Experiments in Developing Countries: Summer School 2016, Groningen

10/02/2016

Guest Lecturer: Dr Michael Grimm

Michael Grimm is Professor of Development Economics at the University of Passau. He is also an affiliated Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam and is a Research Professor at the German Institute of Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin. He holds an MA in Economics from Frankfurt University and an MA in Population Economics and PhD in Development Economics both from Sciences-Po Paris. His research covers problems related to poverty and growth such as education, health and informal labor markets including the evaluation of policy interventions in these domains. He recently directed a Multi-Donor Trust Fund project on informal entrepreneurship and was involved in a large-scale evaluation of access-to-energy interventions in Burkina Faso, Indonesia and Rwanda for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Currently, he is coordinating a field experiment on the effects of formal health insurance on risk sharing networks and entrepreneurial investment in Burkina Faso.

10/02/2016

Last year's experience:

The summer school was an evolving experience in whole with about 30 students coming together from different parts of the world, all with complementary future goals. Interacting and learning from professors like Robert Lensink and Erwin Bulte, who are well-known and established in their fields was a great opportunity. The dinners and meetings organised post the lectures made every student feel really welcomed and a part of something special

I would definitely recommend the summer school to those who are passionate about development economics or behavioral economics and have a specific interest in conducting experiments.

Rangala Kalia, MA student at Shiv Nadar University, India. Participant of the 2015 summer school

10/02/2016

Guest Lecturer: Dr Xavier Giné - World Bank

Giné works at the World Bank in Washington DC and is a lead economist in the Finance and Private Sector Development Team of the Development Research Group. In his research, he is investigating "the macroeconomic effects of a credit liberalization; the relationship between formal and informal sources of credit in rural credit markets; indigenous interlinked credit contracts in the fishing industry and the impact of microfinance services such as business training and financial literacy, microinsurance and microsavings." (http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/people/xavier-gine)

03/02/2016

- - - Deadline Applications: 1 May - - -


Welcome!

This summer school will discuss the major aspects of experimental design in the context of development projects. Special attention will be given to microfinance projects. The aim is to provide a better understanding of the theory and practice of field experiments in developing countries. Students will learn how to design randomized experiments, quasi-experiments and so-called lab-in-the-field games. It will also be explained how to analyse the data and interpret the findings.

Time & Place: 2-9 July 2016, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Application Deadline: 1 May, 2016.

Target Group: Research Master/MPhil students, postgraduate
students (PhD students or Post Docs) and development economics practitioners with a graduate or post-graduate background in economics, business and/or social sciences.

Language of Instruction: English

For more Information:

- check: http://www.rug.nl/education/summer-winter-schools/summer_schools_2016/experiments-in-developing-countries/

- or e-mail: [email protected]

Until recently, empirical testing of the impact of development projects was extremely weak, and controversial. Most research on the impact of development projects suffered from severe methodological problems: almost none of the available empirical studies appropriately addressed problems related to…