Book Series: World Scientific Series in Grand Public Policy Challenges of the 21st Century

Professor Anil B Deolalikar
Professor of Economics and
Founding Dean, School of Public Policy
University of California, Riverside, USA

Professor Prabhu L Pingali
Professor of Economics and
Director, Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition
Cornell University, USA

This book series will address topics related to some of the biggest challenges facing societies around the world in the 21st century — threats such as climate change, food insecurity and malnutrition, energy and water insecurity, pandemics, conflict and violence, growing inequality and poverty, low fertility and depopulation in affluent countries, anemic economic growth and stubbornly high unemployment in much of the developed world, and rising rates of obesity and chronic diseases in developing countries. If unaddressed, these challenges have a real chance of derailing the substantial gains in living standards and quality of life achieved around the world in the last three decades.

While much has already been written on these individual topics, the books in this series will distinguish themselves in three ways. First, the focus in the series will be on policy solutions — namely, what types of bold, creative, evidence-based policies are needed to solve the problem of, say, rising inequality around the world? And what are some of the practical challenges in successfully implementing such smart policies (e.g., the political economy of policy reform)?

Second, instead of viewing each of the challenge areas as distinct and isolated, the books in the series will highlight the interrelatedness of the topics. For instance, energy and water insecurity can result in conflict and violence, and conflict can exacerbate poverty and inequality. In turn, rising inequality is an important cause of economic stagnancy. Indeed, many of the biggest problems confronting the world today are part of an integrated eco-socio-political-economic system, and should therefore be addressed in a holistic manner.

Third, the individual books in the series will also emphasize the interconnectedness of regions, countries and political systems around the world in solving the big societal challenges. It is becoming increasingly evident that key societal and environmental problems transcend the traditional jurisdictional boundaries of districts, states, and even countries. For example, water, air quality, food safety and health problems are not well-managed within city, county, state or even national boundaries. Councils of government, such as the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the European Union (EU) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), have emerged to coordinate policy-making across regions and countries. But, for the most part, current public policy structures around the world are not adapted well to the needs of cross-regional policy-making.

The World Scientific Series in Grand Public Policy Challenges of the 21st Century, under the leadership of Professor Anil Deolalikar, a renowned development economist, seeks to fill this gap. It will strive to publish high-quality scientific works, including monographs, edited volumes, references, and handbooks, that address topics related to the grand challenges confronting societies around the world today.

About the Series Editor

Anil Deolalikar is Professor of Economics and Founding Dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside. He taught previously at the University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University, and served as Lead Human Development Economist for the World Bank in India during 2002-03.

Deolalikar is a development economist who has published five books and nearly 75 articles on the economics of child nutrition, health, education, poverty, and social protection in developing countries.

He is co-editor of The Journal of Asian and African Studies and The Journal of Developing Societies. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Earlier in his career, he was awarded the Robert McNamara Fellowship for International Development by the World Bank.

Deolalikar has served as policy adviser and consultant to a number of developing-country governments and international organizations on development projects and policy reform programs.

He obtained his BA summa cum laude in economics from Harvard, Diploma in Economics from Cambridge, Ph.D. from Stanford, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Economic Demography from Yale.