Contributor : Profile

Rohini Pande is the Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University.  Prior to this she was  the Mohammed Kamal Professor of Public Policy, Area Chair for Political and Economic Development, Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) and Director of Governance Innovations for Sustainable Development Group at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University. She is an Executive Committee member of the Bureau for Research on Economic Development (BREAD), co-chairs the Political Economy and Government Group at Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Her research examines how the design of democratic institutions and government regulation affects policy outcomes and citizen well-being, especially in South Asia. Her work emphasises the use of real-world evidence to test economic models, often through large-scale field experiments in developing countries. She has worked extensively on the design and impact of electoral accountability and transparency initiatives, financial access initiatives and environmental regulation in low-income settings. Current projects include examinations of: information disclosures via politician report-cards; health and economic impacts of microfinance; the efficacy of environmental regulations in India; and the costs and benefits of an emissions trading market in India. Her research has been funded by National Science Foundation and private foundations, and has been published in several journals including the American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics and Science. Pande received a Ph.D. in economics from London School of Economics, a M.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and a B.A. in economics from Delhi University.

Rohini Pande also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, "Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice," aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations.

Her personal website is http://campuspress.yale.edu/rpande/