About
In his new book, Business of the State: Why State Ownership Matters for Resource Governance, Jojo Nem Singh, Ph.D., (Erasmus University Rotterdam) explores what effective growth strategies might look like for these states, shifting away from extractivism as a growth model and instead harnessing the development potential of their resources amid strategic competition. Drawing from the experiences of Brazil's Petrobras and Chile's Codelco, the book shares how state-owned enterprises—if paired with governance reforms and aligned with the private sector—could open new pathways for development.
In exploring a roadmap for mineral states, Singh asks fundamental questions about states and markets: Why do states seek to intervene in the affairs of public enterprises? And what role might they play in structural transformation?
BIO
Jewellord (Jojo) Nem Singh is an assistant professor in international development at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, part of Erasmus University Rotterdam, and a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP). In 2020, he was awarded the European Research Council Starting Grant (2021–2026) for his research project “Green Industrial Policy in the Age of Rare Metals: Trans-regional Comparison of Growth Strategies in Rare Earths Mining” (GRIP-ARM). Singh has previously held two highly prestigious research fellowships, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship Award at the Freie Universitëit Berlin in 2017 and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science at the University of Tokyo in 2016. In 2014, Singh was an International Science Council World Social Science Fellow awardee. He held two tenure-track posts at the Institute of Political Science in Leiden University (2018–2021) and the department of geography at the University of Sheffield (2013–2016).
He served as an expert consultant on several projects with development agencies and international nongovernmental organizations, including the Publish What You Pay Coalition (London), the United Nations Development Programme (Brussels), and the United Nations Research Institute in Social Development (Geneva).
The Environmental Institutions Seminar Series is presented by the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability and the University Program in Environmental Policy, a doctoral degree program jointly offered by the Nicholas School of the Environment and Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.