Dr. Jeanine Braithwaite, a Professor of Public Policy at the University of Virginia [6] as well as a Senior Economist at the World Bank [7], was an IREX research scholar as part of the Long-Term Research Program, an educational exchange program between the United States and the Soviet Union, between 1987 and 1988. Dr. Braithwaite conducted research on “The Impact of Import Substituting Industrialization on the Soviet Chemical Industry” while she was a student at Duke University [8]. As an IREX alumna, Dr. Braithwaite discusses the impact her research experience has had on the development of her career in academia and policy-making.
What was your research about?
My research was on the Soviet economy, specifically the development paradigm of import substituting industrialization and the chemical industry. Since then, all my work has been on poverty and social safety nets, such as government transfers to the poor, including Russia and other former Soviet Union countries.
What was it like to conduct research in the Soviet Union?
Surreal! At that time, you were limited to 20 copies per day at the Lenin Library, so you had to choose your xerox quota very carefully and had to write most notes by hand. In Zal Dissertatiy, you could not make copies at all, so I have a notebook full of handwritten notes from people’s doctorate dissertations.
How did your experience in the field lead to where you are now?
My field experience was key for me in getting my first jobs before and after I defended my dissertation. Placed alone, my Russian became really quite good. This was a factor in my selection to lead a joint publication with the Census Bureau and the Central Statistical Organization. That in turn, the field work and government experience lead to a job offer at the International Monetary Fund, and subsequently, at the World Bank. I never would have had those offers without the field experience. It made my early career.
How has your regional expertise evolved over time?
For the first decade or so, I worked on Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Bosnia, and Kosovo predominately. In 1999, Russia stopped borrowing from the World Bank, and I was free to help out on Turkey. That led to 7 years of involvement and a loan that set up cash transfers for 2.8 million poor children in Turkey. After a glorious run in Turkey, I moved jobs at the World Bank, and began working on Southern Africa. I’m glad I evolved from being a Soviet expert to reflect one of my PhD fields of international development in general.