Mushtaq Husain Khan is a British-Bangladeshi
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
and professor of economics at the
School of Oriental and African Studies
SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ...
(SOAS),
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...
. His work focuses on the
economics of poor countries; it includes notable contributions to the field of
institutional economics
Institutional economics focuses on understanding the role of the evolutionary process and the role of institutions in shaping economic behavior. Its original focus lay in Thorstein Veblen's instinct-oriented dichotomy between technology on the ...
and South Asian development. Khan also developed the concept o
political settlement which is a political economy framework that highlights how the distribution of organizational and political power among different classes or groups influences policies and institutions in different countries.
Education and career
Educated as an
exhibitioner at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...
, Khan graduated with a first-class BA in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1981.
[His curriculum vitae ](_blank)
In 1982, he received his MPhil from
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
, where he would complete a Ph.D. in 1989.
From 1990 to 1996, Khan was both fellow and lecturer in economics at
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wif ...
, and assistant director of development studies at Cambridge,
a prestigious post held by, among others,
John Toye and
Ha-Joon Chang
Ha-Joon Chang (; ; born 7 October 1963) is a South Korean institutional economist, specialising in development economics. Chang is the author of several widely discussed policy books, most notably ''Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strateg ...
. In 1996, Khan took up a post at SOAS, where he was made a professor in 2005.
Apart from his academic career, Khan has held appointments as consultant for a vast number of international institutions focussing on poor countries, among others the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
,
DfID
The Department for International Development (DFID) was a department of HM Government responsible for administering foreign aid from 1997 to 2020. The goal of the department was "to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty". ...
,
UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
and the
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field of ...
; moreover, he has held positions as visiting professor at
Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร ...
and
Dhaka University
The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
.
Several of his articles have won prizes, including the ''Hans Singer Prize'' and the ''Frank Cass Prize''. In addition, he is a regular commentator for the
BBC's Bengali service broadcasts.
Work
'Good governance' and 'transformation potential'
Khan's research has produced notable contributions to heterodox
institutional political economy; in particular, he subjects what he terms the "''
good governance
Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for th ...
'' consensus" of the
Bretton Woods institutions
The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the United States, Canada, Western European countries, Australia, and Japan after the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement. The Bretto ...
and many
non-governmental organisations
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
to a thorough critique. In several publications, he challenges the belief that the elimination of
rents,
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
and
rent-seeking behaviour as well as
democratisation
Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...
and
decentralisation
Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group.
Conce ...
represent the ''precondition'' for successful development. According to him, there is no historical evidence for this sequencing; indeed, he claims that all evidence suggests opposite
causal direction, so that 'good governance' is the ''outcome'', rather than the cause, for growth.
Instead, he emphasizes the importance of ''transformation potential'', that is the capacity of states to transform rent-seeking behaviour into uses which are conducive to growth.
[Khan, M. H., 2004. "Evaluating the Emerging Palestinian State - 'Good Governance' versus 'Transformation Potential'". In: Khan, Giacaman, and Amundsen. ''State Formation in Palestine - Viability and Governance During a Social Transformation''. London: Routledge.] On this account, notable examples include
Taiwan and South Korea where states intervened heavily and used
patron-client relationships in order to further growth.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Mushtaq
1961 births
Living people
Academics of SOAS University of London
Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Bangladeshi economists
British economists
Bangladeshi emigrants to the United Kingdom