Welcome to my page!

I am Karine Moukaddem a postdoctoral researcher at UCLouvain and a member of the IDnomics Group (UCLouvain and UNamur). I am also a J-PAL MENA Scholar Fellowship recipient for 2024-2026. 

I defended my PhD at the Aix-Marseille School of Economics (Aix-Marseille University) in July 2025, under the supervision of Patricia Augier and Marion Dovis.

I am an applied microeconomist studying the drivers and consequences of gender norms and exposure to violence. My research interests lie at the intersection of development, gender, family economics, and political economy, with a particular focus on the Middle East.

In my Job Market Paper, I examine the impact of exposure to the Arab Spring on the Egyptian marriage market, focusing on marital payments and types of matches. Using a novel dataset from the Egyptian Labour Market Panel Survey, I exploit geographical variation in protest intensity and find that exposure to violent protests increased promised deferred dower and consanguinity. I am also working on (i) the role of social networks and life aspirations in shaping women’s migration decisions in crisis contexts, and (ii) the long-term consequences of exposure to violent protests on women’s empowerment. 

I visited the Research Program in Development Economcis at Princeton University in May 2024, invited by Prof. Pascaline Dupas, and the Vancouver School of Economics of the University of British Columbia in Spring 2024, invited by Prof. Siwan Anderson. 

Contact: karine.moukaddem@uclouvain.be