Jenny C. Aker Webpage

Jenny C. Aker

Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
University of California, Berkeley
207 Giannini Hall
Berkeley, CA 94702-3310
510 219-1663
E-mail: aker@are.berkeley.edu and jennaker@hotmail.com

RESEARCH INTERESTS
    My fields of specialization are development economics, applied econometrics, agricultural marketing, policy analysis and program evaluation. My research interests focus on the role of agro-food market performance for producer and consumer welfare in developing countries, primarily Sub-Saharan (West and Central) Africa. More specifically, I am interested in the impact of information (technology) on market actors' behavior and market performance in developing countries. Using a panel dataset that I collected in Niger in collaboration with four non-governmental organizations (CRS, CARE, HKI and World Vision), I assess the impact of cell phones on grain market performance in Niger. A second paper tests for grain market performance during the 2005 Niger food crisis, based upon a dynamic time series panel dataset of prices, transaction costs and trade flows. A third paper looks at the structure and conduct of the cereal market in Niger, and the way in which this affects market performance. And finally, a fourth paper looks at the effect of social networks on household welfare and coping mechanisms in Tanzania. In addition to these topics, I am also interested in vulnerability and early warning systems; the impact of food aid on consumers and producers in developing countries; producers' access to and use of market information; the use of information technology for literacy; program evaluation; and technological adoption in the health and agro-food sectors.
ACADEMIC INFORMATION
  • DISSERTATION TITLE: Three Essays on Markets and Welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • RESEARCH INTERESTS: Development Economics, Agricultural Policy Analysis, Applied Econometrics, Food Markets and Policy Analysis, Program Evaluation
  • TEACHING INTERESTS: Development Economics, Applied Econometrics, Microeconomics
  • DISSERTATION COMMITTEE AND REFERENCES
    • Professor Maximilian Auffhammer, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California-Berkeley, auffhammer@are.berkeley.edu
    • Professor Guido Imbens, Department of Economics, Harvard University, imbens@fas.harvard.edu
    • Professor Edward Miguel, Department of Economics, University of California-Berkeley, miguel@econ.berkeley.edu
    • Professor Brian Wright, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California-Berkeley, wright@are.berkeley.edu
    • Professor David Zilberman, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California-Berkeley, zilberman@are.berkeley.edu
WORKING PAPERS
  • POLICY PAPERS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS
    PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
    • 2008- Assistant Professor of Development Economics. Tufts University, Economics Department and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. On leave 2008/2009.
    • 2008/2009: Post-doctoral Fellow. Center for Global Development, Washington, D.C.
    • 2003-present: Consultant for the World Bank, Catholic Relief Services, CARE, CHF International and other organizations. Topics include Agricultural Marketing, Food Security, Program Design and Evaluation, Strategic Planning
    • 2003-2008: Graduate Research Instructor and Researcher Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Department of Economics, University of California-Berkeley
    • 2000-2003: Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Catholic Relief Services. Accra, Ghana.
    • 1998-2000: Regional Food Security and Monetization Advisor for West and Central Africa, Catholic Relief Services, Accra, Ghana.
    • 1997/1998: Research Fellow and Fulbright Scholar, Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire, Universite Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco (1997/1998)
  • FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
    • Awardee, Advanced Graduate Workshop on Globalization, Poverty and Development , Columbia University and the Brooks World Poverty Institute (Summer 2007)
    • Recipient of the Center for International and Development Economics Research (CIDER) Small Research Grant (Spring 2007)
    • Recipient of the Gordon Rausser Scholarship , University of California-Berkeley (Spring 2007)
    • Recipient of the Rocca Dissertation Fellowship , University of California-Berkeley (June 2006)
    • Recipient of the International Bureau for Economic Research Small Grants Award , University of California-Berkeley (June 2005)
    • William J. Fulbright Fellowship , Morocco (1997/1998)
    • Recipient of the Edmund A. Gullion Prize for high academic achievement , Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (May 1997)
    • Recipient of the Sasakawa Young Leadership Fellowship , Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (1996/1997)
  • CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS
    OTHER LINKS
      "Pity sees suffering and wants to ease the pain; passion sees injustice and wants to settle the score. Pity implores the powerful to pay attention; passion warns them about what will happen if they don't. The risk of pity is that it kills with kindness; the promise of passion is that it builds on the hope that the poor are fully capable of helping themselves if given the chance. In 2005 the world's poor needed no more condolences; they needed people to get interested, get mad and then get to work."