Internet Governance Forum USA 2014

Cosponsored by ISOC-DC

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

8:30am to 7:00pm – Reception to Follow

Marvin Center, 800 21st Street NW
Grand Ballroom, 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20052

The IGF-USA provides a domestic forum in the US for civil society, government, technologists, research scientists, the media, industry and academia, and other interested communities to engage in dialogue about development of best practices for multistakeholder governance and help move Internet policy forward.

IGF-USA 2014 seeks to help establish creative partnerships and to build a US based coalition to generate momentum around priority Internet governance issues and practices under consideration.

Scenarios for the Future of Internet Governance

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

9:30am to 2:00pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
Institute for International Economic Policy
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Seminar on Human Rights and Internet Governance

Scenarios for the Future of Internet Governance

April 30, 2013

Agenda and Bios available here.

Panel 1: What is the IANA Function? What led to the US decision to reduce its role in IANA? What are the risks and opportunities associated with this fundamental change?

  • Fiona Alexander – Office of International Affairs, NTIA, US Department of Commerce
  • Pat Kane – Senior Vice President, Naming and Directory Services, Verisign
  • Richard Jimmerson – Chief Information Officer, ARIN
  • Steve DelBianco – Executive Director, NetChoice
  • Milton Mueller – Professor at Syracuse University School of Information Studies
  • Moderator – Tim Lordan – Executive Director, Internet Education Foundation

 

Panel 2: Possible scenarios for the future of the IANA functions – what are the implications for Internet governance?

  • Christopher Mondini – VP, Stakeholder Engagement North America & Global Business Engagement, ICANN
  • Raquel Gatto – Chapter Development Manager, the Americas, ISOC
  • Beatrice Covassi – First Counsellor, Digital Economy, EU Delegation to the United States
  • Derrick Cogburn – Associate Professor of International Relations at the School of International Service at American University
  • Becky Burr – Deputy General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer at NeuStar, Inc.
  • Moderator – Roger Cochetti – Principal at RJC Associates

2nd Annual Conference Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES)

Friday, April 26, 2014

This year’s conference is hosted by the Department of Economics and the Center for Economics and Policy at the University of Maryland.

1400 16th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036

 

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.

4th Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Thursday, April 25, 2014

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

Download the conference schedule here.

 

8:30 – 8:55: Continental breakfast
8:55 – 9:00: Opening Comments — Michael Moore, GWU
9:00 – 9:45: Christian Volpe (IDB)
Session 1: “Customs: What are the Effects on International Trade”(Paper)
Discussant: Nick Zolas (Census)
9:45 – 10:30: Serge Shikher (USITC)
Session 2: “Comparative Advantages of Rich and Poor Countries”(Paper)
Discussant: Kara Reynolds (American)
10:30 – 10:45: Coffee break
10:45 – 11:30: Maggie Chen (GWU)
Session 3: “Foreign Rivals are Coming to Town: Responding to the Threat of Foreign Multinational Entry” (Paper)
Discussant: Bill Lincoln (JHU-SAIS)
11:30 – 12:15: Dan Bernhofen (American)
Session 4: “Estimating the Effects of the Container Revolution on World Trade” (Paper)
Discussant: Gisela Rua (Federal Reserve Board)
12:15 – 1:30: Lunch
1:30 – 2:15: Russell Hillberry (World Bank)
Session 5: “Import Dynamics and Demands for Protection” (Paper)
Discussant: Lindsay Oldenski (Georgetown)
2:15 – 3:00: Andrew McCallum (Federal Reserve Board)
Session 6: “The Structure of Export Entry Costs”
Discussant: Wenjie Chen (GWU)
3:00 – 3:15: Coffee break
3:15 – 4:00: Fariha Kamal (U.S. Census Bureau)
Session 7: “Buyer-Seller Relationships in International Trade: Do your Neighbors Matter?” (Paper)
Discussant: Olga Timoshenko (GWU)
4:00: Closing Comments — Christopher Kurz, Federal Reserve Board

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.

“Known-Knowns and Unknowns about the Internet: Measuring the Economic, Social, and Governance Impact of the Web”

Download the conference schedule here

Thursday and Friday, November 14 – 15, 2013

 9:30am to 6:00pm (Thursday), 9:30am to 4:00pm (Friday)

 

The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St. NW
Washington, DC 20052

Policymakers and netizens alike make broad claims about the effects of the internet upon economic growth, business, democracy, governance, and human rights. In recent years, economists have made significant progress in estimating the impact of the internet on areas such as economic growth, trade, fiscal policy, and education. But the progress made by economists has not been matched by scholars, activists, executives, and policymakers who seek to understand the internet’s effects on governance, cyber security, and on human rights. We don’t know if the Internet has stimulated development or whether the internet has led to measurable governance improvements. Moreover, scholars and activists don’t yet know how to effectively measure Internet openness. We will also weigh the evidence that the Internet is splintering. With this conference, we hope to encourage greater understanding of metrics to assess our new digital age.

6th Annual Conference on U.S.-China Economic Relations and China’s Economic Development

G2 at GW 2013

Friday, November 8, 2013

Lindner Commons, Suite 602
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20052

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 (or the “G2 at GW”), which as become one of the premier events of its type.

Schedule of Events

November 8, 2013

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

9:00 – 10:30AM Session 1: U.S. – China Trade: Jobs and Competition

Moderated by Michael Moore

  • Ann Harrison (University of Pennsylvania): Industrial Policy and Competition
  • Mary Lovely (Syracuse University): Trade Liberalization and Labor Shares in China
  • Peter Schott (Yale University): The Surprisingly Swift Decline of U.S. Manufacturing Employment

10:30 – 11:00AM Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:00PM Session 2: Multinational firms in the U.S. and China

12:00 – 1:30PM Lunch and Keynote

  • Steve Barnett (Division Chief-China, IMF) “China’s Economic Development: Past, Present, and Future”)

1:30-3:00PM Session 3: China’s Growth and Financial Liberalization

Moderated by Jay Shambaugh

3:00-3:30PM Coffee Break
 
3:30-4:30PM Session 4: China’s Economic and Political Development

Moderated by Stephen Smith

  • James Kung (HKUST): Do Land Revenue Windfalls Reduce the Career Incentives of County Leaders? Evidence from China
  • Yan Wang (GWU, Peking University, and former World Bank): China’s Role in International Development Financing: Past, Present, and Prospect.
    Dr. Yang published a joint paper in 2014 based on the ideas presented in this presentation; download the paper here.

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: 

The World Bank Group Strategy: A Path to End Poverty

Jim Yong Kim

President, The World Bank

Access a transcript of the prepared remarks here.

Watch the event here.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

11:00am to 12:00pm

The George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052

Just days before the start of the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, will speak about the state of poverty around the world and the World Bank Group’s efforts to lift millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people to higher incomes and opportunities. Six months ago, President Kim unveiled global goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost incomes for the poorest 40% of the world’s people. In his address, he will discuss the World Bank Group’s new strategy to reach these ambitious goals and how each of us can be a part of this historic quest to end poverty and create shared prosperity in our lifetime.

A physician and anthropologist, Dr. Kim has dedicated himself to international development for more than two decades, helping to improve the lives of under-served populations worldwide. Dr. Kim previously served as president of Dartmouth College and is a co-founder of Partners in Health (PIH) as well as a former director of the HIV/AIDS Department at the World Health Organization (WHO).

Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States can Change the World

Dr. Duncan Green

Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam GB, honorary Professor of International Development at Cardiff University, Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies

His book:
From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States can Change the World

 

 

Thursday May 9, 2013

5:30 to 7:00pm

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

 

Dr. Duncan Green is Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam GB, honorary Professor of International Development at Cardiff University and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies. He is author of From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States can Change the World,/ (Oxfam International, June 2008, second edition October 2012). His daily development blog can be found on http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/.

He was previously Oxfam’s Head of Research, a Visiting Fellow at Notre Dame University, a Senior Policy Adviser on Trade and Development at the Department for International Development (DFID), a Policy Analyst on trade and globalization at CAFOD, the Catholic aid agency for England and Wales and Head of Research and Engagement at the Just Pensions project on socially responsible investment.

He is the author of several books on Latin America including Silent Revolution: The Rise and Crisis of Market Economics in Latin America (2003, 2nd edition), Faces of Latin America (2012, 4th edition) and Hidden Lives: Voices of Children in Latin America and the Caribbean (1998).

He can be contacted on dgreen@oxfam.org.uk.

 

1st Annual Conference Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES)

Friday, April 20, 2013

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

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.

3rd Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Friday, April 12, 2013

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

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.

Who is Bashing Whom? China, Cyber-attack, Democracy, and Retaliation

Moderator: Dr. Susan Ariel Aaronson

A luncheon forum: March 22, GWU, 12-2
Elliott School Commons, 6th fl, 1957 E Street, NW
Visit the conference website here.

 

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

About the Event

On January 31, The New York Times, America’s paper of record, made front page news. Several months after it published several articles delineating the financial holdings of the families of Chinese leaders, the Times reported that the Chinese military had hacked into its computers, inserted malware and stolen its employees’ e-mail account passwords. Soon thereafter, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Voice of America and other media outlets publicly claimed their computers were also allegedly hacked by Chinese citizens.

Many Americans were outraged and expressed concerns about the importance of cyber-security for the fourth estate, which must protect the privacy of sources, ensure freedom of the press, and play such an important role in American democracy. But the incidents also raised questions of governance. How should the US respond to such cyber-attacks when it too is attacking? Congressman Mike Rodgers, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, called for retaliation. However, retaliation is unlikely to build greater support for shared international cyber norms.

The event, organized by the Trade and Internet Governance Project of GWU, and the Minerva Initiative of the Department of Defense, examined the hacking from several different perspectives: cyber-security, economics, trade, human rights, and global governance.

Speakers:

Ellen Nakashima, The Washington Post
Dr. Irving Lachow, Director, Technology and Security, Center for a New American Security
Delphine Halgand, Washington Office Director, Reporters without Borders
Grady Summers, Vice President of Mandiant Security
Michael Nelson, Bloomberg Government

The Global Food Challenge

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

Dr. Shenggen Fan

Director General, IFPRI

RSVP now

Dr. Shenggen Fan

This forum will be based on the global food challenge:

  • How can we feed 9 billion people while reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint?
  • What will it take to finally eradicate hunger?
  • What are the most urgent research priorities on this subject?

Sustainable Development is emerging as the defining challenge of our generation, and it will critically require a new kind of interaction between policy and research. The Sustainable Development Forum, a series of talks by leaders in academia and in policy, will attempt to map the research agenda for sustainable development following the Rio +20 conference. What will sustainable development entail? What are the most crucial questions we need to be asking? How should academia go about searching for answers that will actually inform real action and policy changes?

The State of the World Economy

Olivier Blanchard

Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund

Co-sponsored by the George Washington University Department of Economics

View the presentation in pdf here.

 

Thursday, March 7, 2013

6:30 to 8:00pm – Reception to Follow

 

Harry Harding Auditorium
1957 E St., NW, Room 213
Elliott School of International Affairs
George Washington University
Washington, DC

The Institute for International Economic Policy and the George Washington University Department of Economics are proud to present Olivier Blanchard, Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund, to present a policy address regarding current issues in international financial policy. Dr. Blanchard is also a professor of economics at his alma mater, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a macroeconomist who has worked on a wide variety of issues including, the role of monetary policy, the nature of speculative bubbles, the nature of the labor market and the determinants of unemployment, and transition in former communist countries. He is a fellow and Council member of the Econometric Society, a past vice president of the American Economic Association, and a member of the American Academy of the Sciences.

Olivier Blanchard

The Surprisingly Swift Decline of U.S. Manufacturing Employment

Justin R. Pierce

Economist, Federal Reserve Board

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

12:30 to 2:00pm

 

John W. Kendrick Seminar Room
Room 321 at 2115 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

We examine the link between the sharp drop in U.S. manufacturing employment after 2001 and the elimination of trade policy uncertainty resulting from the U.S. granting of permanent normal trade relations to China in late 2000. We find that industries where the threat of tariff hikes declines the most experience greater employment loss due to suppressed job creation, exaggerated job destruction and a substitution away from low-skill workers. We show that these policy-related employment losses coincide with a relative acceleration of U.S. imports from China, the number of U.S. firms importing form China, the number of Chinese firms exporting to the U.S. and the number of U.S.-China importer-exporter pairs.

 

The paper can be found here.

“Can Trade Policies and Agreements Advance Internet Freedom?”

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama (Director, ECIPE); Susan Aaronson (George Washington University); and others

 

Co-sponsors:
Institute for International Economic Policy, National War College, MacArthur Foundation, Computer and Communications Industry Association, Heinrich Boell Stiftung, GW-Center for International Business Education and Research and the Software and Information Industry Association

For more information, please visit the blog of the Project on Trade Agreements and Internet governance at tradeandinternet.wordpress.com

Thursday, December 6, 2012

8:15am – 3:30pm

 

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

TAIG hosted this free conference, providing a wide range of insight into the potential and pitfalls of trade policy to regulate the Internet. Panels included: views from the US, EU, and Canada; a discussion of privacy, intellectual property rights, and Internet freedom; and new ideas to promote trade and Internet freedom. Lee Hibbard from the Council of Europe offered “A Human Rights Perspective”, and Andrew McLaughlin of betaworks gave the luncheon keynote address on “The Future of Internet Freedom”. The full agenda is here. The conference benefited from the support of the John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Software and Information Industry Association, the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at GWU, the National War College and the Minvera Initiative.

Our policy brief, “Can Trade Policy Set Information Free? Trade Agreements, Internet Governance, and Internet Freedom” is here.

Click here to view Dr. Aaronson’s slides (requires Flash)

 

5th Annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and the U.S.-China Relationship

G2 at GW 2012

Friday, October 12, 2012

Lindner Commons, Suite 602
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20052

Videos

The US – 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 Relations (or the “G2 at GW”), which has become one of the premier events of its type. For the last three conferences (2009, 2010, 2011) we created a follow-up online “virtual conference volume”. For information on previous conferences, see our signature initiatives page.

Schedule of Events

October 12, 2012

8:15-8:45 AM Continental Breakfast

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

9:00-10:15 AM Session 1

10:15-10:30 AM Coffee Break

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM Session 2

12:00-1:00 PM Lunch Break

1:00-2:15 PM Session 3

2:15-2:30 PM Coffee Break

2:30-3:45 PM Session 4

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:

Can Trade Agreements Facilitate the Free Flow of Information? The Trans-Pacific Partnership as a Case Study

Organized by
The Institute for International Economic Policy

In partnership with:
The Computer Communications Industry Association
The Heinrich Boell Foundation
and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Friday, September 21, 2012

12:00 to 1:30pm – Beverages will be provided

 

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

Jonathan McHale, Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce Policy, Office of the United States Trade Representative
Jayme White, Staff Director, Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness, United States Senate
Usman Ahmed, Policy Counsel, eBay, Inc.
Rashni Rangnath, Director, Global Knowledge Initiative at Public Knowledge

 

President Obama has described the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as the first 21st century trade agreement. These negotiations are particularly important to advocates of an open Internet. The U.S. wants its TPP negotiating partners to accept language designed to protect intellectual property online, to encourage regulatory transparency for Internet governance, and to ensure open access to digital goods, applications, consumers, devices, networks, and information. Other governments have a different vision. Currently, although several non-profit U.S. bodies oversee technical specifications and the domain name system, international multi-stakeholder groups collaborate to maintain the free flow of information on the web. However, Russia, China and several other nations want to use “the monitoring and supervisory capabilities of the International Telecommunication Union,” a U.N. agency, to regulate the Internet. They believe the current system is too ad hoc, U.S.-centric, and does not allow national policymakers to restrict the free flow of information when such officials deem it appropriate. This discussion will examine what the U.S. is proposing. Representatives from the private sector, the Internet advocacy community, and the Senate Finance Committee will present their views on the implications of these provisions for the future of the Internet.

The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and Office of Sustainability Innovation Dialogue PanelT

Climate Impact and Food Security

Co-sponsors:
SPHHS and Office of Sustainability Innovation

Picture ID/GWID Required

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

1:00 to 3:00pm

 

Ross Hall
Room 117
2300 I St, NW
Washington, DC 20052

Panelists:


Biotechnology and Food Security: Promises and Perils
 – Lynn Goldman, MD, MPH, Dean, GW School of Public Health and Health Services

 

The Future of Agricultural Production – Siwa Msangi, PhD, MSa, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

 

Outlook on the Future of Agricultural Pesticide Use – Melissa Perry, ScD, MHS, Chair, Department of Environment and Occupational Health, GW School of Public Health

 

Emerging Infectious Diseases in a Changing Climate – Jessica Leibler, PhD, MS, Research Scientist, Dept. of Environmental and Occupational Health, GW School of Public Health

2nd Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Friday, April 6, 2012

Elliott School of International Affairs
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

    • Session 2: 9:20-10:10
    • Mine Senses “Globalization, Labor Markets and the Role of Human Capital” Johns Hopkins University-SAIS (with Pravin Krishna and Guru Sethupathy)Presentation

      Teresa Fort as discussant – Comments


    • Coffee Break 

    • Session 3: 10:30-11:20
    • Anna Maria Mayda “Protection for Free? The Political Economy of U.S. Tariff Suspensions” Georgetown University (with Rod Ludema and Prachi Mishra)Presentation

      Michael Moore as discussant – Comments



    • Lunch



    • Coffee Break 

    • Session 7: 3:20-4:10
    • Chris Kurz “Trade and Volatility at the Firm and Plant Level” Federal Reserve Board (with Mine Senses)Presentation

      Logan Lewis as discussant – Comments


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.

International Symposium on “The Economics of Ultra-poverty: Causes and Remedies

Visit the ultra-poverty initiative page here.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

9:00am to 5:00pm – Reception to Follow

 

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

Day 1: Thursday March 22

Ultra-poverty Research Workshop: Finding, Measuring, and Modeling the Ultra-poor

Ultra-Poverty Research in Progress, Morning Session (7th Floor, City View Room)

9:00-9:30 James Foster, GWU, Introduction and Overview

9:30-10:15 Sabina Alkire, Oxford, and Suman Seth, Oxford, Severe Poverty and Sub-national Disparities

10:15-11:00 Oded Stark, Bonn, Relative Poverty: Concept, Measurement, and Social Welfare Repercussions

 

11:00-11:15 – Coffee Break

 

11:15-12:00 Michael Carter, UC Davis, Poverty Traps

 

Lunch 12:00-1:00 (7th Floor, City View Room)

 

Ultra-Poverty Research in Progress, Afternoon Session I (7th Floor, City View Room)

1:00-1:45 David Stifel, Lafayette and IFPRI Addis, Poverty Mapping Techniques to Track Poverty over Time

1:45-2:30 Nora Lustig, Tulane, Fiscal Redistribution and Fiscal Mobility: A New Concept to Assess the Impact of Benefits and Taxes on the Poor

 

Coffee Break 2:30-2:45

2:45-3:30 Jose Manuel Roche, Oxford, and Mauricio Apablaza, Oxford, Multidimensional Poverty Dynamics

 

Coffee Break 3:30-3:45 (7th Floor Lobby)

 

Ultra-Poverty Research in Progress, Afternoon Session II (7th Floor, State Room)

3:45-4:30 Andy McKay, Sussex, Extreme, Multidimensional, and Chronic Poverty

4:30-5:15 Patrick Vinck, Harvard, Data on Violence, Conflict and Ultra-Poverty

 

Day 2 Friday March 23

Policy and Program Conference: Ultra-poverty Causes and Remedies

Four Aspects of Ultra-poverty 9:00-11:15 (7th Floor, City View Room)

Stephen Smith, GWU, Overview

James Foster, GWU, Depth and Severity

Sabina Alkire, Oxford, Multiple Deprivations

Andy McKay, Sussex, Multiple Periods

Pete Lanjouw, World Bank, Spatial Concentration

General Discussion

 

Coffee Break 11:15-11:30

 

Ultra-poverty: Evidence, Programs and Policy (7th Floor, City View Room)

Session 11:30-12:45 Donor and Civil Society Perspectives

Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva, World Bank, Overview

Steven Radelet, Chief Economist, USAID, A Perspective from USAID

Munshi Sulaiman, BRAC, BRAC’s Ultra-poverty Work in Bangladesh and Africa

 

Lunch 12:45-1:15 (7th Floor, City View Room)

 

Evidence, Programs and Policy, continued (7th Floor, City View Room)

1:15-1:45 Ethiopia: Ultra-Poverty Problems and Opportunities

David Stifel, Lafayette and IFPRI-Addis, Infrastructure, Agricultural Productivity, and Poverty

Stephen Smith, GWU, Multidimensional Poverty Traps? Evidence from Ethiopia

1:45-2:15 Bangladesh: Multidimensional Poverty, Targeting, Programs, and Evaluation

Virginia Robano, GWU, Targeting and Assessment with Multidimensional Poverty

Islam Tonmoy, Kentucky, Program Evaluation with Multidimensional Measures

2:15-3:00 Chile and Peru: Poverty in a Middle Income, High Inequality Environment

Veronica Silva, World Bank, Chile

Renos Vakis, World Bank, “The right medicine: TB, agency and productive safety nets – early lessons from the slums of Lima”

Mauricio Apablaza, Oxford, Chronic Multidimensional Poverty in Chile

 

Coffee Break 3:00-3:15 (6th Floor, Lindner Commons)

 

Missing Dimensions, Hidden Poverty 3:15-5:30 (6th Floor, Lindner Commons)

Sabina Alkire, Oxford, Overview

Oded Stark, Bonn, Degrading Work

Hans Hoogeveen, World Bank, Disabilities

Elizabeth Kneebone, Brookings, Neighborhood effects

 

5-minute pause while refreshments and snacks are served on-site

 

Tony Castleman, GWU, Human Recognition

Jeni Klugman, World Bank, Women and Empowerment

James Foster, GWU, and Sabina Alkire, Oxford, Constructing the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index

5:30-6:00 – Wrap up (6th Floor, Lindner Commons)

11th OxMetrics User Conference: Conference Programme

International Conference on “The Economics of Ultra-Poverty: Causes and Remedies”

March 15 & 16, 2012

 

The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St. NW
Washington, DC 20052
Schedule

Conference Schedule

Day 1: Thursday March 15

8:30-9:00am Registration and coffee/tea/pastries   9:00-10:30am Session 1: Finance Models and Jumps Chairperson: Vincenzo L. Maini Welcome: Barry R. Chiswick (Chair, Department of Economics, GWU) Announcements: Neil R. Ericsson and Frederick L. Joutz (co-chairs) Sebastien Laurent* (Maastricht University), Christelle Lecourt and Franz C. Palm present “Testing for jumps in GARCH models, a robust approach” Eric Jondeau, Jerome Lahaye* (University of Lausanne) and Michael Rockinger present “High-Frequency Jump Filtering in a Microstructure Model” Vincenzo L. Maini* (Cass Business School) and Giovanni Urga* (Cass Business School) present “The Liquidity to Price Trasmission Mechanism: A Combination of Nonparametric Tests for Jumps”   10:30-11:00am Coffee/Tea Break   11:00-12:00pm Session 2: Gets Modelling I Chairperson: Neil R. Ericsson Jurgen A. Doornik* (University of Oxford) and David F. Hendry present “Automatic Selection of Multivariate Dynamic Econometric Models” Neil R. Ericsson* (Federal Reserve Board and George Washington University) presents “Justifying Empirical Macro-econometric Evidence in Practice”   12:00-1:30pm Lunch and Poster Session (posters listed below) Nicoletta Batini* (International Monetary Fund) and Joshua Felman present “Why Are U.S. Firms Hoarding Money? Deniz Erdemlioglu* (CeReFiM-FundP and K.U. Leuven) presents “Intraday Periodicity and Intraday Levy-type Jump Detection” Marwan Izzeldin and Peiran Shi* (Lancaster University) present “The Impact of Jumps on the Stylised Facts of Returns and Volatility: Do Jumps Matter?” Christian Muller and Eva Koberl (presented by Boriss Silverstovs*, KOF Swiss Economic Institute) present “Catching a Floating Treasure: A Genuine ex-ante Forecasting Experiment in Real Time” Anjan Panday* (American University) presents “Impact of Monetary Policy on Exchange Market Pressure: The Case of Nepal” Issouf Samake* (International Monetary Fund) and Frederick L. Joutz present “Fiscal and Political Instability and the Growth Nexus in Developing Countries: An Application to Nigeria” George B. Tawadros* (RMIT University) presents “The Cyclicality of the Demand for Crude Oil: Evidence from the OECD” Shuangyuan Wei* (George Washington University) presents “An Analysis of U.S. Gasoline Demand Elasticities”   1:30-3:00pm Session 3: Interest Rates and Term Structure Chairperson: Jaime Marquez Daniel Beltran* (Federal Reserve Board), Maxwell Kretchmer, Jaime Marquez and Charles Thomas present “Foreign Holdings of U.S. Treasuries and U.S. Treasury Yields” Wachindra Bandara* (George Washington University) and Richard Munclinger present“A Feasible Regime-Switching Model of the Term Structure” Jaime Marquez* (Federal Reserve Board), Ari Morse and Bernd Schlusche present“Overnight Interest Rates and Reserve Balances: Econometric Modeling of Exit Strategies”   3:00-3:30pm Coffee/Tea Break   3:30-4:30pm Session 4: Round Table with OxMetrics Developers Chairpersons: Frederick L. Joutz, Jurgen A. Doornik (University of Oxford), Siem Jan Koopman (Tinbergen Institute) and Sebastien Laurent (Maastricht University).   5:00-6:30pm Reception and Conference Dinner at Aroma Restaurant   7:00pm-app. 9:30pm Concert at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Day 2: Friday March 16

8:30-9:00am Coffee/tea/pastries   9:00-10:00am Session 5: Volatility Modeling Chairperson: Grayham E. Mizon Dobrislav Dobrev* (Federal Reserve Board) and Pawel Szerszen (Federal Reserve Board) present “The Information Content of High-Frequency Data for Estimating Equity Return Models and Forecasting Risk” Siem Jan Koopman* (VU University Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute) and Marcel Scharth present “The Analysis of Stochastic Volatility in the Presence of Daily Realised Measures”   10:00-10:30am Coffee/Tea Break   10:30am-12:00pm Session 6: Gets Modelling II Chairperson: Felix Pretis J. James Reade* (University of Birmingham) and Ulrich Volz present “From the General to the Specific: Modelling Inflation in China” Poonpat Leesombatpiboon and Frederick L. Joutz* (George Washington University) present “A Multivariate Cointegration Analysis of the Role of Oil in the Thai Macroeconomy” David F. Hendry and Felix Pretis* (University of Oxford) present “Anthropogenic Influences on Atmospheric CO2”   12:00-1:30pm Lunch and Poster Session (posters listed below) Alexie Ciprian Alupoaiei, Ana Maria Sandica* (Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest) and Monica Dudian present “The Analysis of Exchange Rate Dependence in Central and Eastern Europe Countries” John B. Guerard, Jr.* (McKinley Capital Management, LLC) presents “Mergers, the Leading Economic Indicators, and Stock Prices: Additional Evidence” Fakhri Hasanov* (George Washington University) presents “Forecasting Inflation in Azerbaijan” Navneet Kaur* (Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna) and A. Kanagaraj present “Application of Multi Factor Risk Model for Estimating Value-at- Risk in Indian Stock Market” Tidiane Kinda* (International Monetary Fund) presents “Modelling Inflation in Chad” Tucker S. McElroy* (U.S. Census Bureau) presents “When Are Direct Multi-Step and Iterative Forecasts Identical?” Subramanian S. Sriam* (International Monetary Fund) presents “The Gambia: Demand for Broad Money and Implications for Monetary Policy Conduct” Thomas M. Trimbur* (Federal Reserve Board) and Tucker S. McElroy present “Signal Extraction for Nonstationary Multivariate Time Series with an Illustration for Trend Inflation” 1:30-2:30pm Session 7: Ana Timberlake Memorial Lecture Chairperson: Giovanni Urga Introduction: Giovanni Urga, Frederick L. Joutz and Neil R. Ericsson David F. Hendry and Grayham E. Mizon* (University of Southampton and University of Oxford) present“Expectations and Economic Policy in the Presence of Unanticipated Changes”   2:30-3:00pm Coffee/Tea Break   3:00-4:00pm Session 8: Unobserved Variables Chairperson: Boriss Silverstovs Yueqing Jia* (George Washington University) presents “A New Look at China’s Output Fluctuations: Quarterly GDP Estimation with an Unobserved Components Approach” Boriss Silverstovs* (KOF Swiss Economic Institute) presents “Are GDP Revisions Predictable? Evidence for Switzerland”   4:00-4:30pm Coffee/Tea Break   4:30-5:30pm Session 9: Forecasts and Forecasting Chairperson: Jennifer L. Castle Andrew B. Martinez* (George Washington University) presents “Comparing Government Forecasts of the United States’ Gross Federal Debt” Jennifer L. Castle* (University of Oxford), Michael P. Clements and David F. Hendry present “Forecasting by Factors, by Variables, by Both, or Neither?” Closing Remarks: Teresa Timberlake and others 7:00pm-onwards Conference Farewell Dinner (light buffet)

A Policy Brief – Getting Rights…Right: How Companies are Implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

Contributed by Susan Ariel Aaronson

Executive Summary

The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 2011, delineated that firms have human rights responsibilities. However, the Guiding Principles are unlikely to have much influence unless policymakers make human rights a policy priority. Executives will need guidance, tools, and experience to learn how to respect and remedy human rights. This policy brief outlines recommendations to policymakers, so they can help more executives “get rights right.” I also argue that policymakers from countries committed to the Guiding Principles should work with other states to educate executives, citizens, and government officials regarding the human rights responsibilities of corporations.

Why is this important?

  • -The success of the Guiding Principles depends on the willingness of UN member states to prod the world’s businesses to implement these principles. In a time of tight budgets and concern about overregulation and unemployment, policymakers will have to rely on incentives to change business behavior.
  • -Domestic and foreign firms face international human rights risks. These human rights risks are increasingly material to investors and are also of concern to stakeholders.
  • -Coherent international business and human rights policies are in the taxpayer’s interest.

How Policy Makers Can Help Firms Get Rights Right

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How Policy Makers Can Help Firms Get Rights Right

Susan Ariel Aaronson

 

Background: Companies have a responsibility to respect and remedy
 

This policy brief delineates how governments can help firms implement the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, or other status. Human rights include civil and political rights, such as freedom of association, freedom of expression, and the right to life, as well as social, cultural and economic rights, such as the right to food, the right to work and the right to education. For some 63 years, the international human rights regime – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its associated covenants – has guided policymakers, academics, and activists as to the human rights responsibilities of states.

 

However, this human rights system had two major gaps. First, it did not clarify what UN member states should do when a UN member state did not shield its people from crimes against humanity such as genocide. Secondly, the international human rights regime did not delineate specific human rights responsibilities for business. Activists, policymakers, and executives have increasingly called for such clarity because many firms trade, invest, and produce in nations where the rule of law is weak and policymakers are unwilling or unable to meet their human rights responsibilities.

 

In the last 15 years, the global community has worked to bridge these gaps. In 2001, one hundred and ninety two members of the UN decided they had a “responsibility to protect;” they agreed to the “protect, respect, and remedy” framework for violations of human rights among UN member states. Specifically, they agreed that they had a responsibility to protect, ensure respect, and develop remedies in the face of crimes against humanity. In 2005, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed Harvard Professor John Ruggie to be the Special Representative of the Secretary General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations. In 2008, Ruggie and his team issued Protect, respect and remedy: A framework for business and human rights. This framework built on the state duty to protect citizens from human rights abuses. It also stressed the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and the need for corporations as well as states to provide access to effective remedies when rights are violated. The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) unanimously endorsed Protect, respect and remedy in 2008, and extended Ruggie’s mandate so that he could develop suggestions on how firms and governments could implement this framework. On 22 November 2010, Ruggie released a draft version of Guiding Principles for the implementation of the United Nations ‘Protect, respect and remedy’ framework. The draftwas open for public consultation via an online forum (http://www.srsgconsultation.org) until 31 January 2011. Ruggie released a final version that incorporated these comments, the ‘Guiding Principles on business and human rights’, on 21 March 2011. The 47 members of the UNHRC formally approved the Guiding Principles (GPs) on June 16, 2011.

 

With that approval, the GPs became a key element of the international human rights regime. They establish a common set of rules regarding how to interpret business behavior relative to international human rights law. But the GPs are recommendations by states to business – they are not binding obligations.

 

Due Diligence
 

 

The Guiding Principles make it clear that firms must practice due diligence. When firms operate abroad, they confront a world with many different governments, languages, cultures, and expectations for the private sector. Firms operating overseas are ambassadors of internationally accepted values such as norms of human rights. These companies can also create human rights risk if they fail to respect human rights. These risks may include public exposure of their practices on the web; public, employee, and investor boycotts; postponement of projects; or litigation. In a 2011 speech Ruggie noted, “One company… experienced a $6.5 billion ‘value erosion’ over a two-year period due to non-technical risks, including community opposition and delays in regulatory approvals. Indeed, in some industries such stakeholder-related risks constitute the single largest category of non-technical risk companies face, yet many companies do not adequately measure or manage them.” Hence, the Guiding Principles suggest that firms should adopt four elements of due diligence:

 

 

GAPS in the Guiding Principles
 

The Guiding Principles are a good start, but this framework has several gaps that can affect whether and how governments prod their firms to implement the GPs. Some human rights, such as access to education, water, affordable healthcare, et cetera, are essentially services provided by or regulated by governments. Citizens, including corporate citizens, provide the funds for these services through taxes and user fees. However, the Guiding Principles say little about the responsibilities of business to pay taxes to their home and host states. Moreover, when they prod firms to implement the Guiding Principles, nations are supposed to include all human rights delineated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But some countries, including the United States (U.S.), have not signed onto all human rights covenants associated with the Universal Declaration. Under U.S. law, U.S. citizens do not have the right to a sustainable standard of living including food, housing or medical care. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Daniel Baer stated, “We also have a solemn imperative as governments to provide for and improve the well-being of our populations, even where our obligations under international law do not require it.” U.S. State Department officials have not clarified if they will expect U.S. companies to advance these rights in the U.S. and abroad. Thus, U.S. policymakers will need to decide if they will selectively encourage adherence to the GPs or be fully supportive. Other countries will need to make similar decisions.

 

Moreover, the Guiding Principles call on companies to monitor their performance (to do human rights impact assessments). However, the principles do not delineate how to do so or what indicators to use. Firms will need to rely on metrics (means or indicators to understand social phenomena) so that they can monitor their performance over time. Such metrics can help firms link the conceptual discussion about human rights to actual implementation. However, for metrics to be useful, they must be comparable across companies and accepted by stakeholders as trustworthy. Many human rights organizations do not see these metrics as accurately and effectively conveying human rights conditions. However, scholars, policymakers and a growing number of activists rely on two sets of statistics: the CIRI Human Rights Dataset (used by the World Bank) and the New School/University of Connecticut Economic and Social Rights Empowerment Initiative. The George Washington University (USA) recently organized a conference on the utility of human rights and governance metrics. In preparing for that conference, we did a preliminary survey of firms and we could not identify any firm that used any human rights metric to evaluate its performance. Clearly, policymakers will need to work with scholars, activists, and executives to find common ground on metrics and on strategies for evaluation.

 

Finally, Ruggie did not receive a mandate to build a public case for business to protect human rights. Although there is mounting global public concern about the growing power of global business, in general, the public has been uninformed and uninvolved in this discussion. At the same time, many activists and other international organizations view the Guiding Principles as inadequate. Some observers have even called for the creation of binding legal mechanisms that mandate oversight of corporations. Hence, as governments, activists, and firms work to implement the Guiding Principles, they should begin by explaining to the public why these principles are necessary, useful, and in the public interest.

 

De Minimus Uptake of the Guiding Principles
 

As noted above, the GPs are voluntary recommendations to business. As of December 2011, less than 1% of the world’s some 80,000 multinationals have actually adopted human rights policies, performed impact assessments or tracked performance, devised means to ensure that they do not undermine human rights, or developed means to remedy human rights problems.

 

Moreover, companies with human rights policies may still indirectly undermine human rights. Many multinationals operate globally through subsidiaries and indirect suppliers; many of their subsidiaries and suppliers are incorporated locally and are corporate citizens of the host country. These same firms often have thousands of suppliers. The first empirical study of corporate efforts to curb human rights abuses found that firms with human rights policies are less likely to directly commit human rights abuses, but some of these same firms also are learning how to “outsource abuses” to third parties. Apple is an example of this phenomenon; but it is not the only example. The New York Times reports that Apple claims it relies on Chinese suppliers to assemble its iPhone because its Chinese suppliers provide a highly skilled flexible workforce willing to work twelve hours a day. Apple acknowledges that by subcontracting this work it does not have to meet Western demands for salary, hours and work conditions. The Times also reports that the suppliers require these workers to toil in harsh conditions and Apple has done little to consistently hold its suppliers accountable for these conditions. Meanwhile, the Chinese government does not consistently enforce its labor laws, and many Chinese workers are not aware of their rights under these laws.

 

We believe there are several reasons why so few firms have adopted the GPs. First, human rights are relatively new on the business agenda. Executives will need time to learn how to effectively incorporate human rights into policies and behaviour. Second, those companies that do not have policies or procedures may not perceive that their firm is at risk for directly or indirectly violating human rights or they may not be aware of this initiative. Third, implementing the GPs will be expensive and time consuming. Many executives are not yet convinced they need to do more than they are already doing. Moreover, the few firms that are acting to implement the GPs so far are acting in a piecemeal, ad hoc manner. They tend to have few staff with direct human rights responsibility or expertise. Activists and policymakers can continue to pressure these firms – through shareholder resolutions, court cases, legislation and regulation, and naming and shaming. Ultimately, it is up to the members of the UN to prod their home firms to adopt human rights due diligence.

 

 

 

Recommendations to Governments that want to Encourage Implementation of the Guiding Principles
 

1. Policymakers should make human rights and business respect for human rights a top priority

 

2. Educate business leaders on how to implement the Guiding Principles

 

First, policymakers should make it clear that they understand that every firm is different, and the human rights that a textile firm may affect (for example labor rights and access to water) may be different from those that an Internet company may affect (such as freedom of speech or privacy rights). However, they should stress that all firms have the same responsibilities to respect and remedy human rights.

 

Government officials should clearly delineate their human rights expectations for firms and provide assistance to managers in implementing human rights impact assessments, grievance mechanisms, and other aspects of due diligence. Policymakers should also stress that firms are responsible for the behaviour of their suppliers, but they recognize that many firms have significant leverage to change business practices only with their direct (tier one) suppliers. In particular, policymakers should make a special effort to engage with small and medium sized firms and new exporters. These firms will have less will and fewer resources to implement the Guiding Principles. The UN Global Compact has tools to help. It has developed a free Web-accessible learning platform that policymakers could begin with and build upon. It also sponsors free webinars – one on the Guiding Principles is scheduled for February 18, 2012.

 

3. Foster international collaboration

 

Government officials should collaborate to encourage adoption of the GPs. In 2011, members of the OECD revised a longstanding soft-law initiative (the OECD Guidelines – voluntary recommendations for business behaviour) to include the Guiding Principles. The British government is partnering with the government of Colombia to disseminate information about the Guiding Principles and to encourage implementation. Policymakers could follow the UK example and build similar partnerships with their allies and trade partners.

 

4. Work towards policy coherence between human rights and other policy objectives

 

Government officials should do their own due diligence and examine the signals domestic laws and regulations send to market actors about protecting human rights. If trade, investment, tax, and corporate governance rules send confusing signals, policymakers should find ways to foster greater coherence. One way to ensure such coherence is to put language referencing the Guiding Principles into national preferential trade programs for developing countries and in free trade agreements. The EU and the U.S. government use their preferential trade programs to prod beneficiaries to implement and enforce some human rights. In addition, many free trade agreements (including those of Canada, the U.S. and the EU) already have language on corporate social responsibility – such language is hortatory, but could be useful in promulgating the Guiding Principles. A recent World Bank study found that these provisions contribute to the definition, recognition and internationalization of human rights norms.

 

5. Rethink institutional structures for making policies and find a channel for human rights

 

First, government officials should develop a regular channel for human rights concerns to enter into the policymaking process. Trade policy provides an example of how policymakers might implement reforms. The U.S. and the EU already examine the labor and environmental impacts of their trade agreements; these nations could broaden that analysis to human rights in general. Ever so gradually, other nations may adopt similar strategies. Such reforms may slow policy, but over time national policies will be more coherent – supportive of both economic and human rights objectives. Such coherence is in the citizens’ and taxpayers’ interest.

 

Secondly, governments should develop institutional structures that foster collaboration among and within agencies on human rights. The U.S. provides an example of how hard it is to foster such collaboration. The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor has responsibility for human rights in the Department of State, but State’s Economic Bureau has responsibility for international business. Thus, two staffs share responsibility for implementing the GPs. Moreover, the State Department will need to work with the Commerce Department to educate U.S. businesses about the GPs and help firms adopt them. These two agencies will also need to coordinate with other U.S. agencies such as the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to devise coherent and effective policies. In sum, unless senior U.S. government officials make it clear that coherence is important and essential to implementation, U.S. policy will be less effective and few managers will take the Guiding Principles seriously.

 

6. Rethink corporate governance rules and encourage market actors to think long term

 

Policymakers should examine the signals the corporate governance rules send to market actors. Some countries view sustainability issues, including strikes, community access to water, consumer privacy data etc…as material information – information stakeholders should know because they could reveal that their investments may be at risk. However, in a 2009 survey, the Ruggie team found virtually no jurisdiction that explicitly regulates corporations on the issue of human rights through corporate and securities laws. While nations may be reluctant to add to the corporate governance burden at this time, they should redefine their definition of materiality to include human rights risk. In the U.S., the SEC has already introduced recommendations that hacking can pose a risk to firms. Hacking can also violate an individual’s right to privacy. The Dodd-Frank legislation also required firms to report on whether their supply chain included conflict minerals (the EU is considering similar legislation). Clearly, some policymakers are moving in this direction. In addition, policymakers should consider mandating pension funds to report on the social and environmental consequences of their investments. This strategy could stimulate markets to move towards long-term, responsible thinking.

 

7. Use taxpayer funded incentives such as export credit guarantees and procurement policies

 

Given the slow take-up of the Guiding Principles, policymakers will have to develop incentives to encourage more firms to implement these new principles. They can begin with their export credit programs. Most industrialized nations have export credit agencies that offer finance and insurance to private firms operating internationally. In 2005, the OECD estimated that its members provided the private sector with some $125 billion in fund – an amount that has only increased since the downturn, given public pressure to create jobs. Policymakers could require export credit agencies to do their due diligence and examine the human rights impact of any proposed loan or guarantee. In addition, firms seeking such assistance should also be required to implement the Guiding Principles.

 

Government officials should also focus on their procurement policies. When a government purchases goods and services, it does so for its citizens and thus, these purchases should reflect local norms and expectations. Government procurement activities comprise some 10-30% of the gross national product (GNP) in many states. Because this is such a large share of GNP, coordinated government policies could have a major effect on the practices of many companies.

 

Public procurement rules establish specific contract award procedures to ensure that public purchases are made in a transparent and fair manner and provide the best value for taxpayers’ money. The international system of rules governing trade (the World Trade Organization -WTO) which regulates trade among 155 member states requires governments to use procurement policies in a manner that does not distort trade among WTO members.

 

In recent years, states and international institutions have tailored their procurement regulations to address issues of human rights. U.S. President William Clinton banned federal agencies from purchasing goods made with exploitive child labor. The U.S. Department of Labor publishes a list of such goods and the countries where they are manufactured. The EC is currently revising its procurement policies and has prepared several documents examining selective procurement to achieve social and environmental goals. Under Convention 94, the International Labor Organization (ILO) requires its suppliers to adhere to core labor standards. UNICEF will not contract with suppliers that use child labor or those that manufacture land mines or components for land mines. The United Nations Supplier Code of Conduct (and similar Codes established by other UN organizations) is built on the norms of the UN Global Compact initiative, which includes human rights, labor rights, environmental, and anticorruption provisions. Suppliers are expected to comply with the Code of Conduct in their dealings with the UN Secretariat.

 

Policymakers could require firms seeking government contracts to implement the Guiding Principles. Although procurement policies are domestic policies, the OECD could coordinate a multilateral meeting where OECD member states (and other like-minded nations) would jointly announce procurement incentives to firms that implement the Guiding Principles. In so doing, the 38 member OECD could be seen as enhancing cost efficiencies as well as an environment supportive of human rights. Such action might also send a mighty market signal to corporate executives.

 

To view endnotes, please download the full PDF document.

Getting Rights…Right: How Companies are Implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

In partnership with:
U.S. Institute for Peace
U.N. Global Compact U.S. Network
Ford Motor Company
Heinrich Böll Stiftung North America
GW-CIBER

 

For a policy brief created from the conference outcomes, click here.
Download the full document here.

 

To mark International Human Rights Day 2011, George Washington University, the UN Global Compact US Network, and the US Institute of Peace hosted a 1 day conference on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These principles, approved by the UN Human Rights Council in June, are designed to help business monitor its human rights impact. These guidelines clarified both the human rights responsibilities of states and firms and made them clear and actionable. Our speakers, representing business, civil society, the US Government, and academia, focused on practical approaches to implementing the Guiding Principles (the GPs).

Thursday, December 8, 2011

9:00am to 4:30pm

 

Grand Ballroom, 3rd Floor
Marvin Center
800 21st Street, NW
Schedule

Thursday, December 8, 2011
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Grand Ballroom, 3rd Floor
Marvin Center
800 21st Street, NW

 

9:00-9:10 – Welcoming Remarks

  1. Stephen C. Smith (GWU)
    Dave Berdish (Ford Motor Company)

9:10-9:45 – David Arkless President and CEO, Global Corporate and Government Affairs, Manpower, “Why Firms Should Advance Human Rights: Manpower’s approach”

 

9:45-11:15 – Panel 1 – Addressing the Problems of Slavery and Human Trafficking

Moderator: Pamela Passman, President and CEO, Center for Responsible Enterprise And Trade (CREATe)

  1. Brenda Schultz, Manager, Responsible Business, Carlson Hotels Worldwide
  2. Samir Goswami, Director of Corporate Responsibility, Rule of Law, Lexis Nexis
  3. Jean Baderscheider, Vice President, Global Procurement, Exxon Mobil
  4. Jean Baderscheider – Exxon Mobil
  5. Karen Stauss, Director of Programs, Free the Slaves

11:15-11:30 – Coffee Break

 

11:30-12:00 – General Discussion: What should policymakers do to encourage adoption of the GPs?

led by Susan Aaronson

  1. Procurement set asides?
  2. Education?
  3. Corporate governance rules?

12:00-1:00 – Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Maria Otero

  1. The Department of State’s Approach to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

1:00-2:00 – Luncheon Keynote

  1. Ursula Wynhoven (General Counsel, UN Global Compact) “The Case for Supporting Human Rights”
  2. Ursula Wynhoven – United Nations
  3. Gerald Pachoud, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary General, UN and former Senior Advisor, Special Representative on Business and Human Rights) “Business and Human Rights… and States”

 

2:05-3:35 – Panel 2 – How Business Should Operate in Conflict Zones

Moderator: Raymond Gilpin, Director, Center for Sustainable Economies, U.S. Institute of Peace

  1. Bennett Freeman, Senior Vice President for Social research and Policy, Calvert Group
  2. Bennett Freeman – GE Audio
  3. Charlotte Wolff, Corporate Responsibility Manager, Arcellor Mittal
  4. Charlotte Wolff – Arcellor Mittal Audio
  5. Olav Ljosne, Regional Director of Communications, Africa, Shell Corporation
  6. Olav Ljosne – Shell Corporation Audio
  7. Jenny Vaughan, Program Officer, Conflict Management, Mercy Corps
  8. Jenny Vaughan – Mercy Corps
  9. Jenny Vaughan – Mercy Corps Audio
  10. Panel 2 – Entire Audio
  11. Panel 2 – Discussion Audio

3:35-3:50 – Coffee Break

 

3:50-5:20 – Panel 3: General Implementation of the Guiding Principles: Is it difficult to get buy in? Is it costly? What recommendations or roadblocks have you found?

Moderator: Susan Aaronson (GWU)

  1. Mark Nordstrom, Senior Labor & Employment Counsel, General Electric
  2. Mark Nordstrom – Fordham University
  3. Mark Nordstrom – Fordham University Audio
  4. Dave Berdish, Manager of Sustainable Business Development, Ford Motor Company
  5. Dave Berdish – Ford Motors
  6. Dave Berdish – Ford Motor Company Audio
  7. Motoko Aizawa, Sustainability Advisor, International Finance Corporation
  8. Meg Roggensack, Senior Advisor for Business and Human Rights, Human Rights First
  9. Panel 3 – Discussion Audio

5:20 – Conference End

 

Conference organized by:

 

  • Dr. Susan Aaronson and Kyle Renner, GWU
  • Dr. Raymond Gilpin and Amanda Mayoral, USIP
  • Thanks too to Ursula Wynhoven and the staff of the UN Global Compact for their help.

 

 

Ford Motor Company and the Heinrich Böll Foundation provided generous financial support to ensure a free conference.

Euro at the Crossroads?

Fred Joutz

Professor of Economics and Director of the Research Program on Forecasting, GWU

Desmond Lachman

Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Holger Wolf

Associate Professor, BMW Center for German and European Studies, Georgetown University

Audio of “Euro at the Crossroads?” can be found here.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

12:00 to 1:30pm

 

Lindner Commons, 6th floor
1957 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

Corruption and Conflict

Organized by
The Institute for International Economic Policy
and
Transparency International’s (UK) International Defence & Security Programme

To listen to the podcast, click here.
To view the PowerPoint, click here.

Wednesday October 26, 2011

12:30 to 2:00pm

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

Mark Pyman (Head of Transparency International, the UK’s Defence & Security Programme)
Sir Stewart Eldon (Senior Adviser to TI-DSP and former UK Permanent Representative to NATO)

Corruption is both a symptom of and a cause of conflict. As example, many Afghans initially welcomed the Taliban because they promised to restore order and reduce corruption. Policymakers increasingly recognize that if they want to create clean and effective state institutions and sustain peace, they must also counter corruption. Without addressing corruption, officials may be unable to restore state authority and deliver services to war-ravaged communities. According to the UNDP, several factors shape the interaction of corruption and peace: how a peace agreement is formed; the legacy of wartime corruption; the circumstances and potential turmoil of transitional governments; and resource wealth and potential for exploitation. Transparency International UK’s Defense & Security Program, based in London, has been studying how to counter corruption in conflict and post-conflict environments to create a roadmap towards stability and a well-functioning state. Pyman and Eldon will discuss the Program’s emerging findings, examine case studies such as that of Afghanistan, and address questions.

Why Cooperate Over Water? Water Has No Borders

Join the World Affairs Council-Washington, DC for an evening with Gidon Bromberg, Co-Director of Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME)

To RSVP for the conference please fill out our form at www.worldaffairsdc.org or (202) 293-1051

Dr. Bromberg’s PowerPoint can be viewed here.

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

6:30 to 8:30pm

Elliott School of International Affairs
Linder Commons, Suite 602
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

Avidan Meyerstein, Founder of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, Mr. Meyerstein currently works as an attorney in the Washington, D.C. area. ALLMEP is a group of organizations who promote peaceful coexistence of Arabs, Jews, Israelis and Palestinians on a personal level.

Najeeba Syeed-Miller, Ms. Syeed-Miller is the founder and assistant professor of Interreligious Education at Claremont School of Theology. She has 15 years of experience in conflict resolution and has also developed a method of mediation from a Muslim perspective.

Gabe Ross, As Associate Director of Partners for a New Beginning within The Aspen Institute, Mr. Ross is part of an organization that facilitates presidential goals of broadening and deepening the U.S.’s relationship with Muslim communities around the world, based on mutual respect.

Jim Doumas, As Executive Vice-President of Sister Cities International, Mr. Doumas participates in strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and international communities. SCI is an organization dedicated to development and volunteer actions to further beneficial communication.

Food Price Increases: Causes, Impacts and Responses

Keynote Speaker Alain de Janvry (UC Berkeley)

Conference videos to be uploaded soon.

Friday September 30, 2011

Elliott School of International Affairs
Linder Family Commons Suite 602
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

 

8:30-9:00 a.m. – Breakfast

9:00-9:15 a.m. – Opening Remarks
Stephen Smith (GWU-IIEP)
 – Forum on Food Price Increases

9:15-10:45 p.m. – Panel 1 – Causes: Long and Short Term Forces Underlying Food Price Spikes and Trends

Speakers:
9:15-9:45 – Nora Lustig (Tulane University), “Survey of Long and Short Run Factors” – Thought for Food Revisited: Causes, Consequences and Policy Dilemmas
9:45-10:15 – Keith O. Fuglie (Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture) – “Global and Regional Food Productivity and Output Trends” – Productivity Growth

10:15-10:45 a.m. – Panel 1 Discussion

10:45-11:15 a.m. – Coffee Break

11:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. – Panel 2 – Impacts: Poverty, Nutrition and Welfare Impacts of Food Price Increases

Speakers:
11:15 a.m. – 11:45 p.m. – Francisco Ferreira (World Bank) – “Rising Food Prices and Household Welfare: Evidence from Brazil” – Background Paper
11:45-12:15 p.m. – James Foster (George Washington University) – “Measurement Issues in Assessing Poverty Impacts of Food Price Spikes” – PPT

12:15-12:45 p.m. – Panel 2 Discussion

12:45-2:00 p.m. – Lunch

1:15-2:00 p.m. – Luncheon Keynote: Alain de Janvry (UC Berkeley) – PPT

2:00-4:00 p.m. – Panel 3 – Responses: Policy and Program Responses to Food Price Spikes 

Speakers:
2:00-2:30 p.m. – Carlos B Martins-Filho (IFPRI and University of Colorado, Boulder) – “Excessive Food Price Volatility Early Warning System” – PPT and “Maize Excessive Food Price Variability Early Warning System” and “Maize Prices and Returns”
2:30-3:00 p.m. – Maximo Torero (IFPRI) – “Price Volatility in Food and Agricultural Markets: Policy Responses” – PPT
3:00-3:30 pm. – Uma Lele (Author and Development Consultant) – “Policy Responses to Food Price Spikes” – Challenges Facing the Global Architecture for Food and Agriculture Going Forward

3:30-4:00 p.m. – Panel 3 Discussion

 

4th Annual Conference on China’s Economic Development and the U.S.-China Relationship

G2 at GW 2011

Friday, September 23, 2011

Made possible by a generous gift from an anonymous donor

Lindner Commons, Suite 602
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20052

The US – 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 Relations (or the G2 at GW), which has become one of the premier events of its type. For the last three conferences (2009, 2010, and 2011) we created a follow-up online “virtual conference volume”.

Speakers at the first four conferences include Hongbin Li (Tsinghua University, Beijing), Shang-Jin Wei (Columbia Univ.), Lu Ming (Fudan Univ., Shanghai), ZhongXiang Zhang (East-West Center), Peter Yu (Drake), Huang Yasheng (MIT), Li Xuan (FAO), C. Fred Bergsten (Peterson), Loren Brandt (Toronto), Kenneth Lieberthal (Brookings), Zhang Xiaobo (IFPRI), Feng Tian (Chinese Academy for Social Sciences), Meng Lingsheng (Tsinghua), Gao Fei (China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU)), Harry Harding (Virginia), Lixin Colin Xu (World Bank), Zhu Caihua (CFAU), Warwick McKibbin (Australian National Univ., and Eswar Prasad (Brookings).

Next year’s G2 at GW conference will take place on 10-12-2012. The research and policy analysis presented at the first five G2 at GW conferences together form the basis of a planned IIEP volume, to be edited by Professors Michael Moore and Stephen C. Smith.

Schedule of Events

September 23, 2011

Continental breakfast at 8:00 AM

9-9:10 AM Welcome and Overview of the Conference

9:15-10:30 AM Economic Transformation in China

Panelists

10:30-10:45 AM Coffee Break

10:45 AM – 12:15 PM Climate Change, Multilateral Trade, and International Financial Rules

Panelists

12:15-1:15 PM Lunch Break

1:15-2:30 PM US and Chinese Policies Towards Intellectual Property Rights

Panelists

2:30-2:45 PM Coffee Break

2:45-4:00 PM Macro topics: Exchange Rates, Economic Growth, and Imbalances

Panelists

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: 

Volatility in Commodity Markets – Causes and Impacts on the Poor

Joachim von Braun

Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF) and Professor for Economic and Technological Change at University of Bonn, Germany and former Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Dr. von Braun’s PowerPoint slides can be viewed here.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

12:30 to 2:00pm

 

Lindner Commons, 6th Floor
1957 E St NW
Washington, DC 20052

Can Trade Agreements Facilitate the Free Flow of Information: The Trans-Pacific Partnership as a Case Study

Organized by
The Institute for International Economic Policy

In partnership with:
The Computer Communications Industry Association
The Heinrich Boell Foundation
and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

12:00 to 1:30pm

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

Jonathan McHale, Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce Policy, Office of the United States Trade Representative
Jayme White, Staff Director, Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness, United States Senate
Usman Ahmed, Policy Counsel, eBay, Inc.
Rashni Rangnath, Director, Global Knowledge Initiative at Public Knowledge

 

President Obama has described the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as the first 21st century trade agreement. These negotiations are particularly important to advocates of an open Internet. The U.S. wants its TPP negotiating partners to accept language designed to protect intellectual property online, to encourage regulatory transparency for Internet governance, and to ensure open access to digital goods, applications, consumers, devices, networks, and information. Other governments have a different vision. Currently, although several non-profit U.S. bodies oversee technical specifications and the domain name system, international multi-stakeholder groups collaborate to maintain the free flow of information on the web. However, Russia, China and several other nations want to use “the monitoring and supervisory capabilities of the International Telecommunication Union,” a U.N. agency, to regulate the Internet. They believe the current system is too ad hoc, U.S.-centric, and does not allow national policymakers to restrict the free flow of information when such officials deem it appropriate. This discussion will examine what the U.S. is proposing. Representatives from the private sector, the Internet advocacy community, and the Senate Finance Committee will present their views on the implications of these provisions for the future of the Internet.

Beverages will be provided.

Advances in Behavioral Finance

Organized by
The Institute for International Economic Policy
and
The International Monetary Fund Institute

This will be an all day conference

Keynote speaker: Prof. George Akerlof (UC-Berkeley and IMF)

Thursday, May 26, 2011

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

8:15 a.m.-8:45 a.m. Breakfast

8:45 a.m.-9:00 a.m. Opening Remarks IIEP Director Stephen C. Smith and IMF Institute Deputy Director Eric Clifton

9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Session 1
Prof. William Goetzmann (Yale University)“The First Stock Market Bubble (and Crash!)”
Prof. Robert Stambaugh (University of Pennsylvania): “The Short of It: Investor Sentiment and Anomalies”

10:30 a.m.-10:50 a.m. Coffee Break

10:50 a.m.-12:20 p.m. Session 2
Prof. Avanidhar Subrahmanyam (UCLA): “Funding Constraints and Market Efficiency”
Prof. Russ Wermers (University of Maryland)“Seasonal Asset Allocation: Evidence from Mutual Fund Flows”

12:20 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Lunch Break

1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Session 3
Prof. Robert Bloomfield (Cornell University)“The Synthetic Economy Research Environment (SERE): A Platform for Experiments in Policy and Practice”
Prof. Bill Zame (UCLA): “Ambiguity and Asset Pricing: Learning from the Knowledge of Others” – Paper 1 and Paper 2

3:00 p.m.-3:20 p.m. Coffee Break

3:20 p.m.-4:50 p.m. Session 4
Prof. Valery Polkovnichenko (University of Texas at Dallas): “Probability Weighting Functions Implied in Options Prices”
Prof. Jeffrey Wurgler (NYU)“Dividends as Reference Points: A Behavioral Signaling Model”

4:50 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Coffee Break

5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Keynote Address and Open Floor Discussion:
Prof. George Akerlof (UC-Berkeley and IMF): “Blind Faith: Misplaced Trust and Economic Crisis”

 

Organizing Commmittee:

Marco Cipriani, International Monetary Fund

Ana Fostel, George Washington University

Jorge Roldos, International Monetary Fund

Anna Scherbina, UC Davis and International Monetary Fund

Stephen C. Smith, George Washington University

Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change in Low-Income Countries

Hosted by the Institute of International Economic Policy

See more about the Institute’s Adaptation to Climate Change initiative here.

In partnership with the World Bank, the UN Development Programme, the Center for International Science and Technology Policy, and the GWU Department of Economics

Wednesday, May 18 – Thursday, May 19, 2011

 

City View Room, 7th Floor 1957 E St NW Washington, DC 20052

Human Rights, Development and Economic Growth – Metrics, New Ways of Thinking, and New Strategies

April 7 12:30-7:00 & April 8 8:00-5:00

 

The George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052

Since the members of the UN negotiated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the world has made great human rights progress. But that progress is not easy to measure. The Universal Declaration has over 30 distinct human rights. Moreover, as Albert Einstein once warned “not everything that counts can be counted.” Policymakers, activists, and scholars do not agree on how to count -e.g. whether they should measure progress (as evidenced by new laws) or outcomes (as in educational outcomes).

But in recent years, three developments have helped increase our understanding of the relationship between human rights and development. First, Nobel prize winning economist Amartya Sen established a scholarly bridge between economics and human rights. He taught us that poverty, hunger, and a lack of education are conditions that restrict freedom and therefore respect for human rights provides a platform for economic growth (Vizard: 2005). Influenced by Sen, the UNDP produced the Human Development Index which focuses on state performance on capabilities. Second, in 2000, officials from 181 nations agreed to collaborate to cut global poverty in half by 2015. They also agreed to set targets and measure their progress towards achieving global human rights and development goals. Thus, the Millennium Development Goals made the question of how to measure progress more visible. Building on these insights, scholars and activists began to develop new metrics. Some designers focused not only on human rights but also on measures of governance and economic growth. For example, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), published for the first time in the 2010 Report, redefined poverty as not simply the absence of money, but the variety of deprivations with which poor households typically contend. It can be deconstructed by region, ethnicity and other groupings as well as by dimension (living standards, education and health). The Human Opportunity Index (HOI) is a measure of society’s progress in equitably providing opportunities for all children. HOI takes into account how the personal “circumstances” for which a child cannot be held accountable, like location or parental wealth, affect his/her probability of accessing basic services that are necessary to succeed in life, like timely education, vaccination, safe water or electricity. The index was first applied in the World Bank publication “Measuring Inequality of Opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean” in 2009 and has since been used in a number of countries.

This conference, organized by Dr. Susan Aaronson, will examine these new metrics and how scholars, business leaders, and government officials are using them to devise cost-effective approaches to stimulating economic growth while advancing human rights.

Schedule

April 7, 2011

Location: Lindner Family Commons
1959 E St NW Suite 602


12:30-1:00 – Lunch


1:00-1:15 p.m. – Opening Remarks and Overview
Opening Remarks – Stephen Smith (GWU-IIEP)
Overview of conference objectives – Susan Ariel Aaronson (GWU-IIEP)
Presentation


1:15-2:35 p.m. – Panel 1 – Multidimensional Poverty Measurement: Uses for a new understanding of the meaning of poverty and deprivation.

Speakers:
Jeni Klugman (UNDP), “UNDP’s Multidimensional Poverty Metric”
Shabana Singh (Vanderbilt University) – “Towards a Multinational Measure of governance” Presentation
Ricardo Aparicio (Director for Policy Analysis at Coneval, Mexico) – ” Multidimensional poverty measurement: a human rights based approach. The case of Mexico” Presentation
Discussant: Ambar Narayan (World Bank)
Comments


2:35-3:45 p.m. – Panel 2 – Measuring Inequality of Opportunities Among Children: the Human Opportunity Index

Speakers:
Jaime Saavedra-Chanduvi (Acting Director, Poverty Reduction and Equity, World Bank) – “Equality of Opportunity: Analytical Challenges and Policy Implications” Presentation
Javier Escobal (GRADE, Peru) – “Is the Playing Field Leveling in Peru? The Evolution of Children’s Opportunities” Presentation
Discussant: Dena Ringold (Senior Economist, Human Development Sector, Europe and Central Asia, World Bank)
Comments


3:45-4:00 – Coffee Break


4:00-5:30 p.m. – Panel 3 – New Metrics for Assessing Human Rights and How These Metrics Relate to Development and Governance

Speakers:
David Cingranelli (Professor of Political Science, SUNY – Binghamton) – “CIRI Human Rights Data Set” Presentation
Sabine Donner (Senior Project Manager, Bertelsmann Foundation) – “Transformation Index” Presentation
Nathaniel Heller (Managing Director, Global Integrity Index)
Moderator: Siobhan McInerny-Lankford (Senior Policy Officer, Nordic Trust Fund, OPCS, World Bank)
Comments


5:50-6:00p.m. – Coffee Break and Schmoozing
(Please note change of Conference Location to Harry Harding Auditorium, 2nd Floor)


6:00-7:00 p.m. – Evening Keynote – “Human Rights Within a Governance Empirical Framework: Some Unorthodox Observations from a Non-Expert”
Daniel Kaufmann (Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institute)
Comments


April 8th

Please note change of Conference Location to 805 21st Street, NW, B07

8:00-9:00 a.m. – Continental Breakfast


9:00-10:20 a.m. – Panel 4 – Caveats on Metrics

Speakers:
Hans-Otto Sano (Senior Policy Officer, Nordic Trust Fund, OPCS, World Bank)“Human Rights Compliance and Performance Indicators”
Siobhan McInerny-Lankford (Senior Policy Officer, Nordic Trust Fund, OPCS, World Bank)
Elizabeth Eagen (Program Officer, Human Rights Data Initiative, Open Society Foundations) Presentation
ModeratorCharles Kenny (Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development)
Comments


10:20-12:00 p.m. – Panel 5 – Using Datasets to Examine Human Rights and Economic Change

Speakers:
Robert and Shannon Blanton (Professors of Political Science, University of Memphis) – “Rights, Institutions, and FDI” Presentation
Rod Abouharb (Lecturer in International Relations, University College, London) – “Can the WTO Help Nations Clean Up and Improve Human Rights?” Presentation
Jean-Pierre Chauffour (Lead Economist, International Trade and Development Group, World Bank) – “On the Relevance of Positive and Negative Rights in Economic Development – New empirical evidence (1975-2007)” Presentation
Daniel Meija (Associate Professor of Economics, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia) – “Is Violence Against Union Members in Colombia Systematic and Targeted?”
Moderator: Emmanuel Teitelbaum (Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GWU)
Comments


12:00-1:30 p.m. – Lunch and Lunch Keynote
Introduction: Sabine Donner (Senior Project Manager, Bertelsmann Foundation)
Keynote Presenter: James Foster (Professor of Economics and International Affairs, GWU-IIEP) – “Finding Meaningful Numbers”
Comments


1:30-3:05 p.m. – Panel 6 – NGO and Business Perspectives on Metrics to Assess Human Rights

Gerard Pachoud (Special Advisor, UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights) – “The Ruggie Guidelines and Use of Metrics to Assess Business Human Rights Performance”
Panelists will discuss how business can and does use metrics to assess human rights
Speakers:
Bennett Freeman (Senior Vice President, Sustainability Research and Policy, Calvert Investments)
Chris Jochnick (Director, Private Sector Department, Oxfam America)
Faris Natour (Director of Research, Business for Social Responsibility)
Olav Ljosne (Senior Manager, International Operations, Shell Oil Company)
ModeratorHans J. Hogrefe (Senior Policy Officer, Physicians for Human Rights)
Comments


3:05-3:15 p.m. – Coffee Break


3:15-4:45 p.m. – Panel 7 – New Governmental Strategies That Use Metrics and Link Economic Growth and Human Rights

Speakers:
Ginny Bauman (Director of Partnerships, Free the Slaves) and Jane Sigmon (Senior Coordinator, International Programs, Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Office) – “Metrics to Assess Progress in Reducing Trafficking” Presentation
Raymond Gilpin (Associate Vice President, USIP) and Mike Dzniec (Senior Program Officer, USIP) – “Measuring Progress with Reconstruction and Human Rights in Conflict Environments: A Metrics Framework” Presentation
Tom Kelly (Managing Director, Millenium Challenge Corporation, US Government) – “How the MCC uses Metrics”
Moderator: Michael Moore (Professor of Economics and International Affairs, GWU-IIEP)
Comments


4:30-5:30 p.m. – So, What do you think? Are these metrics useful? Can they be improved?
Moderator: Susan Aaronson (Associate Research Professor of International Affairs, GWU-IIEP)
Comments

1st Annual Washington Area International Trade Symposium (WAITS) Conference

Friday, March 11, 2011

Elliott School of International Affairs
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

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.