Dr Parviz Dabir-Alai

Professor of Economics

Dr. Dabir-Alai is Professor of Economics at Richmond. His academic career has been developed and enhanced by teaching at Tulane University (New Orleans, USA), Richmond - since the late 1980s, and the University of the West Indies (Trinidad & Tobago) in the mid 1990s.

He has published a range of papers on the economics of education, economic transition issues and informal markets. He co-edited (with Mehmet Odekon) Economic Liberalization and Labour Markets, Greenwood Press. Most recently he published Urban Petty Trading as part of the Readers' Guide to the Social Sciences, Fitzroy Dearborn, London, as well as several other pieces for Routledge-Curzon. He is the founding editor of the Briefing Notes in Economics a research newsletter published up to 4 times a year. Additionally, he has served as academic reviewer to many journals including the Economic Journal, Journal of Development Economics, and Journal of Developing Areas. A selection of his other research and professional activities appear at the end of this page. Notable amongst these is Dr Dabir-Alai’s consulting work with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Engineering Institute (at the University of the West Indies) on the financing of several large infrastructure projects within the Caribbean region.

Dr. Dabir-Alai earned a BA from the University of North London, a M.Sc. (Econ.) from the London School of Economics. He also obtained an M.Phil. (Econ.) from the University of Warwick and a Ph.D. in Economics from Brunel University.

When younger he had his sights fixed on winning squash trophies. Nowadays he is content with playing backgammon and reading newspapers.

Courses Taught

• ECN 210 Introduction to Microeconomics
• ECN 211 Introduction to Macroeconomics
• ECN 353 Economic Problems of Developing Countries
• ECN 352 Economics of Transition
• ECN 480 Senior Project

Publications

• Zantout, H. and P. Dabir-Alai "The Knowledge Economy in the Context of European Union Policy on Higher Education", Education, Knowledge & Economy, forthcoming 2007.
• Arvin, B. Mak, P. Dabir-Alai and B. Lew "Does Foreign Aid affect the Environment in Developing Countries?", Journal of Economic Development, Volume 31, Number 1, pp 63-87, 2006.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Famine" in World Encyclopedia of Poverty, Volume 1, pp 346-350, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks and London, 2006.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Street trading in urban areas" in the Routledge Development Encyclopaedia, Routledge Publications, London 2004.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "World Commission on Dams" in the Routledge Development Encyclopaedia, Routledge Publications, London 2004.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Harris-Todaro Model" in the Routledge Development Encyclopaedia, Routledge Publications, London 2004.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Urban Petty Trading" in the Readers’ Guide to the Social Sciences, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, London 2001.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and Odekon, M. (ed.) "Economic Liberalisation and Labour Markets" Greenwood Press, Westport, Ct., USA 1998.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Political Economy, Liberalisation and Labour’s Absorption: A Generalised View of Recent Experiences" in Dabir-Alai, P. and Odekon, M. (ed.), Economic Liberalisation and Labour Markets, Greenwood Press, Westport, Ct., USA 1998.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Macroeconomic Overview of Suriname" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’, prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB; April 1997.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Informal Markets: Stylised Facts or Fiction?" Journal of Caribbean Issues, Volume 7, Number 1 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Planning in India: An overview of key objectives and achievements" in H.D. Vinod (ed.) Study of Indian History and Culture, BHISHMA, Volume 17 (of an 18 volume set), Thane 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Macroeconomic Overview of The Bahamas" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for The Bahamas’, prepared as part of the Caribbean Regional Infrastructure Study Project (CRISP) for the IDB; April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Executive Summary on Trinidad and Tobago Country Report" Prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB. Sole author for Economics section as well as overall editorial control for remaining sections; April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and UWI colleagues "Caribbean Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda" for the IDB, 171 pages, June 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and UWI colleagues "Macroeconomic Overview of Barbados" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for Barbados’, prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB; April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and UWI colleagues "Macroeconomic Overview of Belize" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for Belize’, prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB; April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and UWI colleagues "Macroeconomic Overview of Dominica" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for Dominica’, prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB; April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and UWI colleagues "Macroeconomic Overview of Guyana" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for Guyana’, prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB; April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and UWI colleagues "Macroeconomic Overview of Jamaica" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for Jamaica’, prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB; April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and UWI colleagues "Macroeconomic Overview of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’, prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB, April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and UWI colleagues "Macroeconomic Overview of St. Lucia" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for St. Lucia’, prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB; April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. and UWI colleagues "Macroeconomic Overview of St. Kitts & Nevis" Appearing as Chapter 1 of ‘Infrastructure for Development: A Policy Agenda for St. Kitts & Nevis’, prepared as part of the CRISP for the IDB; April 1996.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Applicability of the ‘problem based learning’ approach to an international student body: some preliminary results from undergraduate economics" in P. Keizer et. al. (ed.) Educational Innovation in Economics and Business Administration, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht 1995.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Reforming assessment: the case of ‘letter grades’ at UWI’s Social Sciences Faculty" Caribbean Curriculum, Volume 5, Number 2 1995.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "On Austrian Economics" Financial Times (London), July 31 1995.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "On the link between anti-inflationary programmes and poverty eradication in Brazil" Financial Times (London), March 12 1994.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "On the definition of ‘services’ and ‘manufacturing’ industries" Financial Times (London), November 21 1992.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "On trade and the environment" Financial Times (London), February 14 1992.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "On India's programme of economic reform" Financial Times (London), August 9 1991.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "On the World Bank's targeting of loans to the private sector within LDCs" Financial Times, (London) May 7 1991.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Productivity Trends Across Large Scale Manufacturing Industries of India" Indian Economic Review, Volume XXII, Number 2, pp 151-178 1987.
• Dabir-Alai, P. "Capital-Labour Substitution Across Large Scale Manufacturing Industries of India" Manchester Papers on Development, Volume 1, Number 3, pp 45-62 1985.

Conferences, Presentations and Proceedings

• “Income-Education volatility amongst street-vendors of Delhi: A case of educational deepening or something else?” The 8th UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development: Learning and Livelihood, Oxford, September 13-15, 2005.
• “The Economics of Street-Vending – An empirical framework for measuring vulnerability in Delhi in the late 1990s”. Joint meeting of the Expert Group on Development Issues (EGDI) and the UNU’s World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER), Helsinki – Finland, September 17-19, 36 pages. 2004
• “Measuring vulnerability: A case study of Delhi’s street vending communities”, International Conference entitled Livelihoods at the Margin, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, July 8-9, 28 pages 2004 “The Socio-Economics of Street Vending: A Case Study of Vulnerability for Delhi in the late 1990’s”, Eastern Economic Association's Annual Meetings, Washington D.C. - USA, February 20-22, 35 pages 2004
• “Political Economy, Liberalization and Labour’s Absorption: A Generalized View of Recent Experiences”, Eastern Economic Association's Annual Meetings, New York - USA, February 27-March 1, 35 pages. Also appearing in Dabir-Alai, P. and Odekon, M. (ed.), Economic Liberalization and Labor Markets, Greenwood Press, Westport, Ct., USA 1998
• “The economics of street-vending in a small metropolitan capital city: Port-of-Spain, Trinidad”, Caribbean Studies Association’s 21st Annual Meetings, San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 27-31, 14 pages 1996
• “Street vending within Port of Spain: an exploratory analysis”, Association of Caribbean Economists’ workshop on the Small Business Sector, St. Augustine, Trinidad, November 18, 16 pages 1995
• “Anticipating the demand for Caribbean economists in the 21st century: A response to two business sector views”, Association of Caribbean Economists, mimeo 1995
• “Resource rich manufacturing in developing countries: leather goods in India”, Association of Indian Economic Studies' Annual Meetings, held in conjunction with the American Economic Association's Annual Meetings, Boston, USA, January 3-5, 18 pages 1994
• “Applicability of the ‘problem based learning’ approach to an international student body: some preliminary results from undergraduate economics”, conference on Educational Innovation in Economics and Business Administration, University of Limburg, December 9-11, 12 pages 1993
• “Urban formal employment opportunities in the developing world: ‘aspiration’ versus ‘contentment’ for Delhi's street peddlers”, Eastern Economic Association's Annual Meetings, New York - USA, March 26-29, 7 pages 1992
• “Informal Markets and the ‘roaming merchants’ of Delhi: a case study”, preliminary findings presented to the Economic and Social Research Council's Development Economics Study Group meeting of December 6, at the L.S.E., 17 pages 1992
• “Import Substitution and Protection across selected Manufacturing Industries of India: A discussion of the 1973/74 to 1979/80 period”, poster session Indian Econometric Society 27th Annual Conference, Aligarh, India, January, 31 pages 1990
• “Industrial Policy and the Ideal Infant”, Eastern Economic Association's Annual Meetings, Washington D.C., March 5-7, 11 pages 1987
• “India's experience with her inward-oriented development strategy”, Association of Indian Economic Studies’ Annual Meetings, held in conjunction with the American Economic Association's Annual Meetings, New Orleans, December 28-30, 28 pages 1986

Professional Activities

• American Economics Association. Member, since 1987.
• Royal Economic Society. Member, since 1984.
• Indian Econometrics Society. Member, since 1990.
• Founding Editor – Briefing Notes in Economics, since 1992.
• Member of Editorial Board - International Journal of Economics Education and Development.
• Member of Editorial Board - International Journal of Statistics and Economics.
• External Examiner in Economics at Vesalius College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
• Regular reviewer of books and journal articles for a variety scholarly journals.
• STICERD – London School of Economics, UK, October 1996-September 1997: Research Associate.
• Symposium on Employment Creation in a Global Economy, International Labour Organisation, Institute of International Relations, UWI, Trinidad, October 20, 1994. Conference participant.
• Summit of The Americas Preparatory Meeting On Micro-enterprise and Small Business Financing and Development; Ministry of Trade and Industry, Port of Spain, Trinidad, November 1-2, 1994. Conference participant.
• Conference on International Narco-trafficking and The Security of Caribbean States, Institute of International Relations, UWI, Trinidad, January 19-21, 1995. Conference participant.
• Annual World Bank Conference on Development within Latin America and the Caribbean (ABCD-LAC), June 11-14, 1995, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Conference participant.
• Data Development and Information Management in Developing Economies, Central Bank, Trinidad, July 10-13, 1995. Conference participant.
• University-Industry Cooperation in the Caribbean, Continuing Education in Engineering Centre, Faculty of Engineering, UWI, Trinidad, September 26-27, 1995. Conference participant.
• Workshop on Resource-based Teaching, Institute of Social and Economic Research, UWI, Trinidad, September 21-23, 1995. Conference participant.
• Workshop on Anticipating the Demand for Economists in the Caribbean in the 21st Century, Department of Economics, UWI, Trinidad, October 9-10, 1995. Conference participant.
• Research Review Seminar, Economic Research Department, Central Bank, Trinidad, October 12-13, 1995. Conference participant.
• Workshop on Problems involving Health Data and Hospital Costs, Health Economics Unit, UWI, Trinidad, December 1-2, 1995. Conference participant.
• Workshop on Liquidity Management in the Caribbean, Caribbean Centre for Monetary Studies, UWI, Trinidad, May 3, 1996. Conference participant.
• ESRC’s Development Economics Conference on the Labour in the Development Process, LSE, June 20, 1997. Conference participant.
• ESRC’s Development Economics Conference on The Role of the Public Sector, International Development Centre, University of Reading, July 11-12, 1997. Discussant to paper on Migration in Egypt by Professor McCormick and Dr Wahba of the Department of Economics at Southampton University.
• ESRC’s Finance and Development Conference, University of Birmingham, September 7-8, 1997. Session Chair. Organiser: Dr Victor Murinde, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham. Conference participant.
• Workshop on Evaluation in Higher Education provided by the Quality in Higher Education arm of the Open University, December 11, 1997. Conference participant.
• ESRC Development Economics Conference on Is Africa different from Asia?, University of Reading, July 10-11, 1998. Organiser: Professor Thirtle of Reading’s Department of Agricultural Economics. Conference participant.
• 25th Anniversary Conference: The International University – Local and Global Roles, April 3-5, 1998. Conference participant.
• London Group on the Brazilian Economy, paper by Dr Jorge Arbache (University of Kent and Brasilia) on ‘Labour markets: impact of liberalization and reforms’. October 30, 1998. Invited by speaker and Brazilian Embassy official. Conference participant.
• Workshop on Women in Informal Employment – Globalizing & Organizing (WIEGO), sponsored by the International Development Research Council (IDRC) and the Harvard International Institute for Development (HIID), April 12-14, 1999, Ottawa, Canada. Invited by Professor Chen of Harvard’s JFK School of Government. Conference participant.
• ESRC Development Economics Conference on Development Economics for the New Millenium, University of Reading, July 9-10, 1999. Session Chair. Organised by: Professor Thritle of Reading’s Department of Agricultural Economics.
• Development Studies Association Workshop on 50 Years of Development Economics, Overseas Development Institute, July 2003. Conference participant.
• Department of Economics, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, USA, July-August 2000: Academic Visitor.
• Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics, India, May and June 1999. Conducting fieldwork in Delhi on informal markets. Led a group of postgraduate researchers.
• Occasional lectures for undergraduate and master level students at London Metropolitan and Leicester Universities.
• Central Statistical Office, Port-of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, June-July 1996: Shadowing progress on the then current round of the Continuous Sample Survey of the Population. Academic observer.
• Department of Economics, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, USA, March 1992: Delivering paper on ongoing research on informal markets.
• Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, India, December 1989 to January 1990: Conducting fieldwork in Delhi on informal markets; paper at the Indian Econometric Society’s annual conference; other research at ICRIER; meetings with staff and students at the Delhi School of Economics; meetings at the Planning Ministry with Chief Planning Officer (the late Professor Sukhamoy Chakravarty).