Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity

Chris Blattman

Recent Research

Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices - Working Paper 274
From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda - Working Paper 138

Non-Resident Fellow

Fragile states, governance/democracy, poverty

Email:

Education: PhD in Economics from UC Berkeley (2007), MPA/ID from Harvard Kennedy School (2002), BA in Economics from the University of Waterloo (1998)

Media Contact: Jessica Brinton

Chris Blattman is a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development and an assistant professor of political science and economics at Yale University. In addition to being a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development, Blattman is a Research Affiliate with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a board member of the Journal of Globalization and Development (JGD), and a member of the International Growth Center (IGC). He also acts as a consultant and adviser to the World Bank, UNICEF, the UN Peacebuilding Fund, Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister, and Liberia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Blattman’ research focuses on poverty alleviation, political participation, the causes and consequences of violence and war, with a particular focus on East and West Africa. He uses surveys, impact evaluations, and behavioral experiments to study the dynamics of poverty and participation, and to study what development programs work and why. A number of impact evaluations are presently underway in Uganda and Liberia, studying the impacts of training and job creation on poverty and social and political life of war-affected youth.

His development research site and blog is http://chrisblattman.com. He has also published articles in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Development Economics, the Journal of Economic Literature, and the Review of Economics and Statistics. Blattman obtained a BA with high honors from University of Waterloo, and an MPA/ID from Harvard’s Kennedy School.

New Popular Working Papers Other CGD Pubs Events Selected Works

Data Set for Working Paper 274: "Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices" - Dec 7, 2011

This set includes data and Stata files to replicate the results in CGD Working Paper 274, "Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices"
Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices - Working Paper 274 - Dec 1, 2011

One of the most influential ideas in the study of political instability is that income shocks provoke conflict. “State prize” theories argue that higher revenues increase incentives to capture the state.“Opportunity cost” theories argue that higher prices decrease individual incen-tives to...
Research Design and Causal Inference, Yale University (Syllabus) - Aug 9, 2010

Regardless of your specialty, this workshop is designed to improve your research plans, your dissertations, and your job prospects.
The Economics of Child Soldiering: Chris Blattman - May 4, 2010

This week, I'm joined on the Global Prosperity Wonkcast by Chris Blattman, assistant professor of political science and economics at Yale University and a non-resident fellow here at the Center for Global Development. Much of Chris' research tries to understand what happens after child soldiers...
African Poverty and Western Aid, Yale University (Syllabus) - Jan 14, 2009

Why is Africa poor? What, if anything, can the West do about it? No course can answer these questions in full, but one can get started on the (hopefully lifelong) learning. Students will be exposed to the major and the not‐so-major debates in aid and development. They will discuss the...
The Political Economy of Civil War and Terror, Yale University (Syllabus) - Oct 16, 2008

The goal of this course is to familiarize the student with approaches to the study of war and terror: economic, historical, analytical, formal theoretical, and statistical. Most of all, the course is designed to get students to think critically about traditional explanations and approaches. The...
From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda - Working Paper 138 - Jan 23, 2008

Over the past two decades tens of thousands of children were forcibly recruited or abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. What happens to these former child soldiers when they return to civilian life? This new working paper by CGD post-doctoral fellow Chris Blattman shows that the...

Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices - Working Paper 274 - Dec 1, 2011

One of the most influential ideas in the study of political instability is that income shocks provoke conflict. “State prize” theories argue that higher revenues increase incentives to capture the state.“Opportunity cost” theories argue that higher prices decrease individual incen-tives to...
Data Set for Working Paper 274: "Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices" - Dec 7, 2011

This set includes data and Stata files to replicate the results in CGD Working Paper 274, "Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices"
From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda - Working Paper 138 - Jan 23, 2008

Over the past two decades tens of thousands of children were forcibly recruited or abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. What happens to these former child soldiers when they return to civilian life? This new working paper by CGD post-doctoral fellow Chris Blattman shows that the...
Research Design and Causal Inference, Yale University (Syllabus) - Aug 9, 2010

Regardless of your specialty, this workshop is designed to improve your research plans, your dissertations, and your job prospects.
African Poverty and Western Aid, Yale University (Syllabus) - Jan 14, 2009

Why is Africa poor? What, if anything, can the West do about it? No course can answer these questions in full, but one can get started on the (hopefully lifelong) learning. Students will be exposed to the major and the not‐so-major debates in aid and development. They will discuss the...
The Political Economy of Civil War and Terror, Yale University (Syllabus) - Oct 16, 2008

The goal of this course is to familiarize the student with approaches to the study of war and terror: economic, historical, analytical, formal theoretical, and statistical. Most of all, the course is designed to get students to think critically about traditional explanations and approaches. The...
The Economics of Child Soldiering: Chris Blattman - May 4, 2010

This week, I'm joined on the Global Prosperity Wonkcast by Chris Blattman, assistant professor of political science and economics at Yale University and a non-resident fellow here at the Center for Global Development. Much of Chris' research tries to understand what happens after child soldiers...

Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices - Working Paper 274 - Dec 1, 2011

One of the most influential ideas in the study of political instability is that income shocks provoke conflict. “State prize” theories argue that higher revenues increase incentives to capture the state.“Opportunity cost” theories argue that higher prices decrease individual incen-tives to...
From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda - Working Paper 138 - Jan 23, 2008

Over the past two decades tens of thousands of children were forcibly recruited or abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. What happens to these former child soldiers when they return to civilian life? This new working paper by CGD post-doctoral fellow Chris Blattman shows that the...

There are no related books.

Data Set for Working Paper 274: "Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices" - Dec 7, 2011

This set includes data and Stata files to replicate the results in CGD Working Paper 274, "Economic Shocks and Conflict: The (Absence of?) Evidence from Commodity Prices"
Research Design and Causal Inference, Yale University (Syllabus) - Aug 9, 2010

Regardless of your specialty, this workshop is designed to improve your research plans, your dissertations, and your job prospects.
African Poverty and Western Aid, Yale University (Syllabus) - Jan 14, 2009

Why is Africa poor? What, if anything, can the West do about it? No course can answer these questions in full, but one can get started on the (hopefully lifelong) learning. Students will be exposed to the major and the not‐so-major debates in aid and development. They will discuss the...
The Political Economy of Civil War and Terror, Yale University (Syllabus) - Oct 16, 2008

The goal of this course is to familiarize the student with approaches to the study of war and terror: economic, historical, analytical, formal theoretical, and statistical. Most of all, the course is designed to get students to think critically about traditional explanations and approaches. The...

The Industrial Organization of Rebellion: The Logic of Forced Labor and Child Soldiering - Apr 23, 2010
Abstract: We investigate one of the world's most pernicious forms of exploitation: child soldiering. Most theories can be captured by a principal-agent model that incorporates punishments, indoctrination, and age-varying productivity. For rebel leaders, we show it is almost always optimal to...

Non-CGD Publications

The Consequences of Child Soldiering (with Jeannie Annan)

On the nature and causes of LRA abduction: What the abductees say (with Jeannie Annan), Draft chapter for an volume on the Lord’s Resistance Army, edited by T. Allen and K. Vlassenroot

Winners and Losers in the Commodity Lottery: The Impact of Terms of Trade Growth and Volatility in the Periphery, 1870-1939, joint with J. Hwang and J.G. Williamson, forthcoming, Journal of Development Economics.

The State of Youth and Youth Protection in Northern Uganda: Findings from the Survey for War-Affected Youth, A Report for UNICEF Uganda, with J. Annan and R. Horton, 2006.