Jonathan Haughton, PhD

On sabbatical, spring 2022

Biography

I am primarily a development economist, and have had the pleasure of working, presenting, or teaching in over 30 countries on five continents. Much of my recent work has been related to the measurement and analysis of poverty in Rwanda, some of which builds on my Handbook on Poverty and Inequality (with Shahidur Khandker), which was published by the World Bank in 2009, and my subsequent book on Living Standards Analytics (with Dominique Haughton).

For about two decades I also worked with the Beacon Hill Institute, mainly modeling the effects of taxes on the US economy using computable general equilibrium models. From time to time, I have strayed outside of economics, publishing papers in a number of other areas, including demography (especially the effects of “son preference”), entrepreneurship, public administration, and energy.

More than 50 of my articles have appeared in refereed publications, and I have written over a hundred reports and a score of book chapters. I am currently working on a book on Causal Business Analytics.

Originally from Ireland, I have lived in the US since 1977. Since coming to Suffolk in 1997 I have taught over two dozen different courses to a total of more than 3,000 students!

Education

• PhD, Harvard University
• BA(Mod), Trinity College, Dublin
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA® 2002)

Employment History

Held faculty positions at Wellesley College (1996-97), Northeastern University (1989-1996), and University of Maryland Baltimore County (1983-1987). Research Associate, Harvard Institute for International Development (1987-89), and Instructor, Harvard University (1982-83).

Affiliations include Research Fellow, International Tax Program, Harvard Law School (1989-96); Université de Toulouse I (2006-2007) Visiting Professor, National Economics University, Hanoi (Jan-May 1994); Visiting Professor, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics (occasional, 2012, 2013, 2014); and Université Cheikh Anta Diop (2012, 2017), Kaplan/Schweser (2001-2018), and Temple University, Japan (summer 1987).

Has undertaken assignments for the World Bank, USAID, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Department for International Development (UK), IFPRI, Government of Rwanda, Economist Intelligence Unit, Ford Foundation, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, UNDP, and Soros Foundation.

Awards & Honors

• CAS Faculty Award for Service, Suffolk University, 2018.
• Excellent Teacher of the Year award, Northeastern University, 1994.
• Allyn Young Prize for excellence in teaching, Harvard University (each year 1978/9 through 1982/3).
• Google Scholar: 3,314 citations; ResearchGate (RG) score: 22.3 [As of November 2019.]
• Editorial Board, Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2018-present.

Selected Publications

Books

• Living Standards Analytics: Development Through the Lends of Household Survey Data, Springer, New York, 2012. [With Dominique Haughton].
• Handbook on Poverty and Inequality, World Bank, Washington DC. 2009. [With Shahid Khandker].

Edited Books

• Living Standards during an Economic Boom: Vietnam 1993-1998, December 2001. United Nations Development Program and Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi. [With Dominique Haughton and Nguyen Phong].
• Health and Wealth in Vietnam: An Analysis of Household Living Standards 1999. Institute for Southeast Studies Press, Singapore. [With Sarah Bales, Truong Thi Kim Chuyen, Dominique Haughton and Nguyen Nguyet Nga].

Selected Articles

• Discrimination against Migrants in Urban Vietnam, International Advances in Economic Research, 24(3): 211-232, 2018. [With Wendi Sun and Le Thi Thanh Loan.]
• Inequality and Entrepreneurial Thresholds, Journal of Business Venturing, 33(3): 278-295, 2018. [With Soumodip Sarkar and Carlos Rufin.]
• The Distributional Effects of the Trump and Clinton Tax Proposals, Atlantic Economic Journal, 45(4): 453-472, December 2017. [With Paul Bachman, Keshab Bhattarai, and David Tuerck.]
• The Politics of Local Government Stabilization Funds. Public Administration Review, 75(2): 304-314, March/April 2015. [With Douglas Snow and Jerry Gianakis]
• Microcredit on a Large Scale: Appraising the Thailand Village Fund. Asian Economic Journal, December 2014, 28(4): 363-388. [With Shahid Khandker and Pungpond Rukumnuaykit]
• Student Performance in an Introductory Business Statistics Course: Does Delivery Mode Matter? Journal of Education for Business, 2014, 90(1): 31-43. [With Alison Kelly]
• The Surprising Effects of the Great Recession: Losers and Winners in Thailand in 2008-09, World Development, 2014, 56: 77-92. [With Shahidur Khandker]
• Does the Village Fund Matter in Thailand? Evaluating the Impact on Incomes and Spending, Journal of Asian Economics, 2013, 25: 3-16. [With Jirawan Boonperm and Shahidur Khandker]
• Bubble Rap: Visualizing Poverty Dynamics, Case Studies in Business, Industrial, and Government Statistics, 2012, 5(1): 67-74.
• Why is Agricultural Trade within ECOWAS So High? Journal of African Economies, 2013, 22(1):22-51. [With Abdoulaye Seck, Lassana Cissokho, and Kossi Makpayo].
• Evaluating the Impact of Egyptian Social Fund for Development Programs, Journal of Development Effectiveness, 2010, 2(4): 521-555. [With Hala Abou-Ali, Hesham El-Azony, Heba El-Laithy, and Shahidur Khandker].
• Ethnic Minority Development in Vietnam. Journal of Development Studies, 2007, 43(7): 1151-1176. [With Bob Baulch, Truong Thi Kim Chuyen, and Dominique Haughton].
• Tax Incidence in Vietnam, Asian Economic Journal 20(2): 217-239, 2006. [With Nguyen The Quan and Nguyen Hoang Bao].
• The Incidence of State-Level Taxes on Oil and Gas, Public Finance Review, 2006, 34(5): 527-550. [With David G. Tuerck].
• Explaining the Pattern of Regional Unemployment: The Case of the Midi-Pyrenees Region, Papers in Regional Science, 82: 155-174, 2003. [With Yves Aragon et al.]
• Ten Puzzles and Surprises: Economic and Social Change in Vietnam, 1993-1998, Comparative Economic Studies, fall 2000, 17(4): 67-92.
• Explaining Child Nutrition in Vietnam, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 1997, 45(3), 541-556. [With Dominique Haughton].
• Gasoline Tax as a Corrective Tax: Estimates for the United States, 1970-1991, Energy Journal, April 1996, 17(2), 103-126. [With Soumodip Sarkar].
• Son Preference in Vietnam, Studies in Family Planning, November/December 1995, pp. 325-337. [With Dominique Haughton].
• Adding Mystery to the Case of the Missing Currency, Quarterly Review of Economics and Business, 1995, 595-602.
• Designing VAT Systems: How Many Rates and At What Levels? Review of Economics and Statistics, 1996, 78(2): 303-308. [With Ali Agha].

Chapters

25 book chapters, including:

• Chapter 1: Historical Background, in The Economy of Ireland, 13 th edition, John O’Hagan and Francis O’Toole (eds.), 2017.
• Visualizing France with Cartograms, in Abdelaati Daouia and Anne Ruiz-Gazen, Advances in Contemporary Statistics and Econometrics, Springer. [With Dominique Haughton]. 2021.

Reports

Over 100 reports, including:

• Rwanda Poverty Profile Report 2016/17. NISR, Kigali, December 2018. [Main author, with Baba Ali Mwango, Roger Kamana, Serge Mugabo, Heba El Laithy, and Dominique Haughton]
  http://www.statistics.gov.rw/publication/eicv-5-rwanda-poverty-profile-report-201617
• Microcredit in Viet Nam: Does It Matter? 2016. International Food Policy Research Institute Discussion Paper 01569, Washington DC. [With Shahidur Khandker.]
• Measuring the Revenue and Incidence Effects of Tax Changes in Thailand. For World Bank Office, Thailand, July 2012.
• Vietnam: Country Report. Principal author, 1996-2008. For Economist Intelligence Unit, London.
• An Economic Analysis of a Wind Farm in Nantucket Sound. Beacon Hill Institute, Boston. Submitted to Army Corps of Engineers, May 2004. [With Douglas Giuffre, John Barrett and David Tuerck].
• Metro Area and State Competitiveness Report 2003. Beacon Hill Institute, Boston, December 2003. [With Cagdas Sirin]. Also helped update reports in most years since then.