Welcome to my homepage
I am the Director of the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability
(CDES) and a Professor at the Department of Economics at Monash University. I am one of the Chief Investigators for the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW).
I am also an affiliated Professor at Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
(J-PAL) , Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), adjunct fellow at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) in Bangladesh. Before joining Monash in 2009, I was a Research Fellow Bangladesh Instiute of Development Studies (BIDS)- the leading think-tank in Bangladesh, and taught Economics at the University of Dhaka.
I am a Development Economist. My recent research focuses on early childhood and primary education, health, Gender, social networks and technology adoption, energy, microfinance, SMEs, and risk-sharing mechanisms. I am particularly interested in issues that can generate public policy interest.
I am passionate about improving the lives of poor people in developing countries through my research, collaboration, and external engagement with NGOs, governments, policymakers, and development practitioners worldwide.
My recent fieldwork spans countries such as Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Fiji, Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Tanzania, and Cambodia. My research has been funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Australian Research Council (ARC),
the International Growth Centre (IGC), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)/AusAID, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Union. I believe that conducting fieldwork provides a deeper understanding of real-world problems. Growing up in a remote rural village
in Bangladesh and my experiences working with NGOs, think-tanks, and development research organizations have significantly informed my work, helping me to understand what truly works in development!