Maldonado, Jorge Higinio
Jorge is full professor in the Department of Economics at Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia. He has a PhD in Agricultural, environmental and development economics at Ohio State University (2004).
He has published in different journals such as Ecological Economics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, World Development, Ecological Economics, Environment and Development Economics, PlosOne, Ecology and Society, among others. He teaches environmental economics, natural resource economics, and microeconomics at both undergraduate and graduate level. Currently, he is the president of the Latin American and Caribbean Environmental and Resource Economist Association -LAERE-. He was director of the Latin America and Caribbean Environmental Economics Program (LACEEP).
Research interests
His main research interests are economics applied to environment, natural resources and development, in particular in the nexus with poverty and sustainable livelihoods.
Mentoring
Jorge has advised three PhD students from the program on economics at Universidad de los Andes, and more than 50 master’s theses.
Grants and consultancy
(Last five years)
FONDO COLOMBIA EN PAZ – UNIANDES. Bogotá, Colombia. Project Director. November 2022 to April 2023. Midterm evaluation of the program Colombia Sostenible. Project funded by Fondo Colombia en Paz and carried out by CEDE-UNIANDES.
CORPORACION ANDINA DE FOMENTO, CAF. Consultant. June to December 2022. Preparation of a paper for the Report on Economics and Development 2023: “Documento de trabajo sobre servicios ecosistémicos y biodiversidad en América Latina y el Caribe”.
EU FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION. Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Researcher. Since August 2021. Transformative adaptation towards ocean equity. Project funded by ERC and carried out by Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. Project director: Sebastián Villasante.
FONDO COLOMBIA EN PAZ – UNIANDES. Bogotá, Colombia. Project Director. February to December 2021. Diseño del esquema de evaluación de impacto del programa Colombia Sostenible y levantamiento de la línea base. Project funded by Fondo Colombia en Paz and carried out by CEDE-UNIANDES.
INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT – IFAD, UNIANDES. Bogotá, Colombia. Project director. July 2016 to June 2021. Improving the articulation between social protection and rural development interventions in developing countries: lessons from Latin America and Africa. Project funded by IFAD and carried out by CEDE-UNIANDES.
FORD FOUNDATION, IDRC, FUNDACION CAPITAL, UNIANDES. Bogotá, Colombia. Project director. July 2015 to September 2021. Regional platform for the evaluation of Graduation Programs in Latin America. Project funded by Ford Foundation, IDRC and Fundación Capital and managed by CEDE-UNIANDES.
ENVIRONMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT INITATIVE EfD – REES – UNIANDES. Bogotá, Colombia. Project Director. June 2018 – December 2020. Identifying Livelihoods, Food Security and Sustainability of Fisheries Managed by Local Communities on Marine Protected Areas in the Colombian Caribbean. Project funded by EfD Initiative and carried out by REES-CEDE-UNIANDES.
INTERAMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK – UNIANDES. Bogotá, Colombia. Project Director. September 2018 – December 2019. Measuring economic benefits of coastal restoration. Project funded by IADB and carried out by CEDE-UNIANDES.
FAO – UNIANDES. Bogotá, Colombia. Project director. December 2017 – December 2018. Analysis of synergies and complementarities between social inclusion and productive programs in Colombia. Project funded by FAO and carried out by CEDE-UNIANDES.
Policy engagement
CONSERVATION STRATEGY FUND. Tutor. 2014-2018, 2023. Tutoring grantees from ICAA (Initiative for the Conservation of Andean Amazon) on projects related with the use of economic instruments for the conservation in the Amazonian Andes.
Awards (international/national recognition)
Latin American Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, LAERE (http://laere.org/),
- President, January 2023 – December 2024
- President-elect, January 2021 – December 2022
- Secretary, November 2019 to December 2020
Member of the “Red Iberoamericana para la evaluación y monitoreo de Servicios Ecosistémicos marino-costeros” ECOMAR, (https://www.redecomar.org/) since November 2019.
Member of the Program Advisory Committee for the Fulbright Commission in Colombia, since January 2018.
Representative of Universidad de los Andes for the Corporation Center of Excellence in Marine Sciences, CEMarin. Since January 2017.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the journal Intrópica, Universidad del Magdalena, since 2016.
Member of the reference group for the IUCN Green List for Protected Areas initiative, Colombia chapter. Since March 2015.
Editor for the journal Desarrollo y Sociedad, Department of Economics, Universidad de los Andes, since October 2014.