Barbara Stallings

Visiting Scholar in International and Public Affairs

Areas of Interest: Economic reform and development in Latin America and East Asia, finance for development, development strategy, international political economy.

Biography

Barbara Stallings is the William R. Rhodes Research Professor at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and editor of Studies in Comparative International Development. She is a past director of the Watson Institute and of its Political Economy and Development Program. Stallings has a PhD in economics from Cambridge University and a PhD in political science from Stanford University. Prior to joining the Institute in 2002, she was director of the Economic Development Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile, and professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is author or editor of 16 books and numerous articles and book chapters on international finance and the political economy of Latin America and East Asia. For the last several years, she has been a visiting professor or scholar at several Chinese institutions.

Research

Latin American Political Economy

Comparative analysis of economic policies and development strategies in post-World War II Latin America; the role of finance in economic growth; tradeoffs between growth and equity; employment and social policies; access to finance.

East Asian Political Economy

Comparisons of economic policies and development outcomes in East Asia and Latin America; financial development and financial liberalization in East Asian countries; regional integration in East Asia; foreign aid in East Asia.

International Political Economy

Economic relations between developed economies (especially the United States, Japan, and China) and emerging economies (especially Latin America and East Asia); the role of free trade agreements in economic development; the role of private financial flows (foreign direct investment and commercial loans) in economic development; comparative analysis of Asian and Western models of foreign aid.

Publications

Promoting Development: The Political Economy of East Asian Foreign Aid (with Eun Mee Kim). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.

Innovation and Inclusion: Strategies to Avoid the Middle Income Trap in Latin America (with Alejandro Foxley). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Also published in Spanish as Economías Latinoamericanas: Cómo Avanzar Más Allá del Ingreso Medio Santiago, Chile: CIEPLAN, 2015.

“Chinese Foreign Aid to Latin America: Winning Friends and Influencing People?” In Margaret Myers and Carol Wise, eds. The Political Economy of China-Latin American Relations in the New Millennium. New York: Routledge, 2016, pp. 69-91.

“Development Studies: Enduring Debates and Possible Trajectories.” Studies in Comparative International Development 51(1): 1-31, 2016 (with Peter Evans). 

“Japan, Korea, and China: Styles of ODA in East Asia.” In Hiroshi Kato, John Page, and Yasutami Shimomura, eds. Japan’s Development Assistance: Foreign Aid and the Post-2015 Agenda. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015 (with Eun Mee Kim), pp. 120-34.

“Does Asia Matter? The Political Economy of Latin America’s International Relations.” In Javier Santiso, ed., Handbook of Latin American Political Economy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012, pp. 210-32.

“Is Economic Reform Dead in Latin America? Rhetoric and Reality since 2000.” Journal of Latin American Studies, 43 (4): 755-86, 2011 (with Wilson Peres).

Selected Recent Talks

“Promoting Development: The Political Economy of East Asian Foreign Aid,” lecture at School of Government, Peking University, Beijing, China, May 24, 2017.

“China’s Increasing Role in Latin America: Is Authoritarianism an Impediment?” keynote address for conference at School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, April 22, 2017.

“Where Are China-Latin American Relations Headed?” lecture at University of the Pacific, Lima, Peru, January 18, 2017.

“Where Are China-Latin American Relations Headed?” lecture at the Latin American Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Science, Beijing, China, December 15, 2016.

“Japan, China, and Korea: Patterns of ODA in East Asia,” lecture at the Institute for World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Science, Beijing, China, December 8, 2016.

“Reshaping the Productivity Landscape in Latin America,” lecture at School for International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, New York, September 30, 2016.

“China and Latin America: Trends and Policy Implications,” keynote address at Research Network of Latin American Political Economy (REPAL), Annual Conference, MIT, Cambridge, MA, June 10, 2016.

“China’s ‘New Normal’ and the Impact on Latin America,” lecture at Fudan University, Shanghai, China, March 21, 2016.

Teaching

DS 2000: Theory and Research in Development I

Syllabus
DS 2000 is the first half of a two-semester course. It explores a range of substantive debates in development by drawing on empirical and theoretical work from the disciplines of anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology. The course has four objectives: 1) to provide students with a broad understanding of core debates and current research on development; 2) to evaluate both the differences and complementarities among disciplinary perspectives; 3) to develop interdisciplinary analytic skills that can be applied to concrete research questions; and 4) to foster cross-disciplinary conversation and debate.

DS 2010: Theory and Research in Development II

Syllabus
DS 2010 is the second half of a two-semester course. It is designed to assist PhD students in preparing research proposals. The course is organized in three modules: 1) discussion of leading methods in anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology with respect to the study of development; 2) presentations by Brown and external faculty on approaches to studying development; and 3) student presentations and feedback from faculty and other students.