Franck Wiebe
Chief Economist
The Millennium Challenge Corporation aims to reduce poverty through economic growth. This mandate rests on solid empirical evidence of the relationship between growth and poverty, as well as a growing literature that documents the importance of institutional factors within developing countries in the determination of aid effectiveness. To raise incomes and lower poverty, donor assistance needs both an appropriate institutional framework and an appropriate understanding of the role of donor-funded public sector spending on accelerating economic growth.
As Chief Economist, Dr. Franck Wiebe is responsible for ensuring the quality and consistency of the analysis of economic logic and growth impact across all of MCC’s activities. The Chief Economist manages the division of Economic Analysis and Evaluation within the Department of Policy and International Relations. In this capacity, Dr. Wiebe’s responsibilities include establishing appropriate guidelines for MCC’s economic analysis that is used to assess the potential growth impact of investments proposed by partner countries. This work starts with the conduct of an analysis of constraints to growth that is used to help focus the proposal development process. Economic analysis continues through due diligence and into implementation to ensure that activities funded by MCC have a reasonable expectation of generating adequate returns. Dr. Wiebe coordinates the technical work of economists during compact development and implementation through the management of the Economics Practice Group within MCC.
Dr. Wiebe is also responsible for MCC’s investments in independent impact evaluations. In some situations, projects proposed to MCC for funding present unusual opportunities to learn more about the circumstances under which development assistance can be most cost-effective. In such cases, MCC allocates additional resources outside of the country compact budget to set in place rigorous impact evaluations by independent contractors. The Chief Economist is responsible for managing the work of the Impact Evaluation Practice Group.
Prior to joining MCC, Dr. Wiebe was Chief Economist and Director of Economic Reform and Development programs at The Asia Foundation. During his tenure at the Foundation, Wiebe expanded the Foundation’s engagement in programs aimed at enhancing the dynamism of the small business sector through regulatory reform and in sustaining Foundation programs fostering regional economic cooperation. Under his management, The Asia Foundation developed new programs directed at corporate governance reform, and designed and implemented programs to ready regional exporters for the end of quotas in garments and textiles.
Dr. Wiebe also worked for the Harvard Institute for International Development, where he served as project associate on the Customs and Economic Management Project in Jakarta, Indonesia. As a staff economist, his responsibilities included food and agricultural issues, poverty and social welfare concerns, and, during the Asian financial crisis, a range of macroeconomic issues, including inflation, exchange rate, and banking sector concerns. Previously, Wiebe was a faculty member in the Master of Public Policy Program at National University of Singapore, and has worked as a consultant for the Government of Indonesia, The World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. Dr. Wiebe’s published papers include “The Role of SMEs in Economic Development,” in Small and Medium Enterprise Development in Nepal, and “Income Insecurity and Underdevelopment in Indonesia’s Informal Sector,” Policy Research Working Paper, The World Bank. Wiebe started his work in international development more than 20 years ago as a volunteer with the Mennonite Central Committee in Bangladesh, where he managed an integrated rural development project.
Dr. Wiebe received a joint Bachelor/Master’s degree in Political Science from Northwestern University, a Master in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in development economics from the Food Research Institute at Stanford University.