Political Economy of African Development

[aecp]

Hello All!

Thanks to all who share and contribute here.

This is my first post here.

I am interested in a PhD focusing on Political Economy of African Development with a focus more on economic development and growth, democraticization and governance. I am not particularly keen on the conflict/civil war aspect of political economy of African development.

1. What programs, institutions in the US are ranked highest?

2. What professors are the leading thinkers and researchers in the field?

3. Would you recommend pursuing this via a Political Science Phd or an Economics PhD?

Thanks so much!

[balderdash]

1. What programs, institutions in the US are ranked highest?

This depends on the next two questions. Really there are so few Africanists that it's more like you find the schools with people that could supervise you then apply to a good mix of them.

2. What professors are the leading thinkers and researchers in the field?

I assume you're doing quantitative work, so Stanford and Yale are tops, each with multiple people in the area. Blattman just moved to Columbia, so that is now an option. UC Berkeley has a few people in that field, and of course Cornell has Nic van de Walle and MIT has Daniel Posner. If it's qualitative stuff you want, then Madison is tops, with Princeton, UCLA, Bloomington, and Stony Brook added to the others.

3. Would you recommend pursuing this via a Political Science Phd or an Economics PhD?

Depends on the research you want to do. I think CBlatts did a dual PhD in Poli Sci/Econ at Berkeley. Usually PS departments are willing to hire an Econ PhD if you do the right type of work, but there's certainly a small bias.

[aecp]

Thanks, balderdash and congrats on the Madison admit.

I diddn't know Blattman has moved to Columbia. Wow!

What do you think about Harvard's Political Economy & Government program?

Also I ultimately prefer a program that will enable me engage in research with an applied focus i.e. research that can be directly translated to policy.

[Helix]

What do you think about Harvard's Political Economy & Government program?

Also I ultimately prefer a program that will enable me engage in research with an applied focus i.e. research that can be directly translated to policy.

Harvard's PEG program is great for more applied stuff, but I think before you choose something like that you should have a very clear idea of exactly how much econ you want and what kind of position you're shooting for on the other side of your doctorate. PEG's cohorts are very small and admission is very competitive, and while you "get the best of both worlds" in some sense between government and econ, it involves you being shuttled between departments and schools during your tenure at Harvard, with residency in different departments at different times. In some ways this might be ideal for your research; in others, it might make it challenging for you to establish relationships with a broad array of professors who will help you land jobs in academia (on the other hand, if you want a policy-school or policy job, this could be totally fine). The PEG program, though, focuses a lot more on rigorous methods and theory (economic) than it does on any particular region, so if it's regionally-focused policy/governance you're after, I would say that you should at least consider other options. For folks at HKS, I would give Ryan Sheely a serious look; and maybe Calestous Juma if you're interested in *really* applied issues of policy related to development (e.g., technology and agriculture).

I agree with all of balderdash's recommendations, but I'd also say that you might want to check out Catherine Boone at UT-Austin if you're interested in applying to a broader group of schools.

Re: Blattman. He just announced that he's moving to Columbia on his blog. He did an MPA/ID at the Kennedy School (at Harvard) before doing a PhD in Econ at Berkeley--you might actually read some of his Q&A posts on his blog if you're trying to decide about programs ("how to get a PhD and still save the world" etc.) You should also consider whether you need a PhD to do the kind of research you're after, or if a master's would suffice if you're interested in a policy career.

[aecp]

Thanks again to balderdash and Helix.

I should add and I probably was remiss in not saying this earlier. My ultimate aim is not to work in academia but as a policy maker. I know it is almost a grave faux pas in these circles to say this and the popular positon is only get a PhD if you wish to be a professor and join the academy. However, I do think there is an incredible benefit to be gained from the thororugh academic preparation acquired during a doctorate program. This preparation , I believe can be of tremendous service to one in a policy making or governmental position.

Ideally, I want to use my doctorate research as the platform to engage in real-world policy changes/experimentation.

Helix, yes I am interested in "regionally-focused policy/governance"; the regional focus being Africa. I was thinking I could achieve this at HKS in conjunction with the Govt Dept and the Economics Dept, it seems you are of the opinion that I cannot do so? If so, why? What other options would you recommend other than UT-Austin?

Yes, I haven't been to Blattman's blog in a few weeks, I see he just posted his move on the 16th of February. With Blattman at Columbia and Macartan Humphrey's at Columbia and Kimuli Kasara (even though she is a relatively new professor), Columbia's Africa offerings seems to be gaining strength.

I was attracted to HKS becuase of the interdisciplinary nature of PEG and the presence of a lot of applied researchers and applied courses at HKS. I am also attracted to it because of Prof Bates (who resides in the Govt department). That notwithstanding, I am open to other choices, hence my initial question as to what are the top ranked scools in African political econmy of development.

Thanks again to all and let's please keep the dialogue continuing.

[Penelope Higgins]

Given your interests, Harvard should be at the top of your list, since Bates and Robinson both regularly work with students on these issues. Some of the folks Bates has trained in recent years include Humphreys and Weinstein. They also have two junior Africanists, Ichino and (starting this fall) McClendon so there will be lots of Africa faculty there.

On Columbia, Kasara has been there at least 5 years, so I wouldn't expect her to be around for too long given her publication record and the fact that tenure is looming. But Humphreys and Blattman make Columbia a very attractive place to be, and Humphreys had several students (Guy Grossman and Laura Paler) do very very well on the job market this year.

Princeton, with Lieberman, Widner, and others, should be worth a look. They have produced several strong Africa-focused students in recent years, including Riedl (now at Northwestern) and McClendon, who will be starting at Harvard in the fall.

[balderdash]

x

Agreed on Penelope's ideas. Two additional points, however:

First of all, my inclination is that most PhD programs won't be too interested in taking you on if you're not headed into academia. They want students who will land tenure-track jobs at elite schools, not ones who are going to "jump ship" and end up running an NGO. (This excludes the specialized PhDs, which are built for non-academic tracks.) Not necessarily fair, but understandable given their institutional interests.

Second, you should really think hard about getting a PhD if that's the route you want to take. You're much better off taking a few internships/doing an MPP/MPA/MA before trying to land an entry-level analyst position with whatever think tank or NGO. The time commitment of a PhD is prohibitive (and not worth the trade-off for the title), and the type of training the doctorate gives you doesn't translate well for non-academic work. If you want research skills, there are easier, quicker, and better-remunerated ways to get them.

These aren't hard-and-fast rules, obviously, but just make sure you've considered both fully before applying.

Edited February 24, 2012 by balderdash

[aecp]

Given your interests, Harvard should be at the top of your list, since Bates and Robinson both regularly work with students on these issues. Some of the folks Bates has trained in recent years include Humphreys and Weinstein. They also have two junior Africanists, Ichino and (starting this fall) McClendon so there will be lots of Africa faculty there.

Thanks for the info on McClendon, I was not aware of that. So Harvard seems to be getting stronger in their African coverage. My only concern is that Bates at 70 might retire soon. Is my fear unfounded?

On Columbia, Kasara has been there at least 5 years, so I wouldn't expect her to be around for too long given her publication record and the fact that tenure is looming. But Humphreys and Blattman make Columbia a very attractive place to be, and Humphreys had several students (Guy Grossman and Laura Paler) do very very well on the job market this year.

Yes, Columbia is increasingly attractive.

Princeton, with Lieberman, Widner, and others, should be worth a look. They have produced several strong Africa-focused students in recent years, including Riedl (now at Northwestern) and McClendon, who will be starting at Harvard in the fall.

Thank you for this information. I have considered Princeton because of Leonard Wantchekon who recently joined from NYU, but was not at all familiar with Prof Widner. She has done good work on constitutional design an area that interests me and also on institution building. She has been involved in Africa for over 25 years, it seems! Thanks for making me aware of her. I appreciate it.

Many thanks, Penelope!

[aecp]

Agreed on Penelope's ideas. Two additional points, however:

First of all, my inclination is that most PhD programs won't be too interested in taking you on if you're not headed into academia. They want students who will land tenure-track jobs at elite schools, not ones who are going to "jump ship" and end up running an NGO. (This excludes the specialized PhDs, which are built for non-academic tracks.) Not necessarily fair, but understandable given their institutional interests.

Second, you should really think hard about getting a PhD if that's the route you want to take. You're much better off taking a few internships/doing an MPP/MPA/MA before trying to land an entry-level analyst position with whatever think tank or NGO. The time commitment of a PhD is prohibitive (and not worth the trade-off for the title), and the type of training the doctorate gives you doesn't translate well for non-academic work. If you want research skills, there are easier, quicker, and better-remunerated ways to get them.

These aren't hard-and-fast rules, obviously, but just make sure you've considered both fully before applying.

Yes, balderdash, I know that there is a bias against PhD students who do not want to join the academy. It does concern me... si this bias also prevalen in Public Policy departments?

A PhD is a major sacrifice, I know ...this is a valid point, but I remain convicned it's the right path for me. I do not think I can get the necessary preparation through a MPP/MPA/MA program. Thank you though for yoru candor...i do need to contiue to consider these two valid points.

[puddle]

Just to add my two cents... you might want to be concerned with not how the department fits you (i.e. the professors you would like to work with) but also with how you fit the department (i.e. the professors who have openings for PhD students in your area in the coming year). It is sad to say but my impression is that PhD applicants interested in studying Africa have taken a bit of a beat-down in this and past years because many of the Africanists in top departments are already supervising a fair number of top students. If this is the case, there may be 1-3 spots open in your (and my) area and you have to ask yourself 1) if you are competitive for these spots and 2) if the cost of applying to a bunch of programmes is worth the benefit of being accepted.

Just to expand on this thought: if the number of spots is so small, you will probably want to apply to at least 6 universities in the top 15 and maybe a few more second tier schools in order to "secure" (obviously, we are all pretty in-secure) a spot. This process could cost you upwards of a thousand dollars (and really, the time and energy it takes to assemble applications should not be underestimated). At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself if a PhD is really what you need/want to succeed in the field. I know people in the field of African development who completed an MA in Economics or PEG and are now well placed in research positions with major international institutions and NGOs. For example, I have a friend with a great World Bank contract (note: let's not turn this into a WB beat-down) who is making good money, has spent the last 5 years globe-trotting, and who has just recently finished work on a major research project in Malawi... all with an MA.

On the note of pursuing just an MA: if you enter a 2 year funded program, you will receive two years of the same intensive training (same classes, same professors, same work load) as you would as a PhD student. After those two years, you will be able to leave the program and apply for jobs. Alternatively, if you decide at that time that you have a research question that MUST be answered in the form of a dissertation, you can apply for PhD programmes (or streamline into the PhD at your current university) and continue along the academic track.

One final point, you mention that you are interested in economic development/growth/governance/democratization. I think all of us (and your future PhD programme) would need to know more about your specific interests before we could point you towards a potential advisor. Some of my fellow grad-cafe-ers have mentioned Chris Blattman is going to Columbia (sad times for us future Yale-ies) but you mentioned that you are "not particularly keen on the conflict/civil war aspect of political economy of African development." Here are the titles of 3 of Blattman's most recent papers: Civil War, Gender and Reintegration in northern Uganda (2011), The Consequences of Child Soldiering (2010), Civil War (2010). So while Blattman is an amazing scholar, it seems like your research interests are taking you in another direction. My suggestion is that you look first at substantive areas of inquiry (i.e. "I want to study public goods provision in ethnically heterogeneous communities" or "I want to study gender-inclusive democratic interventions" or "I want to understand the effect of endowments on 21st century development initiatives") and then look for scholars who could support you in answering those questions. You may find 1 or 2 professors at any given university who study these types of questions in the African context (after all, what would be the point if everyone was doing it?) but you will probably find a few more who do your "type" of work or use methods that are interesting to you. Then you just have to cross your fingers and hope (as I did) that you are competitive (grades, GPA, research experience, letters, writing style, SOP etc.) and that one of the professors you are interested in working with has a spot open for you.

Best of luck!

- meep

Edited February 24, 2012 by meep

[grantman]

A school you might consider if you are perhaps interested in doing field research in Africa is Michigan State. While it is not a top-15 program, they have three Africanists (Michael Bratton, Jeffery Conroy-Kuntz, and Carolyn Logan) who all focus on electoral and governance issues in Africa. They also have the Afrobarometer which is a publication that focuses largely on some of the issues you identify with. Additionally, they have a MPP program which may suit you better if you decided you wanted to go work for an NGO or governmental organization rather than go straight to a PhD program.

I hope this helps in someway.

Edited February 24, 2012 by grantman

[puddle]

Oh, heads up! Word on the street (i.e. from idle chatter between expats at a hotel in Lilongwe last summer) is that Michael Bratton is considering leaving Michigan State. I spoke for some time with a woman whose husband was being supervised by Bratton and the gist of the conversation was that he was not very happy there... worth keeping in mind. Also, this may or may not be idle gossip. Take anything and everything you read on these forums with a grain of salt. Anything I write, doubly so.

[saltlakecity2012]

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself if a PhD is really what you need/want to succeed in the field. I know people in the field of African development who completed an MA in Economics or PEG and are now well placed in research positions with major international institutions and NGOs. For example, I have a friend with a great World Bank contract (note: let's not turn this into a WB beat-down) who is making good money, has spent the last 5 years globe-trotting, and who has just recently finished work on a major research project in Malawi... all with an MA.

On the note of pursuing just an MA: if you enter a 2 year funded program, you will receive two years of the same intensive training (same classes, same professors, same work load) as you would as a PhD student. After those two years, you will be able to leave the program and apply for jobs. Alternatively, if you decide at that time that you have a research question that MUST be answered in the form of a dissertation, you can apply for PhD programmes (or streamline into the PhD at your current university) and continue along the academic track.

I agree with all the points meep makes above regarding how one should go about making the decision to pursue a PhD versus an MA, but I would say to the OP that there are in fact reasons to pursue the PhD even if your end-goal is not academia. It's true that you can get lovely research jobs with international organizations with an MA only, but it's my impression that if you want to do more theoretical work, rather than primarily empirical, in a non-academic capacity, you are more competitive with a doctorate. I think this depends heavily on what you do while you're a graduate student, though - many of my friends who do development-related research pursue internships, fellowships, specialized training programs, etc. after advancing to candidacy, and thereby form relationships with the organizations they hope to join after completion of the PhD. If you sit around at your university for 5 years and form no connections and research relationships outside of academia, then you probably would be better off with an MA.

[Penelope Higgins]

I think meep's comments above are very helpful, but I do want to comment on one thing: in my experience both applying to schools and as a faculty member, I have seen little to no consideration of whether a particular faculty member has "room" for a student. Spots in an admissions class are either not allocated at all (in other words, purely distributed to 'best athletes') or allocated by subfield. For example, in my cohort as a grad student at a school often discussed on here, there were 4 students in CP working on a single world region even though only one professor worked on that region. Fit matters, in other words, but single professors don't make decisions about applicants - at least not in any admissions process I have ever been involved with.

[aecp]

Oh, heads up! Word on the street (i.e. from idle chatter between expats at a hotel in Lilongwe last summer) is that Michael Bratton is considering leaving Michigan State. I spoke for some time with a woman whose husband was being supervised by Bratton and the gist of the conversation was that he was not very happy there... worth keeping in mind. Also, this may or may not be idle gossip. Take anything and everything you read on these forums with a grain of salt. Anything I write, doubly so.

Oh boy! I was just getting a little interested in MSU after reviewing Prof Bratton's bio and research interests. As I read it I wondered why isn't Prof Bratton at a higher ranked institution?

Thanks for sharing.

[aecp]

One final point, you mention that you are interested in economic development/growth/governance/democratization. I think all of us (and your future PhD programme) would need to know more about your specific interests before we could point you towards a potential advisor.

Many thanks, meep for your wise comments.

To your point above, the broad questions/issues that interest me include:

How to create forms of good governance in Africa that can lead to sustained economic development?

Why does Africa remain poor and underdeveloped?

How can Africa grow economically and reach its full potential?

What advisors come to mind in connection with the above?

Some of my fellow grad-cafe-ers have mentioned Chris Blattman is going to Columbia (sad times for us future Yale-ies) but you mentioned that you are "not particularly keen on the conflict/civil war aspect of political economy of African development." Here are the titles of 3 of Blattman's most recent papers: Civil War, Gender and Reintegration in northern Uganda (2011), The Consequences of Child Soldiering (2010), Civil War (2010). So while Blattman is an amazing scholar, it seems like your research interests are taking you in another direction.

You are correct, I have noted that Chris Blattman's work is primarily civil war related, indeed I had him and others in mind, when I made my comment:

"not particularly keen on the conflict/civil war aspect of political economy of African development.". At the same time, he does seem to have a strong scholarly interest in African development. So I guess the question is must a potential advisor's interests perfectly align with yours? I think the technique you outline below is a fair way to approximate the process of finding an advisor match

My suggestion is that you look first at substantive areas of inquiry (i.e. "I want to study public goods provision in ethnically heterogeneous communities" or "I want to study gender-inclusive democratic interventions" or "I want to understand the effect of endowments on 21st century development initiatives") and then look for scholars who could support you in answering those questions. You may find 1 or 2 professors at any given university who study these types of questions in the African context (after all, what would be the point if everyone was doing it?) but you will probably find a few more who do your "type" of work or use methods that are interesting to you. Then you just have to cross your fingers and hope (as I did) that you are competitive (grades, GPA, research experience, letters, writing style, SOP etc.) and that one of the professors you are interested in working with has a spot open for you.

Best of luck!

- meep

Thanks again, meep and all the best to you!!!

[puddle]

In response to:

How to create forms of good governance in Africa that can lead to sustained economic development?

Why does Africa remain poor and underdeveloped?

How can Africa grow economically and reach its full potential?

What advisors come to mind in connection with the above?

My first suggestion would be to narrow down these interests a bit... you could spend your life chewing on one piece of any of these puzzles. Just a thought.

[saltlakecity2012]

Many thanks, meep for your wise comments.

To your point above, the broad questions/issues that interest me include:

How to create forms of good governance in Africa that can lead to sustained economic development?

Why does Africa remain poor and underdeveloped?

How can Africa grow economically and reach its full potential?

What advisors come to mind in connection with the above?

I'm with meep. These are huge questions, and I would suggest that you at least start thinking about how you want to approach them. From your phrasing it sounds as if you're heavily interested in the economics of the issues, but I would suggest you start to consider whether you are more interested in distribution of wealth and resources within African states or in the role African states play in the global economy. People tackle these questions from many different fields - sociology, political science, anthropology, history, colonial studies, economics, policy, development studies, international affairs, cultural and area studies... the list goes on. If you think you want to take a political science tack in looking at these issues, what makes the political science approach of particular appeal to you? That might help you narrow down what schools would be good fits - places with people who approach the issues in the way you want to.

[puddle]

I'm with meep. These are huge questions, and I would suggest that you at least start thinking about how you want to approach them. From your phrasing it sounds as if you're heavily interested in the economics of the issues, but I would suggest you start to consider whether you are more interested in distribution of wealth and resources within African states or in the role African states play in the global economy. People tackle these questions from many different fields - sociology, political science, anthropology, history, colonial studies, economics, policy, development studies, international affairs, cultural and area studies... the list goes on. If you think you want to take a political science tack in looking at these issues, what makes the political science approach of particular appeal to you? That might help you narrow down what schools would be good fits - places with people who approach the issues in the way you want to.

This is very good advice.

[Helix]

I don't think it's impossible to find regionally-focused resources at HKS/in PEG but I think you should carefully consider to what extent you're committed to estimating causal effects for policy applications vs. formulating contingent generalizations on some of the broad questions you raised above. I think that's one of the main "methodological" divides between policy and political science. For more on this, I would encourage you to review the dissertation archive for PEG. Students typically have not emphasized the regional focus of their work, with a few exceptions, and instead are drawing on rather large questions and theoretical/empirical literatures.

I also want to second the idea that you should strongly consider a master's rather than a PhD. The MPA/ID at HKS has very rigorous economics training that would position you well for a policy job, with fewer opportunity costs of being in a program for a long time doing a PhD. Likewise, the MPA at Woodrow Wilson is a good option with a rigorous econ requirement, and it's fully funded. These options assume you have a decent amount of field experience and prior quantitative training, but if you look at where their students end up it's invariably in good policy-oriented settings. If you're still interested in a PhD for other reasons, I think you need to approach it with a different mindset for the end-game of a policy placement rather than an academic one. Find your ideal policy jobs and find out where the people working in them now got their degrees. These jobs are heavily networked and there are often clear "pipelines" from particular schools to those kinds of positions. So Wisconsin might have great folks on Africa, but they might not have good connections for you at the World Bank to help you pursue your policy interests. The second thing I would look for would be a school that enables you to put yourself on track for a policy job during summers. For example, you might want a place like MIT, where they have resources like Dan Posner in the political science department, but they also are very close with J-PAL and initiatives that specifically work on policy applications in Africa. Getting experience like that can help you pursue your research agenda, but more importantly it will help you network and gain policy-relevant experience for your future career, which you simply cannot really get in a PhD program with super academics on African political economy but very few policy connections.

[aecp]

Thanks to all for the continued contributions and counsel. Yes, meep and saltlakecity, my questions are HUGE! That's why I specifically referred to them as "broad questions/issues". I do need to spend some more thinking, studying with a view of narrowing/refining the questions.

A few things I do know:

1. I want to focus on the normative instead of the positive.

2. I want to address the questions (once narrowed) from an interdisciplinary approach: (i) political economy or (ii) politics and economics or (iii) politics, economics and public policy.

3. I want the conclusion of the dissertation research to have a direct application to public policy.

[aecp]

I don't think it's impossible to find regionally-focused resources at HKS/in PEG but I think you should carefully consider to what extent you're committed to estimating causal effects for policy applications vs. formulating contingent generalizations on some of the broad questions you raised above. I think that's one of the main "methodological" divides between policy and political science. For more on this, I would encourage you to review the dissertation archive for PEG. Students typically have not emphasized the regional focus of their work, with a few exceptions, and instead are drawing on rather large questions and theoretical/empirical literatures.

Would you, do you imply that perhaps the HKS Public Policy PhD might better suit my purposes than the HKS PEG PhD?

The second thing I would look for would be a school that enables you to put yourself on track for a policy job during summers. For example, you might want a place like MIT, where they have resources like Dan Posner in the political science department, but they also are very close with J-PAL and initiatives that specifically work on policy applications in Africa. Getting experience like that can help you pursue your research agenda, but more importantly it will help you network and gain policy-relevant experience for your future career, which you simply cannot really get in a PhD program with super academics on African political economy but very few policy connections.

This is very wise advise. Thanks. Indeed I have considered MIT for those reasons: Prof Posner, J-PAl and the strength of their economic faculty working on political economy, development type issues.

[Helix]

I'm not sure if the Public Policy PhD would be a better fit or not. Honestly most people I know doing that degree are domestically-focused, but that's not necessarily representative. The thing about the Public Policy degree though is you could do it as a follow-on; you can apply to the MPP and then at the end of your first year choose to apply to continue with the PhD. Not the most efficient process, but worth thinking about.

On the second point I would also add that if you're going outside academia it's important to weigh the "name brand" or recognition/reputation of the schools you're considering. Not to beat up on anywhere in particular, but for the World Bank et al, having a degree from a school that comes to mind as a "top 20" university is more important than coming from a program that is well-respected as an African politics powerhouse by a very niche group of political scientists.

[aecp]

Helix,

Your second point about "name brand", reputation is a strong one..very strong one. It seems that to a great extent it is all about "credentialization"!

[aecp]

What do people think about non-American institutions with respect to a PhD focusing on Political Economy of African Development?

Any thoughts on SOAS, Oxford, LSE?