Stanford University

International Development

FSI researchers consider international development from a variety of angles. They analyze ideas such as how public action and good governance are cornerstones of economic prosperity in Mexico and how investments in high school education will improve China’s economy.

They are looking at novel technological interventions to improve rural livelihoods, like the development implications of solar power-generated crop growing in Northern Benin.

FSI academics also assess which political processes yield better access to public services, particularly in developing countries. With a focus on health care, researchers have studied the political incentives to embrace UNICEF’s child survival efforts and how a well-run anti-alcohol policy in Russia affected mortality rates.

FSI’s work on international development also includes training the next generation of leaders through pre- and post-doctoral fellowships as well as the Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program.

Competition Policy and the New Economy: A Transatlantic Perspective on Regulatory Challenges

The conference will explore the application of competition policy rules to aspects of the "new" economy, in particular where networks and information flows are leading to rapid changes in industrial structure. Both US and European views will be represented, and the prospects for avoiding further tensions in transatlantic relations over different approaches will be explored. The focus will be on four sectors that are currently undergoing structural changes through mergers and which have posed questions for transatlantic cooperation and for antitrust regulations; telecoms and internet access; e-commerce and internet marketplaces; airlines and code-sharing; and biotechnology and genomics. These same issues are also likely to be significant in global discussions of competition policy in the WTO and elsewhere.

The conference will bring together academic economists, lawyers and political scientists from the US and Europe along with invited private sector and government participants. To ensure the opportunity for intensive discussion, attendance will be limited to thirty people.

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Bechtel Conference Center

Conferences

FSI Orientation 2007

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Featuring research-themed talks by investigators from CDDRL, CHP/PCOR, CISAC, Shorenstein APARC, Food Security and the Environment, and Forum on Contemporary Europe.

Bechtel Conference Center

Conferences

The Century of Education

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Fabrice Murtin will be a postdoctoral fellow with Stanford's Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Paris-Jourdan Sciences Économiques and, from 2005-2007, served as visiting researcher at the London School of Economics.

He will discuss his paper, written with Christian Morrisson, "Education Inequalities and the Kuznets Curves: A Global Perspective Since 1870."

Abstract

This paper presents a new dataset on educational attainment (primary, secondary and tertiary schooling) at the world level since 1870. Inequality in years of schooling is found to be rapidly decreasing, but we show that this result is completely driven by the decline in illiteracy. Then, we turn to inequality in human capital and focus on Mincerian production function that accounts for diminishing returns to schooling. It explains the negative cross-country correlation between Mincerian returns to schooling and average schooling contrary to other functional forms. As a result, we show that world human capital inequality has increased since 1870, but does not exceed 10% of world income inequality. Next, we analyse the relationships between the national distributions of income and schooling. We show that human capital within countries exhibits the inverted U-shaped curve with respect to average schooling, namely a "Kuznets curve of education." We find that the usual Kuznets curve of income inequality is significant both in pooled and fixed-effects regressions over the period 1870-2000, and is robust to the inclusion of other variables in the regression such as schooling and human capital inequality. However, the "Kuznets effect" associated to GDP per capita is 4 times smaller in magnitude than the externality of average schooling favouring the decrease of income inequality within countries since 1870.

Cosponsored by the Political Theory Workshop.

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Encina Ground Floor Conference Room

Fabrice Murtin Postdoctoral Fellow Speaker Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality, Stanford University
Workshops
Linda Randall Meier Research Workshop on Global Justice

Deliberately Democratizing Multilateral Organizations

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Session I: What are Deliberation and Clumsiness?

Loren King, MIT

"Democracy and Deliberation: A Review of Recent Theories and Proposals"

Michael Thompson, University of Bergen

"Clumsiness: It's as Easy as Falling off a Log"

Session II: UN & International Environmental Regimes

Tom Heller, Stanford University

"Clumsy Institutions against Global Warming"

Session III: EMU & WTO

Susanne Lohmann, UCLA

"Sollbruchstelle: Mass Democracy, Deep Uncertainty and Institutional Design"

Rob Howse, University of Michigan

"Democracy, Science, and Free Trade: Risk Regulation on Trial at the WTO"

Session IV: World Bank, IMF & International Labor Standards

Archon Fung, Harvard University

"Globalizing with a Human Face: How Deliberation, Transparency, and Competition Can Improve International Labor Standards"

Marco Verweij, Max Planck Institute in Bonn

"The Need to Make the World Bank & IMF Clumsier"

Session V: General Discussion

Introduced and chaired by Joseph Steiglitz, Stanford University

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Bechtel Conference Center

Workshops

The Proliferation of Investment Dispute Settlement Mechanisms - The Threat of Fragmentation or a Promise of a More Effective System?

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The current boom of investment arbitration under NAFTA as well as ICSID and other arbitral regimes has demonstrated that the enforcement of treaty obligations has become a standard feature of international law in this particular field of international economic law. The increased probability of actual enforcement of international standards of investment protection is generally welcomed in a system, such as the international legal order, which normally suffers from rather weak enforcement structures. At the same time, the proliferation of investment dispute settlement mechanisms bears its own risks. The concurrent availability of different investment dispute settlement mechanisms may lead to parallel proceedings or to the re-litigation of already decided cases. The CME/Lauder v. Czech Republic arbitrations where the same dispute was arbitrated under two different bilateral investment agreements and the CMS v. Argentina and the LG&E v. Argentina cases where similar issues were addressed demonstrate the inherent danger of a multiplication of procedures if the answers found by different tribunals are contradictory. The proliferation of investment disputes has broader structural implications which need to be addressed in order to secure the viability of this system of international arbitration.

August Reinisch is professor of public international law and European law at the University of Vienna. From 2004 to 2006 he served as Dean for International Relations of the Law School of the University of Vienna. He is also a professional lecturer at the Bologna Center/SAIS of Johns Hopkins University. He currently serves as arbitrator on the In Rem Restitution Panel according to the Austrian General Settlement Fund Law 2001 and as president of an UNCITRAL investment arbitration.

He holds Master's degrees in philosophy (1990) and in law (1988) as well as a doctorate in law (1991) from the University of Vienna and an LL.M. (1989) from NYU Law School. He is admitted to the Bar of New York and Connecticut (since 1990).

Encina Ground Floor Conference Room

August Reinisch Speaker University of Vienna School of Law, Section Program on International Investment Law in International Arbitral Practice
Seminars

CISAC awards 14 honors certificates in international security studies

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CISAC awarded honors certificates in international security studies to 14 undergraduates who completed theses on policy issues ranging from speeding up the detection of a bioterror attack to improving the World Bank's effectiveness at post-conflict resolution.

Among the 2006-2007 participants in CISAC's Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies were award winners Brian Burton, who received a Firestone Medal for his thesis, "Counterinsurgency Principles and U.S. Military Effectiveness in Iraq," and Sherri Hansen, who received the William J. Perry Award for her thesis, "Explaining the Use of Child Soldiers." The Firestone Medal recognizes the top 10 percent of undergraduate theses at Stanford each year, and the Perry recognizes excellence in policy-relevant research in international security studies.

CISAC honors students "can make the world a more peaceful place in several ways," FSI senior fellow Stephen Stedman told students and guests at the honors ceremony. "They can graduate and find jobs of power and influence [and] they can identify real world problems and solve them."

This year's class, which included several double-majors, represented nine major fields of study: biology, history, human biology, international relations, mathematics, management science and engineering, physics, political science, Russia-Eurasian studies. Some students headed to business or policy positions, while others looked forward to advanced studies in law, medicine, biophysics, security studies, or other fields.

"I hope that this is the beginning, not the end, of your contributions to policy-relevant research," CISAC senior research scholar Paul Stockton, who co-directed the program with Stedman, told the students. He added, "In every potential career you have expressed a desire to pursue, from medicine to the financial sector and beyond, we need your perspectives and research contributions, to deal with emerging threats to global security."

Many students expressed interest in realizing that hope. Burton said his aspiration is to attain "a high-level cabinet or National Security Council position to cap a long career of public service in foreign policy."

Katherine Schlosser, a biology major who is headed to Case Western Reserve University for joint MD-master's in public health program, said she hopes to "keep conducting innovative research and to eventually rejoin the international security studies community in some capacity."

The 2007 honors recipients, their majors, thesis titles, advisers, and destinations, if known, are as follows:

Brian Burton, political science
"Counterinsurgency Principles and U.S. Military Effectiveness in Iraq"
Firestone Medal Winner
Adviser: David Holloway
Destination: Georgetown University, to pursue a master's degree in security studies

Martine Cicconi, political science
"Weighing the Costs of Aggression and Restraint: Explaining Variations in India's Response to Terrorism"
Adviser: Scott Sagan
Destination: Stanford University Law School

Will Frankenstein, mathematics
"Chinese Energy Security and International Security: A Case Study Analysis"
Adviser: Michael May
Destination: The Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, Va., for a summer internship

Kunal Gullapalli, management science & engineering
"Understanding Water Rationality: A Game-Theoretic Analysis of Cooperation and Conflict Over Scarce Water"
Adviser: Peter Kitanidis
Destination: Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley in Los Angeles

Sherri Hansen, political science
"Explaining the Use of Child Soldiers"
William J. Perry Award Winner
Adviser: Jeremy Weinstein
Destination: Oxford University in England, to pursue master's degree in development studies

Andy Leifer, physics and political science
"International Scientific Engagement for Mitigating Emerging Nuclear Security Threats"
Adviser: Michael May
Destination: Harvard University, to pursue a PhD in biophysics

James Madsen, political science
"Filling the Gap: The Rise of Military Contractors in the Modern Military"
Adviser: Coit Blacker
Destination: World travel; then San Francisco to open a bar

Nico Martinez, political science
"Protracted Civil War and Failed Peace Negotiations in Colombia"
Adviser: Stephen Stedman
Destination: Washington, DC, to serve as a staff member for Senator Harry Reid

Seepan V. Parseghian, political science and Russian/Eurasian studies
"The Survival of Unrecognized States in the Hobbesian Jungle"
Advisor: James Fearon

Dave Ryan, international relations
"Security Guarantees in Non-Proliferation Negotiations"
Adviser: Scott Sagan
Destination: Stanford University, to serve as executive director of FACE AIDS

Katherine Schlosser, biology
"Gene Expression Profiling: A New Warning System for Bioterrorism"
Adviser: Dean Wilkening
Destination: Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, to pursue a joint medical degree and master's in public health

Nigar Shaikh, human biology and political science
"No Longer Just the 'Spoils of War': Rape as an Instrument of Military Policy"
Adviser: Mariano-Florentino Cuellar

Christine Su, history and political science
"British Counterterrorism Legislation Since 2000: Parlimentary and Government Evaluations of Enhanced Security"
Adviser: Allen Weiner
Destination: Stanford University, to finish her undergraduate degree; Su completed the honors program as a junior.

Lauren Young, international relations
"Peacebuilding without Politics: The World Bank and Post Conflict Reconstruction"
Adviser: Stephen Stedman
Destination: Stanford University, to finish her undergraduate degree; Young completed the honors program as a junior.

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Germany in Crisis? Reflections on Recent Developments in the Party System

Born in 1930, Kurt H. Biedenkopf studied political science at Davidson College, North Carolina, concentrated in law at universities in Munich and Frankfurt, earned his Doctor of Laws in 1958 and received his Master of Law from Georgetown University in 1962. His teaching career began at Ruhr University Bochum in 1963 as Professor of Law and served as Rector from 1967 to 1969. From 1968 to 1970, Professor Biedenkopf chaired the Federal Government Commission on Co-determination and from 1970 to 1973, he was Executive Board member of the Henkel Corporation in Dusseldorf.

Kurt Biedenkopf has held numerous positions in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, including General Secretary (1973-1977), Vice President (1977-1983), and President of North Rhine-Westphalia Regional Association (1977-1987). From 1976 to 1980, and again from 1987-1990, Professor Biedenkopf was a member of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and in 1977, he served as Chairman of the Institute for Economic and Social Policy in Bonn. From 1980 to 1988, he was a member of the Regional Parliament (Landtag) of North Rhine-Westphalia. Besides he published several books and was awarded honorary doctorates by Davidson College, Georgetown University and Catholic University by Brussels.

In 1990 during the transitional period to democracy and market economy he was Guest Professor of Law at Leipzig University. In this time he was leading the Christian Democratic Union of Saxony to success in the in the first free election after German unification 1990. Since he has been a member of the Regional Parliament and sworn in as first Minister President of Saxony. His re-election was on October 6, 1994, and once again on September 9, 1999. Since November 1, 1999 (until October 31, 2000), he is President of the Deutscher Bundesrat.

Walter P. Falcon Lounge

Seminars

BP Foundation awards $7.5 million to Stanford for research on energy markets

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The BP Foundation has awarded a five-year, $7.5 million grant to Stanford University's Program on Energy and Sustainable Development to support research on modern energy markets. The foundation is funded by BP, one of the world's largest energy companies.

The gift follows the BP Foundation's initial grant of $1.8 million over three years, which was pledged in 2004 in support of the program.

"BP's support has allowed our program to study the world's most pressing energy problems, such as global warming, energy poverty and the prospects for the world oil market," said program director and Stanford law Professor David G. Victor. "In addition to BP Foundation support, we learn from BP's experience as an energy company because they operate in all the markets where we do research--such as in China and India."

"BP Foundation believes the work undertaken at Stanford deals directly with global issues that are key to meeting the world's growing energy needs," said Steve Elbert, chairman of the BP Foundation. "The drive to research and implement strategies to further understand today's energy markets is important work, and we are proud to partner again with Stanford."

The Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, part of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, concentrates on the legal, political and institutional dimensions of how societies derive value from energy. The BP Foundation grant is part of a rapid expansion of Stanford's research and teaching on energy issues, much of which focuses on the technical aspects of energy systems.

All of the program's research is public and published openly, including on its website (http://pesd.stanford.edu/). The gift from the BP Foundation, as well as all similar gifts to support the program's research, includes special provisions that assure the research program's independence in setting its research agenda.

The agreement with Stanford is one in a series of BP partnerships with universities in the United Kingdom, the United States and China, representing a total commitment of more than $600 million. The program at Stanford complements work on similar topics at Princeton University, Tsinghua University and Imperial College, among others.

Founded in 2001, the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development focuses on the "political economy" of modern energy services--the interaction of political, institutional and economic forces that often dominate energy markets. It collaborates with the Stanford Law School and other university departments and schools, including economics, engineering and earth sciences. About half of the program's resources are devoted to research partnerships in key developing countries, including Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. Program researchers have examined the emergence of a global business in natural gas, reforms of electric power markets and the supply of modern energy services to low-income rural households in developing countries.

The program's other major sponsor is the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., a research consortium that includes most of the world's largest electric companies.

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