Christopher Barrett

Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management

Areas of Expertise

Development Economics, Environmental and Resource Economics, International Economics

315 Warren Hall
Ph: 607.255.4489
E-mail: cbb2@cornell.edu Web Site

Chris Barrett is the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management and International Professor of Agriculture at Cornell University where he also serves as the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future’s Associate Director for Economic Development Programs and the Director of the Cornell Institute for International Food, Agriculture and Development’s initiative on Stimulating Agricultural and Rural Transformation.

There are three basic, interrelated thrusts to Professor Barrett's research program. The first concerns poverty, hunger, food security, economic policy, and the structural transformation of low-income societies. The second considers issues of individual and market behavior under risk and uncertainty. The third revolves around the interrelationship between poverty, food security, and environmental stress in developing areas.

Please consult his web site for current working papers, published articles, books, links to current research projects and introductions of members of his research group.

Professor Barrett has published or in press 10 books and more than 200 journal articles and book chapters. He has been principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on more than $21 million in extramural research grants from the National Science Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Rockefeller Foundation, USAID and other sponsors.

He served as editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics from 2003-2008, is presently as an associate editor or editorial board member of the African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, the Egerton (Kenya) Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, the Journal of African Economies, the Journal of Development Studies and World Development, and was previously President of the Association of Christian Economists. He has served on a variety of boards and has won several university, national and international awards for teaching, research and public outreach.

He is a member of Cornell's graduate fields of Agricultural Economics, Conservation and Sustainable Development, Economics, International Agriculture and Rural Development, International Development, and Natural Resources and has supervised more than 50 graduate students and post-docs, many of whom are now on leading faculties and in research institutes worldwide.

Teaching

AEM 2000: Contemporary Controversies in the Global Economy
AEM 4551: Comparative Perspectives in Poverty Reduction Policy
AEM 7620: Microeconomics of International Development
AEM 7650: Graduate Research Seminar in Development Microeconomics

Selected Publications 2007-present

Christopher B. Barrett and Jeffrey W. Cason, Overseas Research: A Practical Guide. Second Edition (London: Routledge, 2010).

John G. McPeak, Cheryl Doss, Christopher B. Barrett and Patti Kristjanson, “Are Development Priorities Shared by Community Members? Results of a Ranking Exercise in East African Rangelands,” Journal of Development Studies, forthcoming.

Heidi Hogset and Christopher B. Barrett, “Social Learning, Social Influence and Projection Bias: A Caution On Inferences Based on Proxy-reporting of Peer Behavior,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, forthcoming.

Travis J. Lybbert and Christopher B. Barrett, “Risk taking behavior in the presence of nonconvex asset dynamics,” Economic Inquiry, forthcoming.

Christopher B. Barrett, Marc F. Bellemare, and Janet Y. Hou, "Reconsidering Conventional Explanations of the Inverse Productivity-Size Relationship," World Development, volume 38, number 1 (January 2010): in press.

Paswel P. Marenya and Christopher B. Barrett, “State-conditional fertilizer yield response on western Kenyan farms,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, (November 2009): in press.

Thomas Reardon, Christopher B. Barrett, Julio A. Berdegué and Johan F.M. Swinnen, “Agrifood Industry Transformation and Small Farmers in Developing Countries,” World Development, volume 37, no. 11 (November 2009): pp. 1717-1727.

Paswel P. Marenya and Christopher B. Barrett, “Soil quality and fertilizer use among smallholder farmers in western Kenya,” Agricultural Economics, Volume 40, Issue 5 (August 2009): pp. 561-572.

Andrew G. Mude, Christopher B. Barrett, John G. McPeak, Robert Kaitho and Patti Kristjanson, “Empirical Forecasting of Slow-Onset Disasters for Improved Emergency Response: an Application to Kenya’s Arid North,” Food Policy, volume 34, no. 4 (August 2009) 329–339.

Christopher B. Barrett, Robert Bell, Erin C. Lentz and Daniel G. Maxwell, “Market Information and Food Insecurity Response Analysis," Food Security, vol. 1, number 2 (June 2009): pp151-168.

Christine M. Moser, Christopher B. Barrett and Bart Minten, “Spatial Integration at Multiple Scales: Rice Markets in Madagascar,” Agricultural Economics, vol. 40, no. 3 (May 2009): pages 281-294.

Marieke Huysentruyt, Christopher B. Barrett and John G. McPeak, “Understanding Declining Mobility and Interhousehold Transfers Among East African Pastoralists,” Economica, vol. 76, issue 302 (April 2009): pp. 315-336.

Jacqueline Vanderpuye-Orgle and Christopher B. Barrett, “Risk Management and Social Visibility in Ghana,” African Development Review, volume 21, No. 1 (April 2009): p. 5-35.

Vivian Hoffmann, Christopher B. Barrett and David R. Just, “"Do Free Goods Stick to Poor Households? Experimental Evidence on Insecticide Treated Bednets," World Development, vol. 37, no. 3 (March 2009): pp. 607-617.

Barry J. Barnett, Christopher B. Barrett and Jerry R. Skees, “Poverty Traps and Index-Based Risk Transfer Products,” World Development, vol. 36, no. 10 (October 2008): pp. 1766-1785.

Christopher B. Barrett, “Smallholder Market Participation: Concepts and Evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa,” Food Policy, volume 33, number 4 (August 2008) pp. 299-317.

John Hoddinott, Marc J. Cohen and Christopher B. Barrett, “Renegotiating the Food Aid Convention: Background, Context, and Issues,” Global Governance, volume 14, no. 3 (July-August 2008): pp. 283-304.

Cheryl R. Doss, John G. McPeak and Christopher B. Barrett, “Interpersonal, Intertemporal and Spatial Variation in Risk Perceptions: Evidence from East Africa,” World Development, volume 36, no. 8 (August 2008):pp. 1453-1468.

Peter D. Little, John G. McPeak, Christopher B. Barrett and Patti Kristjanson, “Challenging Orthodoxies: Understanding Poverty in Pastoral Areas of East Africa',” Development and Change, vol. 39 no. 4 (July 2008): pp. 587-611.

Erin C. Lentz and Christopher B. Barrett, “Improving Food Aid’s Impact: What Reforms Would Yield the Highest Payoff?” World Development, volume 36, no. 7 (July 2008): p. 1152-1172.

Bart Minten and Christopher B. Barrett, “Agricultural Technology, Productivity and Poverty in Madagascar,” World Development, volume 36, no. 5 (May 2008): pp. 797-822.

Sommarat Chantarat, Calum G. Turvey, Andrew G. Mude and Christopher B. Barrett, “Improving Humanitarian Response to Slow-Onset Disasters Using Famine-Indexed Weather Derivatives,” Agricultural Finance Review, vol. 68, no. 1 (Spring 2008) pp. 169-195.

Christopher B. Barrett, Shane M. Sherlund and Akinwumi A. Adesina, “Shadow Wages, Allocative Inefficiency, and Labor Supply in Smallholder Agriculture,” Agricultural Economics, vol. 38, no. 1 (January 2008): pp. 21-34.

Sommarat Chantarat, Christopher B. Barrett, Andrew G. Mude and Calum G. Turvey, “Using Weather Index Insurance to Improve Drought Response For Famine Prevention,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol.89, no. 5 (December 2007): pp. 1262-68.

Bart Minten, Jean Claude Randrianarisoa and Christopher B. Barrett, “Productivity in Malagasy Rice Systems: Wealth-Differentiated Constraints and Priorities,” Agricultural Economics vol. 37 no. s1 (December 2007): pp. 225–237.

Duncan Boughton, David Mather, Christopher B. Barrett, Rui Benfica, Danilo Abdula, David Tschirley and Benedito Cunguara, “Market Participation by Rural Households in a Low-Income Country: An Asset-Based Approach Applied to Mozambique,” Faith and Economics, no. 50 (Fall 2007): pp. 64-101.

Christopher B. Barrett, Andrew G. Mude and John M. Omiti, editors, Decentralization and the Social Economics of Development: Lessons From Kenya (CAB International, 2007).

Christopher B. Barrett, editor, Development Economics: Critical Concepts in Development Studies, 4 volumes (London: Routledge, 2007).

Travis J. Lybbert and Christopher B. Barrett, “Risk Responses to Dynamic Asset Thresholds,” Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 29, no. 3 (Fall 2007): pp. 412-418.

Christopher B. Barrett, Clark Gibson, Barak Hoffman and Michael McCubbins, "Revisiting the links between governance and biodiversity loss: A reply to Smith et al.," Conservation Biology, Vol. 21, No. 4 (August 2007): pp. 900-901.

Kai Li Wang and Christopher B. Barrett, “Estimating the Effects of Exchange Rate Volatility on Export Volumes”, Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Vol. 32, No. 2 (August 2007): pp. 225-255.

Paswel M. Marenya and Christopher B. Barrett, “Household-level determinants of adoption of improved natural resources management practices among smallholder farmers in western Kenya,” Food Policy, vol. 32, no. 4 (August 2007): pp. 515-536.

Michael R. Carter and Christopher B. Barrett, “Asset Thresholds and Social Protection,” IDS Bulletin, vol. 38, no. 3 (May 2007): pp.34-38.

Andrew G. Mude, Christopher B. Barrett, John G. McPeak and Cheryl Doss, “Educational Investments in a Dual Economy,” Economica, vol. 74, no. 294 (May 2007): pp. 351-369.

Travis J. Lybbert, Christopher B. Barrett, John G. McPeak and Winnie K. Luseno, “Bayesian Herders: Updating of Rainfall Beliefs In Response to External Climate Forecasts,” World Development, vol. 35, no. 3(March 2007): pp. 480-497.

Education

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1994
M.S., University of Oxford, 1985
A.B., Princeton University, 1984

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