Academic Staff
 |
Christopher Woodruff
Director; Associate Professor of Economics, UCSD
cwoodruff@ucsd.edu
Phone (858) 534-4503; Fax (858) 534-6447 |
Expertise
Woodruff's primary research focuses on the challenges faced by small and medium sized firms in developing and transition economies. Woodruff studies how dysfunctional legal systems make formal contracting impossible, how inadequate financial systems limit access to financial capital, and how corruption makes retention of profits difficult. Woodruff can provide commentary on a variety of issues related to the impact of NAFTA and trade liberalization on labor markets and firms in Mexico. Woodruff can also comment on issues affecting the market development of the economies of Eastern Europe and Vietnam.
Regions of Interest
Mexico, Vietnam, and Eastern Europe.
Current Project
In one current project, Woodruff examines the sources of financial capital for small firms in Mexico. Together with a Mexican colleague, Woodruff finds that remittances from workers in the United States play a large role in financing small enterprises in urban Mexico. Initial estimates suggest that remittances are responsible for as much as 20% of the capital invested in microenterprises in Mexico. This work will be extended to a set of somewhat larger firms through surveys currently being carried out.
Publications
Woodruff has written articles on wages in Mexico and the adjustment of firms in Mexico's industrial sector to increases in import levels and export opportunities, the latter primarily the result of NAFTA. Woodruff has also written articles on the development of markets in Vietnam and Eastern Europe.
Academic Background:
Woodruff has also been a consultant to the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He has been on the faculty at IR/PS since 1994. B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago. M.A. in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Copyright © 2002, Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
|
