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Thanks to the generous support of IGCC, I was able to pursue a long-time
dream of mine of working at the World Bank. I was fortunate enough to spend
the summer there as an intern working with both the Poverty Reduction and Economic
Management (PREM) functional group and with the East Asia (EAS) geographic
group. The topics I researched ranged over various macroeconomic issues relevant
to middle income countries and will likely become a component of my dissertation
research.
In the PREM group, I assisted a researcher on a paper investigating the optimal
debt structure for middle income countries, what were the types of contingencies
that should be planned for, what were the costs of debt to these economies,
and what were the historical precedents in terms of debt-related crises. This
paper will be presented to the World Bank board of directors and will help
inform high-level policy decisions vis-à-vis leadership in these countries.
In the EAS group, where I spent the bulk of my research effort, I investigated
returns to investment and capital in the East Asian countries. I first summarized
the literature regarding measurements of returns, then implemented a number
of measurement techniques that were turned up in the initial literature search.
The data I used was firm-level stock market data (as opposed to aggregate national
accounts data) and gave us a number of useful insights into firm activity in
the industrial sector. Of course, in the East Asian economies, the 1997 event
was the salient feature, even among those who did not officially suffer a currency
crisis or full capital reversal. One finding was, not surprisingly, that investments
made just prior to and during the 1997 financial crisis faired very poorly.
The research itself was, though not the most glamorous, very interesting to
me and was a great learning experience. The contact I had with economists working
in the “real world” and the exposure to the Bank’s research
process was invaluable. That said, one of the best parts about being at the
Bank this summer was the unofficial contact with other interns, Bank economists,
and other Bank employees. The Bank takes ethnic diversity to a level on par
with Noah’s Ark. There seem to be two or three people there from every
country and group on the planet, all of whom are passionately involved in development
and international politics and policy. This reflects my experience of Washington,
D.C., as a whole, as I found most everyone I met to be both interested and
interesting.
All in all, the summer experience provided to me by my IGCC fellowship was
outstanding.
Jake Kendall, UC Santa Cruz
With the support of the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (and
Washington Representative Joseph McGhee’s assistance in placement coordination)
I worked as a summer intern with the Senior Government Liaison at the U.S.
Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. USCRI is internationally-known for
its domestic work with immigrant and refugee resettlement as well as its
annual survey of information on refugee issues (including oft-quoted statistics).During my summer I worked on a variety of tasks with both the Senior Government
Liaison and other staff (including the survey editor and director of communications).
My primary task was to attend hearings and NGO meetings (primarily on the crisis
in Darfur, Sudan) and then to write up reports and disseminate information
to USCRI staff. I also established Congressional staff contacts and worked
on “Dear Colleague” letters, and collaborated on dissemination
of refugee information to staffers (pushing for the Joint Resolution on Darfur,
which passed both houses at lightning-fast speed).
I also used the opportunity to establish connections with experts in the field
of refugee education and to conduct my own research on that subject at the
Library of Congress and the University of Maryland library.
What was perhaps most important during this time was the opportunity to be
in Washington D.C., to examine the legislative process closely to better understand
it and to develop contacts with people who can guide my future research. I
became even more interested in refugee issues, particularly in regard to secondary
education. Because of this fellowship and internship, I’ve been invited
to present a paper in January 2005 at an International Association for the
Study of Forced Migration conference in Brazil on secondary education in refugee
situations.
Heidi Bowman, UC Riverside
I spent the summer of 2004 at the World Bank as an intern in the Finance,
Private Sector Development, and Infrastructure Department. Over the summer
I worked on a wide variety of projects. For example, I wrote a chapter on
health for a report on urban poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean, as
well as
did research for, edited, and wrote a chapter on housing and housing policy
for the same report with Marianne Fay, the lead economist of the department.
I also researched and wrote a summary report on World Bank sites and services
projects for an urban development project in Ecuador with Alexandra Ortiz,
a senior urban economist. In addition, I rewrote a report in Spanish on an
investment proposal for road infrastructure in Peru with Aurelio Menendez,
a senior transportation economist. Being in Washington gave me the opportunity to speak with many people at the
World Bank and other development institutions about careers and intellectual
questions. In fact, the experience made me decide to apply to Ph.D. programs
in a slightly different field from what I had originally planned. IGCC funding
was essential, as the department that took me on did not have the budget for
a summer intern. I felt also that there was support at UCDC and from the other
IGCC interns if I needed it.
Paavo Monkkonen, UCLA |
The contact I had with economists
working in the “real world” and the exposure to the Bank’s
research process was invaluable. . . . All in all, the summer experience
provided to me by my IGCC fellowship was outstanding.
Jake Kendall
2004 summer intern
What was perhaps most important during this time was the
opportunity to be in Washington D.C., to examine the legislative process
closely to better understand it and to develop contacts with people who
can guide my future research.
Heidi Bowman
2004 summer intern
Being in Washington gave me the opportunity to
speak with many people at the World Bank and other development institutions
about
careers and intellectual questions. . . . IGCC funding
was essential, as the department that took me on did not have the budget for
a summer intern.
Paavo Monkkonen
2004 summer intern |
