About Prof. Balisacan

Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan is Dean and Professor of the University of the Philippines School of Economics, Adjunct Professor of Australian National University, Executive Director of the Philippine Center for Economic Development, and Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology.

On secondment from UP, he was the Director (Chief Executive) of the Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in 2003-2009 and Undersecretary at the Department of Agriculture in 2000-2001 and 2003. While in Government, he was the country’s chief negotiator in the WTO Agriculture Negotiations and in various bilateral agriculture negotiations. Before joining the faculty of the University of the Philippines in 1987, he was Research Fellow at the East West Center in Honolulu and Economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

He has served as adviser and expert in poverty, food security, agricultural and rural development, human development, impact assessment, and governance issues to public chief executives and legislators, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral development institutions, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and various United Nations agencies.

He is the author or co-editor of 7 books and has published about 100 academic papers and book chapters. His book publications include Poverty, Urbanization, and Development Policy (UP Press), The Dynamics of Regional Development (Edward Elgar, UK, co-edited with H. Hill), Reasserting the Rural Development Agenda (ISEAS, Singapore, co-edited with N. Fuwa), and The Philippine Economy (Oxford University Press, New York, co-edited with H. Hill). He founded and continues to serve as the Editor of the Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, an internationally refereed journal.

He has held leadership positions in professional associations, including serving as President of the Philippine Economic Society in 2006, President of the Human Development Network in 2003-2009, Founding Secretary-General of the Asia-Pacific Agricultural Policy Forum in 2003-2006, and Executive Secretary of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources in 2003-2009. Currently, he is President of the Asian Society of Agricultural Economists.

He teaches Development Economics, Agricultural Economics, and Special Topics on Poverty, Inequality, and Institutions.