Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith
Former Director, Professor of Economics and International Affairs
Former Director
Contact:
2115 G Street NW, Economics Department, Monroe Hall 340
Washington DC 20052
Stephen C. Smith is Chair of the Department of Economics, and Professor of Economics and International Affairs. He also served as the Director of IIEP from 2009-2012, and 2015-2017. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University and has been a UNICEF Senior Research Fellow, a Fulbright Research Scholar, a Jean Monnet Research Fellow, an IZA 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. In the 1990s, he designed and served as first director of GW’s International Development Studies Program.
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 2004-2008, he served as co-Principal Investigator, along with Prof. Jim Williams, of GW’s partnership with BRAC University (in Bangladesh).
Smith has done on-site research and program work in several regions of the developing world including Bangladesh, China, Ecuador, India, Senegal, Slovenia, and Uganda. He has been a consultant for the World Bank, the International Labour Office (ILO, Geneva), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), USAID, 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.
Publications
Smith is the co-author with Michael Todaro of Economic Development (13th Ed., Pearson, 2020); the author of Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, 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).
Smith is also author or coauthor of some 50 journal articles, and numerous book chapters and other publications. Details on some of these publications and downloadable working papers may be found on Google Scholar, RePEc, or browse through the research papers below.
development economics, poverty, economics of organization, economics of participation
Ph.D. from Cornell University
Development, Poverty, and Inequality, Adaptation to Climate Change, Economics of Ultra-Poverty, U.S.-China Economic Relations, Global Economic Governance
- Stephen Smith was the Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy at George Washington University from 2009-2012. He is Professor of Economics in the GW Department of Economics.
- Smith is also Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Smith serves on the advisory board of BRAC-USA.
- Smith served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization from 2007-2013.
- Prof. Smith organized and served as first director of GW’s International Development Studies Program. He also served as director of the Research Program in Poverty, Development, and Globalization at the Economics Department from 2001 to 2009, and again from 2013 to 2015.
- He is a member of the American Economic Association, among other professional economics organizations.
Recent Book
Economic Development (13th Edition)
with co-Author Michael P. Todaro
Publisher: Pearson, 2020
Available online at Amazon
Description
For courses on economic development.
A complete, balanced introduction to the theory, issues, and latest research.
Economic Development – the leading textbook in this field – provides students with a complete and balanced introduction to the requisite theory, driving policy issues, and latest research. Todaro and Smith take a policy-oriented approach, presenting economic theory in the context of critical policy debates and country-specific case studies so students see how theory relates to the problems and prospects of developing countries. The eleventh edition offers new sections on the global financial crisis and violent conflict.
Other Books
Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan;Paperback, 2009
Hardcover: 2005
Available at Amazon
Description
Over 800 million people suffer from chronic hunger, and over ten million children die each year from preventable causes. These may seem like overwhelming statistics, but as Stephen Smith shows in this call to arms, global poverty is something that we can and should solve within our lifetimes. Ending Global Poverty explores the various traps that keep people mired in poverty, traps like poor nutrition, illiteracy, lack of access to health care, and others and presents eight keys to escaping these traps.
NGOs and the Millennium Development Goals: Citizen Action to Reduce Poverty
with co-editors Jennifer Brinkerhoff and Hildy Teegen
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007
Available online at Amazon
Description
His book examines the role of NGOs in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the fight to end global poverty more generally. The MDGs arguably represent the greatest opportunity and challenge for alleviating poverty and improving quality of life globally in our time. Their achievement will require maximizing all available resources and capitalizing on all available actors. NGOs have been highlighted by governments and global leaders as an important actor, but without better understanding of their potential, roles, and challenges to their effectiveness, we are not likely to fully tap their contribution and thus will be further challenged in achieving the MDGs. This book presents and examines general NGO roles and comparative advantages, as well as roles and opportunities specific to particular MDG sectors.
Smith is the co-author with Michael Todaro of Economic Development (13th Ed., Pearson, 2020); the author of Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, 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).
Smith is also author or coauthor of some 50 journal articles, and numerous book chapters and other publications. Details on some of these publications and downloadable working papers may be found on Google Scholar, RePEc, or browse through the research papers below.
Some of his recent discussion papers include:
“Do Constraints on Women Worsen Child Deprivations? Framework, Measurement, and Evidence from India,” with Alberto Posso and Lucia Ferrone
“Works Councils and Workplace Health and Safety Promotion in Germany,” with Uwe Jirjahn and Jens Mohrenweiser
“Development Economics Meets the Challenges of Lagging U.S. Areas: Applications to Education, Health and Nutrition, Behavior, and Infrastructure,” forthcoming in Place-Based Policies, Jay Shambaugh et al., eds., Washington: Brookings Institution, September 2018
“Nonunion Employee Representation: Theory and the German Experience with Mandated Works Councils,” with Uwe Jirjahn, IIEP Working Paper 2017-22, published in Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Vol. 89, 1, 2018
“Can Agricultural Extension and Input Support Be Discontinued?
Evidence from a Randomized Phaseout in Uganda,” with Ram Fishman, Vida
Bobic, and Munshi Sulaiman. IZA Discussion Paper 12476, July 2019
“Person Equivalent Headcount Measures of Poverty,” with James E. Foster and Tony Castleman, IIEP Working Paper #2015-10; Published in Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy, edited by Kaushik Basu and Joseph Stiglitz, Palgrave MacMillan, 2016
“Agricultural Extension and Technology Adoption for Food Security: Evidence from Uganda,”with Yao Pan and Munshi Sulaiman, IIEP Working Paper #2015-11, forthcoming in American Journal of Agricultural Economics
“The Two Fragilities: Vulnerability to Conflict, Environmental Stress, and their Interactions as Challenges to Ending Poverty,” in The Last Mile in Ending Extreme Poverty, Washington, Brookings Institution Press, July 2015
“Do Foreign Owners Favor Short-Term Profit? Evidence from Germany,” with Verena Dill and Uwe Jirjahn, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 40, 123–140, 2016
“Multidimensional Targeting and Evaluation: Framework and Application to a Poverty Program in Bangladesh,” with Virginia Robano, IZA Discussion Paper 7593
Research Papers:
“Agricultural Extension and Technology Adoption for Food Security: Evidence from Uganda,” with Yao Pan and Munshi Sulaiman, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 100, Issue 4, 1012–1031, July 2018.
“Nonunion Employee Representation: Theory and the German Experience with Mandated Works Councils,” with Uwe Jirjahn, Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Vol. 89, 1, pages 201-233, March 2018.
“Development Economics Meets the Challenges of Lagging U.S. Areas: Applications to Education, Health and Nutrition, Behavior, and Infrastructure,” in Place-Based Policies for Shared Economic Growth, J. Shambaugh and R. Nunn, eds., pp. 185-242, Washington: Brookings Institution, September 2018.
“Do Foreign Owners Favor Short-Term Profit? Evidence from Germany,” with Verena Dill and Uwe Jirjahn, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 40, 123–140, 2016. Also available as IZA Discussion Paper 8165, May 2014.
“Person Equivalent Headcount Measures of Poverty,” with James E. Foster and Tony Castleman, Institute for International Economic Policy (IIEP) Working Paper #2015-10. Published version here.
“The Two Fragilities: Vulnerability to Conflict, Environmental Stress, and their Interactions as Challenges to Ending Poverty,” in The Last Mile in Ending Extreme Poverty, Washington, Brookings Institution Press, July 2015. Download here.
“Multidimensional Targeting and Evaluation: Framework and Application to a Poverty Program in Bangladesh,” with Virginia Robano, IZA Discussion Paper 7593, available here; and as OPHI Working Paper 65 (Jan. 2014). Download: here.
“Cooperatives in a Global Economy: Key Economic Issues, Recent Trends, and Potential for Development,” with Jonathan Rothbaum: invited chapter for book edited by Sonja Novkovic and Tom Webb, forthcoming Zed Books, Oct. 2014, Co-operatives in a Post-Growth Era: Creating Co-operative Economics; also available as IZA Policy Paper 68, Sept. 2013, Download: here.
“Assessing the Frontiers of Ultra-Poverty Reduction: Evidence from CFPR/TUP, an Innovative Program in Bangladesh,” with M. Shahe Emran and Virginia Robano, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 62 (2), 339-380, February 2014. Available from JSTOR here.
“Education and Freedom of Choice: Evidence from Arranged Marriages in Vietnam,” with M. Shahe Emran and Fenohasina Maret-Rakotondrazaka, Journal of Development Studies, Vol 50, No. 4, pages 481-501, April 2014; online version here; IZA Discussion Paper 6862 available here.
“Regional Agricultural Endowments and Shifts of Poverty Trap Equilibria: Evidence from Ethiopian Panel Data,” with Sungil Kwak, Journal of Development Studies, 49, 7, 955-975, July 2013: Download: here
“Awareness as an Adaptation Strategy for Reducing Mortality from Heat Waves: Evidence from a Disaster Risk Management Program in India,” with Saudamini Das, Climate Change Economics, Volume 3, No. 2, May 2012, Download: here. Also available as IIEP Working Paper here.
“Adaptation to Climate Change in Low-Income Countries: Lessons from Current Research and Needs from Future Research,” with Arun Malik, Climate Change Economics, Volume 3, No. 2, May 2012, download here. Also available as IIEP Working Paper here
“The Scope of Nongovernmental Organizations and Development Program Design: Application to Problems of Multidimensional Poverty,” Public Administration and Development, Volume 32, Issue 4-5, 357-370, 2012, Download: here. Also available as IIEP Working Paper: here.
“Endogenous Formation of Coops and Cooperative Leagues,” with Sumit Joshi, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 68, 217–233, 2008, Download: here.
“Beyond the ‘Non’: The Strategic Space for NGOs in Development,” with J. Brinkerhoff and H. Teegen, in NGOs and the Millennium Development Goals: Citizen Action to Reduce Poverty, Jennifer Brinkerhoff, Stephen C. Smith and Hildy Teegen, eds. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pages 53-80, Download: here.
“Organizational Comparative Advantages of NGOs in Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Hunger: Strategy for Escape from Poverty Traps,” in NGOs and the Millennium Development Goals: Citizen Action to Reduce Poverty, Jennifer Brinkerhoff, Stephen C. Smith and Hildy Teegen, eds. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pages 121-148, Download: here.
“The Role of NGOs in Health, Education, Environment, and Gender: Application of the Theoretical Framework,” with J. Brinkerhoff and H. Teegen, in NGOs and the Millennium Development Goals: Citizen Action to Reduce Poverty, Jennifer Brinkerhoff, Stephen C. Smith and Hildy Teegen, eds. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pages 149-180, Download: here.
“What Factors Lead Management to Support or Oppose Employee Participation with and without Works Councils? Hypotheses and Evidence from Germany,” with Uwe Jirjahn, Industrial Relations, 45, 4, 650-680, Oct. 2006; ILO Download: here. Working paper version available here
“Works Councils and Environmental Investment: Theory and Evidence from German Panel Data,” with Jan Erik Askildsen and Uwe Jirjahn, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization Volume 60, Issue 3, 346-372, 2006, Download: here. Working paper version available here.
“Employee Participation Rights in Corporate Governance: Economic Rationale, a Test of a Leading Theory, and Some Modest Policy Proposals,” Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory and Labor Managed Firms, Elsevier, 105-146, Vol. 9, 2006, Working paper version available here.
“New Issues in Emerging Markets: Determinants, Effects, and Stock Market Performance of Initial Public Offerings in South Korea,” with Hesuk Chun, Journal of Emerging Market Finance, 2, 3, 253 285, December 2003, Download: here.
“A Tale of Two Tigers: Employee Financial Participation in Korea and Taiwan,” with Beom cheol Cin and Tzu Shian Han, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Sept. 2003. ILO Download: here.
“Village Banking and Maternal and Child Health: Evidence from Ecuador and Honduras,” World Development, 30, 4, 707 723, April 2002, Download: here. Working paper version available here.
“Human Capital Convergence: A Joint Estimation Approach,” with Randa Sab, IMF Staff Papers, 49, 2, 200 211, August 2002; Download: here.
“Employee Stock Ownership and Participation in South Korea: Incidence, Productivity Effects, and Prospects,” with Beom cheol Cin, Review of Development Economics, 6, 2, 263 283, June 2002, Download: here. Working paper version available here.
“Investment, Exports, and Output in South Korea: A VAR Approach to Growth Empirics,” with Edward Feasel and Yongbeom Kim, Review of Development Economics, 5, 3, 421 432, October 2001, Download: here. Working paper version available here.
Blooming Together or Wilting Alone? Organizational Comparative Advantage, Network Externalities, and Mondragon and La Lega Cooperative Networks, Paper No. 2001/27, 55 pp., World Institute of Development Economics Research (WIDER), Helsinki, July 2001, Download: here.
Human Capital Convergence – International Evidence, with Randa Sab, IMF Working Paper 01/32, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund, 2001, Download: here.
“Investment and Supply Effects of Industry Indexed Bonds: The Labor Managed Firm,” with Robert Waldmann, Economic Systems, 23, 3, 245 268, 1999, Download: here.
“Privatization Incidence, Ownership Forms, and Firm Performance: Evidence from Slovenia,” with Beom cheol Cin and Milan Vodopivec, Journal of Comparative Economics, 25, 158 179, 1997, Download: here. Also, download here.
The Firm, Human Development, and Market Failure, ILO Labour Market Paper Number 10, Geneva International Labour Office, 1995: Download: here.
“Firm Size and the Effect of Profit‑Sharing,” with M.D. Bradley, J. Inst. Public Enterprise, 18, 1, 1‑13, 1995, Download: here.
“Innovation and Market Strategy in Italian Industrial Cooperatives: Econometric Evidence on Organizational Comparative Advantage,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 23, 3, 303 321, 1994, Download: here.
“On the Law and Economics of Employee Ownership in Privatization in Developing and Transition Economies,” Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 65, 3, 437 468, 1994. Download: here.
Review of Michael Porter, “The Competitive Advantage of Nations,” Journal of Development Economics, 36, 399‑404 (1993), Download: here.
“Labor Managed Cooperatives and Private Firms in North Central Italy: An Empirical Comparison,” with W. Bartlett, J. Cable, S. Estrin and D. Jones, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 46, 103 118, 1992, Download: here.
“On the Economic Rationale for Codetermination Law,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 16, 261 281, Dec. 1991, Download: here.
Industrial Policy in Developing Countries: Reconsidering the Real Sources of Export Led Growth, Economic Policy Institute, 1991, Download: here.
“Allocation and Distribution in an Employee Owned Firm under Both Output and Labor Market Uncertainty,” with M.H. Ye, Economic Analysis, and Workers Management, 26 (2), 115 136, 1991. Download: here.
“On the Incidence of Profit and Equity Sharing: Theory and an Application to the High Tech Sector,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 9, 45 58, 1988, Download: here.
“On Illyrian Macroeconomics,” with M. D. Bradley, Economica, 55, 249 260, 1988, Download: here.
“The Behavior of Labor Managed Firms under Uncertainty: Product Diversification, Income Insurance and Layoff Policy,” with M.H. Ye, Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 57, 65 82, 1987, Download: here.
“Political Behavior as an Economic Externality: Econometric Evidence on the Spillover of Participation in U.S. Firms to Participation in Community Affairs,” Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory and Labor Managed Firms, 1, 123 136, 1985, Download: here.
“Does Employment Matter to the Labor Managed Firm? Some Theory and an Empirical Illustration,” Economic Analysis, 18, 303 318, 1984, Download: here.
“The Economics of Joint Ventures in Less Developed Countries,” with J. Svejnar, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 98, 149 168, 1984, Download: here.
Professor Smith teaches primarily courses in development economics. For example, he most recently taught in Fall (2020), teaching the undergraduate course Economic Development (Econ 2151) and the master’s course Survey of Economic Development (Econ 6250).
In Fall 2016 he taught Survey of Economic Development (Econ 6250), and the International Development Studies (IDS) Pre-Capstone Workshop (IAFF 6137). In Spring 2016 he taught the IDS Capstone Project. In Spring 2015 he taught undergraduate Economic Development (Econ 2151); in Fall 2014 he taught the Ph.D. course, Development Economics II (Econ 8352); in Spring 2009 he taught the Ph.D. course, Development Economics I (Econ 8351). Prof. Smith has also taught development economics Doctoral Seminar (Econ 8395), Survey of Microeconomics (Econ 6217), International Economics II – International Finance (Econ 2182), Global Poverty-Causes and Remedies (Econ 1801), a special Writing in the Discipline (WID) version of Economic Development, international development at the Foreign Service Institute, Economic Effects of Labor Management and Profit Sharing (Econ Ph.D. level, at Cornell), and Transnational Firms and the World Economy (at Johns Hopkins – SAIS).