Brookings: Experts - Raj M. Desai

Iraq's Economy Needs More Than Security

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Although violence in Iraq has decreased, Raj Desai states other transitions are needed before U.S. businesses feel comfortable about the Iraqi investment climate. In addition to security, Desai offers three sets of fundamental reforms to convince investors that Iraq is really "open for business."

Do Philanthropic Citizens Behave Like Governments?

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Rapid growth in private development aid raises a host of questions regarding the allocation of aid and its selectivity across recipient countries. Raj Desai and Homi Kharas analyze giving patterns from two large, internet-based non-profit organizations and discuss the need for private and official aid partnerships.

The G-20 London Summit 2009

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Leaders of the Group of 20 (G-20) countries met in London on April 2 for their second summit on the global financial crisis. In a new set of articles, Brookings experts addressed the critical issues for policy-makers and offered guidelines for more effective global coordination.

The Logic of Authoritarian Bargains

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How do authoritarian regimes stay in power? Scholars Raj Desai and Tarik Yousef, of Brookings, and Georgetown University professor Anders Olofsgård discuss the logic of authoritarian bargains in the March 2009 issue of Economics and Politics.

More Excuses from Donors at Doha

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The recent Doha Financing for Development Conference reviewed promises to increase the volume and quality of aid; yet, with the global financial industry in meltdown, aid to developing countries is expected to fall. Raj Desai and Homi Kharas argue that volatility in aid disbursements can send poor countries spinning into recession that then needs far more aid to reverse in the future.

On the Politics of Financial Meltdowns

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Recent economic events in the United States have proven that the financial crisis is a political phenomenon. Raj Desai draws five lessons the US can learn from the political economy of recent financial crises in emerging markets.

Millennium Development Goals: Enhance Public Policy with Private Donors

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Although private aid from philanthropies and NGOs deliver a larger share of total development assistance than official aid agencies, they are rarely included in development policy-planning meetings, particularly at today’s UN High Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals. In order to improve the MDGs implementation and monitoring process, and ultimately the effectiveness of aid, Raj Desai and Joshua Hermias urge for better inclusion of private aid donors.

The California Consensus: Can Private Aid End Global Poverty?

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The rise of private aid donors—foundations, NGOs, corporations, and individuals—is changing the landscape of development assistance. As private aid has doubled within the past decade, the developing world welcomes these new players, and Raj Desai and Homi Kharas argue that they have the potential to be more effective in ending global poverty than the traditional bilateral and multilateral aid agencies.

Can Russia Compete? : Enhancing Productivity and Innovation in a Globalizing World

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The original research and analysis of Desai, Goldberg, and their colleagues will be of use to anyone interested in the problems of building manufacturing competitiveness, especially in Russia and the post-Soviet transition economies.

Will Rising Food Prices Reduce Poverty?

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Rising food prices may reduce the extreme poverty often found in rural agricultural areas, argues Raj Desai. However, due to the continuous neglect of agricultural investment from bilateral donors and rich stakeholders, the poor farmers will not find this escape from poverty and actions taken to ease the effect of growing food prices will keep the wealth in urban areas.

The New Philanthropy and Development Aid

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

While the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings made recent headlines, the Global Philanthropy Forum, gathering top private aid donors, fell in the shadows. These private aid donors will likely give more aid to the world’s poor this year than the institutions that convened the Spring Meetings. Raj Desai and Homi Kharas compare these two events and discuss how private aid can help to relieve global poverty.

Can Raúl Castro Revive Cuba's Private Sector?

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

No single U.S. move would have a greater impact on the direction of Cuban reform than the lifting of travel, trade and financial restrictions, argues Raj Desai. Although Washington's options are severely limited by the current political-economic mood in Latin America, the United States can clear a path for a reformist Cuba to seek its own solutions and to understand the tradeoffs involved in different reform strategies.

The Cuban Economy After Castro

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

With Fidel Castro’s resignation as president of Cuba, what is next for the Cuban economy under new leadership? Can Cuban industry reform and what are the historical lessons the new leadership should examine before tackling economic policy changes? Raj Desai examines related issues.

Do Politically Connected Firms Undermine Their Own Competitiveness?

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In a new Global working paper, Raj Desai and co-author Anders Olofsgård examines cronyism, specifically focusing on the competitiveness of politically favored firms, and finding that influential firms do innovate and invest less.

The Political Economy of Poverty Reduction

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Antipoverty programs can significantly increase developing countries' incomes by means of "scaling up" small-scale programs Raj Desai, Brookings Visiting Fellow at the Wolfensohn Center for Development, explains. Desai provides insight as to how small development programs can expand over time and across geography while overcoming political and institutional challenges.

Perestroika Cubana

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Raj Desai explores the question of whether Cuba will follow the "Chinese model" of reform, whereby Communist Party control is maintained alongside a gradual establishment of free-market incentives.

Revitalizing America's Foreign Aid Regime

Tue, 29 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Both Mr. Tobias and Mr. Wolfowitz came to symbolize similar problems with the current administration's approach to international development. President Bush can reverse these perceptions by establishing an independent executive agency to integrate the bewildering number of foreign aid programs into a coherent, focused cabinet department.

Top Ten Global Economic Challenges: An Assessment of Global Risks and Priorities

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Top Ten Global Economic Challenges Report by Global Economy and Development (February 2007)

The Logic of Authoritarian Bargains: A Test of a Structural Model

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Dictatorships do not survive by repression alone. Rather, dictatorial rule is often explained as an "authoritarian bargain" by which citizens relinquish political rights for economic security. The applicability of the authoritarian bargain to decision-making in non-democratic states, however, has not been thoroughly examined.

How Cronyism Harms the Investment Climate

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Cronyism undermines markets in several ways. It increases the costs of doing business for firms excluded from inner, "favored" circles. It encourages firms to spend more on cultivating political ties and less on innovation. It allows regulators and policymakers to benefit privately from relationships with certain firms. Reducing the inequality in influence between the most-powerful and least-powerful firms—the "influence gap"—can limit the harmful effects of cronyism. This can be done through support for greater public accountability, anti-monopoly enforcement, and more inclusive consultation mechanisms.

Russia's Innovation Gap

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Opinion by Raj Desai in Kommersant (10/2006)