Skip to the content | Change text size

Dr Judith Shaw

Dr Judith Shaw joined the MAI in 2007 from RMIT University's international development program. Her main research interest is in labour markets and livelihoods in developing countries. Within this broad field, she has published on microfinance, microenterprise development, labour migration and migrant remittances, and working conditions in Sri Lanka's garment manufacturing sector.

Judith is a chief investigator on two projects supported by grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC ):

The first project investigates how financial services can enhance the development impacts of migrant remittances in six developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region: Fiji, Indonesia, the Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka and East Timor.

The second project is a comparative study of housing and livelihood projects in regions of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India which were affected by the Asian tsunami of 2004. It aims to distil a set of 'best practices' for use by donors and policy-makers in the ongoing rehabilitation of tsunami-affected communities and, more generally, in the design of future post-disaster interventions in developing countries. The focus is on political and institutional factors affecting project design and delivery, creation of stable and effective social institutions in resettled communities and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods.

Judith has conducted consultancies and collaborative research projects on international development issues with several Australian and international agencies including AusAID , the World Bank, the ANZ Bank, the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, the Foundation for Development Cooperation, Australian Volunteers International and the Sri Lanka Free Trade Zone Workers Union.

Publications

Journal articles

2007 "There Is No Work in My Village": the Employment Decisions of Female Garment Workers in Sri Lanka's Export Processing Zones, Journal of Developing Societies, forthcoming

2004 Microenterprise Occupation and Poverty Reduction in Microfinance Programs: Evidence from Sri Lanka, World Development 32 , 7, July 2004

2002 The Impact of Location on Microenterprise Performance: Evidence from Sri Lanka, Development Bulletin 57, March 2002

1999 A World Bank Intervention in the Sri Lankan Welfare Sector: The National Development Trust Fund, World Development 27, 5, 825-838

1997 The Flagship Has Sprung a Leak: Structural Adjustment in Ghana,Development Bulletin 40 , January 1997

Chapters in books

2007 Matthew Clarke and Judith Shaw (forthcoming): "Genuine Progress in Thailand" in Phillip Lawn and Matthew Clarke, Eds: Genuine Progress in the Asia-Pacific Region , Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK

2006 Judith Shaw: "After The Tsunami: Women's Work And The Rebuilding Of Household Livelihoods In Coastal Sri Lanka" in Charlesworth, Sara and Maureen Fastenau, Eds: Women and Work: Current RMIT University Research, RMIT Publishing, Melbourne

2006 Judith Shaw and Matthew Clarke: Best Practice? Eliminating Microfinance Subsidies in Post-Conflict Environments: The Case of Bougainville, in M. Clarke (Ed.): Aid in Conflict Environments , Nova Science, New York.

2005 Judith Shaw: Overseas Migration in the Household Economies of Microfinance Clients, in J Shaw, Ed: Building the Links: Remittance, Microfinance and Development (forthcoming), Foundation for Development Cooperation, Brisbane

2005 Judith Shaw: Decent Work or Distress Adaptation? Employment Choice and Job Satisfaction in the Sri Lankan Garment Industry, in Charlesworth, Sara and Maureen Fastenau, Eds: Women and Work: Current RMIT University Research, RMIT Publishing, Melbourne

Edited books

2005 Judith Shaw (Ed): Building the Links: Remittance, Microfinance and Development, Foundation for Development Cooperation, Brisbane

Conference papers

2007 (in press) Opportunities for Pro-Poor, Pro-Women Growth in Post-Tsunami Sri Lanka, paper presented at Development Studies Network conference on "Addressing Poverty: Pro-Poor Growth and Financial Inclusion in the Asia-Pacific", Canberra, December 5-6, 2006

2005 Rebuilding Livelihoods in Hambantota, paper presented at Pan-Asia Forum conference 'Microfinance in Crisis Situations', Colombo, June 13-15

2005 Planning for Livelihood Reconstruction in Tsunami-affected Regions in Southern Sri Lanka , paper presented at "Post-tsunami Planning: a Window of Opportunity for Planned Development" conference, Sri Lankan Institute of Town Planners, Planning Institute of Australia and Commonwealth Association of Planners, Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka, 4-5 March 2005

2005 Microfinance in Post-Conflict Environments: the Bougainville Haus Moni Project, paper presented at "Aid in Conflict" conference, RMIT University, 11 February 2005

2004 Risky Business in Bougainville: Implementing Microfinance in Post-Conflict Environments (co-authored with Matthew Clarke), "Making Peace Work" Conference, World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki, June 2004

2002 Microfinance and the Poorest of the Poor, World Vision Australia Microfinance Conference, June 2002

1999 Location, Poverty and Microenterprise Development: Evidence from Hambantota, 7th Sri Lanka Studies Conference, Canberra, December 1999

1998 The National Development Trust Fund and the Sri Lankan NGO Sector , Asian Studies Association of Australia biennial conference, University of NSW , September 1998

1997 The Politics of Welfare in Sri Lanka, Liberalisation in Asia Conference, Deakin University, December 1997

Monash Asia Institute

Research Projects

Postgraduate Studies

MAI Research Centres

MAI Press & Asian Films

Institute Resources