PhD Candidate, University of Heidelberg
I am a PhD candidate in economics at University of Heidelberg, Germany.
I am a behavioral development economist studying questions about state capacity in education and health. My research relies on field experiments (in which I collect survey data and conduct lab-in-the-field experiments) or administrative datasets (in which I exploit quasi-random variation). A common strand of my research is a focus on gender. Before my PhD, I worked as a Research Associate for Acemoglu, Cheema, Khwaja and Robinson on Trust in State and Non-State Actors (JPE).
To conduct this work, I cooperate with public and private sector entities such as public universities, and departments of health. My research has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), International Growth Centre (IGC), and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).
I am on the job market in 2022-2023 and am available for interviews at the EJM and the ASSA.
Recent News: I will be presenting “Fickle Groups: A Field Experiment on Time Preferences” at the Naples Workshop on Networks and Development (29-31 May), the Conference on Field Experiments in Strategy (CFXS) at the Harvard Business School (2-3 Aug) and Advances in Field Experiments (AFE) at the University of Chicago (21-22 Sep).
Curriculum Vitae (Updated May 2023)
Email: chaudhryzain@gmail.com
Twitter: @ZainChaudhry
Tel: +49 6221 54 38 53
Address:
Department of Economics
University of Heidelberg
Bergheimer Strasse 58
69115 Heidelberg,
Germany
With Karrar Hussain, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg and Attique-ur-Rehman, UC Delaware.
Oxford Economic Papers, May 2022
Abstract (click to expand): We provide the first estimate of a door-to-door political campaign by an incumbent politician targeting women on electoral outcomes in a developing country. Women voters are informed of the public service delivery work undertaken by the incumbent in his tenure. The campaign was randomized at the precinct level, allowing us to use official electoral data on vote shares and gender-disaggregated turnout. Our results suggest that in a highly competitive campaign, the vote share of the campaigning incumbent increased by 5%age points. This increase was primarily driven by women who were campaigned independently of their male relatives. In precincts where both men and women were mobilized, the effect is not statistically significant. However, women’s turnout in the election was unaffected.
With Karrar Hussain (FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg).
Job Market Paper
Abstract (click to expand): Although many important economic decisions are taken by groups (e.g. households and committees) considering costs and benefits over time, we have little empirical evidence on their intertemporal behavior. This paper conducts a field experiment and uses reduced-form and structural methods to study how within-group differences drive group-level behavior. We measure time preferences using effort-based tasks in the field, create groups randomly, and collect data on the time preferences of both groups and their constituent individuals. We find that groups are more present-biased than individuals, and that individuals with higher present bias drive decisions within groups. Further, we find that groups exhibit greater present bias when the difference in discount rates within the group is larger. Finally, we document that present bias in group decisions is reduced when bargaining power in the group is less symmetric, making the group act more like an individual.
With Dietmar Fehr (Heidelberg), Karrar Hussain (FAU-Erlangen Nuremberg) and Muhammad Yasir Khan (Pittsburgh)
Funded by the DFG. Data collection begins Fall 2023.
With Markus Frölich (Mannheim) and Paula von Haaren (Heidelberg)
Funded by the DFG. Data collection begins May 2023.
With Axel Dreher (Heidelberg) and Tobias Korn (Hanover)
Funded by the DFG. Baseline data collection completed.
With Karrar Hussain (FAU-Erlangen Nuremberg)
Funded by the IPA and IGC. Endline completed.
I am currently hiring a Project Manager based at the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan. You should have the ability to work independently and lead a team. The project is on the national cash transfer program in Pakistan, which delivers cash to women with the goal of female empowerment. The project is with Markus Frölich (Mannheim/C4ED), Paula von Haaren (Heidelberg) and Nasir Iqbal (PIDE).
Prof. Frölich is a leading econometrician who runs his own research organization in Germany (C4ED) and Pakistan and has a strong placement record for his interns/research assistants (e.g. Harvard, Stanford and LSE). Prof. Iqbal is a leading expert of the national cash transfer programme of Pakistan, having previously served as the BISP Secretariat’s Director R&D.
Website: This design, made by Xinyue Lin for Gautam Rao, is available at Gautam Rao’s GitHub repository.