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Professor Ronald MacDonald has developed leading research and economic models for applied exchange rate analysis. This body of work has underpinned training and capacity-building at the IMF Institute in Washington DC, reaching approximately 250 economists and policy-makers of financial institutions from around the world. Additionally, the research has formed the basis of advice to government agencies, such as the General Secretariat for Development Planning Qatar in 2008.
MacDonald's work has been cited by central bankers and IMF economists in working papers and his expertise led to his being appointed Monetary Advisor for the IMF. In this capacity, he has provided research-driven analysis and recommendations to central banks on their approaches to exchange rate regimes, with one notable example being the Central Bank of Costa Rica in 2010.
Countries with substantial non-renewable natural resource wealth face special opportunities and challenges. Research undertaken by Oxford economists has contributed to understanding these challenges and to improving policies for resource management, particularly in developing economies. The key impact is based on a central component of the research — resource revenue management, including long-run decisions about saving, investing, and consuming revenues, and short- and medium-run management of instability. Oxford research has been influential in shaping policy positions of the International Financial Institutions, particularly the IMF, and in influencing the policy debate in-country. It has thereby influenced policies for resource revenue management, particularly in the newly resource-rich countries of Africa.
The association between incomes across generations is known as `intergenerational mobility'. Knowledge of this is important for understanding the extent of inequality within society and can measure equality of opportunity. Improving such mobility has been central to current (and previous) Government policy.
Research carried out at Surrey, along with the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), has contributed significantly to policy and public debate on the extent and drivers of intergenerational mobility in Britain. It has featured in UK Government and OECD outputs; and contributed directly to Government policy on intergenerational mobility.
Related policies directly influenced by the research include Family Nurse Partnerships (costing £17.5m), free nursery provision for disadvantaged 2-year olds (costing £760m by 2014-15) and the funding of a new 2012 cohort study (£33.5m). The research has also attracted considerable national media attention.