FEATURED AUTHOR

Steven Langdon

I have worked in 26 African countries as a development economist and project director, lived in Kenya for four years and written many scholarly articles and books about multinational corporations, environmental challenges and parliamentary accountability in the continent. Back in Canada I also served for nine years in Parliament focusing on economic development and equality questions -- as well as teaching at three Canadian universities.

Subjects: Economics, Finance, Business & Industry, Environment and Sustainability, History

Biography

Commonwealth Scholarship to the UK from Canada, 1970
Field research in Kenya on multinational corporations for my D.Phil, 1971-73
Associate Professor of Economics, Carleton University, 1974-83
Regional Program Officer for Social Sciences, International Development Centre-IDRC, based in Eastern and Southern Africa, 1981-83
Associate Director for Economics and Rural Development, IDRC, based in Ottawa,1981-84
M.P. in Canadian Parliament, 1984-93
Consultant to the World Bank, 1994-2002
Associate Professor of Development Studies, Trent University, 1994-2003
Director, Africa Program, Parliamentary Centre, Ottawa and Accra, Ghana, 2002-2006
Adjunct Research Professor of Economics, Carleton University, presently

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

Research mainly on industrial development, multinational corporations, environment challenges, agriculture and gender equality in Africa

Personal Interests

Birding, economic history and my family (two daughters adopted from China, two sons who grew up partly in Africa and my wife Shirley with whom I fell in love when we were working together in Malawi.)

Books

African Economic Development - 1st Edition book cover

Featured Title

Articles

Deepening of Development Economics

Published: Dec 02, 2017 by Optimum Online: The Journal of Public Sector Management
Authors: Steven Langdon
Subjects: Economics, Finance, Business & Industry

Development economics emerged in the period after World War II, with a predominant focus on analyzing and reducing the large gap in living standards between richer and poorer countries in the world. In recent years, however, this emphasis on economic growth has shifted dramatically, and development economics has transformed itself as an area of study. Why this change in focus?

Electoral Reform and Strengthening Democracy: A Cross-country Discussion

Published: Dec 02, 2005 by Parliamentary Government, No. 20
Authors: Musikari Kombo and Steven Langdon
Subjects: Gender & Intersectionality Studies

Written with Kenyan MP Musikari Kombo, this article discusses how Proportional Representation features can improve governance in Africa and Canada. It draws particularly on the experience of Senegal and Kenya -- and shows how PR can improve policy accountability, increase the role of women and achieve greater electoral participation.

PRSPs in Africa: Parliaments and Economic Policy Performance

Published: Dec 02, 2005 by Governance and Democracy Division Papers, GTZ
Authors: Rasheed Draman and Steven Langdon
Subjects: Economics, Finance, Business & Industry

Based on field interviews and regional meetings in four countries (Ghana, Malawi, Niger and Tanzania,) this study evaluates PRSP implementation and the role of Parliamentary economic committees. The focus is on civil society input, budget follow through, gender equity and ongoing monitoring, with weaknesses identified in all these areas. Parliamentary oversight is shown to have played a useful role in Tanzania, Malawi and Ghana, somewhat less so in Niger.

Transparency and “good governance:” the role of freedom of information laws in Canada,

Published: Oct 01, 2005 by X Congreso Internacional del CLAD sobre la Reforma del Estado y de la Administración Pública
Authors: Steven Langdon
Subjects: Economics, Finance, Business & Industry

A review and analysis of Freedom of Information laws in parliamentary systems. The paper, prepared for an academic Congress in Chile, includes detailed information on the ways in which FOI laws in Canada impacted policy outcomes -- as well as comparative references to other jurisdictions in Africa and Europe. It also reviews the increased problems experienced by the FOI system, as Canadian governments found ways to circumvent transparency.

New Synthesis or Revived Orthodoxy? Emerging Trends in Canadian Economic History

Published: Dec 03, 1995 by Journal of Canadian Studies
Authors: Steven Langdon
Subjects: Economics, Finance, Business & Industry

This review analyzing three recent economic history books on Canada stresses the challenges they present to traditional "staples thesis" views of Canadian economic development.

Employment and Import Penetration in the European Textile Industry

Published: Jun 01, 1983 by Canadian Journal of Development Studies
Authors: Steven Langdon, Ronald Meng and Peter Ozo-Eson
Subjects: Economics, Finance, Business & Industry

We review European-African trade relations in the textile industry as well as economic restructuring of the industry in Europe, examining whether import penetration can have a positive effect.

North/South, West and East: Industrial Restructuring in the World Economy

Published: Oct 02, 1981 by International Journal
Authors: Steven Langdon
Subjects: Economics, Finance, Business & Industry

A review of European industrial restructuring in relation to trade with Africa, comparing the Netherlands with Hungary, based on field research in both countries and in Africa

The State and Capitalism in Kenya

Published: Jun 01, 1977 by Review of African Political Economy
Authors: Steven Langdon
Subjects: Economics, Finance, Business & Industry

This article analyses the role of multinational firms in influencing the dynamics within the Kenyan state

Multinational Firms and the State in Kenya

Published: Jan 02, 1977 by IDS Bulletin
Authors: Steven Langdon
Subjects: Economics, Finance, Business & Industry

This article discusses the role of the State in relations between foreign and local capital in Kenya. Because of their control over technology, multinational firms have considerable leverage vis‐a‐vis the Kenyan state. But that state still plays a critical, independent role. The State emerges as a key instrument in shaping a new‐style inequality in Kenya, with an emerging indigenous bourgeoisie and multinationals benefiting heavily, and most Kenyans excluded.

Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics