Christopher Woodruff
Christopher Woodruff is a Research Programme Director for the IGC’s Firms Research Programme.
He is Professor of Development Economics at the University of Oxford. He is a leading expert on enterprises in developing countries, and a pioneer in the use of field experiments in understanding enterprise dynamics in developing countries. His recent work includes measurement of rates of return to capital investments in microenterprises, the effect of formal registration on enterprise performance, the use of business plan competitions to identify small enterprises with potential for rapid growth, and the use of temporary wage subsidies to understand the willingness of microenterprises to expand employment. His previous work examined the ability of informal contracting and private institutions such as trade associations to govern trading relations in the absence of functioning state institutions. Geographically, his research spans a broad area of the developing world - Mexico, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Eastern Europe.
In addition to his position at Oxford, Professor Woodruff is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a Senior Fellow of the Bureau of Research on Economic Analysis and Development (BREAD), a Research Fellow at the Center for Competitive Advantage and the Global Economy (CAGE) and the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). He is also the Scientific Coordinator for the DFID – CEPR joint research venture on Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL).
Woodruff is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Development Economics, the World Bank Economic Review, the Journal of Comparative Economics, and the Journal of African Economies. Prior to joining Oxford, Woodruff was Professor of Economics at UC San Diego, where he also served as Director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies from 2003 to 2008 and more recently was a Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick. Woodruff’s research has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Consortium for Financial Sytems and Poverty at the University of Chicago, the Templeton Foundations, 3ie, IGC, and the World Bank.
Content by Christopher Woodruff
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Publication - Evidence Paper
IGC evidence paper - Firms, trade, and productivity
Productivity growth is the driving force behind economic development. A large development accounting literature has shown that much of the difference in income per capita across countries can be explained by differences in total factor productivity (TFP) (see, e.g., Hall and Jones 1999, Caselli 2005). On top of its “direct” effect on output, TFP growth can have positive...
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Project
Tracking price dynamics during a pandemic in Kenya and Uganda
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds across the globe, economies face disruptions in global and national supply chains due to the pandemic itself and related government response measures. The disruptions pose a serious threat to food security. In Kenya and Uganda, policymakers are particularly worried about COVID-19 induced price spikes and supply shortages of essential...
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Publication - Project Report
Female managers and well-being in the Bangladeshi garment industry
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Project
Worker well-being and productivity in the Bangladesh garment sector
Recent research suggests stress may affect worker productivity and thereby the accumulation of other forms of human capital. The garment sector is the largest employer of female workers in Bangladesh, the majority of whom have migrated from outside the area where the factories are located. These urban and peri-urban areas are characterised by inadequate basic services and...
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Data Item
Data: Training productivity, and upgrading: Pilot of evaluation of female and supervisor training programs in the Bangladesh apparel sector
We marketed a training program for lower level managers (line supervisors) to large factories in the Bangladeshi ready-made garment industry. Take-up of the program (even for a free slot) was low, due to intense production pressures, fire-fighting and concerns over retention of trained workers. Take-up is quite insensitive to pricing. There was higher interest and demand in...
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Publication - Synthesis paper
Addressing constraints to small and growing businesses
Salaried wage jobs are the distinguishing feature separating the middle class from the poor in developing countries (Banerjee and Duflo 2008). Where do salaried wage jobs come from, and how can small and medium-sized firms create more of them? This synthesis paper reviews the evidence on constraints to growth of small and medium enterprises. It first examines evidence on...
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Multimedia Item - Audio
Firms, markets, and development conference 2017
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Blog post
Bad practices hold back small firms in developing countries
Survey of more than 20,000 small firms suggests better business practices are correlated with higher productivity, firm profits, and rates of survival. Management practices in large firms around the world have been systematically measured and reported in a series of papers by Bloom and Van Reenen (2007, 2010) and Bloom et al. (2012). These papers show that better...
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Multimedia Item - Video
What is holding firms back?
Chris Woodruff, IGC research programme director, explains why improving management practices is critical for the development of the private sector in developing countries.
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Project
Training program for RMG sector: Long-term impact
Vocational training programs aimed at rapidly growing sectors have the potential to reduce skills gaps and improve firm productivity. Training may also improve the likelihoods of individuals who are disadvantaged by various socioeconomic conditions. However, vocational programs enhancing skills have often been unsuccessful, because they are not driven by industry-demand...
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Publication - Working Paper
Understanding productivity in the Pakistani garment sector
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Publication - Working Paper
The effect of political and labour unrest on productivity: Evidence from Bangladeshi garments
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Project
Assessment of the Myanmar garment sector
Improving trade performance and international competitiveness requires both ease of doing business, with regulation a key factor, and also information for governments and firms to make strategic policy decisions. In this project, researchers digitised the import licensing system for garment factories in Myanmar. This new system was rolled out to 350 factories...
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Publication - Project Memo
Gender empowerment and productivity in the garment sector (Project Memo)
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Publication - Policy Brief
Managerial Capital and Productivity (Policy Brief)
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Project
Gender empowerment and productivity in the garment sector
Within Bangladesh’s garment sector, women make up 80% of workers but less than 10% of managers. Researchers piloted a study that provided training to employees and evaluated their rates of promotion and performance as managers. They found female trainees are as or more effective managers than the male trainees, but promotion rates for the female trainees...
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Multimedia Item - Video
Growth Week 2014: Research Session - Trade
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Project
Measuring productivity in multi-product firms
New IGC study will collect data on productivity in ready-made garment factories across the world Information will be compared against international standards to accurately compare factories in ten countries (including five IGC partner countries) Will be the most comprehensive data ever collected Sustained increases in income are not possible without...
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Project
Understanding productivity in the Pakistani garment sector: Comparisons with Bangladesh
Textiles account for over half of Pakistan’s exports, with knitted and sewn products more than half of the textile exports. Data from the Ministry of Commerce indicate that exports of RMG and knitwear products increased by 12% and 6%, respectively, between FY 2012 and FY 2013. Pakistan faces an opportunity in these sectors as increasing wage rates in China lead buyers...
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Publication - Evidence Paper
IGC Evidence Paper - Firms
The IGC Firm Capabilities Research Programme pulls economists with a common interest in firm capabilities together to focus on three core questions: (i) what are the key proximate determinants of firm productivity? (ii) Where does the productive capacity of firms originate? (iii) What are the barriers that prevent resources from moving from unproductive firms and...
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Project
Incentives and productivity: Work groups vs. production lines
The fan sector is an important source of employment in the region around Gujrat in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Moreover, it is representative of other light engineering sectors in Pakistan. Exporting has developed as an important market for fans produced in Pakistan, with the largest markets being in the Middle East and Bangladesh. However, competition with Chinese...
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Multimedia Item - Video
Video: South Asia Growth Conference 2014 - Christopher Woodruff
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Project
Managing Shocks: Worker’s Well-being and Firm Productivity in the Bangladeshi Garment Sector
We examine the interaction between worker well being and productivity in the ready-made garment sector in Bangladesh. A central characteristic of manufacturing in low-income countries is the need to adjust to continued and varied shocks. These shocks cause output to fall behind the production plan, leading to pressure to increase output and stress in factories. Individual...
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Publication - Working Paper
Incentives and productivity: Work groups vs. production lines (Working Paper)
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Publication - Working Paper
Linking Savings Accounts to Mobile Phones: Are Potential Users Interested? (Working Paper)
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Project
Value Chain Upgrading, Management and Productivity: Evidence from Bangladesh Woven and Knitwear Sectors
In recent years the Bangladesh knitwear sector has witnessed extremely rapid growth. The volume of exports, however, is currently very concentrated in a handful of products and destination markets. Given Bangladesh’s increasing export experience and increases in wages in the sector in China (the world’s largest garment exporter) there is an opportunity for the sector to...
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Project
Enabling Micro-savings Through Bank-Linked Mobile Phones in Sri Lanka
After a decade in which the micro-credit sector has taken off worldwide, a great deal of interest is now focusing on the prospect of mobilizing micro-savings by pulling the liquidity of the poor into the formal banking sector. This interest is coming from several different sides. First, a new wave of technological innovations from mobile banking to ATM cards hold out the...