Brief Curriculum Vitae
Personal
Born (1951) and raised in Aalborg, Denmark, I am married with Grethe Tarp.
We have two sons, Klavs and Mads, born in Swaziland and Mozambique in 1980 and 1984.
Education
I completed high school in 1970 and after military service and a year as
primary and secondary teacher I was admitted as an undergraduate student
at the Institute of Economics at University of Copenhagen in 1972.
I obtained my M.Sc. in Economics in 1979 after master level studies at the University of
Copenhagen and at the University Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, USA.
I returned to the University of Copenhagen in 1988, where I got my my Ph.D.
(lic. polit.) in Economics in 1992.
Employment history
•
Director, UNU-WIDER, Helsinki,
Finland from 2009. • Professor of Development Economics,
Department of Economics,
University of Copenhagen (2002-present) and Coordinator of the
Development Economics Research Group (DERG)
from 1996. • Visiting Professor, National Economics University (NEU), Hanoi, Vietnam and Senior Economist/Project Coordinator at the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM) (2000-2002). • Visiting Professor, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe (1995). • Associate Professor in Development Economics, Institute of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (1991-2002)
and Coordinator of the
Development Economics Research Group (DERG) from 1996. • Assistant Professor in Development Economics, Institute of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (1988-91). • Macroeconomist/Agricultural Planner (Teamleader), FAO/Ministry of Agriculture, Maputo, Mozambique (1987-88). • Project Coordinator/Planning Economist, FAO/Ministry of Agriculture, Maputo, Mozambique (1986-87). • Programme Officer/Economist, Maputo, Mozambique (1981-86). • Economist (FAO Associate Expert), Maputo, Mozambique (1980-81). • Programme Officer (FAO Associate Expert), Mbabane, Swaziland (1978-80). • Research assistant in a social cost/benefit project concerning care of the elderly funded by the Organization of Danish Communes (1975-76). • Instructor in Economic Principles, an undergraduate course at the Institute of Economics, University of Copenhagen (1975-76 and 1977-78).
Research interests
Development economics; poverty, income distribution and growth; micro- and
macroeconomic policy and modeling; agricultural sector policy and planning;
and international development assistance.
Teaching
I have over the years lectured at a great variety of
institutions and places around the world, including countries in both the North and
the South. The focus in my teaching has been and remains development
economics. I am not at present teaching on a regular basis at the Department of
Economics at the University of Copenhagen due to my assignment as Director of
UNU-WIDER.
Special Honours
August 1979:
The Zeuthen award of the Danish Economic Society (Socialøkonomisk Samfund)
based on the thesis Growth and Income Distribution in Developing Countries.
Academic affiliations and other professional activities
Member of the University of Copenhagen Developing Country Work Group (KU
Uland).
Member
of the Advisory Board of
The Centre for Globalization
and Development at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Member
of the Editorial Board of Journal of Development Studies.
Editor,
Journal
Sustainability Science
(SUST).
•
•
Member of the
International Advisory Group of
The Trinity International Development Initiative (see
http://www.tcd.ie/tidi/).
•
•
•
•
Member
of
the Board of the Danish Institute of International Studies (DIIS). • Associate and resource person, African Economic Research Consortium
and member of the AERC Programme Committee • External Research Fellow, Centre for Research in Economic Development and International Trade, University of Nottingham • Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of International Development
(JID) • Member, European Union Development Network (EUDN) • Senior Associate, Mekong Economics Ltd. • Member, Danish Council for International Development Cooperation
I am also a member of the Danish Economic Association, the American Economic
Association, the European Economic Association, and the Royal Economic Society; and in addition to the above, I
have over the years carried out many advisory and consultancy
tasks, including work for academic institutions and bilateral as well as
multilateral agencies. A complete list is available in
my detailed CV.