SULTAN MEHMOOD
Why does judicial independence arise in some societies and not others?
Introduction. I am an assistant professor of Economics (tenure-track) at the New Economic School and a research affiliate at the Harvard Law School. I received my Ph.D. in Economics from France in October 2019. Previously, I studied in the Netherlands and Pakistan.
Research Statement: Why does the gavel sometimes echo with freedom, while in other instances, it becomes muffled by internal and external forces? This puzzle forms the core of my research agenda.
Research Fields: Development Economics, Political Economy, Law and Development.
Contact Details:
Email: smehmood@nes.ru
Curriculum Vitae: Download (PDF)
Twitter: @mrsultan713
Webpage: http://www.sultanmehmood.info/ (Faculty Page at NES; Page at FJA; Page at Harvard Law)
Talks in 2022 & 2023: UCSD Political Economy Seminar, Harvard University Psychology Seminar, Boston University Development Seminar, MIT Sloan Seminar, Dartmouth QSS Seminar, Brown Growth Lab Seminar, Northwestern Political Economy Seminar, UK Political Economy Seminar, HEC Lausanne Applied Seminar, LMU Munich Empirical Economics Seminar, AMSE Development Seminar, University of Chicago Relational Contracts Workshop 2023, Advances in Field Experiments 2023, Federal Reserve Seminar 2023.
Publications:
Mehmood, S. 2022. "The impact of Presidential appointment of judges: Montesquieu or the Federalists?" American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 14(4): 411–445.
Mehmood, S. and Seror, A. 2023. "Religious Leaders and Rule of Law". Journal of Development Economics, 160(1): 1–18.
Mehmood, S, Seror, A., and Chen, D., 2023. "Ramadan Fasting Increases Leniency in Judges from Pakistan and India" Nature Human Behavior: 1-7; Cover Article; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01547-3
Mehmood, S. and Ali, B., 2024. Judicial Capture. The Economic Journal, 134(659), pp.1287-1301.
Revise and Resubmit Requests:
Transmitting Rights (with S. Naseer and D. Chen) - Revise and Resubmit at the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
Altruism in Governance: Insights from Randomized Training for Pakistan's Junior Ministers (with D. Chen and S. Naseer) - Revise and Resubmit at the Journal of Development Economics.
Research Papers
1. LAW AND DEVELOPMENT
The impact of Presidential appointment of judges: Montesquieu or the Federalists? (IOEA Best Paper Award) - Published in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Summary in Urdu (اُردُو) (PDF)
Religious Leaders and Rule of Law (with A. Seror) - Published in Journal of Development Economics
Summary in Urdu (اُردُو) (PDF)
Ramadan Fasting Increases Leniency in Judges from Pakistan and India (with A. Seror and D. Chen) - Published in Nature Human Behavior (Cover Article)
News Coverage (Geo News, Phys.Org, The News, Le Matin, iNews, The Times)
Judicial Capture (with B. Ali) - Accepted at The Economic Journal
Contract Enforcement in a Stateless Economy (with D. Chen) - AEA RCT Registry - Submitted
Reform Multiplier and Elite Entrenchment (with B. Ali) - Submitted
Judicial Independence and Development
2. STATE CAPACITY AND DEVELOPMENT
Altruism in Governance: Insights from Randomized Training for Pakistan's Junior Ministers (with D. Chen and S. Naseer) - AEA RCT Registry - Revise and Resubmit at the Journal of Development Economics.
AI Education as State Capacity: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan (with S. Naseer and D. Chen) - AEA RCT Registry - Submitted
Training Policymakers in Econometrics (with S. Naseer and D. Chen) - AEA RCT Registry - Submitted
3. RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT
Transmitting Rights (with S. Naseer and D. Chen) - Revise and Resubmit at the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
VoxDev Policy Column
Why are Rights Revolutions Rare? (with S. Naseer and D. Chen) - AEA RCT Registry - Submitted
Role Models and Theory of Mind: Teacher Vaccinations and Student Success (with S. Naseer and D. Chen) - AEA RCT Registry - Submitted
Attitudes as Assets (with A. Seror, D. Chen, and S. Naseer)
RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
1. LAW AND DEVELOPMENT
ARE JUDGES A JURY OF ONE? EVIDENCE FROM THE ABOLITION OF JURIES IN INDIA
NETWORK EFFECTS IN DEMOCRATIC REFORM: EVIDENCE FROM LAWYERS’ MOVEMENT IN PAKISTAN
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE IN THE SHADOW OF TERRORISM: EVIDENCE FROM PAKISTAN'S ANTI-TERRORISM COURTS
JUDICIAL ACTIVISM: WHEN JUDGES REWRITE THE CONSTITUTION (with J. Goto)
CLEARING THE LEGAL LOGJAM: EVIDENCE FROM UNIVERSE OF LOCAL COURTS IN PAKISTAN
2. STATE CAPACITY, RIGHTS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
POLICY TRADEOFFS OF BUREAUCRATS (with R. Fisman, S. Naseer and S. Kariv)
GIFT DIPLOMACY (with V. Pons and Y. Prokhorskoy)
INK AND IRE: THE REVOLUTIONARY IMPACT OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE (with V. Avetian)
MENTAL HEALTH, TEACHER STRESS, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT- Preregistered Trial at AEA RCT Registry
MISINFORMATION AMONG ELITE POLICYMAKERS (D. Rand and B. Nyhan) - Preregistered Trial at AEA RCT Registry and OSF RCT Registry
THE STRIKE OF THE RIGHTEOUS: THE IMPACT OF HATE LITERATURE ON RADICALIZATION (with S. Asad) - Preregistered Trial at AEA RCT Registry - Download (PDF)
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF CRIMINALIZING ABORTION: EVIDENCE FROM THE USSR (with H. Zoabi)
Pre-Doctoral Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Terrorism and the Macroeconomy: Evidence from Pakistan (Pre-Doctoral Research: Bachelor's Thesis)
Pakistan with highest number of terrorism related deaths of any country over the past decade, the number exceeding the total terrorism related deaths for both the European and North American continents, offers an important setting to study impact of terrorism on the macroeconomy. Our estimates from a sample that covers over 4500 terrorist incidents and consequent 10, 200 deaths [from 1973 to 2010] imply that bouts of terrorist attacks led to both a short-run as well as medium-term adverse impact on key macroeconomic variables. It is estimated that cumulatively terrorism has cost Pakistan around 33.02 % of its real national income over the entire sample period and that terrorism costs Pakistan around 1 % of real GDP per capita growth every year. We find evidence consistent with the models that show that terrorism impacts the economy through a reallocation of resources from relatively more productive public spending to less productive defense spending.
Mehmood, S., 2014. Terrorism and the macroeconomy: Evidence from Pakistan. Defence and Peace Economics, 25(5), pp. 509-534.
Social Inequality and the Dynamics of Political and Ethnolinguistic Divides in Pakistan, 1970-2018 (with T. Piketty and A. Gethin)
This study documents the changing structure of Pakistan’s political cleavages by making use of a unique set of exit polls covering every direct election held in the country between 1970 and 2018. We analyze the evolution of Pakistan's party system, beginning with the initial economic “left-right” opposition between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muslim League. Regionalist, ethnolinguistic and religious divides have weakened and transformed this party system over the last half a century. The decline of the PPP has come with its transformation from a low-income mass-based party to an ethnic party confined to Sindhi speakers. We also analyze the recent rise of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the role played by the political unification of the economic, religious and military elites in its success. Finally, we discuss how the Islamization policies implemented under the military regime of Zia-ul-Haq (1977-1988) has contributed to weaken the development of a pro-redistribution secularist coalition.
Social Inequality and the Dynamics of Political and Ethnolinguistic Divides in Pakistan, 1970-2018 (with T. Piketty and A. Gethin) - Published in Harvard University Press
SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES
2022: ASSA 2022, IOEA 2022, University of Chicago's Advances in Field Experiments 2022, UCSD Seminar 2022, TSE Seminar 2022, BU Development Seminar 2022, Northwestern Political Economy Seminar 2022.
2021: PSE Applied Economics Seminar, CEPR Political Economy of Development Workshop, Econometric Society Annual Meeting 2021; SPSA 2021, APSA 2021, MPSA 2021, NBER Fall Development Meeting 2021, Winter Meeting of Econometric Society 2021.
2020: ETH Zurich Law and Economics Seminar, Aix-Marseille University Applied Breakfast, Society for Institutional & Organizational Economics (SIOE), Econometric Society's World Congress, Economic Development and Institutions Annual Conference, Bocconi CLEAN Seminar, EEA Annual Conference, Applied Lunch New Economic School.
2019: Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC), Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), American Political Science Association (APSA), American Law and Economic Association (ALEA), Society for Institutional & Organizational Economics (SIOE).
2018: Institutional and Organizational Economics Academy (IOEA), American Law and Economic Association (ALEA), Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), Casual Friday Development Seminar (CFDS).
2017: Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), Institutional and Organizational Economics Academy (IOEA), PSE Applied Economics Seminar, DIAL Development Conference.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Spring 2019: Statistical Reasoning and Causal Inference at Sciences Po (Masters Level)
Spring 2021: Empirical Political Economics at the New Economic School (Masters Level)
Spring 2022: Introduction to Law and Economics (Bachelor Level)
Spring 2022: Empirical Political Economics at the New Economic School (Masters Level)
Fall 2023: Data Science for Judges at the Federal Judicial Academy (Course Introduction)
PUBLIC TALKS
Lawyers' Movement and Support for Dictatorship in Pakistan 2023 (15 minutes) - Lahore, Pakistan
Judicial Independence and Reforms in Pakistan 2022 (15 minutes) - Karachi, Pakistan
CEPR Political Economy and Development 2021 (30 mins Talk) - London, UK
Economics of Religion Workshop 2021 (15 minutes Talk) - Los Angeles, US
NBER Fall Meeting 2021 (6 Minutes Talk) - Boston, US
Why does Judicial Independence matter? (1 minute) - Oxford, UK