Center for Global Development

History Behind the Headlines: World Bank and IMF (The Kojo Nnamdi Show)

2008-10-14T17:30:00-04:00

Kojo Nnamdi interviewed Nancy Birdsall on the history of the Bretton Woods institutions and thier current role in the world.

History Says Financial Crisis Will Suppress Aid

2008-10-14T17:15:00-04:00

Since 1970, four donor countries have been hit by major financial crises: Japan, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. In each case, the aid they provided fell in the wake of the crisis, but the size of the drop and the speed of recovery varied widely. CGD research fellow David Roodman shows the relationship between financial crises and aid flows in a chart-intensive blog posting.

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Development Effects of Electricity: Evidence from the Geologic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil

2008-10-14T14:15:00-04:00

We exploit quasi-random variation in hydro-power generation and transmission in Brazil in order to isolate of the causal effects of electricity grid expansion on changes in population density and GDP. Since hydro-power generation requires intercepting water at high velocity, there is a random component to households’ access to electricity in a country that relies heavily on hydro-power, as that access depends on the household’s proximity to rivers with a gradient suitable for hydro-electricity generation. This allows isolation of the causal component of the relationship between electrification and development outcomes. The most plausible interpretation of our findings is that local access to electricity does not cause increases in population density, but does cause increases in GDP per capita by raising worker productivity.

The G-7 Summit and Beyond (The Diane Rehm Show)

2008-10-13T17:30:00-04:00

Kojo Nnamdi interviewed CGD senior fellow Arvind Subramanian on the G-7's role in abating the global financial crisis.

Studying Japan's Dark Decade to See How U.S. Might Fare (Washington Post)

2008-10-11T17:00:00-04:00

The Washington Post quotes CGD senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez on similarities between the Japanese financial crisis and the current U.S. financial crisis.

Wall Street Greed? Not in This Neighborhood. (Washington Post)

2008-10-11T16:45:00-04:00

The Washington Post quotes CGD senior fellow Steve Radelet on the financial crisis and its impact on U.S. foreign aid.

Can the Democrats Lead in Africa? (Huffington Post)

2008-10-10T16:45:00-04:00

The Huffington Post published a blog on the development agenda of the next administration mentioning CGD president Nancy Birdsall and promotes CGD's book, The White House and the World.

Job Opportunity: Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

2008-10-10T13:45:00-04:00

POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW

The Center for Global Development (CGD) is now accepting applications for its Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship program. The Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship is a one year term appointment running from mid-2008 to mid-2009, with the precise dates flexible. CGD is an independent, non-partisan, Washington, DC think tank dedicated to reducing global poverty and inequality through policy-oriented research and active engagement on development issues with the policy community and the public. We invite you to learn more about the Center at http://www.cgdev.org.

CGD studies the policies of the US and other industrialized countries that affect development prospects in poor countries. The Center aims to provide young scholars an opportunity to apply their research skills in an active policy environment, collaborating with a world-renowned research staff of economists and political scientists. Staff work with policymakers seeking rigorous and independent advice on development-related issues. Two Nobel Laureates currently serve on our Board and we have extensive links to top development researchers all over the world. Our previous postdocs have subsequently gone on to excellent academic appointments at Stanford, Georgetown, UNC Chapel Hill, Yale, and Tufts.

Interested applicants should send electronic versions of a CV, job market paper, and cover letter. Applications that do not include all three items will not be considered. We also strongly encourage you to submit a letter of recommendation from your advisor, which will do much to support your application, but this is not required. Your cover letter should describe in some detail the research you would pursue during a year at CGD. Preference will be given to candidates whose research interests align closely with CGD's—which is to say that they should bear some connection, broadly interpreted, to the effect of high-income countries' public or private sectors on low-income countries. All materials should be sent to Ms. Ellen Mackenzie at hrjobs@cgdev.org with "Post-Doctoral Research Fellow" in the subject line.

Application deadline: Monday, December 8, 2008.

Climate Change, Crop Yields, and Implications for Food Supply in Africa

2008-10-09T15:15:00-04:00

We use a panel of country-level crop yields in Africa to estimate the relationship between yields and temperature as well as precipitation. Maize, sorghum, millet, and groundnuts are predicted to show significant yield reductions in the medium term even under moderate warming. Our estimation uses the distribution of temperatures within each day at the location a particular crop is grown. Given potential data quality issues for Africa, the predicted temperature response function is contrasted to the one in the United States, where we find robust nonlinear temperature effects, i.e., yields are first increasing in temperature, but decrease sharply once they pass an upper threshold (29C for maize). The slope of the decline above the threshold is much steeper than the incline below it. The increased frequency of temperatures above the upper threshold is responsible for the significant reduction in yields.

Multilateralism Beyond Doha

2008-10-09T15:15:00-04:00

The World Trade Organization’s collapsed Doha Round focused on issues of limited significance while the burning issues of the day were not even on the agenda. In this new working paper, CGD senior fellow Arvind Subramanian and co-author Aaditya Mattoo argue for a wider agenda for multilateral cooperation that includes such issues as food, energy, economic security, and the prevention and resolution of future financial crises.

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Special Global Development Matters Meetup

2008-10-09T09:15:00-04:00

In their new book Economic Gangsters, Raymond Fisman and co-author Edward Miguel take readers into the secretive, chaotic, and brutal worlds inhabited by these lawless and violent thugs. These two sleuthing economists follow the foreign aid money trail into the grasping hands of corrupt governments and shady underworld characters. Spend time with ingenious black marketeers as they game the international system. Follow the steep rise and fall of stock prices of companies with unseemly connections to Indonesia’s former dictator. See for yourself what rainfall has to do with witch killings in Tanzania—and more. Join us for a lively discussion with Raymond Fisman, who along with co-author Miguel, uses economics to get inside the heads of these gangsters, and propose solutions that can make a difference to the world’s poor, including cash infusions to defuse violence in times of drought and steering the World Bank away from aid programs most susceptible to corruption.

U.S. Woes Undermine Region's Recent Strides (Chicago Tribune)

2008-10-08T16:30:00-04:00

The Chicago Tribune quotes CGD senior fellow Liliana Rojas-Suarez on the impact of the financial crisis on Latin America.

A Master Plan for China to Bail Out America (Financial Times)

2008-10-07T16:45:00-04:00

Arvind Subramanian authors an ironic Financial Times op-ed laying out a plan for China to rescue US banks.

CGD Development Update: Experts Urge IMF to Include Developing Countries in Re-Write of Financial Rules

2008-10-07T11:45:00-04:00

CGD Development Update: Development Impacts of the U.S. Financial Crisis

2008-10-07T11:15:00-04:00