UCSD - The Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies

faculty Christopher Woodruff
Associate Professor of Economics, Director of Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies

UCSD, IR/PS, 9500 Gilman Drive,
La Jolla, CA 92093-0519
Office #1321

Phone: (858) 534-0590
Fax (858) 534-3939
Email: cwoodruff@ucsd.edu

Expert Sheet
Expertise
Woodruff's primary research focuses on the challenges faced by small and medium sized firms in developing and transition economies. Woodruff studies how dysfunctional legal systems make formal contracting impossible, how inadequate financial systems limit access to financial capital, and how corruption makes retention of profits difficult. Geographically, his research spans a broad area of the developing world ú Mexico, Vietnam and Eastern Europe.

Current Projects
In one current project, Woodruff examines the sources of financial capital for small firms in Mexico. Together with a Mexican colleague, Woodruff finds that remittances from workers in the United States play a large role in financing small enterprises in urban Mexico. Initial estimates suggest that remittances are responsible for as much as 20% of the capital invested in microenterprises in Mexico. This work will be extended to a set of somewhat larger firms through surveys currently being carried out.

Perspective
Woodruff can provide commentary on a variety of issues related to the impact of NAFTA, and trade liberalization on labor markets and firms in Mexico. Woodruff can also comment on issues affecting the market development of the economies of Eastern Europe and Vietnam.

Publications of Note
Woodruff has written articles on wages in Mexico and the adjustment of firms in Mexico's industrial sector to increases in import levels and export opportunities, the latter primarily the result of NAFTA. Woodruff has also written articles on the development of markets in Vietnam and Eastern Europe.

Background Notes
Woodruff has also been a consultant to the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He has been on the faculty at IR/PS since 1994. B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago. M.A. in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.