Chris Blattman

Postdoctoral Fellow
CBlattman@cgdev.org

Research Topics

Education

PhD in Economics,University of California at Berkeley

Masters in Public Administration and International Development (MPA/ID), Kennedy School at Harvard University

Background

Chris Blattman is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Global Development. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters in Public Administration and International Development (MPA/ID) from the Kennedy School at Harvard University.

Chris's research focuses on using field work, original data, and field experiments to examine the micro-level causes and consequences of political violence, the determinants of political participation, and the effectiveness of programs for post-conflict recovery and reintegration and economic development. He has worked extensively in East Africa, as well as West Africa and Eastern Europe.

Chris also directs the Survey of War Affected Youth (SWAY) in northern Uganda-a large-scale survey of youth including former child soldiers, and his recent research has examined empirically the incentives for recruiting child soldiers, the economic and political impacts of child soldiering experiences, and the role of gender in armed groups. He is also working with UN Peacekeeping forces on tactics and methods of preventing and countering the use of child soldiers.

Finally, Chris is currently conducting experimental impact evaluations of post-conflict youth programs in Kosovo and Uganda in order to determine what programs are effective, for whom, and why. In addition, these evaluations are exploring the relationship between kin networks, social capital, and success in vocational training and micro-enterprise development.

In July 2008, Chris will join Yale University as an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Economics

View Chris Blattman's personal page

View Chris Blattman's personal blog

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.