Professor Nugent researches institutions and development, small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, contractual choice, old age security and fertility and regional (supranational) coordination of industrial development in developing countries. He is also interested in economic integration, the role of exchange rate movements in the rise and fall of civilizations, empirical investigations in economic development and China’s TVEs and their incentive structure. Before joining the USC faculty in 1964, Professor Nugent was a visiting professor at Graduate School of the People's Bank of China and a consultant for the Asian Department, International Monetary Fund. He is currently studying econometric modeling of the development process, inflation in Latin America, and the determinants and effects of institutional change.
