Postdoctoral Fellowships on Governance, Education, and Child Development at JPAL South Asia, India
- Organization: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR
- Country: Delhi/Hyderabad/Chennai, India
- Start Date: July 1, 2022
- Length of commitment: Two years
- Education: Ph.D. in economics, public policy, education, applied statistics, data science, or other quantitative social sciences
Position Overview
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab South Asia (J-PAL SA) is looking for multiple (2-3) outstanding candidates for a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship under a new collaboration with the Center for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS). The position, which is open to recent graduates of Ph.D. programs as well as junior academics, will provide opportunities to conduct research (primarily based on randomized controlled trials - RCTs) on topics related to development, governance, state capacity, and program implementation quality, as well as sector-specific policy reforms. A strong cross-cutting theme across these topics is (1) improving the quality and use of administrative data for better governance; and (2) designing and testing the impacts of interventions focused on improving staffing, training, resourcing, use of technology, and governance to improve outcomes in key sectors such as early-childhood development, education, and health. The fellow will primarily work with Prof. Karthik Muralidharan (UCSD), and Abhijeet Singh (SSE), and also potentially with other J-PAL affiliates and co-PIs on CEGIS-JPAL projects in various states of India. The fellowship will be positioned in J-PAL South Asia and the work will be conducted in close partnership with (CEGIS).
The position offers the opportunity to join a team of senior development economists with a strong track record of publication and policy impact, and to produce research and analysis that is likely to have a substantial impact on policy in India. The role will provide both active mentoring from senior scholars, and also lead to a pipeline of high-quality research, and position the successful candidates well for future jobs in academia, research, and policy.
The position is open to a candidate who has recently earned a Ph.D. in Economics, Public Policy, education, other quantitative social sciences, applied statistics, data science, or information systems with a focus on development/public/labor economics, applied statistics/econometrics, or applied data sciences with a focus on policy applications. Significant applied econometrics skills are expected as well as strong written and verbal communication skills. Experience with field-based data collection is strongly desired. The ideal candidate will also have a deep interest in India, and Indian economic policy. We also highly value the ability to work effectively in teams and to produce high-quality analytical output in policy-relevant time frames.
The position will be based at the J-PAL SA and will initially be for 2 years (extendable based on mutual agreement). The target start date for the position is summer 2022, with some flexibility on the exact start date.
Role Structure
The Post-Doctoral Fellow will work full-time at J-PAL SA. The responsibilities will be structured as follows:
- 70-75% of time will be allocated to working with Profs. Karthik Muralidharan, Abhijeet Singh, and project-specific collaborators on JPAL and CEGIS projects. These projects will lead to a pipeline of high-quality research on improving governance and outcomes in sectors such as education, nutrition, and beyond.
- 25-30% of time will be dedicated to conducting their own research projects independently or with other J-PAL affiliates / invited researchers.
- J-PAL Post-Doctoral Fellows are also eligible to apply for research funding from JPAL initiatives for their own projects with the approval of the supervising PI’s.
Expected responsibilities (for the 70-75% working with Prof. Muralidharan & Singh) include:
- Be an active member of research teams working under the direction of Profs. Karthik Muralidharan and Abhijeet Singh, encompassing all stages of the research process from conceptualization, design, implementation, analysis, writing, and dissemination
- Responsibilities will range from fieldwork for diagnostic studies, intervention design in consultation with domain experts/partners, design and testing of measurement tools, overseeing field research associates and primary data collection, analyzing data, and producing analytical outputs for both academic papers and policy briefs
- Participate in meetings with senior officials at the state and national levels
- Conduct capacity building and dissemination workshops for a wide range of stakeholders as needed (government, implementing partners, civil society organizations, funders, etc)
- Support development of tools and frameworks for governance reforms that can be replicated across states and sectors
- Formulate and implement frameworks for economic analysis of government policies and programmes, with a focus on improving value-for-money in public expenditure
Compensation and Benefits
The total compensation and benefits package will be highly competitive relative to junior faculty pay scales in India at top private universities hiring faculty in economics. It will also compare favorably with the terms of most postdoctoral fellowships based in the UK or Europe.
Qualifications
- Ph.D. in Economics, Public Policy, education, other quantitative social sciences, applied statistics, data science, or information systems with a focus on development, public, or labor economics, applied statistics/econometrics, or applied data sciences with a focus on policy applications.
- Demonstrated ability to conduct high-quality research, on policy-relevant topics
- Experience with conducting field-based research will be a strong positive
- Strong training in applied econometrics and causal inference
- Understanding of the Indian government, and design and functioning of key service delivery departments at the field level will also be a strong positive
- Experience in compiling and using large and complex datasets, and awareness of all major research datasets in India
- Ability to mentor junior researchers (including research assistants and field staff) and manage teams effectively
- Ability to effectively communicate academic research to non-technical audiences
- Flexible, self-motivated, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and team player
- Curriculum vitae
- Job market paper
- Additional paper (optional)
- Additional paper (optional)
- Other material (in one file) (optional)
- Cover letter
- Video presentation of job market paper (optional)
- Letters of reference: 3