December 3: Job Market 2025–2026 – Update (December 2025)

• Advanced to the work-exercise stage for one of the most selective research positions worldwide (focused on evidence-based global health & poverty interventions)

• Invited for interview for a research-intensive teaching + lab manager position at a leading European economics department with very strong experimental and behavioral groups

November 2: Invited Panelist — ILO Arab Social Protection Compass (Nov 2025)

I was invited by the International Labour Organization (ILO) Social Protection Unit for Arab States as a panelist in the webinar “Social Protection as an Enabler of Climate Action and a Just Transition in MENA.” Organized with the International Social Security Association (ISSA) and socialprotection.org, the event gathered government representatives from across the Arab region. I presented findings on Iran’s experience replacing fuel subsidies with cash transfers and implications for equitable, climate-resilient social protection. The session was in English with simultaneous Arabic interpretation. Registration:https://lnkd.in/dtGgcQ2Z

October 14: I finalized the version of record for “Fueling Inequality: A Novel Estimate from Large-Scale Reforms” in early October, and it was published on October 8. The paper has already attracted significant attention from the media and—very likely—policymakers. Ugo Gentilini, a Lead Economist at the World Bank, highlighted a key figure and provided a concise summary. My posts on X and Bluesky reached a wide audience, and Eco Iran TV, the country’s largest private network, featured a brief on-air introduction. 

September 23 : I am pleased to share that our joint paper with Hamed Ghoddusi, titled “Fueling Inequality: A Novel Estimate from Large-Scale Reforms,” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 

August 19: Excited to announce that I’ve been invited to present my JMP paper at DENS 2025, hosted by the Department of Economics at the University of Zurich on September 9! The Zurich Econ environment and its professors have greatly influenced my research agenda. Thrilled to visit again! 

June 4, 2025: I have successfully passed my internal PhD defense and expect to complete the public defense in September or October 2025. During my PhD, I conducted five major studies—two published, two under revision, and one currently under review—in leading journals across relevant subfields. 

May 23: I am happy to announce that our joint paper with Hamed Ghoddusi, titled "Fueling Inequality: A Novel Estimate from Large-Scale Reforms," has received a Revise and Resubmit decision with positive feedback from the editor and reviewers at the highly respected Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 

May 22: My new study has once again attracted significant global public and academic attention following the release of its primary results on social media: https://x.com/MAliMokhtari/status/1925221107503661214

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiworks.bsky.social/post/3lprsvfcyu227

December 7, 2024: A final draft of a joint paper is complete. For the first time in the literature, we provide a causal estimation of the impact of replacing fossil fuel subsidies with cash transfers on inequality—a critical issue given the environmental harm caused by such subsidies. This study addresses the question: How unequal are the benefits of these subsidies? Using a longitudinal dataset of Iranian household expenditures (1984–2019) across three major subsidy reforms, and linking it to additional datasets to control for confounding factors and mechanisms, the analysis estimates the inequality-reducing impact of replacing subsidies with cash transfers. The findings reveal that reallocating USD 1 per capita per day from fuel subsidies to cash transfers reduces the Gini coefficient of expenditure by 8% (link).

November 2024:  My Job Market Papers have garnered significant interest from both the public and academia. The early draft of one of my papers received over 9,000 views on X (formerly Twitter), which is remarkable for an emerging researcher like me (link).  

July 26, 2024: Outstanding Teaching Evaluation

I am pleased to share the results of my recent Teaching Assistant (TA) evaluation for the course "Quantitative Methods for Policy Evaluation" during the Spring Semester of 2024. The feedback, based on student responses, reflects an exceptional level of satisfaction, with an overall TA satisfaction score of 9.6/10. Students consistently rated the clarity of the course structure, the appropriateness of assignment complexity, and the overall course organization highly, with average scores of 4.6/5, 4.5/5, and 4.4/5, respectively. These results underscore my commitment to providing effective and supportive instruction, crucial skills that I will bring to a teaching role.

Individual Report for Mohammadali Mokhtari (SS 2024): Link to the Report 

May 29, 2024: Academic Insights Reach the Public: Leading Editorial on Energy Subsidy Reform Published in 'World of Economy' 

Four days after publishing my paper on energy subsidy reform on SSRN, the most popular newspaper in Iran, "World of Economy," requested a public-friendly article on this important subject. I wrote the piece, and on May 29, they published it as the leading editorial on the front page. It is encouraging to see the media tracking academic publications on critical issues. I hope this also captures the attention of policymakers in the country.

 The article in Iran's most popular newspaper: tinyurl.com/yupuukbd 

May 25, 2024: I have completed a draft of one of my projects that I have been working on for over two years. I presented the initial version of this project in August 2022 at the University of Tehran, and later in October 2022 during a brown bag seminar in Lugano, Switzerland. The study examines the broad outcomes for two groups—cash and non-cash recipients—following the extensive subsidy reform in Iran in 2010. It finds that the income gap between these groups affects their nutrition and health behaviors, likely impacting the health of children born around the time of the reform, particularly in a subset of the two groups in Tehran, where health data is available.

The link to the new version of the study and the presentation of the earlier draft at the University of Tehran are available below.

The Vital Role of Cash Transfers: Lessons from the Largest Energy Subsidy Reform in the Developing World