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Tarek Ghani is an assistant professor of strategy at Washington University's Olin Business School, a nonresident fellow of the Brookings Institution's Global Economy and Development Program, and a former chief economist of the International Crisis Group.
Tarek's research on political economy, development, and security has appeared in the American Economic Review, AEJ: Microeconomics, Review of Economics & Statistics, Journal of Politics, and Foreign Affairs.
He holds a Ph.D. in Business & Public Policy from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University.
Latest Working Papers:
“Insecurity and Firm Displacement: Evidence from Afghan Corporate Phone Records,” with Joshua Blumenstock, Sylvan Herskowitz, Ethan Kapstein, Thomas Scherer and Ott Toomet. (2nd R&R, AEJ: Economic Policy)
“Can Digital Aid Deliver During Humanitarian Crises?” with Michael Callen, Miguel Fajarado-Steinhauser and Michael Findley.
“Strengthening Fragile States: Evidence from Mobile Salary Payments in Afghanistan,” with Joshua Blumenstock, Michael Callen, Anastasiia Faikina and Stefano Fiorin.
Academic publications:
“Mining Competition and Violent Conflict in Africa: Pitting Against Each Other,” with Juan Lozano, Anouk Rigterink and Jacob Shapiro, Forthcoming, Journal of Politics.
“Violence and Financial Decisions: Evidence from Mobile Money in Afghanistan,” with Joshua Blumenstock, Michael Callen and Robert Gonzalez, 2024, Review of Economics and Statistics.
“Relationships on the Rocks: Contract Evolution in a Market for Ice,” with Tristan Reed, 2022, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics.
“Why Do Defaults Affect Behavior: Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan,” with Joshua Blumenstock and Michael Callen, 2018, American Economic Review.
Policy writings:
How to Clean Up the Clean Energy Transition: Preventing Violence Over New ‘Conflict Minerals’, with Juan Lozano, Anouk Rigterink and Jacob Shapiro, March 2024, Just Security.
Predictable Disasters: AI & The Future of Crisis Response, with Grant Gordon, December 2021, Brookings.
The Sting in COVID-19's Tail, January 2021, Foreign Affairs.
Climate Change Doesn't Have to Stoke Conflict, with Rob Malley, September 2020, Foreign Affairs.