Contact information
Office: Department of Economics, Faculté d’Economie, Management, Communication et Sciences Politiques (EMCP), Rempart de la Vierge 8, B-5000 Namur, Belgium (University of Namur, UNamur).
Office phone : 32-81-724860
Email :jean-philippe.platteau@unamur.be
Private address : Rue de la Fontaine Colin 4, B-5100 Naninne, Belgium
Personals
Place and date of birth: Tournai, August 22, 1947.
Married to Nicole Moguilevsky
Three children: Stefan, Corentin and Alexis
Nationality: Belgian
Gender: male
Professional career
Diplomas:
BA in economics, University of Namur, June 1967.
Master in economics, University of Namur, September 1970.
Military obligations, May 1972-April 1973.
Stagiaire FNRS: October 1970-September 1971.
Aspirant FNRS: October 1971-September 1976 (with a one-year suspension for military service).
PhD in economics, University of Namur, 1977.
Academic career
I was appointed associate professor at the Faculty of Economics, Management, Communication and Political Sciences (EMCP), Department of Economics, upon completion of my PhD (October 1976). I became an active professor upon my return from a research stay in India (end of 1977-beginning of 1979). Thereafter, I exercised my professional activities in the same institution, gradually moving from the associate professor position to that of full professor (September 1983), and that of a full ordinary professor (September 1990). Together with J.M. Baland, I founded the Centre for Research in Economic Development (CRED) inside the department of economics at Namur university in the year 1994. I was the Director of CRED until my retirement in 2016. I then became an active Emeritus Professor at the same institution.
Teaching responsibilities
At the BA level, I have taught the main course of Microeconomics for about ten years, I have taught a course on Introduction to development economics, and given a seminar on the Economics of Famines to this date.
At the MA level, my teaching duties concerned the following courses:
Development policies (Employment and Technological Choice),
Institutional economics (Contracts and property rights),
Foundations of capitalism.
At the PhD level, I taught an advanced course on Microeconomics applied to development.
During years 1995-2012, I coordinated the program on Institutions and Development at the Development Master Programme at International Labour Office, Torino, Italy. I myself taught the short course on “Institutional Economics: An Introduction”.
I also gave a series lectures in the framework of the Franqui Chair at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (1999-2000) and of the Franqui Chair at the Free University of Brussels (2011-2012).
After retirement, I was involved in a PhD course program and a series of international scientific conferences co-organized with the New School of Economics, Moscow (2014-2019).
Research interests
Most of my work has been concerned with the understanding of the role of institutions in economic development, and the processes of institutional change, especially under the joint impact of population growth and market penetration. The influence of noneconomic factors and various frontier issues at the interface between economics and sociology, are a central focus of my research projects, hence my continuous interest in other social sciences than economics and my continuous emphasis on the potential contributions of sociology to the field of economics in general, and economic development in particular. As a matter of application, my attention has mostly centred on agrarian institutions in developing countries, implying that many of my contributions have a detailed empirical basis, always grounded in original first-hand data collected on the field of several poor economies in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Another more recent direction of my research has been in the field of political economics, more particularly the interactions between autocrats, religious clerics and the military, the effects of entrenched dynasties on development, and the effects of political liberalization.
The most important themes in my research have been the following: the determinants of village-level collective action, and the impact of wealth inequality on its level and efficiency (with special reference to the production of local public goods and the management of local natural resources); common property resource management in village societies; informal risk-sharing mechanisms; rules, including inheritance customs, governing access to land and other natural resources, and their transformation under the influence of increasing land pressure; the development and functioning of land markets under the same influence; choice of contracts in artisanal fisheries; systems of marriage payments and their evolution in Africa; the role of social and moral norms in economic development, with special emphasis on gender issues; effectiveness of aid; aid, governance and ‘elite capture’; the effects of political dynasties; the effects of political liberalization in poor countries; the political economy of religion in autocratic regimes; the determinants of religious conversion in Africa; interactions between formal and informal institutions.
Academic responsibilities
I have exercised the directorship of the department of economics at the university of Namur for ten years (1990-2000).
I have been the representative of my Faculty at the Research Council of the university of Namur (1998-2002).
I have been member of the Governing Body of the University Foundation for International Development Cooperation (FUCID) during 1995-2000.
I was a member of the Mandate Commission of the National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) for the field of Economics and Business Management.
I was the President of the Commission of the National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) for PhD Schools in Economics and Business Management.
I was the director of the Centre for Research in the Economics of Development (CRED) at the university of Namur (1994-2012).
I also supervised many PhD theses on economic development and participated in numerous PhD committees outside of Namur, namely at :
Vrije Universiteit Brussels;
Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium (three times);
Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium;
Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium ;
Fondation Universitaire Luxembourgeoise (FUL), Arlon, Belgium;
University of Clermont-Ferrand, France (two times);
University of Montpellier, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier, France ;
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France;
Université de Paris-Nanterre ;
Université Paris-Sorbonne ;
University of Oslo, Norway ;
Agricultural University of Norway, As, Norway;
London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom (three times);
Brunel University, United Kingdom;
University of Sussex, United Kingdom;
Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands (three times);
University of Madras, India;
University of Wageningen, Netherlands.
Fellowships, international commitments, and editorial responsibilities
I have been a member of the network “The Moral and Social Dimensions of Microeconomic Behavior in Low-Income Communities” supported by the Pew Trust Fund.
I was a co-founder, with François Bourguignon and Jan Willem Gunning, of the European Development Network (EUDN) which works as a European association of development economists. I was the president of EUDN during its five first years of existence (2000-2005).
I was a member of the Board of the Global Development Network (GDN), of which EUDN is a member network, and whose secretariate was located in New Delhi (India) before being shifted to Clermont-Ferrand (France). I represented the Western European region (2000-2010).
I am a member of the Association for Analytic Learning about Islam and Muslim Societies (AALIMS), founded in 2010.
I am a member of the network “Theoretical Research in Development Economics” (THRED), founded in 2007 (first international conference held at Namur University).
I am a member of the network “Economics Research on Identity, Norms, and Narratives” (ERINN), created in 2017.
I am an affiliate member of the Stone Center for Research on Wealth, Inequality and Mobility of the University of Chicago.
I belong to CEPR (Centre for Economic Policy Research).
In addition to projects financed by the Belgian Ministry for Development Cooperation (dealing with West Africa), I also took up responsibilities of scientific management and direction for several international research projects, including:
- The project on Fisheries Management funded by the Department of Fisheries of the FAO, 1992-1993, and for which I worked in tandem with Jean-Marie Baland.
- The Land Policy Project initiated and funded by the FAO for the years 2000-2001, and co-directed by Alain de Janvry (Berkeley University), Elizabeth Sadoulet (Berkeley University), and myself.
- The collaboration with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) for the organization of annual scientific and development policy conferences under the joint aegis of AFD and EUDN (2000-2012). Together with François Bourguignon (PSE), I was the academic manager of this collaboration.
- The NoPoor Project (FP7 Programme, European Commission), 2012-2017. The management office was located in Paris.
- The Gender and Development Program (2016-2018) funded by the World Institute of Development Economics Research (WIDER) of the United Nations, Helsinki. I was the academic and scientific director of this program which was articulated in a formal partnership between WIDER and the University of Namur. Siwan Anderson and Lori Beaman joined me in the scientific committee.
- The Economic Development and Institutions (EDI) Project, funded by the British Agency for International Development (DFID), for which I was the scientific co-director with François Bourguignon. The management office was located in Oxford. The project extended from 2017 to 2024.
Moreover, I participated in several international evaluation and advocacy missions, such as:
- The Evaluation Team for the Stripe Review of Social Sciences in the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) commissioned by the Science Council, 2009.
- An evaluation mission for the Centre for Economic Growth (location: London School of Economics and Political Science), funded by the British Agency for International Development (DFID). Carried out in Sierra Leone with Jean-Marie Baland in 2013, it dealt with the theme “Compensations and Customary Rights in the Context of the Concessionaire Companies: An Economic Approach”.
- The conception of the so-called “Stockholm Statement: Towards a Consensus on the Principles of Policymaking for the Contemporary World”, an initiative funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and coordinated by Kaushik Basu. Authors: Alkire, Sabina; Bardhan, Pranab; Basu, Kaushik; Bhorat, Haroon; Bourguignon, François; Deshpande, Ashwini; Kanbur, Ravi; Lin, Justin Yifu; Moene, Kalle; Platteau, Jean-Philippe; Saavedra, Jaime; Stiglitz, Joseph E.; Tarp, Finn.
Besides being associate editor of several development journals (Journal of Development Studies, World Development (until 2000), Development and Change, and Oxford Development Studies), I am active as referee for the following journals: American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, European Journal of Economic Association, Economic Journal, Journal of Development Economics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of African Economies, World Development, World Bank Economic Review, Journal of Development Studies, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Land Economics, Environment and Development Economics, Development and Change.
Publications
2025 (with A. Dixit, F. Bourguignon, and L. Leruth). Economics and Literature: A Novel Approach. London: Routledge.
2024, (with F. Bourguignon). Institutional Challenges at the Early Stages of Development: Lessons from a Multi-Country Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2024, (with F. Bourguignon, Romain Houssa and Paul Reding). State Capture and Rent-Seeking in Benin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2019, (with J.M. Baland, F. Bourguignon, and T. Verdier, Eds), 2019. The Handbook of Economic Development and Institutions, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, Chap. 13, pp. 449-519.
(with S. Anderson and L. Beaman, Eds) 2018. Towards Gender Equity and Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2017, Islam Instrumentalised: Religion and Politics in Historical Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Reviewed in Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 56, N° 4, December 2018, pp. 1601-1603).
2011, Culture, Institutions, and Development: New Insights Into an Old Debate, Routledge, London (Co-edited with Robert Peccoud).
2001, (with A. de Janvry, E. Sadoulet, and G. Gordillo, editors), Access to Land, Rural Poverty, and Public Action, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
2000, Institutions, Social Norms and Economic Development, Harwood Academic Publishers.
(with J.M. Baland), 1996, Halting Degradation of Natural Resources: Is There a Role for Rural Communities? Clarendon Press, Oxford (printed in paperback form in 2000)
1992, Land Reform and Structural Adjustment in SubSaharan Africa: Controversies and Guidelines, FAO, Rome.
(with J. Murickan and E. Delbar) 1985, Technology, Credit and Indebtedness in Marine Fishing - A Case Study of Three Fishing Villages in South Kerala, Hindustan Publishing Co., Delhi.
1978, Les économistes classiques et le sous-développement, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 2 Vols.
(with J.-A. Morales), 1977, Le développement des pays pauvres - Quelques aspects d'un problème actuel, Presses Universitaires de Namur.
Articles and book chapters (internationally referred)
2025, “The Economics of Institutional Change: Achievements and Challenges.” In Ménard, Claude and Mary Shirley (Eds.) Handbook of New Institutional Economics, Chap. 28, Springer, pp. 701-727.
2024. (with François Bourguignon). “Aid Allocation with Optimal Monitoring: Theory and Policy.” Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 172.
2024, “A Political Economy Approach to Religious Revivalism: Application to Islamic Reformism.” In Maltsev, Vladimir, and Nirvikar Singh (Eds.) Economics, Religion, and Public Policy (forthcoming).
2024. (with C. Guirkinger and Z. Wahhaj), 2021, “Behind the Veil of Cultural Persistence: Marriage and Divorce in a Migrant Community”, Economic Journal, (forthcoming).
2024. (with A. Michels). “How Can Migration Unequalize Inheritance: Theory and Insights from Bolivia”. Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 52, N° 1, pp. 28-53.
2024. “The Spatial, Historical, and Socio-Political Context.” In Bourguignon, François, Romain Houssa, Jean-Philippe Platteau, and Paul Reding (Eds). State Capture and Rent-Seeking in Benin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, pp. 15-42.
2024. (with François Bourguignon). “A Patrimonial Regime with Multiple Oligarchs.” In Bourguignon, François, Romain Houssa, Jean-Philippe Platteau, and Paul Reding (Eds). State Capture and Rent-Seeking in Benin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, pp. 349-399.
2023. (with E. Auriol and T. Verdier). “The Quran and the Sword”. European Journal of Economic Association, Vol. 21, N° 5 pp 1772-1820.
2023. (with Adeel Malik and Rinchan Mirza). “Devolution Under Autocracies: Evidence from Pakistan”. In: Faguet, Jean-Paul and Sarmistha Pal (Eds.), Decentralised Governance: Crafting Effective Democracies Around the World, LSE Press, London, pp. 99-134.
2023. (with Shlomo Weber and Hans Wiesmeth) “The Fight Against Covid-19: The Gap Between Epidemiological and Economic Approaches.” In: Bunde, Armin, Jürgen Caro, Christian Chmelik, Jörg Kärger and Gero Vogl (Eds.) Diffusive Spreading in Nature, Technology and Society. Springer, pp. 453-472.
2022. (with François Bourguignon). “Aid Allocation: The Role of External Discipline.” International Economics, Vol. 172, pp. 278-296.
2021. (with E. Auriol and T. Verdier). “The Triangular Game between Autocrats, Clerics, and the Military: An Application to Muslim Countries”, Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion, Vol. 1, N° 2, pp. 159-191.
(with F. Bourguignon), 2021. “Should a Poverty-Averse Donor Always Reward Better Governance?”, Economic Journal, Vol. 131, N° 637, pp. 1919-1946.
2021. (with C. Guirkinger and J. Gross). “Are Women Emancipating? Evidence from Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in Rural Northern Burkina Faso”, World Development, Vol. 146 (October).
2021. (with D. Ugarte Ontiveros). “Cognitive Bias in Insurance: Evidence from India”, World Development, Vol. 144 (August).
2022. “Enlightened Autocrats: Lessons from Bold Experiments in the Lands of Islam”. In: Basu, K., Ghatak, M., Kletzer, K., Mundle, S., and Verhoogen, E. (eds), Development, Distribution, and Markets, Oxford University Press, Chap. 11, pp. 235-286.
2020. (with V. Verardi). “How to Exit Covid-19 Lockdowns: Culture Matters”, Covid Economics: Vetted and Real-Time Papers, CEPR (Centre for Economic Policy Research), Issue 1 (April).
(with J. Gross and C. Guirkinger), 2020. “Buy Food as You Need: Nutrition and Food Storage Imperfections”, Journal of Development Economics (forthcoming).
(with J.M. Baland, F. Bourguignon, and T. Verdier), 2020, “Economic Development and Institutions: An Introduction”. In Baland, J.M., F. Bourguignon, J.P. Platteau, and T. Verdier (Eds), The Handbook of Economic Development and Institutions, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, Chap. 1, pp. 1-20.
(with C. Guirkinger), 2020, “The Dynamics of Family Systems: Lessons from Past and Present Times”. In Baland, J.M., F. Bourguignon, J.P. Platteau, and T. Verdier (Eds), The Handbook of Economic Development and Institutions, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, Chap. 13, pp. 449-519.
2019. “The Economics of Religious Conversion in Subsaharan Africa”. In: Nnadozie, E., and J. Afeikhena (Eds), African Economic Development, Emerald Publishing, Chap. 11, pp. 217-231.
(with C. Guirkinger and M. Delpierre), 2019, “Risk as Impediment to Privatization? The Role of Collective Fields in Extended Agricultural Households”, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 67, N° 4, pp. 863-905.
2019. “Strategic Interactions between Religion and Politics: the Case of Islam”. In: Carvalho, J.P., S. Iyer, and J. Rubin (Eds), Advances in the Economics of Religion, Palgrave Macmillan, Chap. 21, pp. 333-345.
(with F. Bourguignon), 2018. “Optimal Management of Transfers: An Odd Paradox”, Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 162, June, pp. 143-157.
(with G. Camilotti and E. Auriol), 2018. “Eradicating Women-Hurting Customs: What Role for Social Engineering?”. In: Anderson, S., L. Beaman, and J.P. Platteau (Eds). Towards Gender Equity and Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 319-356.
(with E. Auriol), 2017, “The Explosive Combination of Religious Decentralisation and Autocracy: The Case of Islam”, Economics of Transition, Vol. 25, N° 2, pp. 313-350.
(with E. Auriol), 2017, “Religious Co-option Under Autocracy: A Theory Inspired by History”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 127, July, pp. 395-412.
(with V. Bove and P. Sekeris), 2017, “Political Repression in Autocratic Regimes”, Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 45, N° 2, pp. 410-428.
(with O. De Bock and W. Gelade), 2017, “The Demand for Microinsurance: A Literature Review”, World Development, Vol. 94, N° 2, pp. 139-156.
(with C. Guirkinger), 2017, “Transformation of African Farm Households: A Short Survey of Economic Contributionsˮ, Journal of Demographic Economics, Vol. 83, pp. 41-50.
(with F. Bourguignon), 2017, “Does Aid Availability Affect Effectiveness in Reducing Poverty? A Review Article”, World Development, Vol. 90, pp. 6-16.
(with C. Guirkinger and T. Goetghebuer), 2015, “Productive Inefficiency in Extended Agricultural Households: Evidence from Mali”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 116, pp. 17-27.
(with C. Guirkinger) 2015, “Transformation of African Farm-cum-Family Structures. In Monga, C. and J.Y. Lin (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics, Vol. I: Context and Concepts, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
(with C. Guirkinger) 2015, “Transformation of the Family Farm under Rising Land Pressure: A Theoretical Essay”, Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 43, Issue 1, February, pp. 112-137.
(with F. Bourguignon), 2015, “The Hard Challenge of Aid Coordination”, World Development, Vol. 69, pp. 86-97.
(with V. Somville and Z. Wahhaj), 2014, “Elite Capture through Information Distortion: A Theoretical Essay”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 106, pp. 250-263.
(with C. Guirkinger) 2014, “The Effect of Land Scarcity on Farm Structure: Empirical Evidence from Mali”, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 62, N° 2, pp. 195-238.
2014, “Redistributive Pressures in Sub-Saharan Africa: Causes, Consequences, and Coping Strategies”. In: Akyeampong, E., R. Bates, N. Nunn, and J. Robinson (Eds.), African Development in Historical Perspective, Cambridge University Press, pp. 153-207.
2012, “Contextualization is Not Antagonistic to Theorization”, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (IJMES).
(with G. Aldashev) 2013, “Religion, Culture and Development”. In: V. Ginsburgh and D. Throsby (Eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, Vol. 2, Elsevier and North-Holland, Chap. 21, pp. 587-631.
(with Z. Wahhaj), 2013, “Interactions Between Modern Law and Custom”. In: V. Ginsburgh and D. Throsby (Eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, Vol. 2, Elsevier and North-Holland, Chap. 22, pp. 633-678.
(With G. Aldashev, I. Chaara, and Z. Wahhaj) 2012, “Using the Law to Change the Custom”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 97, N° 1, pp. 182-200.
(with G. Aldashev and Z. Wahhaj), 2011, “Legal Reform in the Presence of a Living Custom: An Economic Approach”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Vol. 108, Suppl. 4, December 27, pp. 21320-21325
(with G. Aldashev, I. Chaara, and Z. Wahhaj) 2012, “Formal Law as a Magnet to Reform the Custom”, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 60, N° 4, pp. 795-828.
2011, Book Review of “Democracy in the Arab World –Explaining the Deficit”, Middle East Development Journal, Vol. 3, N° 2, December 2011, pp. 247-251.
(with F. Bourguignon), 2011, “Is the Concern for Governance Benefitting the Richer Developing Countries?”. In A. Sapir, A. Estache, G. Hübner, H. Pirotte, J.P. Platteau, H. Vandenbussche, and J.F. Husson (Eds.), La crise économique et financière : quelles conséquences ? 19ème Congrès des Economistes Belges de Langue Française, CIFOP, Charleroi, pp. 401-413.
2011, “Political Instrumentalization of Islam and the Risk of Obscurantist Deadlock”, World Development, Vol. 39, N° 2, pp. 243-260.
(with P. Sekeris) 2010, “On the Feasibility of Power and Status Ranking in Traditional Setups”, Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 28, N° 3, pp. 267-282.
(with F. Gaspart) 2010, “Strategic Behaviour and Marriage Payments -Theory and Evidence from Senegal”, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 59, N° 1, pp. 149-185.
(with T. Goetghebuer) 2010, “Inheritance Patterns in Migration-Prone Communities of the Peruvian Highlands”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 93, N° 1, pp. 71-87.
2010, “Culture and Development: An Overview”. In: Platteau, J.P., and R. Peccoud (Eds.). Culture, Institutions, and Development: New Insights into an Old Debate, Routledge, London, pp. 3-19.
(with R. Peccoud) 2010, “Revisiting the Role of Culture”. In: Platteau, J.P., and R. Peccoud (Eds.). Culture, Institutions, and Development: New Insights into an Old Debate, Routledge, London, pp. 247-258.
2009, “Political Instrumentalization of Religion: The Case of Islam”, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 35, Article 3, pp. 1-19.
2009, “Institutional Obstacles to African Economic Development: State, Ethnicity, and Custom”, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 71, Issue 3, pp. 669-689.
2009, “Information Distortion, Elite Capture, and Task Complexity in Decentralised Development”, in: Ahmed, E., and G. Brosio (Eds), “Does Decentralisation Enhance Service Delivery and Poverty Reduction?”, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, and Nothampton, USA, pp. 23-72.
2008, ‘Pitfalls of Participatory Development”, in United Nations, Participatory Governance and the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York, pp. 127-159.
2008, “Land Inheritance Patterns”, in Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, Oxford University Press.
2008, “Common Property Resources”, in: Durlauf, S.N., and L. E. Blume (eds.), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Palgrave Macmillan (2nd edition).
2008, “Efficient Property Rights: The Contribution of Transaction Cost Economics, in Dutt, A.K., and J. Ros (eds), International Handbook of Development Economics, London: Edward Elgar, forthcoming.
2008, “Religion, Politics, and Development: Lessons from the Lands of Islam”, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 68, Issue 2, pp. 329-351.
2008, “The Causes of Institutional Inefficiency: A Development Perspective”, in Brousseau, E., and Glachant (eds.), New Institutional Economics. A Textbook, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 437-456.
(with J.M. Baland) 2008, “Institutions, Property Rights and Development”, in A.K. Dutt and J. Ros (Eds), International Handbook of Development Economics, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, and Northampton, USA, pp. 394-406.
2008, “Managing the Commons: The Role of Social Norms and Beliefs”, in Bardhan, P., and I. Ray, The Contested Commons: Conversations Between Economists and Anthropologists, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 25-45.
2008, “La culture fait-elle la différence ?”, Afrique Contemporaine, Vol. 226, N° 2, pp. 21-29.
2008, (with François Bourguignon, Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, Stefan Dercon, Antonio Estache, Jan Willem Gunning, Ravi Kanbur, Stephan Klasen, Simon Maxwell, Jean-Philippe Platteau, Amedeo Spadaro). “Millennium Development Goals at Midpoint : Where Do We Stand and Where Do We Need to Go ?”, European Report on Development, European Commission, Brussels.
(with F. Gaspart), 2007, “The Perverse Effects of High Brideprices”, World Development, Vol. 35, N° 7, pp. 1221-1236.
(with J.M. Baland, F. Gaspart, and F. Place), 2007, “The Distributive Impact of Land Markets in Uganda”, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 55, N° 2, pp. 283-311.
(with E. Seki), 2007, “Heterogeneity, Social Esteem and the Feasibility of Collective Action”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 83, N° 2, pp. 302-325.
2007, “Développement participatif et précipitation : une association contre-productive ?”, Revue de L’Institut de Sociologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Vol. 1, N° 4, pp. 17-30.
(with J.M. Baland), 2007, “Collective Action and the Commons: The Role of Inequality”, in J.M. Baland, P. Bardhan and S. Bowles (eds), Inequality, Cooperation and Environmental Sustainability, Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press, pp. 10-35.
(with F. Gaspart), 2007, “Heterogeneity and Collective Action for Effort Regulation: Lessons from the Senegalese Small-Scale Fisheries”, in J.M. Baland, P. Bardhan and S. Bowles (eds) Inequality, Cooperation and Environmental Sustainability, Princeton University Press, pp. 159-204.
2006, “Solidarity Norms and Institutions in Agrarian Societies: Static and Dynamic Considerations”, in S. Kolm, J. Mercier-Ythier, and G. Varet (eds.), Handbook on Gift-Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism, Amsterdam: North-Holland and Elsevier, Vol. 1, pp. 819-886.
(with T. Goetghebuer), 2005, “Community Ties and Land Inheritance in the Context of Rising Outside Opportunities: Evidence from the Peruvian Highlands”, in Barrett, C. (ed), The Social Economics of Poverty: Identities, Groups, Communities and Networks, London & New York: Routledge, pp. 361-401.
2004, “The Gradual Erosion of the Social Security Function of Customary Land Tenure Arrangements: The Case of Tribal Societies in SubSaharan Africa”, in S. Dercon (ed.), Insurance Against Poverty, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 247-278.
(with T. Strzalecki), 2004, “Collective Action, Heterogeneous Loyalties, and Path Dependence: Micro-Evidence from Senegal”, Journal of African Economies, Vol. 13, N°3 pp. 417-445.
2004, “Monitoring Elite Capture in Community-Driven Development”, Development and Change, Vol. 35, N° 2, pp. 223-246.
2004, “Decentralized Development as a Strategy to Reduce Poverty”?, in: Agence Française de Développement, “Poverty, Inequality and Growth”, Proceedings of the AFD-EUDN Conference, 2003, Paris, pp. 253-330.
(with J.M. Baland), 2004, “Droits de propriété et gestion efficace des ressources naturelles”, in Poullet, Y., P. Wéry, and P. Wynants (eds.), Liber Amicorum Michel Coipel, Bruxelles : Editions Kluwer, pp. 53-72.
2004, “Institutional and Distributional Aspects of Sustainability in Community-Driven Development”, in George Keith Pitman, Osvaldo N. Feinstein and Gregory K. Ingram (editors), "Evaluating Development Effectiveness: Challenges and the Way Forward", New Brunswick & London, Transaction Publishers (forthcoming).
2004, “Community-Based Development in the Context of Within Group Heterogeneity”, in: Bourguignon, F. and B. Pleskovic (eds), Proceedings of the Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics 2004, Washington DC: The World Bank, pp. 241-270.
2003, “Droits de propriété et gestion efficace des ressources naturelles”, Cahiers des Séminaires de l’IDDRI (Institut de Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales), N° 15, pp.
2003, “Order, the Rule of Law and Moral Norms”, in Toye, J. (ed.), Trade and Development: Directions for the Twenty-first Century, Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, pp. 218-267.
(with A. Abraham), 2004, “Participatory Development: Where Culture Creeps In”, in V. Rao, and M. Walton (eds), Culture and Public Action, Stanford-California: Stanford University Press, pp. 210-233.
(with F. Gaspart), 2003 “The Risk of Resource Misappropriation in Community-Based Development Projects”, World Development, Vol. 31, N° 10, pp. 1687-1703.
(with J.M. Baland), 2003, “Economics of Common Property Management Regimes”, in Mähler, G., and J. Vincent (eds), Handbook of Environmental Economics, Amsterdam; North-Holland, Chap. 4, pp. 127-90.
(with A.S. Brasselle and F. Gaspart), 2002, “Land Tenure Security and Investment Incentives: Puzzling Evidence from Burkina Faso”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 67, pp. 373-418. Reprinted in Barrett, C. (Ed.), 2011. Agricultural Development: Critical Concepts in Development Studies, London: Routledge.
(with A. Abraham), 2002, “Participatory Development in the Presence of Endogenous Community Imperfections”, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 39, N° 2, pp. 104-136.
(with F. Gaspart), 2002, “Collective Action for Local-Level Effort Regulation: An Assessment of Recent Experiences in Senegalese Small-Scale Fisheries”, in F. Stewart, R. Thorp, and J. Heyer (eds), Group Behaviour and Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 75-103.
(with A. Abraham), 2001, “Imperfections des communautés rurales traditionnelles et développement participatif”, Revue d’Economie du Développement, N° 1-2, pp. 197-231.
(with A. de Janvry, G. Gordillo and E. Sadoulet), 2001. “Access to Land and Land Policy Reforms”, in de Janvry, A., G. Gordillo, J.P. Platteau, and E. Sadoulet (eds.), Access to Land, Rural Poverty, and Public Action, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1-26.
(with J.M. Baland), 2001, “Impartible Inheritance Versus Equal Division: A Comparative Perspective Centered on Europe and SubSaharan Africa”, in de Janvry, A., G. Gordillo, J.P. Platteau, and E. Sadoulet (eds.), Access to Land, Rural Poverty, and Public Action, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 27-67.
(with A. Abraham and J.M. Baland), 2000-2001, “Groupes informels de solidarité dans un bidonville du Tiers-Monde : La cas de Kibera, Nairobi (Kenya)”, Revue Sénégalaise de Sociologie, N° 4-5, pp. 263-294.
(with E. Seki), 2001, “Community Arrangements to Overcome Market Failures: Pooling Groups in Japanese Fisheries”, in M. Aoki and Y. Hayami (eds.), Community and Market in Economic Development, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 344-402.
“Does Africa Need Land Reform ?”, 2000, in Toulmin, C., and J. Quan (eds.) Evolving land Rights, Policy and Tenure in Africa, IIED Bookshop, London, pp. 51-73.
2000, “Allocating and Enforcing Property Rights in Land: Informal versus Formal Mechanisms in SubSaharan Africa”, The Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 26, Issue 1, pp. 55-81.
(with J.M. Baland), 1999, “The Ambiguous Impact of Inequality on Local Resource Management”, World Development, Vol. 27, N° 5, pp. 773-788.
(with F. Gaspart, M. Jabbar, and C. Mélard), 1998, “Participation in the Construction of a Local Public Good with Indivisibilities: An Application to Watershed Development in Ethiopia”, Journal of African Economies, Vol. 7, N° 2, pp. 157-184.
(with C. André) 1998, “Land Relations Under Unbearable Stress: Rwanda Caught in the Malthusian Trap”, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 34, N° 1, pp. 1-47.
(with Y. Hayami) 1998, “Resource Endowments and Agricultural Development: Africa versus Asia”, in Aoki, M., and Y. Hayami (eds), The Institutional Foundations of East Asian Economic Development, London: Macmillan, pp. 357-410.
(with J.M. Baland), 1998, “Dividing the Commons −A Partial Assessment of the New Institutional Economics of Property Rights”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 80, August, pp. 644-650.
(with J.M. Baland) 1998, “Wealth Inequality and Efficiency on the Commons –Part II: the Regulated Case”, Oxford Economic Papers, Vol. 50, N° 1, pp. 1-22.
(with J.M. Baland) 1997, “Wealth Inequality and Efficiency on the Commons –Part I: the Unregulated Case”, Oxford Economic Papers, Vol. 49, N° 3, pp. 451-482.
1997, “Partage des risques dans les sociétés agraires traditionnelles”, Risques, N° 29, janvier-mars, pp. 41-61.
(with J.M. Baland) 1997, “Coordination Problems in Resource Conservation Programs”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 50, N° 2, pp. 197-210.
1997, “Mutual Insurance as an Elusive Concept in Traditional Rural Societies”, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 33, N° 6, pp. 764-96.
1997, “Comment on ‘Rural Finance in Africa: Institutional Developments and Access for the Poor’, by Ernest Aryeetey”, Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics —1996, Washington, DC: The World Bank, pp. 174-179.
1997, “Reforming Land Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa”, Journal für Entwicklungspolitik, Vol. XIII, N° 1, 1997, pp. 57-98.
1997, “The Social Conditions of the Market: A Rejoinder”, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 33, N° 5, pp. 714-717.
1996, “The Evolutionary Theory of Land Rights As Applied to SubSaharan Africa : A Critical Assessment”, Development and Change, Vol. 27, N° 1, pp. 29-86.
1996, “Physical Infrastructure as a Constraint on Agricultural Growth: The Case of Sub-saharan Africa”, Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 24, N° 3, pp. 189-219.
1995, “A Framework for the Analysis of Evolving Patron-Client Ties”, World Development, Vol. 23, N° 4, pp. 767-786.
1995, “An Indian Model of Aristocratic Patronage”, Oxford Economic Papers, Vol. 47, N° 4, pp. 636-662.
(with J.M. Baland) 1995, “Should Common Property Resources be Privatized? A Reexamination of the Tragedy of the Commons”, in P. Terhal and J.G. De Vries (eds), Development, Transformation and State Policy, Manohar Pub, Delhi, pp. 31-52.
1994, “Behind the Market Stage Where Real Societies Exist –Part I: The Role of Public and Private Order Institutions”, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 30, N° 3, pp. 533-577.
1994, “Behind the Market Stage Where Real Societies Exist –Part II: The Role of Moral Norms”, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 30, N° 4, pp. 386-422.
(with J. Nugent) 1992, “Share Contracts and Their Rationale: Lessons from Marine Fishing”, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 28, No. 3, 386-422. 1992, “Small-scale Fisheries and the Evolutionist Theory of Institutional Development”, in Tvedten, I., and B. Hersoug (eds.), Fishing for Development - Small-scale Fisheries in Africa, Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 91-114.
1991, “Traditional Systems of Social Security and Hunger Insurance: Past Achievements and Modern Challenges”, in E. Ahmad, J. Drèze, J. Hills and A.K. Sen (eds.), Social Security in Developing Countries, Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp. 112-170.
1991, “A Proposal for Cooperative Relief of Debt in Africa” (with J. Drèze, A. Kervyn and P. Reding), in Steinherr, A., and D. Weiserbs, Evolution of the International and Regional Monetary Systems - Essays in Honour of Robert Triffin, Macmillan, London, 170-197.
1991, “The Social Prerequisites of the Market” (Sotsialnye Predposilki Rinka), Eco, Novosibirsk.
1990, “The Food Crisis in Africa: A Comparative Structural Analysis”, in J. Drèze and A.K. Sen (eds.), The Political Economy of Hunger, Vol. II: Famine Prevention. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 279-387. (Also reprinted in Drèze, J., A.K. Sen, and A. Hussain (eds), The Political Economy of Hunger - Selected Essays, 1995, Oxford: Charendon Press, pp. 445-553.)
1989, “The Dynamics of Fisheries Development in Industrializing Countries: A General Overview”, in: J.-Ph. Platteau, (ed.), The Transformation of Third World Fisheries, Development and Change, Vol. 20, N° 4, pp. 565-597.
1989, “Penetration of Capitalism and Persistence of Small-scale Organizational Forms in Third World Fisheries”, in: J.-Ph. Platteau, (ed.), The Transformation of Third World Fisheries, Development and Change, Vol. 20, N° 4, pp. 621-651.
1987, “An Inquiry into Quasi-credit Contracts: The Role of Reciprocal Credit and Interlinked Deals in Small-scale Fishermen Communities”, (with A. Abraham), Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 23, N° 4, pp. 461-90.
1986, “La fonction euphémisante et mystificatrice de l’aide”, in : X. Dijon et J. Burton, (eds.), Dis-moi qui tu aides ..., Presses Universitaires de Namur, pp. 183-216.
1985, “The Political Economy of John Stuart Mill or the Coexistence of Orthodoxy, Heresy and Prophecy”, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 12, N° 1, pp. 3-26; reprinted in M. Blaug (eds.), Pioneers in Economics, Vol. 16: Thomas-Robert Malthus and John Stuart Mill, Edward Elgar, Brookfield, 1991, pp. 107-130. [Also translated into Italian in P. Roggi (eds.), 1985, Gli economisti e la politica economica, Napoli: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, pp. 167-99].
1985, “India as an Engine of Green Revolution in Africa”, in: W.M. Callewaert and R. Kumar, (eds.), E.E.C. - India: Towards a Common Perspective, Peeters, Leuven, pp. 86-104 (also published in German in Journal für Entwicklungspolitik, Heft 3, 1985, pp. 77-96).
1984, “The Drive towards Mechanization in Small-scale Fisheries: A Microstudy of the Transformation Process of Traditional Village Societies”, Development and Change, Vol. 15, N° 1, pp. 65-103.
1984, “Malthus et le sous-développement ou le problème de la cohérence d'une théorie”, Revue économique, Vol. 35, N° 4, pp. 635-66.
(with A. Abraham) 1984, “Credit as an Insurance Mechanism in the Backward Rural Areas of Less Developed Countries”, Savings and Development, Vol. 8, N° 2, pp. 115-133.
1984, “Das Paradoxon des Staates in Wirtschaftlich Rückständingen Ländern”, Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie, Vol. 9, N° 4, pp. 63-87.
1983, “Classical Economics and Agrarian Reforms in Overpopulated Areas: The Radical Views of the two Mills”, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 19, N° 4, pp. 453-60.