Isabella Massa

Research Fellow, International Economic Development Group

Dr Isabella Massa has policy-oriented research experience, in particular with respect to African countries. Before joining ODI, she has worked as an Economist (FIP) at the International Monetary Fund within the Middle East and Central Asia Department, and has developed an extensive academic experience as research assistant and instructor in different international universities. Her research interests focus on private capital flows, stock markets development and economic growth. She has published in the Emerging Markets Review, African Development Review, Applied Financial Economics, International Review of Financial Analysis and in institutional working papers as well as occasional papers. She has a PhD in Economics and Organization at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, Italy.

Outputs

The global financial crisis and developing countries

Projects - December 2008 to January 2010

The global financial crisis that emerged in the financial sector in developed countries has spread to the real sector in both developing and developing countries. ODI’s Investment and Growth Programme has conducted research on the global financial crisis since October 2008.

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The Global Financial Crisis: will successful African countries be affected?

Publication - Discussion papers - 8 December 2008

Isabella Massa, Dirk Willem te Velde

This paper examines whether Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda, which represent successful countries in Africa recently, are at risk of back sliding on their recent successes due to the global financial crisis.

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The Global Financial Crisis: financial flows to developing countries set to fall by one quarter

Publication - Research reports and studies - 13 November 2008

Massimiliano Cali, Isabella Massa, Dirk Willem te Velde

This report, based on current updates and forecasts as well as on evidence on what happened in previous slowdowns and in the absence of policy responses, suggests that net financial flows to developing countries may fall by as much as $300 billion over 2007-2009, equivalent to a 25% drop.

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The end of innocence: The fragile economics of development

Opinion - Articles and blogs - 23 September 2008

The end of the 1990s witnessed the rise and fall of the financial systems of many emerging markets (Mexico in 1994, South Asia in 1997/1998, Russia in 1998, Brazil in 1999, and Argentina in 2001). Most of them were due to macroeconomic instability and unsustainable exchange rate regimes; many collapsed due to bad corporate governance and loose regulation. Since then, developing world economies have embarked on a series of reforms and corrective measures, enabling them to grow fast and, so far, weather the storm of global financial turmoil. But for how long?

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Boys use long poles to guide their Houseboat on the Meghna River

Exploring the impact, effectiveness and future of Aid for Trade

Projects

Aid for Trade (AfT) accounts for about a third of all overseas development assistance. ODI has been engaged in shaping its direction since before the launch in 2005 to help developing countries improve their trade capacity and address the impact of trade preference erosion.

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