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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. He is a Lead Academic for the International Growth Centre (IGC) and formerly an advisor to the Monetary and Economics Department of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).
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
Christopher Adam supervises doctoral candidates in the area of macroeconomics of developing countries, particularly those interested in applied quantitative methods. He will be on sabbatical in academic year 2025-26 and will not be taking on new DPhil students at that time.
Doctoral students supervised
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Books and monographs( ) Tanzania: The Path to Prosperity . , Oxford: Oxford University Press( ) Zambia: Building Prosperity from Resource Wealth . , Oxford: Oxford University Press( ) Kenya: Policies for Prosperity . , Oxford: Oxford University Press
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Journal articles and special issues( ) Loss-of-learning and the post-Covid recovery in low-income countries . Journal of Macroeconomics 75( ) Public investment and human capital with segmented labour markets . Oxford Economic Papers( ) Tropical cyclones and post-disaster reconstruction of public infrastructure in developing countries . Economic Modelling 93 82-99( ) After the lockdown: macroeconomic adjustment to the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 36( ) Structural VARs and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism in Low-Income African Countries . Journal of African Economies( ) Rural–Urban Linkages, Public Investment and Transport Costs: The Case of Tanzania . World Development 109 497-510( ) Food Prices and Inflation in Tanzania . Journal of African Development 18 (2) 19-40( ) Rural-Urban Linkages, Transport Costs and Public Investment: The Case of Tanzania . World Development( ) Financing for Development: Editors' Introduction . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 31 (3-4) 259-67( ) Fiscal Reforms and Public Investment in Africa . Journal of African Economies 24 (s2) 16-42( ) Editors' Introduction: The Economics of the Global Food and Agriculture System: Introduction . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 31 (1) 1-4( ) Coping with adversity: the macroeconomic management of natural disasters . Environmental Science and Policy 27 (1) 99-111( ) The Economic Record of the 1997-2010 Labour Government: An Assessment . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 29 (1) 1-24( ) International macroeconomic policy coordination: an overview . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 28 (3) 395-410( ) On the Macroeconomic Managment of Food Prices Shocks in Low Income Countries . Journal of African Economies 20 63-99( ) Fiscal Inertia, Donor Credibility, and the Monetary Management of Aid Surges . Journal of Development Economics 93(2) pp 287-98( ) Monetary Policy Rules for Managing Aid Surges in Africa . Review of Development Economics 13(3) pp 464-90( ) The Assessment: The Politcal Economy of Development . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 29(2) pp 1-21( ) Using Real-Time Output Gaps to Examine Past and Future Policy Choices . National Institute Economic Review 210(1) pp 98-110( ) Remaking Macroeconomic Policy after the Global Financial Crisis: A Balance-Sheet Approach . Oxford Review of Economic Policy 25(4) pp 507-52( ) Riding the Wave: Monetary Responses to Aid Surges in Low-Income Countries . European Economic Review 52(8) pp 1378-95( ) Post-Conflict Monetary Reconstruction . World Bank Economic Review 22(1) pp 87-112( ) 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( ) Exchange Rate Regimes and Trade . The Manchester School 75(s1) 44-63( ) 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( ) Fiscal Deficits and Growth in Developing Countries . Journal of Public Economics 89(4) 571-97( ) Aid Versus Trade Revisited: donor and Recipient Policies in the Presence of Learning-by-doing . The Economic Journal 114(492) 150-73( ) Exchange Rate Policy and the Management of Official and Private Capital Flows in Africa . IMF Staff Papers 51 126-60( ) Financial Liberalization and Currency Demand in Zambia . Journal of African Economies (October)( ) Effets de portefeuille, marche financiers et modeles EGC dans les pays en voie de developpement . Revue d'Economie du Developpement (November)( ) Liberalization, Policy Reform and the Demand for Money in Africa (Guest Editor's Introduction) . Journal of African Economies (October)( ) Aid Taxation and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa . Economics and Politics (October)( ) Asset Portfolios and Credit Rationing: Evidence from Kenya . Economica 66( ) Financial Liberalization, Exchange Rate Unification and Seigniorage in Kenya Ghana and Tanzania . Journal of Development Studies 32 (4)( ) Adjustment in Africa: A Review Article . The World Economy 18 (5)( ) Fiscal Adjustment, Financial Liberalization, and the Dynamics of Inflation: Some Evidence from Zambia . World Development 23 (5)
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Chapters( ) 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( ) Monetary policy and central banking in sub-Saharan Africa . In Peter Conti Brown, Rosa Lastra Research Handbook on Central Banking , Edward Elgar( ) Evolving Monetary Policy Frameworks in Low Income Countries: The Tanzania Experience . In David Cobham Monetary Analysis in Central Banks , Palgrave Macmillan( ) Dutch Disease and Foreign Aid . In Steven N Durlauf, Lawrence E Blume The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics , (Online Edition) Palgrave Macmillan( ) 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( ) Exchange Rate Policy . In E Aryeetey, S Devarajan, R Kanbur The Oxford Companion to the Economics of Africa , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan( ) 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( ) 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( ) Introduction . In C S Adam, P Collier, N Ndung'u Kenya: Policies for Prosperity , Oxford: Oxford University Press( ) The Economics of the Copper Price Boom in Zambia . In C Adam, A Frazer, N Larmer Zambia, Mining and Neoliberalism , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan( ) 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( ) 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( ) Monetary Policy and Oil Price Surges in Nigeria . In P Collier, C Soludo, C Pattillo Economic Policies for a Prosperous Nigeria , London: Palgrave Macmillan( ) 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( ) 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( ) 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( ) 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( ) Trade Reforms and Informalization: Getting Behind Jobless Growth in India . In B Guha-Khasnobis, R Kanbur Informal Labour Markets and Development , London: Palgrave Macmillan( ) Privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Issues in Regulation and the Macroeconomics of Transition . In J Paulson African Economies in Transition , London: Macmillan( ) Fiscal Restraint and the Cash Budget in Zambia . In P Collier, C Patillo Risk and Investment in Africa , London: Macmillan( ) Trade Liberalization in Zambia 1970-1995 . In A Oyijide, J W Gunning et al Trade Liberalization in Africa , London: Macmillan
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Reports( ) Macroeconomic Management of Extreme Events . Paper for UK Government Foresight Project
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Working papers( ) Transport Frictions and the Pass-Through of Global Price Shocks in a Spatial Model of Low-Income Countries . IMF Working Papers 2025/039( ) Debt, Investment and Growth in Developing Countries with Segmented Labor Markets . IMF Working Paper 20/102( ) The Minimum Wage Puzzle in Less Developed Countries: Reconciling Theory and Evidence . IMF Working Paper 20/23( ) Financing the Reconstruction of Public Capital after a Natural Disaster . World Bank Working Paper 7718( ) VAR meets DSGE: Uncovering the Monetary Transmission Mechanism in Low-Income Countries . IMF Working Paper 16/90( ) Public Investment, Public Finance, and Growth: The Impact of Distortionary Taxation, Recurrent Costs, and Incomplete Appropriability . IMF Working Paper WP 14/73( ) Public investment and Growth in Uganda . IGC Working Paper( ) Food Prices and the Dynamics of Inflation in Tanzania . African Development Bank Working Paper 163( ) 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( ) The Demand for Money in Tanzania . IGC-Bank of Tanzania Working Paper( ) The Predictability and Stability of the Money Multiplier in Tanzania . IGC-Bank of Tanzania Working Paper( ) A STATA Program for Implementing Kiviet's (1995) Small-Sample Correction for Dynamic Panel Data Estimators . CSAE Working Paper( ) The Transaction Demand for Money in Chile . Central Bank of Chile Working Paper (September)( ) Costs and Benefits of Incorporating Asset Markets into CGE Models: Evidence and Design Issues . Oxford University Applied Economics Discussion Paper 202( ) Aid Taxation and Development: Analytical Perspectives on Aid Effectiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa . World Bank WPS Working Paper 1885( ) Testing Nash Bargaining Models of Household Behaviour using Time Series Data . Oxford University Applied Economics Discussion Paper 191
Overview
Research
Teaching & Supervision
News
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In the media
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