Research to Policy
Creating evidence is not enough
About Me
I am passionate about studying human behavior under induced policy shocks and influencing policymakers through rigorous evidence. If we want to be smart about poverty reduction and development, we need to understand human behavior- not only the general human that we see every day, but also the policymakers who immensely affect our future. Thus I work with both researchers and policymakers in search of a smarter approach to development. I was the Country Director of Innovations for Poverty Action Bangladesh from 2015 to 2021. Before that, I was an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at Jahangirnagar University and a consultant to the World Bank.
Feature Projects
Testing an innovative business model to reduce lead pollution
I am helping Professor Erica Plambeck and Professor Amrita Kundu to implement a Randomized Controlled Trial to test an innovative business model's efficacy in reducing lead pollution. We are working with a few government agencies and a microfinance institute to design and deliver the business model. We are testing if a set of interventions that may increase the life of the lead-acid battery can reduce the lead pollution and at the same time increase income of those who use them.
Bundling maternal and mental health services to improve women's labor market outcomes
Together with Professor Shyamal Chowdhury of the University of Sydney and the Department of Health,  I am implementing a Randomized Controlled Trial to study if bundling mental health counseling with standard maternal health services can improve female labor market outcomes in the short and long run. We are benchmarking the benefit of this program against a regular cash transfer program for pregnant women.
Improving education through bureaucrat autonomy
With Professor Mushfiq Mobarak of Yale University and Professor Jaya Wen of Harvard University, and the Aspire to Innovate Program of the Bangladesh Government, I am implementing a Randomized Controlled Trial with the government bureaucracy to understand conditions under which bureaucrats innovate based on evidence. We are randomizing information provision, the level of autonomy, and instruction to find out the most cost-effective channel of inducing policy innovation by government officials.