Developing expertise: Dr Luis Angeles

Issued: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 15:23:00 BST

The University’s Centre for Development Studies is a leading institution in the UK for postgraduate study and research in the field of development.

Dr Luis Angeles is the centre’s director. ‘We are all economists at the centre, so our research in development is very much from this perspective,’ he says.

‘One of my colleagues is looking at how foreign direct investment affects different developing countries, another is a specialist in economic growth in China, and we have an expert in agricultural economics and environmental economics. My own research is about long-term determinants of development, especially how the colonial past has an effect on economic development over time. So there is a large range of expertise here for potential research students who are interested in development studies.’ Dr Angeles’ upbringing in Bolivia triggered his own interest in development studies.

‘I come from a developing country and you want to understand your own home,’ he says. And it would seem that the PhD students he is currently supervising, both from Pakistan, share this view. Sohail Farooq is focusing on assessing foreign aid in developing countries, while Khadija Shams is conducting a study to identify the root causes of poverty and income inequalities in rural areas of Pakistan.

‘My PhD students are clearly interested in the development side as it’s what they see every day. They’re both lecturers in economics in Pakistan so they will take what they’ve learned here on their PhD topics, and also about society and life in Glasgow, back to their own country to pass on. Hopefully this knowledge and experience can help make a difference.’