Magdalene Silberberger

Rethinking Development

Ursprünglich war das primäre Ziel von Entwicklungsökonomik wirtschaftliches Wachstum. Inzwischen beschreibt Entwicklung einen Prozess, durch den ein Land den wirtschaftlichen, politischen und sozialen Wohlstand seiner Bevölkerung verbessert. Da hierbei unterschiedlichen Disziplinen eine wichtige Bedeutung zukommt, kann es auch in der wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzung mit Entwicklungsökonomik nicht rein um wirtschaftliche Aspekte gehen. Vielmehr muss die Situation eines Landes immer im jeweiligen Gesamtkontext evaluiert werden. Ein zentrales Ziel der Professur besteht darin, unter Anwendung geeigneter Instrumente und Methoden länderspezifische Probleme und Chancen zu analysieren und darauf aufbauend Lösungen zu finden.
 

The research centres on determinants of and obstacles to growth and development processes. The focus is on questions of institutional conditions, international interdependencies through trade and investment, and sustainable development.

Current research topics of the professorship:

• Trade policy
  Focal points include non-tariff trade barriers: This is about the determinants and effects of trade-restrictive measures, in particular non-tariff trade barriers such as anti-dumping, but also social and environmental policy regulations. One of the aims is to find out whether such restrictions are sustainably effective or necessary to ensure fair trade.
• Fiscal policy
  The focus is on the question of optimal fiscal policy. It also analyses how African governments can implement and enforce this optimal fiscal policy. The professorship analyses international interdependencies through trade and investment as well as country-specific determinants.
• Regulation and development
  About 20 years ago, institutions became the focus of research as important determinants of growth and development. Since then, researchers have been trying to find out which specific types of institutions are relevant and which are less so. The regulation of the private sector and firms plays an important role here, as the private sector can provide sustainable impetus for growth. The professorship is working out why some countries regulate the private sector in a more growth-friendly way than others and whether business-friendly regulation actually has a positive impact on development in the long term.
• Sustainable development
  What kind of development is sustainable? This research cluster looks not only at the environmental impact of growth, but also at the question of long-term, comprehensive and evenly distributed development.

Selected research projects:

• Big Data for Green Governance (IndiGreen)
• Green Impact Fund for Transformation (GIFT)
• Promotion of greenhouse gas-reducing technologies in Africa
   

Akademische Qualifikationen

• Dr. rer. oek., Ruhr-Universität Bochum („Econometric Analyses of the Effects and Determinants of Regulation in Open Economies”)
• Diplom-Ökonom, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, November 2008

Positionen

seit Oktober 2015
erst Juniorprofessorin, dann Professorin für Development Economics, Universität Witten/Herdecke

Mai 2009 – Sep. 2009, März 2010 – Okt. 2015
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin, Lehrstuhl für Internationale Wirtschaftsbeziehungen an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Sep. 2009 – März 2010
Consultancy beim United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Trade and Economics Branch, Genf (Carlo-Schmid-Stipendium des DAAD)

November 2008 – August 2009
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt und Energie

Oktober 2003 – November 2008
Studium der Wirtschaftswissenschaft an der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal und an der Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris I
 

Our teaching focuses on questions of economic growth and sustainable development in a globalised world economy. With the help of methodologically diverse analyses, we look for factors that contribute to the fact that some countries develop better than others. From these findings, we aim to derive recommendations for action that contribute to improving living conditions in so-called developing countries.

Students are given an interdisciplinary insight into the various fields of development economics. They also learn to identify and evaluate the influencing factors relevant to a country.

Forms of learning

The courses are generally held in seminar form and are based on empirical literature, which must be prepared independently. Active participation by students is encouraged and required.
 

Conferences and workshops

Lectures

• ETSG (European Trade Study Group) - Nineteenth Annual Conference, Florence, September 2017
• PEGNet (Poverty, Equity and Growth Network) - Twelfth Annual Conference, Zurich, September, 2017
• Australasian Trade Workshop 2017, Brisbane, March 2017
• Development Studies Association Conference 2016, Oxford, September 2016
• ETSG (European Trade Study Group) - Eighteenth Annual Conference, Helsinki, September 2016
• Society for International Trade Theory, Topics in International Trade, Dublin, April 2016
• 21st Spring Meeting of Young Economists, Lisbon, March 2016
• Royal Economic Society Symposium of Junior Researchers, Brighton, March 2016
• Herrenhausen Conference (Volkswagen Foundation) - Long-Term Processes of Socio-Economic Development, Hanover, November 2015
• PEGNet (Poverty Equity and Growth Network) - Tenth Annual Conference, Berlin, October 2015
• ETSG (European Trade Study Group) - Seventeenth Annual Conference, Paris, September 2015
• ETSG (European Trade Study Group) - Sixteenth Annual Conference, Munich, September 2014
• 16th Workshop "International Economics", Göttingen, February 2014
• 14th ZEW Summer Workshop - Trade and the Environment, October 2012
• ETSG (European Trade Study Group) - Fourteenth Annual Conference, Leuven (Belgium), September 2012
• ETSG (European Trade Study Group) - Twelfth Annual Conference, Lausanne (Switzerland), September 2010

Organisation

(with Joachim Zweynert): "Institutions in Development Research: Buzzword or Real Impact?", 3rd Witten Conference on Institutional Change, Witten/Herdecke University, December 2016