Christopher S. Cotton
Department of Economics, Queen’s University
cotton@econ.queensu.ca
I am a professor in the Department of Economics at Queen’s University, where I hold the Jarislowsky-Deutsch Chair in Economic & Financial Policy and am the Director of the John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy.
My research applies game theory, experimental economics and empirical methods to study issues in public policy, education, political economy, and international development.
In addition to teaching and research at Queen’s, I help governments and NGOs with the evaluation of social sector projects, and the design of innovative financing tools such as social impact bonds and payment-for-results programs. Related to this, I am the Principal Economist for Research at Limestone Analytics, and a member of the advisory group for Impact Bridges Group, a Toronto-based NGO. Through Limestone, I serve as the Lead External Evaluator for a UK Department for International Development Girls’ Education Challenge project in Zimbabwe, serve as a and engage governments (e.g. USAID, DFID) and NGOs (e.g. World Vision, Nutrition International) around the world. More detail on some of this work and how it relates to my academic research can be found on my ongoing projects page.
I am also one of the lead developers behind the new Certified Professional Impact Analyst (CPIA) program at Queen’s, which teaches social sector and international development professionals how to incorporate rigorous evaluation into all stages of their projects.
