Qualifications

M.A. Econ. (Cantab)

Teaching and admin responsibilities

Andrew directs the Masters in Governance and Development Management at IDD. He convenes and teaches two Masters courses – Governance for Development and Decentralised Governance and Management. He also teaches a short course, ‘Introduction to Basic Economic Statistics’, which is open to all our Masters students.

Research interests

• Governance for development
• Local government and decentralisation
• New public management
• Private sector participation in basic service provision
• Public-private partnerships
• Regulation of basic public services
• Latin America public administration reform
• Institutional reform of urban water supply
• The Developmental State
• Elite Attitudes towards Pro-Poor Development
• The political economy of Paraguay

Current and recent projects

• Lecture on 'Anti-Corruption in the UK' to senior government officials, Chinese province of Guangzhou (20 July 2009)
• Directed Commonwealth Secretariat first national workshop for local government councillors in The Gambia on 'The role of the councillor with special relevance to in poverty reduction',  Bakau, Gambia (February 2009)
• Quality ensured new User’s Guide to Measuring Decentralized Local Governance, for United Nations Governance Centre, Oslo (2008)
• Member of five-person technical evaluation team contracted by AIDCO, European Commission to select bids under a €50m third phase (2009-2012) of URBAL-AL 111, a co-operation programme for promoting social cohesion through partnerships and exchange of experiences between municipal bodies in Europe and Latin America, Brussels, 7-26 July 2008.
• Presented paper on Local Governance in Latin America at the Winelands Conference workshop, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, 19-21 April 2008
• Speaking tour of Ecuador at the invitation of the British Council including lectures on 'The role of public-private partnerships in governance and development' in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca, 10-14 March 2008
• Team leader of Commonwealth Secretariat workshop for senior officers of the Government of Swaziland on The challenge of decentralization, Pigg’s Peak, Swaziland, 4-6 February 2008
• Training of Trainers, Local Government, Sierra Leone – Director of World Bank training programme
• Study of scenarios for water liberalisation in the European Union
• Consultant, Study on best practice in preparation, monitoring and reporting of donor assisted projects and programmes, OECD
• Director of European Union State Reform Project, Paraguay
• Manager of Water Sector Studies on ESCOR Role of Government in Adjusting Economies research programme
• Director, European Union Public Administration Reform Programme for Latin America

Profile

Andrew Nickson has extensive worldwide experience of teaching, research and consultancy on public administration reform, decentralisation, and the reform of basic service delivery and regulation of privatised public utilities. He has been advisor to DFID, OECD, British Council, UN agencies, Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, and the European Union on numerous consultancies. He has long-term country experience in Nepal, Paraguay, Peru and Sierra Leone and has carried out short-term assignments in 40 other countries in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. His current research focuses on three areas - decentralisation and poverty reduction, private sector participation in urban water supply and the political economy of Paraguay.

Other professional appointments

• Regular Contributor to Oxford Analytica, Economist Intelligence Unit and Jane’s Sentinel and Foreign Report
• British Council Associate Advisor
• Member of Latin America Studies Association (USA) and Society for Latin American Studies (UK)

Selected Publications

Nickson A (2009) Governance and the revitalisation of the Guaraní language in Paraguay, Latin American Research Review, 44 (3):3-26.

Nickson A (2009) The general election in Paraguay, April 2008 Journal of Electoral Studies 28 (1): 145-49.

Nickson A (2009) Local Governance Reforms in Latin America, in Kersting, N. et al. Local governance reforms in global perspective. Wiesbaden, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2009, pp.76-126.

Nickson A (2008) Managerial reforms and developmental state capacity, Working Paper for UNRISD (Geneva) research project, Poverty Reduction and Policy Regimes

Iwanami M, Nickson A (2008) Assessing the regulatory model for water supply in Jakarta (PDF format), Public Administration and Development, 28: 291-300 (co-author)

Nickson A (2008) Paraguay: a shift to the left under Lugo? (opens in a new window), Real Instituto Elcano (Madrid), ARI No. 99/2008 (Available on the Real Instituto Elcano website also in Spanish)

Nickson A (2008) An opportunity for Paraguay: the challenges for Fernando Lugo (PDF opens in a new window), Nueva Sociedad (Buenos Aires) 216: 4-16 (July-August) ( Available on the Nueva Sociedad website also in Spanish)

Nickson A (2007) Asia-Pacific, in Decentralization and local democracy in the world: 2007 First Global Report (opens in a new window), Barcelona: United Cities and Local Governments, pp. 48-91 (on the united cities and local governments website)

Nickson A (2006) Managing change in local governance, (co-editor) Commonwealth Secretariat, London

Nickson A (2006) i) Public sector management reform in Latin America, ii) Public-Private Partnerships and Pro-Poor Development: The Experience of the Cordoba Water Concession in Argentina, in Bangura Y, Larbi G (eds) Public Sector Management Reform in Developing Countries, UNRISD & Palgrave Macmillan Press, pp. 82-98 and pp. 255-273

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