About the International Policy Center

The International Policy Center, known as the IPC, is a research center whose mission is to generate rigorous policy-oriented research that advances the learning of Michigan faculty and students, as well as inform policy makers on issues arising from our increasingly globalized world. The main theme of IPC's research is how nations grapple with globalization. In this context, IPC researchers examine policy issues related to trade, financial and labor markets, and corporate performance.

Research and Other Activities

IPC faculty are currently engaged in several research projects, including "Effects of Internationalization of Financial Markets"; "Trade Policy Post Doha"; "Implications of EU Integration"; "Entrepreneurship"; and "Globalization, Labor Markets and Firm Performance." The research findings of IPC's thirty faculty associates and numerous external collaborators are disseminated electronically through IPC's Working Paper and Policy Brief series.

IPC faculty have appeared in the media, including Bloomberg TV, Business Week, CNN, The Economist, NPR, International Herald Tribune, and Financial Times. They have also testified in Congress, advised the US and other governments, IMF, World Bank, UN and other international institutions, and served on boards of US and foreign corporations. Jan Svejnar, IPC Director, ran in 2008 for the President of the Czech Republic.

Speakers

The IPC sponsors lectures, seminar series, and conferences. As part of the Citigroup Lecture Series, we hosted Jean Lemierre, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Kemal Dervis, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Dawei Liu, Chief Financial Officer of China Development Bank, Danny Leipziger, Vice President of the World Bank, and Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. We sponsor weekly faculty-PhD student seminars, EDTS, that bring in top researchers from all over the world. This year, we have launched a new IPC Global Policy Perspectives Symposia for the university community, featuring panel discussions between distinguished visitors and University of Michigan experts on topics that are of interest to US policy and a specific region of the world.

Student Initiatives

IPC funds student internships and programs in the international arena. 19 Ford School students worked as international interns last summer. The International Policy Students Association (IPSA) is each year given support for its International Economic Development Program (IEDP) course and trip, led by an IPC faculty, to a foreign country.

Our Advisory Board:

William Adams - Economics
Robert Axelrod - Public Policy and Political Science
Alan Deardorff - Public Policy and Economics
John Jackson - Political Science
James Levinsohn - Public Policy and Economics
Kenneth Lieberthal - Brookings Institute and formerly Political Science
Marina Whitman - Public Policy and Business Administration