Patrice Franko

Education

Ph.D., Notre Dame University
M.A., Notre Dame University
B.A., Bucknell University

Areas of Expertise

• Latin American economics

• Latin American military, security, and defense industries

• Environmental security in Brazil

• Economics of Globalization

• Corporate Social Responsibility in Latin America

Personal Information

Patrice M. Franko is the Grossman Professor of Economics and Professor of Global Studies at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where she teaches international economics, Latin American economic policy, and microeconomics. Her interest in policy led her to direct Colby’s Goldfarb Center.  Honors include  a Pew Faculty Fellowship in International Affairs and an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in International Security Affairs. She lectured for EMIL, the executive master’s program in logistics at Georgia Tech, was a consultant for the Office of Inter-American Affairs in the Department of Defense, for the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies and for the Office of International Affairs at the National Academy of Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame, and her publications include: The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development 4th edition, (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018). Defense Industrialization in Latin America (with Monica Herz), Comparative Strategy, Vol 37 (4) 2018. “Latin American Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis,” invited review essay for the Latin American Research Review, March 2019. The Puzzle of 21st Century Globalization: An Economics Primer (with Steve Stamos) (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2017). “”Hard to Pick Fruit: Transforming the Landscape of Poverty in Brazil,” Chap. 13 in Latin America in the World, Edited by Daniel J. Greenberg, Routledge Press, 2017. Latin America Defense Modernization: Will it transform the technological base?” (with Jose Albano Amarante) Democracy and Security, March 2017 DOI: 10.1080/17419166.2017.1290527 The Defense Acquisition Trilemma: The Case of Brazil (INSS Strategic Forum 2014). Patrice is currently working on a project on technology cooperation and defense industrial transformation in Latin America (with Monica Herz), assessing regional capacities to contribute to environmental security with Thauan Santos.  Her new work pivots from defense to looking at the ways the private sector might contribute to addressing social and environmental deficits in Latin America. She, her husband Sandy Maisel, and their fluffy golden retriever Jordan live on Great Pond in Rome, Maine, and also enjoy being residents in the revitalizing downtown Waterville.

Current Research

The Defense Trilemma: Tradeoffs in Defense Modernization in Latin America

Publications

Carlos Jose Albano Amarante and Patrice Franko, “Defense Transformation in Latin America: Will it transform the technological base?” Democracy and Security March 2017 DOI: 10.1080/17419166.2017.1290527 “”Hard to Pick Fruit: Transforming the Landscape of Poverty in Brazil,” Chap. 13 in Latin America in the World, Edited by Daniel J. Greenberg, Routledge Press, 2017 “Brazil,” Chapter 16 in The Routledge Handbook of Global Economic Thought (editor: Vincent Barnett) NY: Routledge Press, 2015. The Strategic Implications of FTAA2005 a look at the strategic implications of the Free Trade for the Americas Area

The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development 5th edition in progress
Franko provides the basic economic tools for understanding problems facing Latin America. She explores the contradictions of growth as it relates to overcoming problems of poverty, health and discrimination. By exploring the difficult choices facing Latin American leaders, Franko gives readers background to understand the puzzle of how to sustain healthy growth in this region. Published by Rowman & Littlefield

The Brazilian Defense Industry

The ABCs of International Finance With S. Stamos and J. Pool

in addition to a range of articles, principally on economics and security policy in Latin America.