Curriculum Vitae of Jan Willem Gunning

Full Name: Jan Willem Gunning

O¢ ce: VU University Amsterdam

FEWEB, 7A38
De Boelelaan 1105
1081 HV Amsterdam
The Netherlands

telephone +31 20 598 6141 (direct)

+31 20 598 6140 (secretariat)
fax +31 20 598 6004 (secretariat)
e-mail j.w.gunning@vu.nl

Born: Breda, The Netherlands, January 7, 1949

Nationality: Dutch

Education

DPhil at Nu¢ eld College, University of Oxford, 1978-79. Thesis on applied general equilibrium
modelling: Income Distribution in Models for Developing Countries: Kenya and Tanzania,
1979. Supervisors: James Mirrlees (Nobel Prize 1996) and Alan Brown.

University of Groningen, The Netherlands, 1967-72, BSc and MSc in econometrics, both cum
laude.

Davidson College (one of the top-10 liberal arts colleges in the US), special student (Nederland-
Amerika Instituut) 1966-67; Richardson scholarship and Fulbright grant; courses in psychology,
sociology, history and economics.

Career

2011-present member of the Executive Board (General Secretary), Royal Netherlands Academy
of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

1993-present Professor of Development Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business Ad-

ministration (FEWEB), VU University Amsterdam.

2000-2013 Director, Amsterdam Institute for International Development (AIID), research net-
work of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the VU University Amsterdam. AIID is
mainly active in impact evaluation related to health, insurance, civil society and development
NGOs.
2002-2008 Vice Dean and Director of Research, FEWEB, VU University Amsterdam.

1998-2000 Professor in Economics, University of Oxford;1 Director, Centre for the Study of
African Economies (designated research centre of the Economic and Social Research Council,
ESRC); and visiting Professorial Fellow, St. Antony’s College.
1
Formally visiting professor since Oxford had no other way of making a …xed-term appointment.

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 1987-1993 Professor of Economics (bijzonder hoogleraar ), in particular international trade and
development economics, VU University Amsterdam.

1986-1993 Director, Economic and Social Institute, VU University Amsterdam (ESI-VU).

1982-1986 Head of Economic Research, ESI-VU.

1980-1981 Research fellow, Center for Mathematical Economics and Econometrics, Université
Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels.

1978-1979 DPhil student, Nu¢ eld College, Oxford; taught development economics at Univer-
sity College, London (UCL); consultant to the World Bank.

1973-1978 Sta¤ member of the World Bank, Washington, DC, initially as Young Professional
(YP); economist in the Central Projects Sta¤ 1973, Eastern Africa Region 1974, Economic
Analysis and Projections Department 1974-78.

1970-1973 University of Groningen, The Netherlands, research and teaching assistant in the
economics department 1970-72, lecturer in the physics department 1973.

Research

current research: methodology of impact evaluation; evaluation of development NGOs; micro-

insurance in developing countries.

previous research: microeconomic analysis of economic growth under risk, impact evaluation
of budget support and of water and sanitation programs, aid conditionality, economic perfor-
mance in Africa, the microeconomics of manufacturing …rms, trade and exchange rate policy,
economic reform in heavily regulated economies, the impact of trade shocks, the economics of
rationing, general equilibrium modelling.

regional expertise: Africa.

Recent Teaching

BA/BSc: International Trade, Growth and Development (at Amsterdam University College).
MSc: Microeconomics for Development (at the VU; also for UvA students).
MSc: Globalisation, Growth and Development (at the VU; also for UvA students).
MPhil: Current Issues in Development Economics (at the Tinbergen Institute).

Honorary Doctorate

docteur honoris causa, University of Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand I, France, 2007, awarded

for ‘leading role in economic research on Africa . . . building bridges between development
economics and mainstream economics . . . critical work on the role and e¤ectiveness of aid and
. . . innovative research on the microeconomic e¤ects of risk.’

Academy Memberships

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2008.

Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities, 2011.

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PhD Supervision

supervisor (promotor ) of 31 PhD students, representing 16 nationalities.

27 theses completed: 18 at the VU, 6 at Oxford, 2 at the University of Amsterdam, and 1 at

Wageningen; 4 ongoing.

prize winning dissertations:

Wendy Janssens, Social Capital and Cooperation: an Impact Evaluation of a Women’s Empowerment
Programme in Rural India, 2007; awarded the annual World Bank-AIID prize for the best PhD thesis
on development at a Dutch university; also the …rst dissertation to win the annual Societal Impact
Award of the VU University Amsterdam.
Robert Sparrow, Health, Education and Economic Crisis: Protecting the Poor in Indonesia, 2006;
awarded the medal of the Royal Netherlands Economic Society for the best PhD thesis in economics
at a Dutch university in 2005 or 2006.
Marleen Dekker, Risk, Resettlement and Relations: Social Security in Rural Zimbabwe, 2004; awarded
the annual World Bank-AIID prize for the best PhD thesis on development at a Dutch university.

Selected Editorial Positions

member, editorial board, World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, 2001-2009.
member, editorial board, Revue d’Économie du Développement, Presses Universitaires de
France, 1994-.
co-founder and managing editor, Journal of African Economies, Oxford University Press,
1991-2002.

Other Professional Activities

International

leader or member of the AIID teams conducting impact evaluation studies for the East African
NGO Twaweza, 2011-; and for the Evaluation Department (IOB) of the Netherlands Ministry
of Foreign A¤airs: primary education in Zambia, 2006-08; water and sanitation in Tanzania,
2006-07, in Yemen 2007-08, in Egypt, 2007-2012, and in Mozambique, 2009-; budget support
in Zambia, 2009-2011; Netherlands development NGOs, synthesis study, 2012-.

Government O¢ ce for Science, London, member of the lead expert group, Foresight Project
on Disaster Preparedness, 2012.
International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva, Scienti…c Committee of the Microinsurance
Innovation Facility, member since 2008.
European Development Research Network (EUDN): co-founder, 2000, chair, 2000-04, vice
chair, 2004-07.
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington, DC: invited by the Board of the IMF to
conduct (with three colleagues at Harvard, Oxford and Yale) the …rst ever external evaluation
of the Fund; this ‘group of independent persons’ investigated the evidence on the impact
of IMF-supported ‘structural adjustment programmes’ in developing countries, 1997-98; its
critical report became very in‡uential.

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African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Nairobi (a remarkably successful interna-
tional institution for building African research capacity): resource person (two weeks per year),
1994-2004; chair of group AT (trade policy, political economy and microeconomics), 2000-04;
member, steering committee, AERC research programme on The Political Economy of Eco-
nomic Growth in Africa, 1960-2000, 1999-2007; member, committee on the collaborative PhD
programme, 1998-99; member, steering committee, AERC research programme on Regional
Integration and Trade Liberalization, 1994-98.
Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), University of Oxford: helped Paul Collier
to found the Centre (now the leading research institute in its …eld), 1987-88; co-director of a
large number of CSAE research projects, 1987-98; succeeded Collier as the Centre’s director,
1998.

Centre d’Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International (CERDI), University of

Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand I: visiting professor (one week each year for 25 years), 1987-2011;
through CERDI involved in the Fondation pour les Études et Recherches sur le Développement
International (FERDI), since 2010.
Department for International Development (DfID), London: Economic and Social Committee
on Research, member, 1998-2000.
team leader, Zimbabwe study, Regional Program on Enterprise Development (RPED): multi-
round surveys of manufacturing …rms, conducted by the VU University Amsterdam and the
University of Zimbabwe, 1992-95; member of the Industrial Surveys in Africa (ISA) group,
12 researchers from 8 countries who used the RPED datasets to analyze the economics of
industrial performance in Africa, 1997-2000.

co-director, study on Trade Shocks in Developing Countries (involving researchers in 23 coun-

tries), 1992-96.
conducted numerous consultancies for international institutions (EU, ILO, IMF, UN, UNIDO,
World Bank) and bilateral donor agencies (Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden, United King-
dom).

National

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW): Humanities and Social Sciences
Division, member of the board, since 2011; Behavioural and Social Sciences Section, chair
2010-2012; International Policy Committee, member 2009-2012; Education Prize Committee
(Social Sciences), chair 2011.

National Research Foundation (NWO): chair of the interdisciplinary Veni committee, 2010;
chair of the WOTRO committee on poverty research, 2006; programme leader (with Ton Dietz,
University of Amsterdam) ‘The Cultural Economy of Migrant Communities at Home and
Abroad’, 2001-06; programme leader of two NWO ‘Environment and Economics’programmes,
in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam and Wageningen University, 2002-06.

National Advisory Council on Development Cooperation (NAR): member 1987-97.

Permanent Committee for Development Cooperation (COS), Advisory Council for Interna-
tional A¤airs (AIV): member 1997-2001.

Fulbright Center (Netherlands America Commission for Educational Exchange): member of

the board, since 2013.

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 Tinbergen Institute (the joint research institute and graduate school in economics of the Eras-
mus University Rotterdam, University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam): mem-
ber of the Board of Directors, 1996-98; member of the Supervisory Board 2002-08; member of
the Admissions Board for MPhil and PhD students, 2004-08.

Amsterdam Institute for International Development: co-founder (with Jacques van der Gaag
of the University of Amsterdam), 1999-2000; board member representing the VU, since 2013.

African Studies Centre, Leiden: Academic Advisory Council, member since 2013.

Fellowships

member, EUDN, since 2000.

research associate, CSAE, University of Oxford, since 1990.
research associate, CERDI, University of Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand I, since 1987.
research fellow, Tinbergen Institute, since 1987.
senior fellow, FERDI, since 2011.

Selected Publications

‘Evaluation of Development Programs: Randomized Controlled Trials or Regressions?’, World

Bank Economic Review, forthcoming (with Chris Elbers).
‘Growth and Risk: Methodology and Micro Evidence’, World Bank Economic Review, vol.
21, 2007, pp. 1-20 (with Chris Elbers and Bill Kinsey).

‘Inventories and Risk in African Manufacturing’, Economic Journal, vol. 110, 2000, pp. 861-
893 (with Marcel Fafchamps and Remco Oostendorp).
Trade Shocks in Developing Countries, 2 volumes, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999
(with Paul Collier and associates).

‘Explaining African Economic Performance’, Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 37, 1999,
pp. 64-111 (with Paul Collier).2

‘The IMF’s Role in Structural Adjustment’, Economic Journal, vol. 109, 1999, pp. F634-651
(with Paul Collier).

‘Applied General Equilibrium Models for Policy Analysis’, in: J. Behrman and T.N. Srinivasan
(eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, vol. 3A, Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1995, pp.
2025-2107 (with Michiel Keyzer).

‘Aid and Exchange Rate Adjustment in African Trade Liberalisations’, Economic Journal, vol.
102, 1992, pp. 925-939 (with Paul Collier).

Controlled Open Economies: a Neoclassical Approach to Structuralism, Oxford: Oxford Uni-

versity Press (Clarendon Press), 1990 (with David Bevan and Paul Collier).

‘Rationing in an Open Economy: Fix-Price Equilibrium and Two-Gap Models’, European

Economic Review, vol. 23, 1983, pp. 71-98.

2
One of the most cited papers in economics (top 0.1%).

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Volunteer Service

Plan International (an NGO for child-centered community development; 2007 budget $ 600
million)

International Board, member 2000-06.

Program Audit and Evaluation Committee, member 2001-03, chair 2003-06.
Financial Audit Committee, member (and occasionally acting chair) 2001-04.
Nominating Committee, member 2001-05.
Delegate of The Netherlands in the Members Assembly, 2007.

Plan Nederland (at that time the second largest charity in The Netherlands; 2007 budget $ 85
million)

National Board, member 2000-03, chair 2003-07.

Board positions in cultural and historical organisations

Stichting Huis te Manpad, 2006-, chair 2007-.

Directie der Oostersche Handel en Reederijen (founded 1689), 1997-, chair 2006-.
Samenwerkende Maritieme Fondsen, 2006-.
Stichting Leerstoel Zeegeschiedenis, 2010-.
Raad van Advies Leerstoel Zeegeschiedenis, 2010-.
Stichting Het Reveil Archief, treasurer 1984-94, chair 1994-2004.
Stichting Venster op de Vecht, 2008-12.
Openbare Bibliotheek Breukelen, 1994-98.
Stichting W.D. Gunning, chair and secretary, 1999-.

Amnesty International

active member in the UK, Belgium and The Netherlands, 1978-86.

in the UK member of the Uganda Coordinating Committee, 1978-79.

Leiden University

appointment committee, chair in maritime history, member 2009-10.

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