The Department for International Development (U.K.) and the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund sponsored a pre-conference on strategies for institutional change based on individual country experiences which will lead to a final conference on December 1 and 2. The pre-conference brought together leading scholars and practitioners working on these issues. The aim was to draw lessons from these experiences and how they can inform the role of the Fund in low-income countries. The case studies focused on low-income countries, particularly Africa but also South Asia and Latin America.

July 6
08:30 – 09:00	Breakfast
09:00 – 09:15	Welcome Remarks Raghuram Rajan, International Monetary Fund
09:15 – 10:15	Session I : Corruption in Indonesia
Chair	Raghuram Rajan, International Monetary Fund
Presenter	Ben Olken, Harvard University and National Bureau of Economic Research Monitoring Corruption: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia, paper and presentation
Discussants	Dan Citrin, International Monetary Fund Tubagus Feridhanusetyewan, International Monetary Fund
10:15 – 11:15	Session II: Transparency in Managing Oil Revenues in Congo Brazzaville
Chair	Oya Celasun, International Monetary Fund
Presenter	Sarah Wykes, Global Witness
Discussants	Anton Op de Bekke, International Monetary Fund
11:15 – 11:30	Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30	Session III: Transparency Matters: Initial Empirics and Policy Applications
Chair	Antonio Spilimbergo, International Monetary Fund
Presenter	Daniel Kaufmann, World Bank
Discussants	Caroline Atkinson, International Monetary Fund Carol Graham, Brookings Institution
12:30 – 13:30	Lunch
13:30 – 14:30	Session IV: Angola and Transparency in Oil Revenues
	Roundtable discussion, chaired by Simon Johnson (International Monetary Fund), with John McMillan, Stanford University, Tim Harford, International Finance Corporation and Carlos Leite, International Monetary Fund Angola: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix
14:30 – 14:45	Coffee Break
14:45 – 15:45	Session V: The Political Economy of Institutional Reform for Growth and Poverty Reduction in Uganda, 1986-2004
Chair	Thierry Tressel, International Monetary Fund
Presenter	Jonathan Di John, London School of Economics Institutional Change for Growth and Poverty Reduction in Low Income Countries: The Case of Uganda
Discussants	Jim Adams, World Bank Steve Mugerwa, International Monetary Fund, IEO
July 7
08:45– 09:00	Breakfast
09:00 – 10:00	Session VI: Decentralization and Public Good Provision in India
Chair	Tito Cordella, International Monetary Fund
Presenter	Esther Duflo, Massachusetts Institute of Techonology Efficiency and rent seeking in local government: Evidence from randomized policy experiments in India
Discussants	Stuti Khemani, World Bank Teresa Ter-Minassian, International Monetary Fund
10:00 – 11:00	Session VII: Customs Reform in the Philippines
Chair	Jonathan Ostry, International Monetary Fund
Presenter	Dean Yang, University of Michigan Integrity for Hire: An Analysis of a Widespread Program for Combating Customs Corruption and Can Enforcement Backfire? Crime Displacement in the Context of Customs Reform in the Philippines and Institutional Reform via Hired Integrity: Lessons from a Widespread Approach to Combating Customs Corruption
Discussants	Howell H. Zee, International Monetary Fund Luc de Wulf, World Bank
11:00– 11:15	Coffee break
11:15 – 12:15	Session VIII: Institutional Reform of the Health Delivery System in Cambodia
Chair	Arvind Subramanian, International Monetary Fund
Presenter	Michael Kremer, Harvard University Contracting for Health
Discussants	Ruth Levine, Center for Global Development Peter Heller, International Monetary Fund
12:15 – 13:30	Lunch
13:30 – 14:30	Session IX: Transparency and Education in Sierra Leone
Chair	Alessandro Prati, International Monetary Fund
Presenter	Rachel Glennerster, International Monetary Fund and Massachusetts Institute of Techonology
Discussants	Halsey Rogers, World Bank E. Jimenez, World Bank*
14:30 – 14:45	Coffee Break
14:45 – 15:45	Wrap-Up
Chair	Raghuram Rajan, International Monetary Fund
Participants	Ms. Krueger, International Monetary Fund Simon Johnson, International Monetary Fund and Massachusetts Institute of Techonology Max Everest-Phillips, DFID Michael Kremer, Harvard University

¹ For the final conference in December (1 and 2), 2005, there will be papers by Stephen Haber (Stanford University) on Banking Reform in Mexico and by Ted Miguel (University of California- Berkeley) on nation-building in Tanzania. Asterisk indicates that participation has not yet been confirmed.