Harvard Kennedy School faculty disseminate their research in working publications and papers that contribute to public knowledge and fuel policy innovation. This list features recent faculty publications, including journal articles, books, edited volumes, research papers, and public testimony.

Faculty Publications

Woolcock, Michael. "What Is Distinctive about Religious Inequality? Challenges and Opportunities for Development Policy." Poverty and Prejudice: Religious Inequality and the Struggle for Sustainable Development. Ed. Mariz Tadros, Philip Mader, and Kathryn Cheeseman. Bristol University Press, September 19, 2023, 171-178.
Barron, Patrick John, Louise J. Cord, Jose Antonio Cuesta Leiva,Sabina Anne Espinoza, Gregory Michael Larson, and Michael Woolcock. "Social Sustainability and the Development Process: What Is It, Why Does It Matter, and How Can It Be Enhanced?" World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series, June 15, 2023.
Georgieva, Dorina, Varun Eknath, and Michael Woolcock. "Examining Business Reform Committees: Findings from a New Global Dataset." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series, June 2023.
Barron, Patrick, Louise Cord, José Cuesta, Sabina Espinoza, Greg Larson, and Michael Woolcock. Social Sustainability in Development: Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century. The World Bank, 2023.
Barron, Patrick, Louise Cord, José Cuesta, Sabina A. Espinoza, Greg Larson, and Michael Woolcock. "Social Sustainability in Development: Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century." World Bank Group, March 15, 2023.
Woolcock, Michael. "Assessing and Interpreting Complex Development Interventions: Three Key Principles and Two (Intractable?) Conundrums." Changing Dimensions of the International Development System: New Realities and Working Differently to Overcome Delivery Challenges. Ed. Horst Fischer, Maria Gonzales de Asis, and Anselm Schneider. Lit Verlag, 2023, 181-195.
Singh, J.P., and Michael Woolcock. "The Future of Multilateralism and Global Development: Opportunities for Constitutive and Functional Reform." Global Perspectives 3.1 (December 2022): 57594.
Lewis, David, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock. "Innovations in Translation, Advocacy, and Engagement in Global Development." New Mediums, Better Messages? How Innovations in Translation, Engagement and Advocacy are Changing International Development. Ed. David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock. Oxford University Press, 2022, 1-15.
Woolcock, Michael. "Will It Work Here? Using Case Studies to Generate ‘Key Facts’ About Complex Development Programs." The Case for Case Studies: Methods and Applications in International Development. Ed. Jennifer Widner, Michael Woolcock, and Daniel Ortego Nieto. Cambridge University Press, 2022, 87-116.
Glavey, Sarah, Oliver Haas, Claudio Santibanez, and Michael Woolcock. "Using Case Studies for Organizational Learning in Development Agencies." The Case for Case Studies: Methods and Applications in International Development. Ed. Jennifer Widner, Michael Woolcock, and Daniel Ortega Nieto. Cambridge University Press, 2022, 258-279.
Widner, Jennifer, Michael Woolcock, and Daniel Ortega Nieto, eds. The Case for Case Studies: Methods and Applications in International Development. Cambridge University Press, 2022.
Widner, Jennifer, Michael Woolcock, and Daniel Ortega Nieto. "Using Case Studies to Enhance the Quality of Explanation and Implementation." The Case for Case Studies: Methods and Applications in International Development. Ed. Jennifer Widner, Michael Woolcock, and Daniel Ortega Nieto. Cambridge University Press, 2022, 1-26.
Lewis, David, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock, eds. New Mediums, Better Messages?: How Innovations in Translation, Engagement, and Advocacy are Changing International Development. Oxford University Press, 2022.
Lewis, David, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock. "The Sounds of Development: Musical Representation as (An)other Source of Development Knowledge." New Mediums, Better Messages?: How Innovations in Translation, Engagement, and Advocacy are Changing International Development. Ed. David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock. Oxford University Press, 2022, 19-41.
Bridges, Kate, and Michael Woolcock. "Measuring What Matters: Principles for a Balanced Data Suite That Prioritizes Problem-Solving and Learning." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series, May 2022.
Woolcock, Michael, David Lewis, and Dennis Rodgers. "The Sounds of Development: Musical Representations as (An)other Source of Development Knowledge." Journal of Development Studies 57.8 (June 2021): 1397-1412.
Woolcock, Michael. "The Social Life of Articles: Some Reflections on the Making and Impact of ‘Social Capital and Economic Development’." Theory and Society 50.3 (April 2021): 381-392.
Woolcock, Michael, and Gary Milante. "Fiscal Policy in Fragile Situations: Flying in Fog with Limited Instrumentation." Macroeconomic Policy in Fragile States. Ed. Ralph Chami, Rafael Espinoza, and Peter Montiel. Oxford University Press, 2021, 271-296.
Woolcock, Michael and Samuel Freije-Rodriquez. "Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report 2020: Reversals of Fortune." World Bank, October 2020.
Woolcock, Michael. "When do Development Projects Enhance Community Well-Being?" International Journal of Community Well-Being 2 (July 2019): 81-89.
Woolcock, Michael. "Why Does Hirschmanian Development Remain Mired on the Margins? Because Implementation (and Reform) Really is ‘a Long Voyage of Discovery’." Second Conference on Albert Hirschman’s Legacy: A Bias for Hope. Ed. Luca Mendolesi and Nicoletta Stame. Italic Digital Editions, May 2019, 78-95.
Woolcock, Michael. "Reasons for Using Mixed Methods in the Evaluation of Complex Projects." Contemporary Philosophy and Social Science: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue. Ed. Michiru Nagatsu and Attilia Ruzzene. Bloomsbury Academic, April 2019, 149-171.
Woolcock, Michael, Samuel Pursch, Andrea Woodhouse, and Matt Zurstrassen. "Documenting Social and Economic Transformation in Myanmar’s Rural Communities." Myanmar Transformed? People, Places, Politics. Ed. Paul Chambers, Gerard McCarthy, Nicholas Farrelly, and Chit Win. ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, October 2018, 23-51.
Woolcock, Michael, Sokbunthoeun So, Nicola Smithers, Leah April, and Caroline Hughes. "Alternative Approaches to Reforming the Public Sector: East Asian Experiences in Public Financial Management and Public Sector Reform." Alternative Paths to Public Financial Management and Public Sector Reform: Experiences from East Asia. Ed. Sokbunthoeun So, Michael Woolcock, Leah April, Caroline Hughes, and Nicola Smithers. World Bank, July 2018, 1-18.
So, Sokbunthoeun, Michael Woolcock, Leah April, Caroline Hughes, and Nicola Smithers, eds. Alternative Paths to Public Financial Management and Public Sector Reform: Experiences from East Asia. The World Bank, 2018.
So, Sokbunthoeun, Michael Woolcock, Leah April, Caroline Hughes, and Nicola Smithers, eds. Alternative Paths to Public Financial Management and Public Sector Reform: Experiences from East Asia. World Bank, 2018.
Woolcock, Michael. "Enhancing Public Health Outcomes in Developing Countries: From Good Policies and Best Practices to Better Implementation." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP18-016, February 2018.
Woolcock, Michael. "Culture, Politics, and Development." Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development. Ed. Carol Lancaster and Nicholas van de Walle. Oxford University Press, June 2018, 107-122.
Woolcock, Michael, Leah April, Caroline Hughes, Nicola Smithers, and Sokbunthoeun So, eds. Alternative Paths to Public Financial Management and Public Sector Reform: Experiences from East Asia. World Bank, June 2018.
Woolcock, Michael. "Enhancing Public Health Outcomes in Developing Countries: From Good Policies and Best Practices to Better Implementation." Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 46.Suppl 22 (April 2018): 10-18.
Woolcock, Michael. "Culture, Politics and Development." Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development. Ed. Carol Lancaster and Nicholas van de Walle. Oxford University Press, 2018.
van Deth, Jan W., Bob Edwards, Gabriel Badescu, Alisa Moldavanova, and Michael Woolcock. "Associations and Social Capital." Palgrave Handbook of Volunteering, Civic Participation and Nonprofit Associations. Ed. David Horton Smith, Robert A. Stebbins, and Jurgen Grotz. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Lant Pritchett, Matthew Andrews, and Michael Woolcock. Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action. Oxford University Press, 2017.
Hamilton, Kirk, John F. Helliwell, and Michael Woolcock. "Social Capital, Trust and Wellbeing in the Evaluation of Wealth." National Wealth: What is Missing, Why it Matters. Ed. Kirk Hamilton and Cameron Hepburn. Oxford University Press, 2017.
Pursch, Samuel James, Andrea Fitri Woodhouse, Michael Woolcock, and Matthew Pierre Zurstrassen. "Documenting Myanmar’s Social Transformation: Insights from Six Rounds of Research on Livelihoods and Social Change in Rural Communities." Myanmar Update 2017. Ed. Gerard McCarthy. Institute for South-East Asian Studies Press, 2017.
Andrews, Matthew, Lant Pritchett, and Michael Woolcock. "Doing Problem Driven Work." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP15-073, December 2015.
Andrews, Matthew, Lant Pritchett, and Michael Woolcock. "The Challenge of Building (Real) State Capability." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP15-074, December 2015.
Woolcock, Michael. "Culture, Politics, and Development." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP14-041, September 2014.
Woolcock, Michael. "Engaging with Fragile and Conflict-Affected States." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP14-038, July 2014.
Woolcock, Michael, David Lewis, and Dennis Rodgers. "Introduction to Popular Representations of Development." Popular Representations of Development: Insights from Novels, Films, Television, and Social Media. Ed. David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock. Routledge, 2014, 3-15.
David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock, eds. Popular Representations of Development: Insights from Novels, Films, Television, and Social Media. Routledge, 2014.
Woolcock, Michael, David Lewis, and Dennis Rodgers. "Popular Representations of Development - Taking Stock, Moving Forward." Popular Representations of Development: Insights from Novels, Films, Television, and Social Media. Ed. David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock. Routledge, 2014, 243-252.
Woolcock, Michael. "Using Case Studies to Explore the External Validity of ‘Complex’ Development Interventions." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP13-048, November 2013.
Lewis, David, Dennis Rodgers, and Michael Woolcock. "The Projection of Development: Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge?" Journal of Development Studies 49.3 (2013): 383-397.
Andrews, Matthew, Lant Pritchett, and Michael Woolcock. "Looking Like a State: Techniques of Persistent Failure in State Capability for Implementation." Journal of Development Studies 49(1) (January 2013): 1-18.
Lant Pritchett, Michael Woolcock, and Matthew Andrews. "Looking Like a State: Techniques of Persistent Failure in State Capability for Implementation." Journal of Development Studies 49.1 (January 2013): 1-18.
Gauri, Varun, Michael Woolcock, and Deval Desai. "Intersubjective Meaning and Collective Action in Developing Societies: Theory, Evidence and Policy Implications." Journal of Development Studies 49.1 (2013): 160-172.
Woolcock, Michael and Deval Desai. "The Politics of Rule of Law Systems in Developmental States: 'Political Settlements' as a Basis for Promoting Effective Justice Institutions for Marginalized Groups." Effective States and Inclusion Development Research Center, July 2012.
Edited by Michael Woolcock, Brian Tamanaha, and Caroline Sage. Popular Representations of Development: Insights from Novels, Films, Television, and Social Media. Routledge, June 2012.
Easterly, William, Jozef Ritzen, and Michael Woolcock. "Social Cohesion, Institutions, and Growth." Economics and Politics 18.2 (July 2006): 103-120.