I am an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) of Economics at the Lahore University of Managment Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan. I also serve as a Senior Fellow at the Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre (MHRC) and as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP).
I do research on developing countries in the areas of Energy, Digital Technologies, and Political Economy.
My research makes use of field data collection, large administrative data sets, and rigorous empirical analysis to answer policy relevant questions. My current research examines the effect of electricity outages on household welfare, the effectiveness of policies to control electricity theft, understanding and countering misinformation on social media among low digital literacy populations, competition and news media quality, and the economic consequences of internet censorship. Through these projects, I aim to provide evidence-based insights to inform policy decisions and improve economic outcomes in developing countries.
My research has been supported by several awards including JPAL-KCAI, IGC, EEG, three Meta/Facebook Integrity Awards (2019, 2020, 2022), Google exploreCSR Award, DAAD and the Higher Education Commision NRPU Grant.
I completed my PhD in Economics from the University of Toronto and my MA International Policy Studies from Stanford University. Previously, I have also worked with the World Bank Group and the International Monetory Fund.