Ingrid Woolard appointed as Honorary Professor of Economics of Poverty and Inequality

The Faculty of Economics and Business is pleased to announce that Ingrid Woolard has been appointed as Honorary Professor of Economics of Poverty and Inequality. The chair is situated within the Department of Economics, Econometrics and Finance.

Ingrid Woolard is Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and Professor of Economics at Stellenbosch University. She is also Honorary Professor of Economics and Research Associate at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) at the University of Cape Town. Apart from her positions in South Africa, Woolard is a Senior Research Fellow at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and Board Member of The Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP).

Research and policy advice

Her areas of research specialization include the measurement of poverty and inequality, unemployment, social protection and fiscal policy. Her research strives to be policy relevant and is empirically grounded on the microeconometric analysis of household surveys and administrative data. From 2008 to 2014, Woolard served on the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC) which advises the South African Minister of Labour on making sectoral determinations concerning working conditions and minimum wages in sectors where collective bargaining is weak.

Woolard is currently Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Inequality and the African Review of Economics and Finance. Furthermore, she was one of the lead authors of the chapter on inequality for the prestigious International Panel on Social Progress, completed in 2018.

Activities as Honorary Professor

The field of the professorship encompasses the Economics of Poverty and Inequality, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Research on Inequality and Poverty, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, to which this chair will contribute, is especially crucial for several compelling reasons. One of these reasons is the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated poverty in Africa, with a notable increase in the poverty rate, especially in nations already facing fragility, conflict, and violence. Another reason is that Africa's vulnerability to climate change exacerbates poverty and inequality, necessitating research efforts to develop strategies for adaptation and mitigation.

As a part of her honorary chair position, Professor Woolard intends to strengthen the relationships and cooperation on research and education between Stellenbosch University and the University of Groningen (UG). As Honorary Professor at UG’s Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Woolard will give guest lectures in various courses, centering inequality and poverty. Apart from contributing to teaching, Woolard will also be involved in FEB’s research, as her research aligns well with that of various groups with FEB’s departments of Economics, Econometrics & Finance and Global Economics and Management. In addition, she also hopes to co-supervise PhD students on topics related to inequality and poverty.