I am an applied economist, currently employed as a consultant at The World Bank. My
primary fields of research interest are development, demography, and public health. 

In my research, I identify the effects of peer networks and program interventions on
household decision making and child welfare, particularly on the worst-off portions of
the population. In this research, I contribute to the recently growing literature on peer
networks in developing countries by quantifying the impact of network-based learning and
influence on female bargaining power and child welfare. 

I also have secondary interests in food policy and political economy. For instance, my
paper evaluating the Indian child nutrition program also examines the politics of program
placement. In another working paper, my co-authors and I use game theory to revisit the
efficiency redistribution hypothesis. 

I earned my PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign in August 2011. I have a Master's in Agricultural and Consumer
Economics from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor's in Economics and Classics
from Macalester College, Minnesota. I was born and raised in India.

Articles

OpenURL

Beyond Average Treatment Effects: Distribution of Child Nutrition Outcomes and Program Placement in India's ICDS, World Development (2011)

The Indian Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) aims to improve child nutrition by providing nutritional...

 

Unpublished Papers

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Empowering Women Through Education and Influence: An Evaluation of the Indian Mahila Samakhya Program (with Kathy Baylis and Mary Arends-Kuenning), Kathy Baylis (2011)

This paper shows that participation in a community-level female empowerment program in India significantly increases...

 

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Expanding Horizons: Can Women’s Support Groups Diversify Peer Networks in Rural India? (with Kathy Baylis), Kathy Baylis (2011)

Peer networks in traditional societies may be homogenous and stratified by income or social hierarchy,...

 

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Standing Together: Peer Networks, Female Empowerment, and Child Welfare (with Kathy Baylis), Kathy Baylis (2011)

We quantify the impact of peer network-based learning and influence on female empowerment and child...