Resources for the Future (RFF) currently has openings for several postdoctoral researchers. RFF’s Postdoctoral Program in Natural Resources and the Environment promotes research and policy analysis in natural resources, energy and the environment. The program is designed to provide unique opportunities for postdoctoral fellows to contribute to projects underway, pursue new lines of inquiry, and participate with RFF fellows and senior fellows in engaging fully with policymakers in Washington, DC.
ABOUT RFF: RFF is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution focused on independent economic and quantitative policy analysis in the fields of environment, energy and climate, and natural resources (http://www.rff.org). RFF is committed to scholarly excellence and policy application and offers an outstanding environment for academic publication and high-level communication of research to policy audiences.
JOB DESCRIPTION: Five positions are available:
– Resilience in coastal communities to repeated hurricanes. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation (http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1331399&HistoricalAwards=false) and in addition to working with RFF researchers, the postdoc may have opportunities to collaborate with other researchers on the grant at Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, George Mason University, and the University of Maryland’s National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC). Depending on expertise and interests, the postdoc may work on (i) agent-based modeling of land and housing markets; (ii) integration of the agent-based model with other team members’ models of storm surge, wind damages and hurricane mitigation choices; (iii) model-based policy analyses of options to alter land use to promote resilience and/or (iv) an empirical investigation of homeowner and business investments in hurricane mitigation options. The position requires strong skills in mathematical programming, including experience with MatLab; expertise in working with spatial data, GIS software, Stata and R; and a demonstrated interest in coastal issues, including topics related to land use and development in coastal areas, extreme weather events, and climate adaptation. In addition, some knowledge and experience with agent-based models is desirable. Candidates should have recently completed a Ph.D. in economics, decision sciences, geography, urban planning, environmental engineering or a related discipline.
– Forest carbon tracking. Funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the University of Maryland’s National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), this project focuses on using satellite and other remote sensing data to target and evaluate forest conservation/REDD+ policies in Latin America. The postdoc’s main responsibility will be helping to conduct quasi-experimental evaluations of forest conservation policy using remote sensing data. The postdoc will also help refine and disseminate computational web-based decision tools for forest conservation. Candidates should have strong econometrics skills; excellent written communication skills; a demonstrated interest in forest conservation policy, preferably evaluation and/or targeting of such policies; and at least some familiarity with remote sensing, spatial data, and geographic information systems. In addition, Spanish language skills and computer programming (e.g., Matlab, C++, Python) are desirable.
– Ecosystem service valuation and conservation. This position centers on empirical and econometrically focused work on several ecosystem service valuation projects, including global meta-analysis of forest valuation; stated preference research to value ecosystems in the United States; and new research collaboration between RFF and the Environment for Development Centers (EfD) in Chile, Costa Rica, China, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. The postdoc will participate in all aspects of research, including data collection and analysis, development and estimation of econometric models, and design and organization of workshops. The position requires solid training and skills in applied econometrics as well as experience in Stata and Matlab (or R or GAUSS). Experience with spatial data and GIS is a plus. Candidates should have recently completed a Ph.D. in economics, agricultural and resource economics, or a related field.
– Energy and water modeling of Arizona and the Southwest. This project will design and build an energy flow model of Arizona and surrounding western states. The post doc will lead this project, working at RFF under the leadership of scholars at RFF and Arizona State University (ASU). Funds for occasional travel to ASU will be provided. Principal duties and responsibilities include design and implementation of an energy system model (adaptation of existing models is a possible approach), an algorithm for integration of the energy flow model with a general equilibrium model (integration with an existing computable general equilibrium (CGE) model at RFF or other institutions is a possible approach), a plan for the acquisition and maintenance of raw data inputs, and execution of model simulations as part of a policy or research driven collaboration with scholars at RFF and ASU. The project also requires full documentation of the model and a template for reporting model results. Collaboration in preparation of working papers, journal articles and other written materials is also expected. Candidates must have a strong background in economics and economic modeling. Useful specialized skills could include familiarity with general equilibrium theory, mixed complementary programing, operations research and/or optimization, and energy sector and regulatory knowledge. Programming experience in MATLAB or GAMS is highly relevant and experience with Python, R, Stata, SAS or Analytica is useful.
– Uncertainty quantification for the carbon cycle and policy implications. This project centers on improving the quantification of climate uncertainty to support uncertainty propagation in integrated assessment models. The postdoc will work with RFF fellows to identify the major uncertainties in the carbon cycle, including dynamics of carbon transfers; design an elicitation protocol to enable domain experts to quantify the relevant uncertainties; conduct elicitations; project the uncertainties onto parameters of a carbon cycle model; and draw policy implications. The postdoc will also promote deeper awareness of climate science at RFF by designing a seminar series inviting climate science experts to RFF. The candidate must have a strong background in carbon cycle modeling, high dimensional dependence modeling and policy aspects of climate change.
JOB QUALIFICATIONS: All candidates for the above positions should have (i) a PhD completed prior to beginning the postdoc, (ii) excellent written communication skills, (iii) enthusiasm for interdisciplinary research, as well as interest and ability to work with researchers from multiple disciplines, and (iv) ability and desire to collaborate with a team of RFF Research Fellows and Research Assistants.
FURTHER INFORMATION: All positions are for a one-year appointment beginning in fall 2015 and may be renewable for a second year upon satisfactory performance and funding availability. The position provides some support for independent research, including publishing papers from a completed dissertation. RFF offers a competitive salary and employee benefits.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Review of applications will begin August 31, 2015 and continue until the positions are closed. Application materials must be in PDF format and include a cover letter (indicating the position/s you are applying for), CV, transcript, and three letters of reference. All applicants should use the online application process at http://www.rff.org/jobs to submit the cover letter, CV and transcript. For letters of reference, please include candidate name in subject line and email them to . Should you experience any difficulty in applying online, please email or call Mara Parrish at (202) 328-55053.
RFF is an equal opportunity employers. Women, minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.
Author Archives: Isleide Zissimos
Trade Liberalization and Inequality
The distributional implications of trade liberalization have long been of central interest to economists. That may be why the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem is probably trade theory’s best known result. For those new to trade it demonstrates that, as a result of an increase in the relative price of a good, factors used intensively in its production enjoy a real increase in their return whereas those not used intensively suffer a real decline. Since the 1980s, trade liberalization between the developed world and developing Asia and Latin America, coupled with an increase in inequality in the developed world over the same timeframe, have revived interest in the role that trade plays in driving inequality.
The first wave of the literature focused on developed countries and the increase in inequality between high-skilled and low skilled labor. Such an increase is in line with the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem if there is trade liberalization and developed countries are relatively well endowed with high skilled labor. The consensus was that, while trade liberalization was partially responsible for the increase in inequality, technological change played a greater role. Some argued that trade liberalization was itself responsible for labor-saving technological change, providing a greater indirect role for trade liberalization in driving inequality.
The second wave switched focus to developing countries. Here the results have been less clear-cut. First, there has been an increase in inequality which runs counter to the prediction of the Stolpher-Samuelson Theorem if the developing world is abundant in low-skilled labor. Moreover labor market regulations are reckoned to be more stringent in the developing than the developed world, limiting labor mobility between sectors which violates a central assumption in the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem. There appears to be some evidence that trade liberalization and technological change may have had opposite effects on inequality, with the positive technological change effects being dominant. The consensus appears to be that, although skilled-biased technological change may have played a greater role in increasing the skill premium, technological change was itself an endogenous response to more openness so that globalization was indirectly responsible for the increase in the skill premium. Following the current trend in economics, the way forward seems to lie in more detailed models and datasets that facilitate careful examinations of the precise impulses that hit workers and how they responded.
Dix-Carneiro, R., (2014); “Trade Liberalization and Labor Market Dynamics.” Econometrica, 82(3): 825-885. [Working paper version]
Feenstra, R.C. and G.H. Hanson, (2003); “Global Production Sharing and Rising Inequality: A Survey of Trade and Wages.” Published in Handbook of International Trade, vol. 1, ed. E. K. Choi and J. Harrigan. Malden, Mass: Blackwell, 146–85.
Goldberg, P.K., and N. Pavcnik (2007); “Distributional Effects of Globalization in Developing Countries.” Journal of Economic Literature 45: 39-82. [Working paper version]
Harrison, A.E., and G.H. Hanson, (1999); “Who Gains from Trade Reform? Some Remaining Puzzles.” Journal of Development Economics, 59(1): 125–54.
Krugman, P.R., (2000); “Technology, Trade and Factor Prices.” Journal of International Economics, 50(1): 51-71.
Leamer, E.E., (2000);“What’s the use of factor contents?”Journal of International Economics, 50(1): 17-49.
McCaig, B., (2011); “Exporting Out of Poverty: Provincial Poverty in Vietnam and US Market Access.” Journal of International Economics, 85(1): 102-113. [Working paper version]
Pavcnik, N., (2003); “What Explains Skill Upgrading in Less Developed Countries?” Journal of Development Economics, 71(2): 311–28. [Working paper version]
Porto G.G., (2006); “Using Survey Data to Assess the Distributional Effects of Trade Policy.” Journal of International Economics, 70(1): 140–60. [Working paper version]
Robertson, Raymond. 2004. “Relative Prices and Wage Inequality: Evidence from Mexico.” Journal of International Economics, 64(2): 387–409. [Working paper version]
Wood, A., (1995); “How Trade Hurt Unskilled Workers.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(3): 57–80.
Call for papers: 6th International conference “Economics of Global Interactions”
The University of Bari “Aldo Moro” and the NHH Norwegian School of Economics (Bergen, Norway) are jointly organizing the 6th edition of the conference on the “Economics of Global Interactions”. UNIDO, United Nation Industrial Development Organization, is partner of the conference.
The event will provide scholars with the opportunity to discuss their recent contributions in the following areas:
– Theoretical and empirical aspects of International Trade;
– Determinants and effects of International Migration and FDI;
– Institutions and Economic Development;
– Globalization, sustainability and the environment;
– Industrialization in developing countries
Both theoretical and empirical papers are welcome. A discussant will be assigned to each paper presented at the conference.
The guest lectures will be delivered by Prof. Hillel Rapoport (Paris School of Economics, France) and Prof. Ragnar Torvik (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway).
Submission guidelines and timetable
Submissions of papers or extended abstracts are expected by June 7th, 2015, to the following address:
Decisions will be communicated by June 30th, 2015. The full paper is expected by the end of July.
For more information, please visit
http://www.uniba.it/ricerca/dipartimenti/dse/e.g.i/4th-international-conference
Exploratory research grants
The Centre for Economic Policy Research and the Department for International Development, through their private enterprise development in low-income countries initiative, invite applications for their exploratory research grants. These enable researchers to explore new approaches to the study of firms in low-income countries and develop new or existing sources of data on these firms. Research may relate to private enterprises of all sizes and should produce results that will be useful for policy-making. Proposals should address the following themes:
•modelling market frictions in low-income countries using newly available data;
•understanding how constraints interact using micro-founded macro models;
•the dynamics of SMEs – informality and entrepreneurship;
•the role of export-oriented industries in driving growth.
Proposals that address fragile and conflict-affected states, gender, and climate, environment and social compliance are particularly encouraged.
Only individuals, or teams with an individual representative, may apply.
Grants are worth between £10,000 and £35,000 over one year.
Closing date 30 Jul 15 (Forecast)
Policy-oriented research on Korea grants
The Korea Foundation invites applications for its policy-oriented research on Korea grants. These support in-depth analyses and policy recommendations on Korea, including political, social and economic issues. Projects are required to hold at least one related event, such as a workshop or conference for dissemination of the research results. Public policy-oriented research institutes are eligible to apply. Priority is given to proposals with Korea-based collaborative partners.
Personnel expenses and other costs directly related to the research activities are subsidised.
The foundation will support indirect costs amounting to 10 per cent or less of the total grant amount. While the foundation’s grant period is normally one year, projects lasting up to three years may be considered.
Closing date 12 Jun 15
Travel grants – Herrenhausen symposium
The Volkswagen Foundation invites applications for its travel grants to the Herrenhausen symposium. These support researchers to attend the symposium to be held from 20 to 21 November 2015 in Hannover, Germany. The symposium will address topics like long-term processes of socio-economic developments.
Applicants are required to present their project in a three minute “Lightning Talk” as well as on a poster.
30 grants are available to cover symposium attendance, accommodation and travel expenses.
Closing date 10 Aug 15
Social Networks and Development Outcomes
In countries where property rights and the rule of law are poorly enforced, and markets fail or are missing, social networks play a fundamental role. Social connections solve information and commitment problems, which enable individuals to have access to credit and insurance or employers to find employees better suited for the jobs that become available.
But showing that the social networks improve the economic outcomes of their members is a challenge. Recently, richer datasets and new models started to provide greater precision in distinguishing social forces, such as diffusion of information, norms, and peer pressure and different ways that they affect economic decisions. These social forces all depend in different ways on the network structure.
Regarding the analysis of the network structures themselves, a promising research area is the study of small communities in developing countries. They tend to be relatively closed, thus yielding a holistic view of the patterns of interaction and an unusual degree of control in field experiments. The diffusion of microfinance, education, and vaccination are examples of research topics that have been explored recently in field experiments. But many questions are still unanswered. For example, the mechanism through which the network structure affects decisions on migration, social mobility, income inequality, and job allocation are not fully understood and could benefit from further investigation.
Alatas, Vivi, Abhijit Banerjee, Arun G. Chandrasekhar, Rema Hanna, and Benjamin A. Olken (2012) “Network Structure and the Aggregation of Information: Theory and Evidence from Indonesia.” NBER Working Paper 18351[Working paper version]
Banerjee, Abhijit, Arun G. Chandrasekhar, Esther Duflo, and Matthew O. Jackson (2013) “The Diffusion of Microfinance.” Science 341(6144).
Beaman, Lori (2012) “Social Networks and the Dynamics of Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Refugees Resettled in the U.S.” Review of Economic Studies, 79(1): 128–61.[Working paper version]
Bloch, Francis, Garance Genicot, and Debraj Ray (2008) “Informal Insurance in Social Networks.” Journal of Economic Theory, 143(1): 36–58.[Working paper version]
Dhillon, Amrita, Vegard Iversen, and Gaute Torsvik (2013) “Employee referral, social proximity and worker discipline: Theory and evidence from India.” CESifo Working Paper 4309.
Fafchamps, Marcel, and Susan Lund (2003) “Risk Sharing Networks in Rural Philippines.” Journal of Development Economics 71(2): 261–87.[Working paper version]
Jackson, Matthew O. (2014) “Networks in the Understanding of Economic Behaviors.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28(4): 3-22.
Karlan, Dean, Markus Mobius, Tanya Rosenblat, and Adam Szeidl (2009) “Trust and Social Collateral.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(3): 1307–61.[Working paper version]
McKenzie, David, and Hillel Rapoport (2007) “Network Effects and the Dynamics of Migration and Inequality: Theory and Evidence from Mexico.” Journal of Development Economics, 84(1): 1–24.[Working paper version]
McKenzie, David, and Hillel Rapoport (2010) “Self-Selection Patterns in Mexico–U.S. Migration:The Role of Migration Networks.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(4): 811–21.
McMillan, John, and Christopher Woodruff (1999) “Interfirm Relationships and Informal Credit in Vietnam.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(4): 1285–1320.[Working paper version]
Munshi, Kaivan. 2003. “Networks in the Modern Economy: Mexican Migrants in the U.S. Labor Market.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(2): 549–97.[Working paper version]
Munshi, Kaivan. 2014. “Community Networks and the Process of Development.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28(4): 49-76.
XIII ELSNIT Annual Conference Trade Facilitation Kiel, Germany, October 23-24, 2015
This year the Annual Conference of ELSNIT (Euro-Latin Study Network on Integration and Trade) will focus on trade facilitation. Papers examining the organization and operation of customs and other border agencies as well as specific trade facilitation initiatives and their impact along the economic and institutional dimensions are eligible for submission.
- The deadline for submissions is May 15, 2015.
- The final selection of papers will be made by June 10, 2015 by the network coordinators.
- The final versions of the papers must be delivered by September 20, 2015.
- The selected papers will be presented along invited contributions at the XIII Annual ELSNIT Conference that will be hosted by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, in Kiel, Germany on October 23 -24, 2015
Socialdemokraterna – Social Democratic Party in Sweden, SE
The Social Democratic Party in Sweden invites applications for its international cooperation grants, under the Tage Erlander Foundation. These enable international scholars to study Swedish social state of affairs in Sweden, and Swedish scholars to study social state of affairs in a developing country. Studies should preferably be conducted in the areas of solidarity, equality, peace and freedom.
Applications from young scholars are especially encouraged. Preference is given to applicants from a developing country. Swedish applicants must conduct their studies in a developing country.
Closing date 15 Apr 15
ETSG 2015 PARIS 17TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 10-12 SEPTEMBER 2015 UNIVERSITÉ PARIS 1 PANTHÉON-SORBONNE
The deadline to submit an abstract for possible presentation at the next ETSG Conference is FRIDAY MAY 01, 2015. The Seventeenth Annual Conference of the ETSG will take place in Paris (France) on 10-12 September 2015.
For more information go to: http://www.etsg.org/conferences/