Publications

October 2012
Teaching Note

Angola and the Resource Curse (TN)

By: Aldo Musacchio, Eric Werker and Ian Cornell

Keywords: Resource Management; African History; Angola; Dutch Disease; Least Developed Countries; History; Resource Allocation; Developing Countries and Economies; Angola

2012
Article

Do Voters Demand Responsive Governments? Evidence from Indian Disaster Relief

By: Shawn Cole, Andrew Healy and Eric Werker

Using rainfall, public relief, and election data from India, we examine how governments respond to adverse shocks and how voters react to these responses. The data show that voters punish the incumbent party for weather events beyond its control. However, fewer voters... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; System Shocks; Natural Disasters; Policy; Motivation and Incentives; Public Opinion; India

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January 2009 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Barack Obama and the Bush Tax Cuts (A)

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Eric D. Werker

As his inauguration approached, President-elect Obama faced a financial sector meltdown, a costly bailout, and massive government deficits. With the economy in recession, interest rates near zero, and joblessness on the rise, Obama needed to decide whether, and how... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Policy; Government Administration; Taxation; United States

August 2015
Case

Hong Kong: The Pursuit of Freedom

By: Eric D. Werker and Michael K. H. Law

At the half-anniversary of the pro-democracy civil disobedience movement “Occupy Central with Love and Peace” on March 28, 2015, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was contemplating the future direction of Hong Kong. Did Hong Kong need universal suffrage, or were its... View Details

November 2, 2012
Editorial

Natural Disasters Hurt Incumbents

By: Shawn A. Cole, Andrew Healy and Eric Werker

Keywords: Election Outcomes; Natural Disasters; Political Elections

2006
Working Paper

Male Circumcision and AIDS: The Macroeconomic Impact of a Health Crisis

By: Amrita Ahuja, Brian Wendell and Eric D. Werker

Theories abound on the potential macroeconomic impact of AIDS in Africa, yet there have been surprisingly few empirical studies to test the mixed theoretical predictions. In this paper, we examine the impact of the AIDS epidemic on African nations through 2005 using... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Health Disorders; Welfare or Wellbeing; Poverty; Research; Education; Nutrition; Risk Management; Africa

October 2013
Article

The Costs of Favoritism: Is Politically-Driven Aid Less Effective?

By: Axel Dreher, Stephan Klasen, James Vreeland and Eric Werker

As is now well documented, aid is given for both political as well as economic reasons. The conventional wisdom is that politically motivated aid is less effective in promoting developmental objectives. We examine the ex-post performance ratings of World Bank projects... View Details

Keywords: World Bank; Aid Effectiveness; Political Influence; United Nations Security Council; International Finance; Prejudice and Bias; Outcome or Result; Projects; Government and Politics; Power and Influence

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April 2007 (Revised July 2007)
Supplement

Aid, Debt Relief, and Trade: An Agenda for Fighting World Poverty (B)

By: Laura Alfaro, Eric D. Werker and Renee Kim

Keywords: Money; Borrowing and Debt; Trade; Poverty

February 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Case

ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Sarah Nam, Sisi Pan and Eric Werker

During the summer of 2014, Alan Knight, general manager of corporate responsibility at the integrated steel and mining company ArcelorMittal, observed the unfolding of an Ebola epidemic in Liberia and other countries in West Africa with great concern. On the one hand... View Details

15 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 15

Publications August 2013 Economic Development and Cultural Change The Costs of Favoritism: Is Politically-Driven Aid Less Effective?" By: Dreher, Axel, Stephan Klasen, James Raymond Vreeland, and Eric View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2013
Chapter

Assessing Potential Carbon Revenues from Reduced Forest Cover Loss in Liberia

By: Jessica Donovan, Keith Lawrence, Christopher Neyor, Eduard Niesten and Eric Werker

We conducted an analysis that explores the merits of a low-carbon development strategy for Liberia. This chapter describes both our cost-benefit analysis initiative and a plausible policy process for Liberia. We proposed a simple approach that models the costs and... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Revenue; Liberia; Deforestation; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Liberia

December 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

The World Food Programme during the Global Food Crisis (A)

By: Anette Mikes, Peter Tufano, Eric D. Werker and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

Rising food prices threatened an unprecedented number of people around the world with malnutrition or starvation in 2008. The new Executive Director of the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP)—the world's largest food relief agency—must not only address this... View Details

Keywords: Food; Globalized Firms and Management; Nutrition; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Nonprofit Organizations; Welfare

May 2009
Supplement

The World Food Programme during the Global Food Crisis (B)

By: Anette Mikes, Peter Tufano, Eric D. Werker and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

Keywords: Crisis Management; Food; Non-Governmental Organizations