Advising & Research
DCID faculty members are actively engaged around the world in advising services with government ministries and international agencies. Their areas of specialization include fiscal decentralization, tax reform and other areas of importance to developing and transition countries. These efforts are funded by major international development agencies, as well as by individual governments and ministries. In addition to its advisory work, DCID seeks to achieve the highest degree of intellectual excellence and relevance to development needs through innovative, multidisciplinary research.
CURRENT ADVISING INITIATIVES
Select Region:
Ethiopia
Anne Martin-Staple provided advisement to the Ministry of Health and the Global Fund on Health System Strengthening in April and May of 2009.
Ghana
GP Shukla consulted with the World Bank on issues related to resource taxation policy in Ghana from February to May 2009.
Nigeria
GP Shukla consulted with the World Bank on issues related to resource taxation policy in Nigeria from February to May 2009.
Tanzania (3 activities):
Roy Kelly spent two years (August 2007-August 2009) in Tanzania providing advisement support to the Local Government Reform Project, completing the in-country portion of this project in July 2009. Kelly and other DCID Public Finance Group faculty members assisted the Prime Minister's Office-Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG) and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs to improve the intergovernmental fiscal transfer system, enhance local revenue mobilization and strengthen local financial management. This support project is funded through a basket fund modality by the Government of Tanzania. Kelly will continue to provide advisement while in residence at DCID for the remainder of the project.
Rubi Sugana was recruited by the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) during the Spring 2009 to provide technical assistance in the design of a property tax reform program for the Dar es Salaam Local Authorities (DLA) and the development of a comprehensive property tax administration manual, which will be used in other local authorities across Tanzania. This assignment involved intensive coordination with the broader Local Government Reform Program and various World Bank-funded projects, i.e., property valuation and mapping of all properties in Dar es Salaam and information technology development.
Tom Cook also advised with the Tanzanian Government from March-April 2009 on the development of a Monitoring and Evaluation system for the Local Government Reform Program, Decentralization by Devolution.
Indonesia
Rubi Sugana was selected by the World Vision Canada to serve as the lead consultant for the design of a local revenue mobilization assessment in the East Sumba District of Eastern Indonesia. This project ran from December 2008 to January 2009. The scope of the project was to design a local government revenue mobilization program to allow the District Government to expand the community-based water supply and sanitation development program in the among the poorest rural areas of Indonesia. Fernando Fernholz was also involved in this project.
Sugana has also worked with the World Bank in the design and preparation of the Project for the Indonesian Tax Administration Reform (PINTAR) since December 2007. In this capacity, he has assisted the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) in developing the change management capacity of the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and drafting the PINTAR Analysis Document.
Vietnam
GP Shukla and Daniel Alvarez provided assistance to the General Department of Taxation (GDT), Government of Vietnam, to build capacity on tax policy analysis and revenue forecasting. The main tasks included (i) Construction of simple forecasting models and (ii) Preparation and delivery of training on Tax Policy Analysis and Revenue Forecasting Techniques. This project began in October 2007 and continued through November 2008.
The Netherlands
Daniel Alvarez ran a seminar on Revenue Forecasting for the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation and the University of Utrecht in October 2008.
Guyana
DCID has worked with the economic consulting firm Nathan Associates to provide tax policy analysis/advising and capacity building assistance to the Government of Guyana. The aim of this project, ongoing since January 2008, is to strengthen the Guyana tax system. The project, entitled “Guyana Threshold Country Plan/Implementation Project” (GTCP/IP) is administered by USAID for the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Daniel Alvarez, Graham Glenday and Rubi Sugana are the primary DCID faculty contacts.
Afghanistan
Tom Cook provided consulting services through the USAID-funded “Local Government and Community Development” program to the Government of Afghanistan from June to July 2008.
Egypt
Hank Healy has provided advisement services to the Egyptian Ministries of Education and Finance and to the Egyptian State Ministry of Local Development on education reform since 2005 through RTI International.
The West Bank
Anne Martin-Staple consulted with the West Bank Ministry of Health on health sector reform in April 2009.
Azerbaijan (two projects)
DCID is a sub-contractor to BearingPoint on a USAID-funded project in Azerbaijan. The project, Public Expenditure Reform Support Program, began in June 2008, and will last for two years. Joe Tham, Graham Glenday, Rubi Sugana and other faculty will provide training and technical assistance to the Azerbaijan Ministries of Finance and Economic Development.
Graham Glenday provided advisement to Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister for Finance on tax policy through consulting firms BP, Deloitte and USAID during April 2009.
Ukraine
Anne Martin-Staple participated in a consulting project on Tuberculosis Laboratory System Strengthening for the Ukrainian Ministry of Health in June and July of 2009.
CURRENT RESEARCH INITIATIVES
DCID faculty participate in a variety of research initiatives. Highlighted below are some of their most recent publications. For full information on our faculty's activities, please visit our faculty directory.
Guyana: Review of the Tax System. For Government of Guyana under Guyana Threshold Country Plan Implementation Project (GTCP/IP) funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and administered by Nathan Associates for USAID. Graham Glenday and Daniel Alvarez
Case Study on Risk Assessment of an Infectious Disease Intervention in Latin America: Plan International. Fernando Fernholz
Technical Background Paper. For Part III. National Development: Commitment and Political Choice in Hunger and Health, World Hunger Series 2007. U.N. World Food Programme and Earthscan. Fernando Fernholz, Rosemary Fernholz and others
The New “Old” Approach to the Economic Opportunity Cost of Capital. For Discount Rates for the Evaluation of Public Private Partnerships Conference, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 2008. Graham Glenday
Tax Incentives. In G. Glenday and G.P. Shukla, Public Finance in Open Economies, DCID teaching manual (Revised 2008). Graham Glenday
Of Square Pegs and Round Holes: Training in Developing Countries. Journal of Education in International Development, Volume 3, Number 2. F.Henry Healey
Caspian Sea. In Peter Stearns (Ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World: 1750 to the Present. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Natalia Mirovitskaya
International Relations and Global Studies: The Past of the Future? Global-e, August 2008 2:2, http:///global-ejournal.org. Phyllis Pomerantz
McArthur Project: “Turning Swords into Ploughshares” MacArthur Foundation, Parts I and II, (2009).Natalia Mirovitskaya, Kacie Wallace, with Katia Dantas, Sanghee Jeong and William Mendoza
"Who Owns Knowledge in a Globalizing and Developing World: A Case Study for Public Policy" 2009 Working Paper. MIDP Fellow Nang Raw, Duke undergraduate Alyssa Hernandez and Rosemary Fernholz
"When Perception is Reality: Subjective Expectations and Contracting." American Journal of Agricultural Economics, forthcoming 2009. Marc Bellemare
"Sharecropping, Insecure Land Rights, and Land Titling Policies: A Case Study of Lac Alaotra, Madagascar." Development Policy Review 27(1): 87-106. Marc Bellemare
“Recommendations for U.S. Aid” Note for US Congressman David Price, April 14, 2009 (synopsis of Spring 2009 Politics of International Aid class recommendations). Phyllis Pomerantz
“The New “Old” Approach to the Economic Opportunity Cost of Capital,” chapter in conference volumes, David F. Burgess. Graham Glenday
Tham Joseph and Ignacio Vélez-Pareja. 2009. "Prospective Analysis: Guidelines for Forecasting Financial Statements." Pp. 155-223 in Investment Management: A Modern Guide to Security Analysis and Stock Selection, edited by S.R. Vishwanath and Chandrasekhar Krishnamurti. Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.