Ali M. El-Agraa

Ali M. El-Agraa

Ali M. El-Agraa (born 1 January 1941 in Wad Medani, Sudan) is an economist.

Biography

At age 23, Ali left for England where he became a permanent resident and later acquired a British citizenship.

Despite being British, and living again in the UK after more than two decades in Japan, Ali deems himself to be a global citizen, having spent 27 years in Europe, over two decades in each of Africa and Asia and one year in the USA, with frequent visits there.

Education

Ali received his earlier education in the Sudan. In 1959, he obtained the Sudan School Certificate (run by Cambridge University, UK, under its Cambridge School Certificate). In 1961, he took the Intermediate Examinations (roughly equivalent to British A-Levels) in the University of Khartoum with Honours in all three subjects (Economics/Mathematics, Geography and Social Anthropology). In 1964, he was awarded a B.Sc. (Econ) Honours, by the University of Khartoum, externally examined by UK universities, including Cambridge (http://www.cam.ac.uk), Oxford (http://www.ox.ac.uk) and the London School of Economics (http://www2.lse.ac.uk/home.aspx), with Upper Second division.

For his postgraduate studies, he went to the University of Leeds (UK), where in 1967 he obtained an M.A. in Economics with Distinction. He was offered a position as lecturer by the University of Khartoum but was granted leave of absence to return to Leeds in 1968 to research for his doctorate under the supervision of Arthur Joseph Brown. Even before finishing his doctorate, the University of Leeds appointed him Lecturer in Economics in 1971, and in 2000, he was awarded a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) for a thesis titled "Theoretical and Policy Aspects of Protection and International Economic Cooperation". In 2001, he was awarded a higher doctorate (DSc) by Japan's Kyushu National University for his book, Regional Integration: Experience, Theory and Measurement ^[1] and overall academic record.

Career

Ali was invited to Fukuoka University, Japan, in 1988 while he was Visiting Professor with the International University of Japan (1984-6), on leave from the University of Leeds (UK), which he joined in 1971, but with which he had been associated since 1964. Upon retirement on 31 March 2011, Fukuoka University, in recognition of his contributions to his academic field, made him Emeritus Professor of International Economic Integration.

His main academic field is international economics, with several books (some translated into Japanese and Chinese). More specifically, most of his research is on International Economic Integration, with the 9th edition of his 1980 The Economics of the European Community book published as a students’ text in October 2011 by Cambridge University Press (http://www.cambridge.org/home/home/item5655304/?site_locale=en_GB).

He has acted as General Consultant for the Anglo-Japanese Economic Institute (London, 1996–2002) (http://uk.uhuw.com/business/585451/anglo-japanese-economic-institute-west-end) and Senior International Consultant for the United Nations (2001) (http://new.uneca.org); He has also been endowed with a Life-time Professorship by Wuhan University (People’s Republic of China) (http://w3.whu.edu.cn/en/), 1990–; and, was (jointly with Anthony J Jones) awarded The Daeyang Prize ^[2] for the best article published in 2008 in the Journal of Economic Integration.

Academic career

Ali began his academic career in 1964 when he was appointed by the University of Khartoum as a Senior Scholar (their official term for Assistant Lecturer) in Economics, in the Faculty of Economic and Social Studies (http://uofk.academia.edu/Departments/Faculty_of_Economic_and_Social_Studies). He was promoted to Lecturer in Economics in 1967. In 1971, he became Lecturer in Economics with the University of Leeds, School of Economic Studies, which became Leeds University Business School, LUBS. He was promoted in 1981 to Senior Lecturer (Economics) there, a position which he retained until 1993. At that time, he joined Fukuoka University in Japan as the Professor of International Economics in the Faculty of Commerce,^[3] a position he held until retirement on 31 March 2011 as Emeritus Professor of International Economic Integration.

Ali has held several visiting academic positions: Visiting Professor of the Economics of the European Community at the University of York (UK) during 1980-81; Visiting Professor (of International Economics, Middle Eastern Studies and West European Integration) with the Graduate School of International Relations, International University of Japan, during 1984-86; Visiting Professor of the Economics of the European Community, Fudan University, Shanghai in February–March 1985; and Visiting Professor of Economics with Vanderbilt University (Nashville Tennessee, USA) during 1997-98. He was also Adjunct Professor of EU Studies (with, inter alia) Kyushu National University, Seinan Gakuin University and Kyushu Sangyo University all in Fukuoka, Japan, for various periods during 1989–2000. He has taught several intensive graduate courses at the Japan International Development Institute sponsored by the World Bank in Tokyo, Japan in 1986, and Chulalongkorn University, in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2010.

Accolades, Consultancies and Affiliations

Ali was elected Member of Council, the University of Leeds during 1980-84 and an Invited Member of Senate during 1979-82 when he was Head of the office of The University of Leeds Adviser to Overseas Students now International Student Office. He was also an elected Member of Council, the University of Leeds, during 1987-90 and an elected Member of Senate, the University of Leeds, during 1983-86.

He was External Examiner for Reading University (UK) for the Department of Economics and its Graduate School of European and International Studies for the M.A. and M.Sc. Degrees in, respectively, Economics and European Integration; he declined invitations to act as such for many UK universities due his absence in Japan. He was also a Member of the Committee of the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC; http://www.esrc.ac.uk) sponsored International Economics Study Group (IESG) during 1972-88.

Major works

Books written

• 1980, The Economics of the European Community (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about The_Economics_of_the_European_Community.html?id=9wi0AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y),
  • 2011, 9th ed., with invited edited contributions, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge and New York), as The European Union: Economics and Policies (http://www.amazon.co.uk/European-Union-Economics-Policies/dp/1107400112).
  • Chinese translation (by Professors Dai Bingran, assisted by Wu Yi Kang, Zhou Jian Ping and Jiang San Ming, of Fudan University, Shanghai, and the Chinese Association for Western European Studies) published in November 1985 (Shanghai Translation Publishing House: Shanghai, PRC).
• 1981, he co-authored with Anthony J. Jones The Theory of Customs Unions, Philip Allan, Oxford (UK) and St. Martin’s Press, New York (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Theory_of_customs_unions.html?id=SZywAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y). *
• 1983, he authored The Theory of International Trade, Croom Helm of Beckenham (UK) and St. Martin’s Press (New York) (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Theory_of_International_Trade.html?id=FZg9AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y) –
  • 1985, it was translated into Japanese by Professor Takaaki Ohnishi of Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan).
• 1984, he authored Trade Theory and Policy: Some Topical Issues, Macmillan, Basingstoke (UK) and Crane Russak, New York (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Trade_theory_and_policy.html?id=ZgUFAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y) –
  • 1992, it was translated into Japanese in 1992 by Professors Takashi Okayama, Nobuto Iwata and Noriyuki Miyagawa of Waseda University, Tokyo.
• 1988 Japan’s Trade Frictions: Realities or Misconceptions? Macmillan (Basingstoke, UK) and St. Martin’s Press (New York) (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Japan_s_trade_frictions.html?id=1ZC2AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y), a
• 1989 The Theory and Measurement of International Economic Integration, both by Macmillan (Basingstoke, UK) and St. Martin’s Press (New York) (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_theory_and_measurement_of_internatio.html?id=pYy2AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y).

Books edited

• 1982 International Economic Integration (Macmillan: London; St. Martin’s Press: New York) (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/International_economic_integration.html?id=6323AAAAIAAJ),
  • 2nd edition in 1988, 3rd in 1997, under a new title, Economic Integration Worldwide (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Economic_Integration_Worldwide.html?id=2KVrQgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y).
• 1983 Britain within the European Community: the Way Forward (Macmillan: London; Crane Russak: New York) (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Britain_within_the_European_Community.html?id=ez-0AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y),
• 2002 The euro and Britain: the Implications of Moving into the EMU (Pearson Education, Prentice Hall and Financial Times: Hemel Hempstead) (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_euro_and_Britain.html?id=Y2YgAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y).

References

1. El-Agraa, A.M. (1999). Regional Integration: Experience, Theory and Measurement. Barnes & Noble. ISBN 9780389210221.
2. "Scientific Prizes awarded by Economics Journals". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
3. "Search in Faculty(Division)– Information of Researchers". resweb2.jhk.adm.fukuoka-u.ac.jp. Retrieved 14 January 2014.