Lena Giesbert, M.A.

GIGA Institute of African Affairs
Neuer Jungfernstieg 21
20354 Hamburg
Germany

Phone: +49 (0)40 - 428 25-566
Fax: +49 (0)40 - 428 25-511

Email:

Biographical data:

• Education: African Studies with focus on economics, politics and society in Africa; minors Cultural Studies and Musicology at the University of Leipzig; thesis on migration as a coping strategies of households in the Kakamega District in Kenya
• Dissertation: Risk Management Strategies and Financial Markets in Rural Ghana (Prof. Dr. Tilman Brück)
• Professional career:

• Member of GIGA Research Programme 3

Current research:

• Micro-level poverty traps
• Financial and insurance markets (microfinance, microinsurance)
• Informal employment and entrepreneurship
• Empowerment and Sen's capability approach

Third-party funded projects:

• "Determinants of Demand for Microinsurance in Ghana", research period 2008 - 2010, funded by DZ-Bank Foundation
• "Employment, Empowerment and Living Standard", research period 2011 - 2014 in cooperation with the German Bank for Reconstruction (KfW), financed by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) (research coordinator)
  

Publications (Selection):

• 2012: Subjective Risk and Participation in Micro Life Insurance in Ghana, GIGA Working Paper No 210, December 2012, Hamburg (Abstract & full article)

• 2012 (with Martin Ostermeier, Jann Lay and Sebastian Prediger): Beschäftigung, Armut und die Millenniumsziele der Vereinten Nationen, GIGA Focus Global, Nr. 10/2012, Hamburg: GIGA (pdf)

• 2012 (with Kati Schindler): Assets, Shocks, and Poverty Traps in Rural Mozambique, in: World Development, 40, 8, 1594-1609 (Abstract)

• 2012 (mit Sophia Sabrow): Financial Inclusion: Strategiewechsel in der Mikrofinanzierung, GIGA Focus Global, Nr. 9/2012, Hamburg: GIGA (pdf)

• 2011 (with Susan Steiner): Perceptions of (Micro)Insurance in Southern Ghana: The Role of Information and Peer Effects, GIGA Working Paper No 183, Dezember 2011, Hamburg (Abstract / Full article)

• 2011 (with Susan Steiner and Mirko Bendig): Participation in Micro Life Insurance and the Use of Other Financial Services in Ghana, Journal of Risk and Insurance 78, 1, 7-35

• 2011(with Kati Schindler): The Legacy of Civil War: The Case of Mozambique, DIW Weekly Report 02/2011, DIW Berlin

• 2010 (with Susan Steiner): Microinsurance: A Large Untapped Market, DIW Weekly Report 33/2010, DIW Berlin

• 2010 (with Kati Schindler): Assets, Shocks, and Poverty Traps in Rural Mozambique , DIW Discussion Papers, 39 S., 1073 / 2010

• 2010 (with Kati Schindler): Assets, Shocks, and Poverty Traps in Rural Mozambique, GIGA Working Paper No 150, November 2010, Hamburg (Abstract & full article)

• 2009 (with Janina Voss): „Marktbasierte Armutsreduzierung“? Mikroversicherung als Instrument der sozialen Sicherung, GIGA Focus Global, Nr. 10/2009, Hamburg: GIGA (pdf)

• 2009 (with Mirko Bendig and Susan Steiner): Savings, Credit and Insurance: Household Demand for Formal Financial Services in Rural Ghana, GIGA Working Paper No 94, January 2009, Hamburg (Abstract & full article)

• 2008: „Magic Microfinance“ – bald auch eine Erfolgsgeschichte für Afrika? GIGA Focus Afrika, Nr. 9/2008, Hamburg: GIGA (pdf)

• 2008 (:Andreas Mehler, Ulf Engel, Jenny Kuhlmann, Christian von Soest): Structural Stability: On the prerequisites of Nonviolent Conflict Management, GIGA Working Paper No 75, April 2008, Hamburg (Abstract & full article)

• 2007: Seeking Opportunities: Migration as an Income Diversification Strategy of Households in Kakamega District in Kenya, GIGA Working Paper No 58, September 2007, Hamburg (Abstract & full article)

• 2007: Millennium Development Goals – zu hohe Ziele für Afrika? GIGA Focus Afrika, Nr. 8/2007, Hamburg: GIGA (pdf)

Lectures (Selection):

• "Subjective Risk and the Participation in Micro Life Insurance in Ghana", 7th Development Economics Conference (AEL Conference) of the German Economic Association (Verein für Socialpolitik), Centre for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn, 23 June 2012

• "Perceptions of (Micro)Insurance in Southern Ghana: The Role of Information and Peer Effects" (also panel organizer), 2012 Research Conference on Microinsurance, University of Twente (and others), Twente, The Netherlands, 11 April. 2012

• "Assets, Shocks, and Poverty Traps in Rural Mozambique ", Chronic Poverty Research Centre 2010 Conference - Ten Years of ‘War against Poverty’, CPRC, BWPI, University of Manchester, 10 September 2010

• "Uptake of Micro Life Insurance in Rural Ghana", Chronic Poverty Research Centre 2010 Conference - Ten Years of ‘War against Poverty’, CPRC, BWPI, University of Manchester, 10 September 2010

• "Assets, Shocks and Poverty Traps in Rural Mozambique", Fifth IZA/World Bank Conference Employment and Development, IZA, World Bank, Cape Town, South Africa, 3 May 2010

• "Assets, Shocks and Poverty Traps in Rural Mozambique", Spring Meeting of Young Economists (SMYE 2010), CEPS/INSTEAD Research Institute, University of Luxembourg, Luxemburg, 15 April 2010 (agenda)

• "Locating Innovative Strategies: Microinsurance and Management of Risk in Rural Ghana" (paper giver), 3rd European Conference on African Studies (ECAS), AEGIS, Uni Leipzig, Leipzig, 6 June 2009

• "More Than Just Credit: Household Demand for (Micro) Financial Services in Rural Ghana" (paper giver), First European Research Conference on Microfinance: 2-3-4 June 2009 - Brussels, Belgium, CERMI, ULB Brüssel, 3 June 2009

•  "Financial Literacy and the Use of Financial Services in Rural Ghana", 6th Development Dialogue "Current Trends in Development Studies", Institute of Social Studies, Den Haag,  5-6 June 2008

•  "More Than Just Credit: Household Demand for (Micro)Financial Services in Rural Ghana", The Third Annual Conference of the Poverty Reduction, Equity and Growth Network (PEGNet) on "Assessing Development Impact - Learning from Experience", Accra, Ghana, 11-12 September 2008