Jump to content

User:Vipul/Chris Blattman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chris Blattman is an assistant professor of political science at Columbia University, working at the intersection of international development, politics, economics, and policy.[1][2][3] He is also affiliated with Innovations for Poverty Action,[4] the Center for Global Development,[5] Yale Economic Growth Center, International Growth Centre, Households in Conflict Network, Experiments in Governance and Politics, and Scholars Strategy Network.[1]

Academic life[edit]

Blattman received a BA in Economics from the University of Waterloo. He completed a Master's in Public Administration and International Development (MPA/ID) from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.[1] He was a faculty member at Yale University before moving to Columbia University in 2012, where he is an assistant professor of political science as of February 2014.[1]

Research[edit]

Blattman's research focuses on the relationship between violence and poverty in African states, including child soldiers in Africa.[6]

Advice[edit]

Blattman has published on his website advice to students for emailing professors[7] as well as advice for prospective graduate students and post-docs seeking him as adviser,[8] both of which were commented upon in an Inside Higher Ed article.[9]

Along with Esther Duflo, Dean Karlan and others, he is a proponent of field experiments in the social sciences, though he has also advised against doing field experiments for one's dissertation.[10][11]

Reception[edit]

Interviews[edit]

Blattman has been interviewed by the Georgetown Public Policy Review,[12] the New York Times Economix blog,[13] and Gadling.[14]

Citations in news and blog pieces[edit]

Blattman has been cited and quoted in a number of news and opinion pieces related to international development, such as a New York Times Magazine article about cash transfers and GiveDirectly[15][16] and a Slate Magazine article discussing a claim by Bill Gates that by 2035, the world would have no poor countries.[17]

Blattman's research on child soldiers was discussed by Lawrence MacDonald on the Center for Global Development blog.[6]

Blattman's blog posts on economic development have been cited by many other economists on their own blogs, including William Easterly[18][19] and Tyler Cowen.[20][21] The Freakonomics blog frequently hat tips Blattman for interesting research it blogs about, having discovered it via Blattman's blog.[22] Duncan Green's Oxfam blog From Poverty to Power frequently hat tips and occasionally critiques Blattman.[23]

Some blog posts of Blattman that have been widely cited and critiqued are a blog post on cash transfers[24][25] as well as blog posts discussing randomized controlled trials.[26][27][20]

Controversy[edit]

Blattman accused the Freakonomics blog of plagiarism and improper attribution practices, leading to a lengthy email exchange between him and Stephen J. Dubner, which resulted in Blattman retracting some of the more serious accusations.[28][29][30]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Blattman, Chris. "About me". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  2. ^ "Chris Blattman". School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  3. ^ "Christopher J. Blattman". Department of Political Science, Columbia University. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  4. ^ "Chris Blattman". Innovations for Poverty Action. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  5. ^ "Chris Blattman". Center for Global Development. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  6. ^ a b MacDonald, Lawrence (May 4, 2010). "The Economics of Child Soldiering: Chris Blattman". Center for Global Development. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  7. ^ Blattman, Chris (November 8, 2010). "Students: How to email to your Professor, employer, and professional peers". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  8. ^ Blattman, Chris. "Columbia PhD and post-doc advising". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  9. ^ Flaherty, Colleen (September 16, 2013). "'If You Want to Be My Student'". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved February 18, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Blattman, Chris (July 14, 2011). "Aspiring PhD students: Should you become a field research assistant for an RCT?". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  11. ^ Blattman, Chris (February 12, 2013). "How to pick a dissertation project (and why it should not be a field experiment)". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  12. ^ "Experimentation and Empowerment: An Interview with Columbia University's Chris Blattman". Georgetown Public Policy Review. February 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Lowrey, Annie (June 20, 2013). "Ending Poverty by Giving the Poor Money". New York Times Economix blog. Retrieved February 18, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ Hotfelder, Aron (August 20, 2008). "Talking Travel with global development researcher Chris Blattman". Gadling. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  15. ^ Goldstein, Jacob (August 13, 2013). "Is It Nuts to Give to the Poor Without Strings Attached?". New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "GiveDirectly and Chris Blattman in New York Times and This American Life". Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  17. ^ Keating, Joshua (January 22, 2014). "Incomes in Africa Have Barely Budged for the Last 15 Years". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  18. ^ Easterly, William (June 15, 2012). "Yet another perspective on China: It's History, Stupid". New York University Development Research Institute. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  19. ^ Easterly, William (August 9, 2010). "A Lecturer answers The Big Question". Aid Watch. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  20. ^ a b Cowen, Tyler (January 9, 2009). "Chris Blattman on randomized control trials". Marginal Revolution (blog). Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  21. ^ Cowen, Tyler (December 14, 2009). "Chris Blattman on why aid seems to fail". Marginal Revolution. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  22. ^ "Blattman (search results)". Freakonomics. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ Green, Duncan (September 7, 2010). "So do food price spikes cause riots or not?". From Poverty to Power, Oxfam blogs. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  24. ^ Blattman, Chris (May 23, 2013). "Dear governments: Want to help the poor and transform your economy? Give people cash". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  25. ^ Maurer, Noel (May 26, 2013). "Chris Blattman is a genius". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  26. ^ Blattman, Chris (July 16, 2009). "On development experiments". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  27. ^ Karnofsky, Holden (July 20, 2009). "Development experiments (randomized controlled trials) as a counterpoint to marketing materials". GiveWell blog. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  28. ^ Blattman, Chris (January 27, 2010). "Do the big newspaper blogs plagiarize?". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  29. ^ Blattman, Chris (January 28, 2010). "More on yesterday's cheap shot @freakonomics and @WSJIdeasMarket". Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  30. ^ Dubner, Stephen J. (March 20, 2012). "Freakonomics: What Went Right? Responding to Wrong-Headed Attacks". Freakonomics. Retrieved February 18, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Vipul/Chris_Blattman&oldid=596106905"