared an engaging presentation about USAID’s mission to end extreme poverty. Following the presentation, GW Economics Professor Stephen C. Smith offered remarks on the ways GW is engaging this topic (view his slides here). The presentation, remarks and audience discussion were followed with a short networking reception for attendees.

 

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320

 

Cosponsored by:

Governments and Internet Governance: A Panel Discussion

Monday, January 26, 2015

12:30 to 2:00pm

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Overview:
Despite their long experience in global and domestic governance, policymakers from many nations struggle to find their way in Internet governance. On one hand, only governments can join international organizations such as the UN or WTO that directly or indirectly regulate the Internet. However, the same governments do not have a privileged role in other Internet governance bodies such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF); the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); or the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), where governments are one of many actors. Meanwhile, many other stakeholders are increasingly concerned about increased participation by governments in the technical infrastructure and governance bodies that underpin the Internet. In this event, we will examine several different governmental perspectives on Internet governance in these different venues.

Speakers:
Amr Aljowaily, Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations in NY
Sally Wentworth, Vice President of Global Policy Development, The Internet Society
Veni Markovski, ICANN VP for UN Engagement, Bulgaria
Dr. Marc Daumas, Scientific Attache, Embassy of France
Carolina de Cresce El Debs, Embassy of Brazil
David Satola, The World Bank

Moderator:
Nancy Scola, Technology Journalist

Organizers:
Dr. Susan Ariel Aaronson and Kyle Renner of IIEP and David Vyorst of ISOC-DC organized this event as part of an ongoing seminar series supported by an anonymous donor.

The Institute for International Economic Policy (IIEP), which is located within the Elliott School of International Affairs, GWU, serves as a catalyst for high quality, multi-disciplinary, and non-partisan research on policy issues surrounding economic globalization. The Institute’s research program helps develop effective policy options and academic analysis in a time of growing controversies about global economic integration. The institute’s work encompasses policy responses for those who face continued poverty and financial crises despite worldwide economic growth.

The DC Chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC-DC) aims to build a better internet for the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia community. The chapter strives to promote open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people worldwide. ISOC-DC brings together individuals from within the DC area, as well as abroad, to engage in events, discussions, and information exchanges to advance these goals.

The Future of the Global Internet for Business and Entrepreneurs

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

4:00 to 6:00pm

 

601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (North Building, Suite 900)
Note: The entrance to the building is on Indiana Avenue, next to Fiola restaurant.

 

Please join the Global Innovation Forum, on December 2 for a discussion about the future of the global Internet in partnership with Cisco, the Institute for International Economic Policy at George Washington University and Tech Cocktail. The forum will feature a conversation with:

Shawn Chang, Former Democratic Chief Counsel, Communications and Technology, House Energy and Commerce Committee
Gordon Goldstein, Managing Director and Head of External Affairs, SilverLake
Christopher Mondini, Vice President, ICANN Global Stakeholder Engagement for North America and Global Business
Robert Pepper, Vice President, Technology Policy, Cisco
John Williams, General Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

Discussants will address —

  • The impact of the global Internet on businesses and startups
  • How the Internet governance debate can affect access to the global marketplace
  • The role of ICANN in Internet governance
  • The conversation about  the open Internet and Internet governance issues in Congress

An informal networking reception will follow the discussion.

7th Annual Conference on U.S.-China Economic Relations and China’s Economic Development

G2 at GW 2014

Friday, November 21, 2014, 8:45 am

Lindner Commons, Suite 602
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20052

The U.S.-China relationship is now second to none in importance for international economic relations and policy and accordingly is a major focus of IIEP. The centerpiece of this initiative is our annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic and Political Relations (or the “G2 at GW”), which as become one of the premier events of its type.  For information on previous conferences, see our signature initiatives page.

Schedule of Events

November 21, 2014

8:50 – 9:00AM Welcome and Overview of the Conference

9:00 – 10:30AM Session 1: Economic Issues in China

This session will examine economics of China’s domestic economy and linkages to the international economy via trade and investment.

  • Eswar Prasad, Cornell, “The International Role of the RMB”
  • Derek Scissors, American Enterprise Institute, “Two China Development Scenarios for Investment in the US”
  • Scott Kennedy, Indiana U., “Multinationals Surviving and Thriving in China”

View video

10:30 – 11:00AM Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:30PM Session 2: China’s Changing Political Landscape

This session will examine the new political environment in China as the new leadership attempts to maintain legitimacy in the midst of a slowing economy and the advance of new social media technologies.

  • Bruce Dickson, GWU, “Economic Growth and Political Trust”
  • Jessica Teets, Middlebury, “Civil Society and Consultative Authoritarianism in China”
  • Steve Balla, GWU, “The Internet, Governance, and Political Participation in China”

12:30 – 2:00PM Lunch and Keynote

  • Jianhai Lin, Secretary of the International Monetary Fund, “Changing Global Economic Landscape: a Renewed Need for Multilateralism.”

View video

2:00 – 2:20PM Coffee Break

2:20 – 3:50PM Session 3: Environmental Outcomes in China with Global Implications

 

An archive of all previous Annual Conferences on China’s Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations is available here.

For more information, please contact Kyle Renner at iiep@gwu.edu or 202-994-5320.

Co-sponsored by:

Human Rights, Accountability, and Internet Governance: A Panel Discussion

Read the event summary here

Monday, November 17, 2014

12:30 to 7:00pm – Reception to Follow

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Change is coming to Internet governance. But change is scary. It involves compromises, and may yield a less accountable approach. Moreover, the US Government wants any changes to protect human rights, Internet openness and stability, and the multistakeholder model. This free luncheon seminar considers how recent proposed changes in Internet governance will affect human rights online and how Internet governance institutions and processes might be made more accountable to netizens.

2nd Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Research Conference

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

8:30am to 8:00pm

 

World Bank Headquarters, Washington, D.C

This conference hosted by the World Bank, George Washington University (Institute for International Economic Policy), and the Growth Dialogue brings together academics and development practitioners to present and discuss the challenges of urbanization in developing countries.

For more information about this conference, click here.

USAID BASIS AMA CRSP/I4 Index Insurance Innovation Initiative 2014 Technical Committee Meeting

Cosponsored with University of California – Davis

Thursday and Friday, November 6-7, 2014

12:00 to 5:15pm

 

George Washington University, Washington DC

This event was a gathering of researchers and stakeholders involved with the Index Insurance Innovation Initiative (I4) at UC Davis. Presentations at this event came in three primary types:

  1. New Project Presentations
  2. Project Updates
  3. Research Paper Presentations.

These different presentations reflect the different stages these projects are at in implementation, and are meant to keep stakeholders apprised of current project status and recent developments, as appropriate.

Presentations:

State Capitalism: Its Evolution and Contribution to Industrialization and Development

The seminar, organized by the Growth Dialogue at George Washington University School of Business,  discussed the evolving role of state capitalism in major economies and measures introduced to enhance the efficiency of state enterprises.

State capitalism exists in most countries; however, it is particularly important in the BRICS. The seminar featured three distinguished speakers who  examined the roles of state enterprises and the state more broadly in the development strategies of Brazil, China and India. We  heard how the state balances its economic objectives with the realities of the market, how it seeks to influence the direction of the economy via SOEs, and how successful these efforts have been. The Seminar featured the following guest speakers:
Aldo MUSACCHIO, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Pieter BOTTELIER, Senior Adjunct Professor, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), John Hopkins University

Ajay CHHIBBER,   Former Director General, Independent Evaluation, India and     Assistant Secretary General, United Nations for Asia Pacific

Moderator: Danny Leipziger, Professor of International Business and International Affairs, George Washington School of Business; Managing Director, The Growth Dialogue.

Friday, October 31, 2014

 

George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052

 

Hosted by: Our Collaborators at the Growth Dialogue
Event Inquiry: info@growthdialogue.org

Sizing Up the Digital Economy: A Panel Discussing the Digital Economy and International Trade

Monday, April 23, 2018

5:30 to 7:00pm – Reception to Follow

 

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052
The Institute for International Economic Policy at the George Washington University and the Greater Washington DC Chapter of the Internet Society invite you to a panel analyzing the new report of the US International Trade Commission (ITC) on the “digital economy.” The Senate Finance Committee requested that ITC analyze the economic impact of the digital economy. They also requested that ITC examine digital protectionism around the world.

The ITC found that “digital trade, through the combined effects of the Internet in enhancing productivity and lowering international trade costs in certain digitally intensive industries, has resulted in increase in U.S. gross domestic product of some four percent.”

James Stamps, Project Leader, will discuss the ITC Report. He will be followed by a panel of four commentators:

• Michael Mandel, Chief Economic Strategist of the Progressive Policy Institute ,will provide an economic assessment of the report.

• Jacquelynn Ruff, Vice President, International, of Verizon will provide a view from a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP).

• Linda Kinney, Senior Vice President, Motion Picture Association of America, will provide perspective from an association representing content providers.

• Usman Ahmed, Policy Counsel of eBay, will provide analysis from an e-commerce company’s viewpoint.

This event is a brown bag lunch. Light refreshments will be provided by the Progressive Policy Institute.