CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS AND SUSTAINABILITY 2019 ANNUAL REPORT
ABOUT US Who we are Founded as the Centre for Development Economics (CDE) in March 2012, the centre was renamed in 2015 to explicitly include economic research on issues related to sustainability. Today the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES) promotes cross-disciplinary research in the thematic areas of development and sustainability, by bringing together researchers from a variety of academic backgrounds in the Monash Business School engaged in global sustainable development issues encompassing the three dimensions of economic, social and environmental sustainability. CDES strives for policy impact and external engagement within and beyond the world of academia.
Our Mission Our mission is to conduct and promote high-quality policy-relevant research on major global issues in development and sustainability, and enhance research capacity and knowledge in these areas. Our mission is consistent with and aligned to the University’s and the Business School’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Our Goals We are committed to:
ABOUT US
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DIRECTOR’S NOTE
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OUR STAFF
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OUR KEY HIGHLIGHTS
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– Academic Grants
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– International Networks
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– Visiting Scholars
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– Research Projects
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– Events
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OUR COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
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PUBLICATIONS
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 14 CONTACT US
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– Conducting and fostering high quality research in the thematic areas of development and sustainability both within the developing country context and beyond, including cross-disciplinary work. – Promoting national and international collaborative links with those involved in research, policy and practice of economic development and sustainability. – Striving for policy impact through the dissemination of research findings and the promotion of informed public discussion and dialogue. – Enhancing the profile of Monash Business School and Monash University in the areas of development and sustainability within Australia and internationally.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE I am pleased to present this annual report as the new director of the CDES, and extend thanks to Professor Sisira Jayasuriya, our previous director until September 2019. In 2019, the CDES significantly expanded its research and engagement activities with several new externally funded research projects and research initiatives. With increased Monash Business School funding support, we were able to plan to expand the core staff of the centre. With stronger core research capacity, CDES will be able to move forward with confidence to initiate and implement new projects on major global development challenges, and enhance our impact and external engagement. Our broad research agenda on development and sustainability is aligned closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aim to provide evidence-based solutions to emerging and long-term issues of poverty and sustainability through direct engagement with governments, NGOs and policy-makers in both developing countries and in Australia.
PROFESSOR ASAD ISLAM DIRECTOR
In 2019 we implemented a number of research projects funded by external agencies such as the Department for International Development (UK), the Economic and Social Research Council, the Victorian Government, the Australian Council for International Agricultural Research and the International Growth Centre. As part of our broader research agenda, we also initiated research and engagement on Indigenous community issues in Australia, and on sustainable cities and communities (Goal 11 of UN SDGs). We continued our active engagement with international collaborators and agencies. We once again co-sponsored the Annual Summer School in Development Economics in collaboration with the Italian Development Economist Association (IDEAS). We hosted the Seventh Annual Workshop on Sustainable Development at Prato in June. In January, we organised a conference in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Institute of Policy Studies in Sri Lanka to discuss emerging development challenges and issues in South Asia, with the participation of researchers, development agencies and senior policy makers from the region. We also organised a public presentation on the International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook report, a workshop on the Economics of Cities (jointly with Infrastructure Victoria), and a number of other workshops in Australia. We also had a very active visitor program, hosting several prominent visiting fellows in 2019, including Professor Tony Venables (Oxford University), Dean Karlan (Northwestern University), Catherine Wolfram (University of California, Berkley), and Christopher Woodruff (Oxford University). We have made progress on several fronts to further strengthen the centre’s links with collaborators and external agencies. In addition to expanding core staffing, we have revamped the CDES website, formulated a strategic plan for the centre, and made changes to the organisational structure (e.g. creating a new category of ‘Fellows’). On behalf of the CDES, I want to thank the new Dean of the Monash Business School, Professor Simon Wilkie, and the Deputy Dean (Research), Professor Gary Magee, for their guidance and strong support, reflected most tangibly in increased funding for the centre. I also thank members of our Advisory Board and our members and research collaborators, and Shahab Sazegar for administrative support. I am particularly grateful to my predecessor, Sisira Jayasuriya, for laying very strong foundations for the centre. We are fortunate that he will stay with us and continue his work and activities for us. Together with A/Prof Gaurav Datt, Deputy Director, I hope to continue to build on those foundations to ensure that CDES will be a centre of excellence in research and policy in development and sustainability.
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OUR STAFF At present, the core staff of the Centre includes the Director, the Deputy Director, a professorial fellow, and an administrative officer (Centre Coordinator). Two research fellows are expected to join in the latter half of 2020, and another researcher is expected to join in early 2021.
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OUR T E A M
ASAD ISLAM
BENEDETTA LERVA
Asad Islam is the Director of CDES. His recent research focuses on education, energy, disaster and environment, technology adoption and gender. His research works span a number of countries including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Cambodia, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Benedetta Lerva is currently a PhD candidate in Economics at the Institute for International Economics Studies at Stockholm University. Benedetta will join us at the CDES In September 2020.
GAURAV DATT
ARMAND SIM
Gaurav Datt is Deputy Director of CDES. He joined Monash in 2011. His research focuses on poverty, income distribution, education, labour and social policy issues. His work encompasses several countries including India, China, Egypt, Laos, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste.
Armand Sim is currently PhD candidate in Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. Armand will join us at the CDES in August 2020.
SISIRA JAYASURIYA
SHAHAB SAZEGAR
Sisira Jayasuriya is a Professor and former Director of CDES. His current research is on food security, political economy, economics of natural disasters, and trade and macroeconomic issues in Asia.
Shahab Sazegar is Centre Coordinator in Monash Business School’s Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability. Shahab commenced his role in July 2019. Shahab provides a broad range of professional and administrative services to support the effective operation of the CDES.
OUR KEY HIGHLIGHTS Academic Grants – Awarded to Professor Asad Islam by the International Growth Centre, Bangladesh: Does Providing Women Living in Rural Areas with Innovative Financial Interventions Change Household Expenditure and Saving Behaviour? – Awarded to Professor Asad Islam by the International Growth Centre, Bihar: Addressing Financial Inclusion in Rural India: The Role of Information and Peer Pressure.
International Networks The Centre is continuing to strengthen its international linkages and networks through: – Active collaboration on research projects with researchers from many parts of the world including the US, the UK, India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia – A wide network of research collaborators drawn from CDES Members – The CDES Advisory Board, which is comprised of distinguished academics from leading institutions in the United States, Europe, South Asia, China and Australia – International and regional research workshops and conferences – An annual workshop on Sustainable Development and Summer School in Development Economics held in Prato, Italy.
Visiting Scholars Each year, the CDES brings leading scholars in the areas of development economics and sustainability to Monash Business School. During their visits, they share their knowledge with staff, students and members of the public through seminars, workshops, public lectures and informal discussions. Dr Jesmin Ara Rupa, University of Adelaide
Professor Israr Qureshi, Australian National University
Dr Emmanuel Jimenez, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, Delhi
Professor Emeritus Russell, University of Sydney
Professor Akihiko Kaneko, Waseda University
Associate Professor Amy Tian, School of Management, Curtin Unviersity
Professor Dean Karlan, Northwestern University and Jpal
Professor Anthony Venables, University of Oxford
Professor Stephen King, Productivity Commission
Dr Yaqi Wang, Central University of Finance and Economics (China)
Mr Rajen Habib Khwaja, Former Chairman and Managing Director of Singareni Collieries Company Limited Professor Simon Loertscher, University of Melbourne
Mr Chris Whelan, RBB Economics, Melbourne Professor Keith Whitfield, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
Dr Malhar Nabar, International Monetary Fund
Professor Catherine Wolfram, University of California, Berkeley
Dr Digvijay Negi, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Mumbai
Professor Christopher Woodruff, University of Oxford
Professor Yoshiyasu Ono Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University
Mr Andy Wu, University of Melbourne
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Research Projects Our research explores economic and social issues in the developing world, and those concerning the environment and sustainability more broadly. Our expertise extends across several areas including growth, poverty, and inequality, health and education, gender, environmental sustainability, agricultural development, political economy and governance, and big data. Below is a sample of the projects our teams have been working on. HORTICULTURAL MARKETS IN PAKISTAN (Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) This project, developed in response to Pakistan government and industry requests, has been investigating existing marketing arrangements, assessing domestic and foreign market potential to identify the main problems and formulate appropriate marketing policy reforms program. Pakistan’s horticulture industry, one of the largest in the world, has huge growth potential in both domestic and export markets but its present performance is well below potential, characterised by low productivity, poor quality, high wastage, and low exports. The marketing system is widely considered to be one of the main factors constraining the industry’s modernisation and development. The project has already recorded significant achievements. Its findings have been incorporated into new legislative measures in the Punjab province of Pakistan, and has provided inputs to policy formulation for Pakistan export development.
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON WHEAT CROPS IN VICTORIA (Funded By the Government of Victoria) Climate change is impacting on temperature and rainfall patterns generating many more extreme events – such as days of very high temperatures and very low temperatures. This project aims to; (a) analyse impacts of extreme temperatures on wheat yields in North Western Victoria over the next thirty years, developing and using scientifically credible models and innovative statistical techniques that overcome some limitations of current models available in the literature, and drawing on various climate change scenarios and associated predictions of key climatic variables (b) assess their economic impacts and, (c) explore the economic viability of feasible adaptation options. The research team is multidisciplinary, and involves economists and econometricians as well as scientists and farming groups. Preliminary results show that significant future increases in days of extreme temperatures, particularly high temperatures, during the wheat growing period will negatively affect yields.
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OUR E N G A G E M E N T S A C T I V I TIES IN 2019
EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, UK) The project uses a large scale randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in rural communities to evaluate the efficacy of three early childhood interventions: a preschool program, this program combined with a parent academy, and combined with home visit. The first intervention established a pre-school program. The second intervention included weekly home visits by teacher and caregivers to demonstrate parent-child interactions and the learning environment at home. The third intervention combined a pre-school program with home visits. The interventions lasted almost two years, from 2017 to 2019. The research was conducted among approximately 7000 children from 223 villages in southwestern Bangladesh to improve their literacy, numeracy, and social skills.
LABOUR MARKETS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (Funded by the Department for International Development, UK) This forms part of a larger project called Pro-poor Growth of Rural Enterprises through Sustainable Skills-development (PROGRESS) being undertaken by BRAC with supports from the European Commission to improve the firm productivity of the light engineering (LE) sector in Bangladesh. We partner with BRAC, which also collaborates with different trade associations to understand and evaluate the workplace safety and awareness among the LE sector in Bangladesh. We randomly assign the firms in light engineering sectors into three treatments: T1: Managers/owners of firms receive intensive training on occupational health and safety (OHS) T2: Firms receive occupational health and safety (OHS) and business training and financial linkages T3: The firms in this control group receive no training. We examine a range of outcomes related to workers’ safety and health issues, working environment and safety standards of firm, cost, business growth, investment and profitability.
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Events MONASH CONFERENCE (7-8 January 2019) – Sri Lanka Jointly with the South Asia Research Network (SARN) of the Centre for Global Business, CDES organised a Conference, ‘Economic Development in South Asia’, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 7–8, 2019, in collaboration with the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), Colombo. Besides participants from Monash and IPS, the Conference featured speakers from across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In addition to the Chief Guest’s Address by Ravinatha Aryasingha, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a Policy Roundtable on Small Business Opportunities and Challenges for Women, there were 20 presentations over the two days. The presentations covered a wide range of topics including: poverty, inequality, entrepreneurship, agriculture, environment sustainability, migration, technology adoption, labour supply, education, youth, financial markets and community organisations.
WORKSHOP ON ECONOMICS OF CITIES (25-26 March 2019) – Melbourne This workshop, co-sponsored with Infrastructure Victoria, and featuring a keynote speech by Prof Tony Venables (Oxford University), a world authority on the economics of cities, focused on economic issues facing cities in both the developed and developing worlds. The workshop brought together academics, economists, planners, modellers and geographers from the public and private sectors to explore the multifaceted theoretical and practical challenges of dealing with the emergence and growth of cities in a globalising world.
SUMMER SCHOOL IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS (17-21 June 2019) – Italy As a co-host of the 2019 Summer School in Development Economics held in Prato, Italy, CDES sponsored two PhD students from Monash, Vy Nguyen and Meithy Zaman, to attend the 2019 Summer School. The presentations by Vy and Meithy were very well received, and both also found their participation in the Summer School to be a valuable experience.
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OUR E N G A G E M E N T S A C T I V I TIES IN 2019
7TH ANNUAL WORKSHOP ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (26-27 JUNE 2019) – Italy Our Seventh Annual Workshop on Sustainable Development was held again at the Monash Prato Centre, Italy, this year. Opening this year’s Workshop were Professor Gary B. Magee (Deputy Dean – Research, Monash Business School), Associate Professor Gaurav Datt (Deputy Director – CDES, Monash Business School) and Professor Amrik Sohal (Department of Management, CGB’s Global Value Chains Research Network, Monash Business School). This is an annual event, and like previous years, was organised jointly with other departments and centres in the Monash Business School. The workshop was organised around two parallel economics and business streams with two plenary sessions, including a keynote by Professor Michael Carter from the University of California, Davis, on the topic ‘Can Insurance Alter Poverty Dynamics and Reduce the Cost of Social Protection in Developing Countries’. Several international speakers and researchers from Monash (including two PhD students) made presentations over the two days covering a wide range of topics. The feedback on the Workshop was very positive with much enthusiasm for the next round of this event in 2020.
“We are looking forward to having another fantastic workshop, bringing academics and scholars from every corner of the world, to share ideas and conversations around the topics of sustainability and economic development”. Professor Gary B. Magee
ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE CHINESE ECONOMICS SOCIETY AUSTRALIA (15-16 July 2019) – Melbourne The 31st Annual Conference of the Chinese Economics Society Australia (CESA) took place on 15–16 July, 2019, at Monash University, Caulfield Campus, hosted by the Monash Business School, CDES and the Department of Economics, Monash University. The two-day conference focused on issues such as China’s macro economy, China-US trade frictions, demographic challenges, environment and inequality in the Chinese economy.
DOING BUSINESS IN LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES: THE SOUTH ASIAN EXPERIENCE (8 November 2019) – Monash University Co-hosted by Centre for Global Business’s South Asia Research Network and CDES, the workshop aimed to explore the prospects and challenges of doing business in low-income communities in South Asian countries. The workshop facilitated the dissemination of research-based knowledge and collaboration among researchers across disciplines. It also aimed to engage with local practitioners working towards market-based solutions to address issues of ‘under-development’ among low-income people in Australia. The keynote speaker was Professor Israr Qureshi, Professor of Social Entrepreneurship and ICT for Development at the ANU College of Business and Economics.
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Events
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SOUTH ASIA BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS WORKSHOP (18 November 2019) – Monash University This event was also co-hosted by the Centre for Global Business’s South-Asia Research Network (SARN) and CDES. The aim of the workshop was to provide an opportunity for early career researchers and advanced doctoral students in South Asian studies to share and discuss their latest research in the area of business and economics.
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK – A PRESENTATION BY MALHAR NABAR (19 November 2019) – Melbourne CDES was pleased to host this presentation once again on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook report. Guest speaker Dr. Malhar Nabar, Deputy Division Chief of the World Economic Studies Division in the IMF’s research department, discussed the IMF’s latest analysis, projections and views on the outlook, risks and policy priorities over the near and the medium term for the global economy as a whole and for the industrial, developing and emerging market economies.
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RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS CONFERENCE (12-13 December 2019) – Melbourne CDES and the Centre for Global Business (CGB) were delighted to co-host this important conference on Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT). The conference brought together researchers who conduct randomised controlled trials in both developing and developed countries. Honorable Dr Andrew Leigh MP, the Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury and Charities, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT, gave the opening address on “Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed our World”, highlighting the use of RCTs in making policies around the world. The keynote addresses were delivered by Professor Dean Karlan (North-western University), Professor Catherine Wolfram (University of California, Berkeley) and Professor Christopher Woodruff (University of Oxford). Coming in the wake of the just-announced Nobel Prizes in Economics to three of the pioneers of RCTs in Development Economics, the conference generated a high degree of enthusiasm and interest.
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OUR COMMUNICATION CHANNELS Enhancing our communications and engagement
In 2019 CDES took various steps to enhance its online presence and engagement. CDES issued its first Newsletter in December 2019. Since September 2019, CDES also enhanced its social media presence through Twitter (@CDES_Monash). CDES also undertook a major update of its website (Monash.edu/business/cdes) to enhance user experience and to showcase its research and events in a more effective fashion.
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COMMU N I C AT I O N C H A N N E LS
PUBLICATIONS The CDES staff and members have a reputation for producing high quality published research in leading academic journals on a range of topics related to the centre’s mandate of sustainable development, including: – Poverty, inequality and growth – Agricultural development and food security – Education and health – Financial inclusion and entrepreneurship – Energy and environmental sustainability – Political economy and governance – International trade policies and sustainable development – Applying Big Data Analytics to development and sustainability issues. Asad Islam (2019). Parent-Teacher Meetings and Student Outcomes: Evidence from a developing Country, European Economic Review, 111: 273-304. Gaurav Datt (2019). Distribution-sensitive Multidimensional Poverty Measures, World Bank Economic Review, 33 (3): 551-572. Gaurav Datt (2019). Multidimensional poverty in the Philippines: How Much Do Choices for Weighting, Identification and Aggregation Matter? Empirical Economics, 57 (4): 1103–1128. Gaurav Datt and Leah Uhe (2019). A Little Help May Be No Help at All: Size of Scholarships and Child Labour in Nepal, Journal of Development Studies, 55 (6): 1158-1181. Asad Islam, Russell Smyth, HongQi Alexis Tan, Liang C. Wang (2019). Survey Measures Versus Incentivized Measures of Risk Preferences, Social Science and Medicine, 238 [112497]. Paul Frijters, Asad Islam and Debayan Pakrashi (2019). Heterogeneity in Peer Effects in Random Dormitory Assignment in a Developing Country, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 163: 117-134. Paul Frijters, Asad Islam, Chitwan Lalji and Debayan Pakrashi (2019). Roommate Effects in Health Outcomes, Health Economics, 28 (8): 998–1034. Weerakoon Dushni and Sisira Jayasuriya (eds.) (2019). Managing Domestic and International Challenges and Opportunities in Post-conflict Development, Springer, Singapore. Youjin Hahn, Asad Islam, Eleonora Patacchini and Yves Zenou (2019). Friendship and Female Education: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Bangladeshi Primary Schools, Economic Journal, forthcoming. Asad Islam, Marcel Fafchamps, Abdul Malek and Debayan Parkashi (2019). Can Referral Improve Targeting? Evidence from a Training Experiment, Journal of Development Economics, forthcoming. Asad Islam and Debayan Pakrashi (2020). Labour Market Participation of Women in Rural Bangladesh: the Role of Microfinance, Journal of Development Studies, forthcoming. Shahe Emran, Asad Islam and Forhad Shilpi (2019). Distributional Effects of Corruption When Enforcement is Biased: Theory and Evidence from Bribery in Schools in Bangladesh, Economica, forthcoming. Gaurav Datt, Rinku Murgai and Martin Ravallion (2019). Poverty and Growth in India over Six Decades, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, forthcoming.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The CDES thanks its Advisory Board and Members for their continued support and participation throughout 2019.
Advisory Board Mary Amiti Vice President of the Microeconomic Studies Function, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Xin Meng Professor, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
Christopher B. Barrett Professor of Agricultural and Development Economics, Cornell University.
Dilip Mookherjee Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for Economic Development, Boston University.
Michael R. Carter Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Director of the BASIS Assets and Market Access Innovation Lab, University of California, Davis.
Mari Pangestu Professor of Economics, University of Indonesia and Senior Fellow at Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, and incoming Managing Director, Development Policy and Partnerships at the World Bank.
Ian Coxhead Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Martin Ravallion Edmond D. Villani Chair of Economics, Georgetown University, and former Director of the World Bank’s Research Department, the Development Research Group.
Hal Hil H.W. Arndt Professor Emeritus of Southeast Asian Economies, Arndt Corden Department of Economics, Crawford School, Australian National University.
Rohini Somanathan Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
Jikun Huang Professor, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences and Founding Director of the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Peking University.
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A CK NOW L E D G E M E N T S
CDES Members Klaus Abbink
Jaai Parasnis
Klaus Ackermann
Shrimal Perera
Heather Anderson
Laura Puzzello
Simon Angus
Birendra Rai
Ayushi Bajaj
Michaela Rankin
Dyuti Banerjee
Paul Raschky
Mita Bhattacharya
Ranjan Ray
Edward Buckingham
Ummul Ruthbah
Wenli Cheng
Paulo Santos
Chongwoo Choe
Abu Zafar Shahriar
Silvio Contessi
Mervyn Silvapulle
Angela Cruz
Param Silvapulle
Qingyuan Du
Russell Smyth
Ratbek Dzhumashev
Srinivas Sridharan
Lata Gangadharan
Farshid Vahid
Gamini Herath
Michael Ward
Brett Inder
Liang Choon Wong
Jun Sung Kim
Mamme Esi Woode
Stephen King
Siew Ling Yew
Claudio Labanca Jeffrey LaFrance Paul Lajbcygier Andreas Leibbrand Anke Leroux Pushkar Maitra Felix Mavondo Vinod Mishra Duncan Mortimer Solmaz Moslehi
There are many ways to get involved with Monash Business School. To learn more about the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability please contact us.
Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability Monash Business School Monash University 900 Dandenong Road Caulfield East, VIC 3145 Australia T: +61 3 9903 2014 E: BusEco-CDES@monash.edu Twitter: CDES_Monash monash.edu/buisness/cdes
CRICOS provider: Monash University 00008C. April 2020.