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Christopher Adam

Professor of Development Economics

Christopher Adam's research is on the macroeconomics of low-income countries, in particular those of Africa, with a focus on monetary economics and public finance; and growth and structural change in low-income countries, including in response to climate change and natural disasters. His work uses methods of quantitative macroeconomics including stochastic and deterministic general equilibrium techniques.

Christopher Adam is a Visiting Scholar at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a member of the FCDO-IMF research program on the macroeconomics of low-income countries; an advisor Lead Academic for the International Growth Centre (IGC); and an advisor to the Monetary and Economics Department of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).

From 2003-05 he served as external Macroeconomic Adviser to the Policy Division at the Department for International Development (DFID) and represented DFID as Vice Chair of the African Economic Research Consortium from 2006 to 2016. In 2011-12 he served as Special Advisor to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee Inquiry into Aid Effectiveness.

He is currently Managing Editor of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy and an associate editor of the Journal of Development Economics. In September 2021 he was appointed Delegate for Economics to Oxford University Press.

Teaching

Christopher Adam teaches the core macroeconomic theory course on the MSc in Economics for Development and offers a module on the Development Economics paper on macroeconomic stabilisation in low-income countries.

Doctoral supervision

He offers doctoral supervision in the areas of development macroeconomics including aspects of monetary and exchange rate policy; the macroeconomics of fragile states; aid and capital flows; and natural resource management.

  • Journal articles and special issues

    Adam, Christopher
    Ed Buffie, Luis-Felipe Zanna and Kagni Kpodar ( ) Loss-of-learning and the post-Covid recovery in low-income countries . Journal of Macroeconomics 75
    Adam, Christopher
    Ed Buffie, Luis-Felipe Zanna, Lacina Balma, Dawit Tessema, Kangni Kpodar ( ) Public investment and human capital with segmented labour markets . Oxford Economic Papers
    Adam, Christopher
    M. Henstridge and S. Lee ( ) After the lockdown: macroeconomic adjustment to the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 36
    Adam, Christopher
    Bin Grace Li, Andrew Berg, Peter Montiel and Stephen O’Connell ( ) Structural VARs and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism in Low-Income African Countries . Journal of African Economies
    Adam, Christopher
    David Bevan ( ) Rural–Urban Linkages, Public Investment and Transport Costs: The Case of Tanzania . World Development 109 497-510
    Adam, Christopher
    David Kwimbere, Wilfred Mbowe and Stephen O’Connell ( ) Food Prices and Inflation in Tanzania . Journal of African Development 18 (2) 19-40
    Adam, Christopher
    David Bevan ( ) Rural-Urban Linkages, Transport Costs and Public Investment: The Case of Tanzania . World Development
    Adam, Christopher
    U Panizza, A Presbitiero, D Vines ( ) Financing for Development: Editors' Introduction . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 31 (3-4) 259-67
    Adam, Christopher
    Douglas Gollin ( ) Editors' Introduction: The Economics of the Global Food and Agriculture System: Introduction . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 31 (1) 1-4
    Adam, Christopher
    David Bevan ( ) Fiscal Reforms and Public Investment in Africa . Journal of African Economies 24 (s2) 16-42
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Coping with adversity: the macroeconomic management of natural disasters . Environmental Science and Policy 27 (1) 99-111
    Adam, Christopher
    D Cobham, K Mayhew ( ) The Economic Record of the 1997-2010 Labour Government: An Assessment . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 29 (1) 1-24
    Adam, Christopher
    P Subacchi, D Vines ( ) International macroeconomic policy coordination: an overview . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 28 (3) 395-410
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) On the Macroeconomic Managment of Food Prices Shocks in Low Income Countries . Journal of African Economies 20 63-99
    Adam, Christopher
    E Buffie, S O'Connell ( ) Fiscal Inertia, Donor Credibility, and the Monetary Management of Aid Surges . Journal of Development Economics 93(2) pp 287-98
    Adam, Christopher
    D Vines ( ) Remaking Macroeconomic Policy after the Global Financial Crisis: A Balance-Sheet Approach . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 25(4) pp 507-52
    Adam, Christopher
    S Dercon ( ) The Assessment: The Politcal Economy of Development . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 29(2) pp 1-21
    Adam, Christopher
    D Cobham ( ) Using Real-Time Output Gaps to Examine Past and Future Policy Choices . National Institute Economic Review 210(1) pp 98-110
    Adam, Christopher
    S O'Connell, E Buffie, C Pattillo ( ) Monetary Policy Rules for Managing Aid Surges in Africa . Review of Development Economics 13(3) pp 464-90
    Adam, Christopher
    E Buffie, S O'Connell and C Patillo ( ) Riding the Wave: Monetary Responses to Aid Surges in Low-Income Countries . European Economic Review 52(8) pp 1378-95
    Adam, Christopher
    P Collier, V Davies ( ) Post-Conflict Monetary Reconstruction . World Bank Economic Review 22(1) pp 87-112
    Adam, Christopher
    B McPake, K G Hanson ( ) Two-tier Charging Strategies in Public Hospitals: Implications for Intra-hospital Resource Allocation and Equity of Access to Hospital Services . Journal of Health Economics 26 447-62
    Adam, Christopher
    D P Cobham ( ) Exchange Rate Regimes and Trade . The Manchester School 75(s1) 44-63
    Adam, Christopher
    D Bevan ( ) Aid and the Supply Side: Public Investment, Export Performance and Dutch Disease in Low Income Countries . The World Bank Economic Review 20(2) 261-90
    Adam, Christopher
    D Bevan ( ) Fiscal Deficits and Growth in Developing Countries . Journal of Public Economics 89(4) 571-97
    Adam, Christopher
    S O'Connell ( ) Aid Versus Trade Revisited: donor and Recipient Policies in the Presence of Learning-by-doing . The Economic Journal 114(492) 150-73
    Adam, Christopher
    E Buffie, S O'Connell, C Pattillo ( ) Exchange Rate Policy and the Management of Official and Private Capital Flows in Africa . IMF Staff Papers 51 126-60
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Asset Portfolios and Credit Rationing: Evidence from Kenya . Economica 66
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Financial Liberalization and Currency Demand in Zambia . Journal of African Economies (October)
    Adam, Christopher
    S O'Connell ( ) Aid Taxation and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa . Economics and Politics (October)
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Effets de portefeuille, marche financiers et modeles EGC dans les pays en voie de developpement . Revue d'Economie du Developpement (November)
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Liberalization, Policy Reform and the Demand for Money in Africa (Guest Editor's Introduction) . Journal of African Economies (October)
    Adam, Christopher
    B Ndulu, N Sowa ( ) Financial Liberalization, Exchange Rate Unification and Seigniorage in Kenya Ghana and Tanzania . Journal of Development Studies 32 (4)
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Fiscal Adjustment, Financial Liberalization, and the Dynamics of Inflation: Some Evidence from Zambia . World Development 23 (5)
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Adjustment in Africa: A Review Article . The World Economy 18 (5)
  • Chapters

    Adam, Christopher
    J. Wilson ( ) Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies in Fragile States . In R. Chami, R. Espinoza and P. Montiel Macroeconomic Policy in Fragile States , Oxford: Oxford University Press
    Adam, Christopher
    Andrew Berg, Rafael Portillo, and Filiz Unsal ( ) Monetary policy and central banking in sub-Saharan Africa . In Peter Conti Brown, Rosa Lastra Research Handbook on Central Banking , Edward Elgar
    Adam, Christopher
    P Kessy, B Langford ( ) Evolving Monetary Policy Frameworks in Low Income Countries: The Tanzania Experience . In David Cobham Monetary Analysis in Central Banks , Palgrave Macmillan
    Adam, Christopher
    P Kessy, C Kombe and S O'Connell ( ) Exchange Rate Arrangements in the Transition to East African Monetary Union . In O Williams The Quest for Regional Integration in East Africa , IMF and OUP
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Dutch Disease and Foreign Aid . In Steven N Durlauf, Lawrence E Blume The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics , (Online Edition) Palgrave Macmillan
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Exchange Rate Policy . In E Aryeetey, S Devarajan, R Kanbur The Oxford Companion to the Economics of Africa , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
    Adam, Christopher
    A Musonda ( ) Copper Mining in Zambia: From Collapse to Recovery . In P Collier, A Venables Plundered Nations? Successes and Failures in Natural Resource Extraction , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
    Adam, Christopher
    A Musonada ( ) The Economics of the Copper Price Boom in Zambia . In C Adam, A Frazer, N Larmer Zambia, Mining and Neoliberalism , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
    Adam, Christopher
    P Collier, N Ndung'u ( ) Introduction . In C S Adam, P Collier, N Ndung'u Kenya: Policies for Prosperity , Oxford: Oxford University Press
    Adam, Christopher
    B O Maturu, N Ndung'u, S O'Connell ( ) Building a Kenyan Monetary Regime for the 21st Century . In C S Adam, P Collier, N Ndung'u Kenya: Policies for Prosperity , Oxford: Oxford University Press
    Adam, Christopher
    P Collier, D Vines ( ) Small Developing Countries in the International Monetary System . In P Subacchi, J Driffil Beyond the Dollar: Rethinking the International Monetary System , London: Chatham House, Royal Institute of International Affairs
    Adam, Christopher
    D Cobham ( ) Alternative Exchange Rate Regimes for MENA Countries: Gravity Model Estimates of the Trade Effects . In D Cobham, G Dibeh Monetary Policy and Central Banking in the Middle East and North Africa , London: Routledge
    Adam, Christopher
    B Harriss-White ( ) From Monet to Mondrian: Characterizing Informality in Field Research and Simulation Modeling . In B Harriss-White, A Sinha Trade Liberalization and India's Informal Economy , Delhi: Oxford University Press
    Adam, Christopher
    A Sinha ( ) Modelling the Informal Economy in India: An Analysis of Trade Reforms . In B Harriss-White, A Sinha Trade Liberalization and India's Informal Economy , Delhi: Oxford University Press
    Adam, Christopher
    B Goderis ( ) Monetary Policy and Oil Price Surges in Nigeria . In P Collier, C Soludo, C Pattillo Economic Policies for a Prosperous Nigeria , London: Palgrave Macmillan
    Adam, Christopher
    S O'Connell, E Buffie, C Patillo ( ) Managing External Volatility: Central Bank Options in Low-Income Countries . In N Batini Monetary Policy in Emerging Markets and Other Developing Countries , New York: Nova Publishers
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Exogenous Inflows and Real Exchange Rates: Theoretical Quirk or Empirical Reality? . In P Isard, L Lipschitz, A Mourmouras and B Yontcheva The Macroeconomic Management of Foreign Aid: Opportunities and Pitfalls , Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund
    Adam, Christopher
    A Sinha ( ) Trade Reforms and Informalization: Getting Behind Jobless Growth in India . In B Guha-Khasnobis, R Kanbur Informal Labour Markets and Development , London: Palgrave Macmillan
    Adam, Christopher
    D Bevan ( ) Fiscal Restraint and the Cash Budget in Zambia . In P Collier, C Patillo Risk and Investment in Africa , London: Macmillan
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Issues in Regulation and the Macroeconomics of Transition . In J Paulson African Economies in Transition , London: Macmillan
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Trade Liberalization in Zambia 1970-1995 . In A Oyijide, J W Gunning et al Trade Liberalization in Africa , London: Macmillan
  • Working papers

    Adam, Christopher
    E. Buffie, L-F. Zanna, L. Balma, D. Tessema and K. Kpodar ( ) Debt, Investment and Growth in Developing Countries with Segmented Labor Markets . IMF Working Paper 20/102
    Adam, Christopher
    E. Buffie ( ) The Minimum Wage Puzzle in Less Developed Countries: Reconciling Theory and Evidence . IMF Working Paper 20/23
    Adam, Christopher
    DL Bevan ( ) Financing the Reconstruction of Public Capital after a Natural Disaster . World Bank Working Paper 7718
    Adam, Christopher
    B Li, S O'Connell ( ) VAR meets DSGE: Uncovering the Monetary Transmission Mechanism in Low-Income Countries . IMF Working Paper 16/90
    Adam, Christopher
    D L Bevan and T Ohlenburg ( ) Public investment and Growth in Uganda . IGC Working Paper
    Adam, Christopher
    P Montiel, W Mbowe and S O'Connell ( ) Financial Architecture and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism in Tanzania . IGC Working Paper 12/0343 and Centre for the Study of African Economies, Oxford, Working Paper 2012-03
    Adam, Christopher
    D Kwimbere, W Mbowe, S O'Connell ( ) Food Prices and the Dynamics of Inflation in Tanzania . African Development Bank Working Paper 163
    Adam, Christopher
    P J Kessey, J J Nyella and S A O'Connell ( ) The Demand for Money in Tanzania . IGC-Bank of Tanzania Working Paper
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) The Predictability and Stability of the Money Multiplier in Tanzania . IGC-Bank of Tanzania Working Paper
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) The Transaction Demand for Money in Chile . Central Bank of Chile Working Paper (September)
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) A STATA Program for Implementing Kiviet's (1995) Small-Sample Correction for Dynamic Panel Data Estimators . CSAE Working Paper
    Adam, Christopher
    ( ) Aid Taxation and Development: Analytical Perspectives on Aid Effectiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa . World Bank WPS Working Paper 1885
    Adam, Christopher
    D Bevan ( ) Costs and Benefits of Incorporating Asset Markets into CGE Models: Evidence and Design Issues . Oxford University Applied Economics Discussion Paper 202
    Adam, Christopher
    J Hoddinott ( ) Testing Nash Bargaining Models of Household Behaviour using Time Series Data . Oxford University Applied Economics Discussion Paper 191
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