Bruce Wydick

Bruce Wydick is Professor of Economics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco. His areas of research specialization are in the use of econometric, experimental, and game-theoretic tools to analyze the impact of development programs. Professor Wydick's recent work examines the impact of development programs such as microfinance, child sponsorship, and in-kind donation of children's shoes, wheelchairs for the disabled, and clean wood-burning stoves. Other recent work studies the role of hope and aspirations in escaping poverty traps. His academic publications have appeared in the Journal of Political Economy, Economic Journal, Economica, Oxford Economic Papers, Journal of Development Economics, The World Bank Economic Review, Economic Development and Cultural Change, World Development, and other journals. Media coverage of his recent research has appeared in the BBC World Service, USA Today, Vox, The Guardian, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among other media outlets. Professor Wydick writes a column on global poverty issues for Christianity Today and is a regular contributor to op-ed columns for San Francisco Bay Area newspapers. His book Games In Economic Development is published by Cambridge University Press, and his more recent novel about the lives of coffee growers in Guatemala was published in 2014 by Thomas Nelson (HarperCollins). His blog AcrossTwoWorlds.net seeks to build bridges between the faith-based development community and academic researchers on issues related to poverty and globalization. Professor Wydick holds research affiliations with the Kellogg Institute of International Studies at the University of Notre Dame and the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the founder and co-director of Mayan Partners, a small non-profit organization working in the western highlands of Guatemala in the areas of education and community development, and he is faculty advisor for the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at USF.