My PhD research project intends to study the impact of the 2008-2009 financial and economic crisis on developing countries on different, albeit closely interrelated, echelons, as well as the transmission mechanisms between these levels. It thus makes sense to formulate the main research topic as attempting to address multiple research questions, each covering one part of the full 'transmission and impact' story. The project includes three broad lines of research, embodied by the following questions:

   (1)     What have been, globally, the main transmission channels of the 2008-2009 financial and economic crisis from its epicentre in the US and Western Europe to developing countries and how has countries' vulnerability to such mechanisms of transmission been dealt with (or could it be dealt with) by countries themselves and the international community?   

   (2)     Which factors/characteristics explain cross-country differences in the economic performance of developing countries during the fallout of the crisis?   

   (3)      How have country-level shocks emanating from the global crisis translated into micro-level welfare impacts on developing country households/individuals?

By clicking on the 'download' link below you can access an updated summary overview of my PhD research project (as of January 2013). Suggestions and/or comments are most welcome!

This short paper was written as an assignment for the PhD course Advanced Macroeconomics. It reviews W. Brian Arthur's famous 1994 book, 'Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy', and links the book's findings to the poverty trap literature in economic development theory.