Finance

Project

Lending in Agriculture Project

Lending in Agriculture Project

This project aims to improve the profitability and productivity of the often-neglected small-scale farmers, and help them in achieving greater financial inclusion in Pakistan.

Project

Entrepreneurial Finance Lab

Entrepreneurial Finance Lab

Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (EFL) has developed an effective, automated and scalable tool to identify high potential, credit worthy entrepreneurs.

Project

Social Compact: Urban Services and Taxes

Social Compact: Urban Services and Taxes

Building on the Punjab Property Tax Project, the Social Compact project at CERP is partnering with the Government of Punjab to examine a series of reforms that strengthen the link between the provision of local services and local property tax collection in urban Pakistan.

Lending in Agriculture Project

Principal Investigators:

Atif Rehman Mian

Atif Rehman Mian

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Co-Founder and Board Member
Atif Mian is a co-founder and Board Member at CERP. He is the John H. Laporte Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance at Princeton University, and Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the Woodrow Wilson School. Prior to joining Princeton, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Professor Atif’s work studies the connections between finance and the macro economy. His latest book, House of Debt, with Amir Sufi builds upon powerful new data to describe how debt precipitated the Great Recession. The book explains why debt continues to threaten the global economy, and what needs to be done to fix the financial system. House of Debt is critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Atlantic among others. Professor Atif’s research has appeared in top academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies and Journal of Financial Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics and a bachelors degree in Mathematics with Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Atif Rehman Mian

Co-Founder and Board Member
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Atif Mian is a co-founder and Board Member at CERP. He is the John H. Laporte Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance at Princeton University, and Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the Woodrow Wilson School. Prior to joining Princeton, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Professor Atif’s work studies the connections between finance and the macro economy. His latest book, House of Debt, with Amir Sufi builds upon powerful new data to describe how debt precipitated the Great Recession. The book explains why debt continues to threaten the global economy, and what needs to be done to fix the financial system. House of Debt is critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Atlantic among others. Professor Atif’s research has appeared in top academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies and Journal of Financial Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics and a bachelors degree in Mathematics with Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Atif Rehman Mian

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Co-Founder and Board Member
Atif Mian is a co-founder and Board Member at CERP. He is the John H. Laporte Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance at Princeton University, and Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the Woodrow Wilson School. Prior to joining Princeton, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Professor Atif’s work studies the connections between finance and the macro economy. His latest book, House of Debt, with Amir Sufi builds upon powerful new data to describe how debt precipitated the Great Recession. The book explains why debt continues to threaten the global economy, and what needs to be done to fix the financial system. House of Debt is critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Atlantic among others. Professor Atif’s research has appeared in top academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies and Journal of Financial Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics and a bachelors degree in Mathematics with Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Atif Rehman Mian

Atif Rehman Mian

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Co-Founder and Board Member
Atif Mian is a co-founder and Board Member at CERP. He is the John H. Laporte Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance at Princeton University, and Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the Woodrow Wilson School. Prior to joining Princeton, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Professor Atif’s work studies the connections between finance and the macro economy. His latest book, House of Debt, with Amir Sufi builds upon powerful new data to describe how debt precipitated the Great Recession. The book explains why debt continues to threaten the global economy, and what needs to be done to fix the financial system. House of Debt is critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Atlantic among others. Professor Atif’s research has appeared in top academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies and Journal of Financial Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics and a bachelors degree in Mathematics with Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Atif Rehman Mian

Co-Founder and Board Member
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Atif Mian is a co-founder and Board Member at CERP. He is the John H. Laporte Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance at Princeton University, and Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the Woodrow Wilson School. Prior to joining Princeton, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Professor Atif’s work studies the connections between finance and the macro economy. His latest book, House of Debt, with Amir Sufi builds upon powerful new data to describe how debt precipitated the Great Recession. The book explains why debt continues to threaten the global economy, and what needs to be done to fix the financial system. House of Debt is critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Atlantic among others. Professor Atif’s research has appeared in top academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies and Journal of Financial Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics and a bachelors degree in Mathematics with Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Atif Rehman Mian

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Co-Founder and Board Member
Atif Mian is a co-founder and Board Member at CERP. He is the John H. Laporte Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance at Princeton University, and Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the Woodrow Wilson School. Prior to joining Princeton, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Professor Atif’s work studies the connections between finance and the macro economy. His latest book, House of Debt, with Amir Sufi builds upon powerful new data to describe how debt precipitated the Great Recession. The book explains why debt continues to threaten the global economy, and what needs to be done to fix the financial system. House of Debt is critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Atlantic among others. Professor Atif’s research has appeared in top academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies and Journal of Financial Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics and a bachelors degree in Mathematics with Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

,

Ahyan Panjwani

Ahyan Panjwani

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Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Ahyan Panjwani is a Principal Investigator on Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Ahyan is an Economist in the Division of Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. His Research interests are in Macro-finance and Climate change with current work focusing on the effects of Climate Risk on various asset classes, households, and communities. He received PhD in economics from Yale University in 2022.

Ahyan Panjwani

Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
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Ahyan Panjwani is a Principal Investigator on Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Ahyan is an Economist in the Division of Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. His Research interests are in Macro-finance and Climate change with current work focusing on the effects of Climate Risk on various asset classes, households, and communities. He received PhD in economics from Yale University in 2022.

Ahyan Panjwani

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Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Ahyan Panjwani is a Principal Investigator on Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Ahyan is an Economist in the Division of Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. His Research interests are in Macro-finance and Climate change with current work focusing on the effects of Climate Risk on various asset classes, households, and communities. He received PhD in economics from Yale University in 2022.
Ahyan Panjwani

Ahyan Panjwani

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Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Ahyan Panjwani is a Principal Investigator on Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Ahyan is an Economist in the Division of Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. His Research interests are in Macro-finance and Climate change with current work focusing on the effects of Climate Risk on various asset classes, households, and communities. He received PhD in economics from Yale University in 2022.

Ahyan Panjwani

Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Ahyan Panjwani is a Principal Investigator on Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Ahyan is an Economist in the Division of Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. His Research interests are in Macro-finance and Climate change with current work focusing on the effects of Climate Risk on various asset classes, households, and communities. He received PhD in economics from Yale University in 2022.

Ahyan Panjwani

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Ahyan Panjwani is a Principal Investigator on Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Ahyan is an Economist in the Division of Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. His Research interests are in Macro-finance and Climate change with current work focusing on the effects of Climate Risk on various asset classes, households, and communities. He received PhD in economics from Yale University in 2022.

,

Faizaan Kisat

Faizaan Kisat

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Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Faizan Kisat is a Principal Investigator on the Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Faizan is an Economist at International Monetary Fund. He received his PhD in Economics from Princeton University. His primary research fields include Development Economics and Corporate Finance.

Faizaan Kisat

Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
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Faizan Kisat is a Principal Investigator on the Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Faizan is an Economist at International Monetary Fund. He received his PhD in Economics from Princeton University. His primary research fields include Development Economics and Corporate Finance.

Faizaan Kisat

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Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Faizan Kisat is a Principal Investigator on the Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Faizan is an Economist at International Monetary Fund. He received his PhD in Economics from Princeton University. His primary research fields include Development Economics and Corporate Finance.
Faizaan Kisat

Faizaan Kisat

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Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Faizan Kisat is a Principal Investigator on the Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Faizan is an Economist at International Monetary Fund. He received his PhD in Economics from Princeton University. His primary research fields include Development Economics and Corporate Finance.

Faizaan Kisat

Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Faizan Kisat is a Principal Investigator on the Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Faizan is an Economist at International Monetary Fund. He received his PhD in Economics from Princeton University. His primary research fields include Development Economics and Corporate Finance.

Faizaan Kisat

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Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Fellow
Faizan Kisat is a Principal Investigator on the Lending in Agriculture Project at CERP. Dr Faizan is an Economist at International Monetary Fund. He received his PhD in Economics from Princeton University. His primary research fields include Development Economics and Corporate Finance.

In recent decades, Pakistan’s gains in agricultural productivity have stagnated, leading to a considerable problem for the country’s development overall, since agriculture accounts for over 19% of the nation’s GDP and employs around 40% of its labor force. Globally, most interventions in agriculture have focused narrowly on a single dimension of treatment, either technology, credit, mechanisation, or information.

Few interventions have attempted to target broadly the array of problems faced by smallholders. The teams from Princeton, Yale, CERP, and HBL’s Development Finance Group (DFG) examined Pakistan’s agricultural sector in detail and identified three major problems: (i) production inefficiencies; (ii) inadequate access to markets; and (iii) lack of financing. The analysis showed that these three problems were interlinked. Farms produce low yields of inferior quality, and farmers must navigate a maze of extractive selling institutions to earn a meager profit. With insufficient income or wealth to invest in improving their operations and a limited understanding of how to access formal credit, farmers rely on exorbitantly priced financing from local middlemen. Although agricultural loans are available from all commercial banks, access is difficult, and loan utilisation is fraught with inefficiencies. Farmers are thus unable to escape a cycle of poor production and inefficient sales. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for farmers to improve their crop yield, increase profits, and achieve socio-economic progress without a broad-based intervention.

Solution

To break this negative cycle, HBL launched an innovative financial solution in late 2019, based on an integrated approach towards the entire agricultural value chain. To resolve production inefficiencies, HBL agreed to connect participant farmers with suppliers of high-quality inputs (e.g., seeds, fertilisers, pesticides) and the latest mechanisation services, thus creating a network of partner organisations. Further, HBL provided an in-house team of expert agronomists to advise growers on the best agricultural practices and oversee their implementation throughout the crop cycles. To combat extractive selling institutions, HBL also connected farmers to local, bulk buyers, who could offer market-competitive prices and provide payment within a stipulated time frame, ensuring that farmers earned profits. All of this was done under the ambit of HBL’s Development Finance model, in which the bank facilitates the provision of products and services through select third-party suppliers, rather than simply lending cash to the farmer. The arrangement aims to improve net cash flows for farmers and spare them from additional transaction costs that are commonly charged by traditional agricultural market intermediaries called arthis.

Additionally, Princeton University and CERP together led surveys of farmers and collected data at the plot level. Moreover, the team also pioneered the use of satellite imagery at this scale in Pakistan. Satellite remote sensing is used to provide real-time crop health monitoring and tailored guidance on how to improve farm productivity. This data was used to assess the impact of the project on the farmers and Pakistan’s agricultural sector in general.

Unsecured Lending & Financial Inclusion

Suboptimal production and inefficient selling are pervasive issues throughout Pakistan’s agriculture sector, regardless of the size of farmer landholding. Farmers who own fewer than seven acres, which are most of Pakistan’s farmers, are naturally more susceptible to detrimental effects of supply-side shocks. HBL’s program has been unique in its effort to help these small-scale farmers through unsecured lending. Even tenant farmers, who are traditionally excluded from financial markets due to their lack of collateral, have been included in the program. HBL’s midscale interventions have focused on small-scale farmers with average ownership of three acres per farmer, including some farmers who own as little as one acre of land.

Through this approach, HBL has not only impacted the profitability and productivity of the often-neglected small-scale farmers, but it has also progressed in its aim of achieving greater financial inclusion in Pakistan. Moreover, involving an increasing number of farmers (with most of them based in rural areas) in formal credit markets greatly improves the scale of financial opportunities available to them. Similarly, it also decreases their dependence on extractive and inefficient selling institutions.

Date:

2020-Ongoing

Funding & Implementing Partner:

Habib Bank Limited

Tags:

Agriculture, Finance, Agricultural Productivity, Real-time Monitoring

Entrepreneurial Finance Lab

Principal Investigators:

Asim Khwaja

Asim Khwaja

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Research Fellow
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

Asim Khwaja

Research Fellow
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Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

Asim Khwaja

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Research Fellow
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.
Asim Khwaja

Asim Khwaja

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Research Fellow
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

Asim Khwaja

Research Fellow
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

Asim Khwaja

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Research Fellow
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

,

Dr Bailey Klinger

Dr Bailey Klinger

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Principal Investigator
Dr Bailey Klinger is a Principal investigator on Entrepreneurial Finance Lab Project at CERP. Dr Bailey is a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard’s Center for International Development and the founder, CEO & Executive Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (www.eflglobal.com). He is the creator of the EFL technology that allows for profitable large-scale lending to small business owners lacking credit history and collateral, and has led both the research and business initiatives to develop and deploy those tools. He has extensive research and policy experience relating to entrepreneurship, structural transformation, innovation, and growth diagnostics, and has published books and papers in leading academic journals such as Science and the Journal of Organizational Behaviour. Bailey has served as a senior advisor and consultant to various governments and multilateral institutions. He has a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from the Kennedy School of Government, and a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Dr Bailey Klinger

Principal Investigator
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Dr Bailey Klinger is a Principal investigator on Entrepreneurial Finance Lab Project at CERP. Dr Bailey is a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard’s Center for International Development and the founder, CEO & Executive Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (www.eflglobal.com). He is the creator of the EFL technology that allows for profitable large-scale lending to small business owners lacking credit history and collateral, and has led both the research and business initiatives to develop and deploy those tools. He has extensive research and policy experience relating to entrepreneurship, structural transformation, innovation, and growth diagnostics, and has published books and papers in leading academic journals such as Science and the Journal of Organizational Behaviour. Bailey has served as a senior advisor and consultant to various governments and multilateral institutions. He has a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from the Kennedy School of Government, and a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Dr Bailey Klinger

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Principal Investigator
Dr Bailey Klinger is a Principal investigator on Entrepreneurial Finance Lab Project at CERP. Dr Bailey is a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard’s Center for International Development and the founder, CEO & Executive Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (www.eflglobal.com). He is the creator of the EFL technology that allows for profitable large-scale lending to small business owners lacking credit history and collateral, and has led both the research and business initiatives to develop and deploy those tools. He has extensive research and policy experience relating to entrepreneurship, structural transformation, innovation, and growth diagnostics, and has published books and papers in leading academic journals such as Science and the Journal of Organizational Behaviour. Bailey has served as a senior advisor and consultant to various governments and multilateral institutions. He has a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from the Kennedy School of Government, and a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Dr Bailey Klinger

Dr Bailey Klinger

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Principal Investigator
Dr Bailey Klinger is a Principal investigator on Entrepreneurial Finance Lab Project at CERP. Dr Bailey is a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard’s Center for International Development and the founder, CEO & Executive Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (www.eflglobal.com). He is the creator of the EFL technology that allows for profitable large-scale lending to small business owners lacking credit history and collateral, and has led both the research and business initiatives to develop and deploy those tools. He has extensive research and policy experience relating to entrepreneurship, structural transformation, innovation, and growth diagnostics, and has published books and papers in leading academic journals such as Science and the Journal of Organizational Behaviour. Bailey has served as a senior advisor and consultant to various governments and multilateral institutions. He has a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from the Kennedy School of Government, and a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Dr Bailey Klinger

Principal Investigator
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Dr Bailey Klinger is a Principal investigator on Entrepreneurial Finance Lab Project at CERP. Dr Bailey is a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard’s Center for International Development and the founder, CEO & Executive Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (www.eflglobal.com). He is the creator of the EFL technology that allows for profitable large-scale lending to small business owners lacking credit history and collateral, and has led both the research and business initiatives to develop and deploy those tools. He has extensive research and policy experience relating to entrepreneurship, structural transformation, innovation, and growth diagnostics, and has published books and papers in leading academic journals such as Science and the Journal of Organizational Behaviour. Bailey has served as a senior advisor and consultant to various governments and multilateral institutions. He has a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from the Kennedy School of Government, and a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Dr Bailey Klinger

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Principal Investigator
Dr Bailey Klinger is a Principal investigator on Entrepreneurial Finance Lab Project at CERP. Dr Bailey is a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard’s Center for International Development and the founder, CEO & Executive Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (www.eflglobal.com). He is the creator of the EFL technology that allows for profitable large-scale lending to small business owners lacking credit history and collateral, and has led both the research and business initiatives to develop and deploy those tools. He has extensive research and policy experience relating to entrepreneurship, structural transformation, innovation, and growth diagnostics, and has published books and papers in leading academic journals such as Science and the Journal of Organizational Behaviour. Bailey has served as a senior advisor and consultant to various governments and multilateral institutions. He has a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from the Kennedy School of Government, and a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (EFL) has developed an effective, automated and scalable tool to identify high potential, credit worthy entrepreneurs. These tools are based on psychometric principles, drawing on results from decades of research. The EFL Tool has been statistically proven to reduce risk and has been used by financial institutions in 18 countries. It comprises computerised psychometric tests that measure intelligence, ethics, attitudes and business skills of an entrepreneur. Based on the test scores, the EFL model predicts the credit risk of the test taker. The application of the tool has proven to reduce risk and has opened up markets to banks in unsecured markets where borrowers have little or no collateral. EFL has partnered with IFC (World Bank Group) and HBL to launch its product in Pakistan.

Date:

2011-2012

Funding & Implementing Partner:

Habib Bank Limited, International Finance Corporation Research Consultants

Social Compact: Urban Services and Taxes

Principal Investigators:

Asim Khwaja

Asim Khwaja

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Research Fellow
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

Asim Khwaja

Research Fellow
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Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

Asim Khwaja

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Research Fellow
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.
Asim Khwaja

Asim Khwaja

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Research Fellow
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

Asim Khwaja

Research Fellow
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

Asim Khwaja

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Research Fellow
Asim Ijaz Khwaja is a Research Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member of the CERP. He is the Director of the Center for International Development. He is the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD). He previously served as a member of J-PAL’s Board of Directors. Professor Asim also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education programme, “Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice,” aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations. His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. Professor Asim’s research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy. He has been published in the leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets such as the Economist, NY Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN. His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. Professor Asim received his PhD in Economics from Harvard and BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs. He was born in London, U.K., lived for eight years in Kano, Nigeria, the next eight in Lahore, Pakistan, and for the past several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

,

Adnan Qadir Khan

Adnan Qadir Khan

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Research Fellow
Adnan Qadir Khan is Co-Founder and Research Fellow at CERP. He is currently Chief Economist and Director for Economics and Evaluation Directorate in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). He is also Professor in Practice at the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a joint appointment with Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), LSE. Adnan has been an Affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT. He has also been appointed as an Associate with the Building State Capability Program at Harvard’s Center for International Development. Prior to his appointment with Harvard and LSE. Professor Adnan successfully led the International Growth Centre (IGC) as Research and Policy Director and was also a Visiting Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School from 2018-2019. He has been actively involved in the areas of policy, research, and training. He has been a co-leader the of Reducing State Fragilities Initiative at the International Growth Centre, an Affiliated Researcher with the Political Economy group of Yale University’s Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE), an Affiliated Researcher with Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD) With 15 years of experience in the policy world, Adnan name is synonymous as a practitioner and policymaker where he regularly interacts with policy actors from around the world, with a focus on Asia and Africa, in the areas of state fragility and state capacity building. He holds a multitude of experience in the research realm with a keen interest in the areas of economic development, the political economy of development and state fragility, state capacity, and social protection. He teaches courses on public policy and economic development in order to bridge the gap between academia and practice. He has also served in the government as a member of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) and is a recipient of the President’s Medal for performance. Professor Adnan has a PhD in Economics from Queen’s University. He completed his Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology.

Adnan Qadir Khan

Research Fellow
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Adnan Qadir Khan is Co-Founder and Research Fellow at CERP. He is currently Chief Economist and Director for Economics and Evaluation Directorate in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). He is also Professor in Practice at the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a joint appointment with Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), LSE. Adnan has been an Affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT. He has also been appointed as an Associate with the Building State Capability Program at Harvard’s Center for International Development. Prior to his appointment with Harvard and LSE. Professor Adnan successfully led the International Growth Centre (IGC) as Research and Policy Director and was also a Visiting Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School from 2018-2019. He has been actively involved in the areas of policy, research, and training. He has been a co-leader the of Reducing State Fragilities Initiative at the International Growth Centre, an Affiliated Researcher with the Political Economy group of Yale University’s Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE), an Affiliated Researcher with Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD) With 15 years of experience in the policy world, Adnan name is synonymous as a practitioner and policymaker where he regularly interacts with policy actors from around the world, with a focus on Asia and Africa, in the areas of state fragility and state capacity building. He holds a multitude of experience in the research realm with a keen interest in the areas of economic development, the political economy of development and state fragility, state capacity, and social protection. He teaches courses on public policy and economic development in order to bridge the gap between academia and practice. He has also served in the government as a member of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) and is a recipient of the President’s Medal for performance. Professor Adnan has a PhD in Economics from Queen’s University. He completed his Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology.

Adnan Qadir Khan

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Research Fellow
Adnan Qadir Khan is Co-Founder and Research Fellow at CERP. He is currently Chief Economist and Director for Economics and Evaluation Directorate in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). He is also Professor in Practice at the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a joint appointment with Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), LSE. Adnan has been an Affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT. He has also been appointed as an Associate with the Building State Capability Program at Harvard’s Center for International Development. Prior to his appointment with Harvard and LSE. Professor Adnan successfully led the International Growth Centre (IGC) as Research and Policy Director and was also a Visiting Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School from 2018-2019. He has been actively involved in the areas of policy, research, and training. He has been a co-leader the of Reducing State Fragilities Initiative at the International Growth Centre, an Affiliated Researcher with the Political Economy group of Yale University’s Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE), an Affiliated Researcher with Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD) With 15 years of experience in the policy world, Adnan name is synonymous as a practitioner and policymaker where he regularly interacts with policy actors from around the world, with a focus on Asia and Africa, in the areas of state fragility and state capacity building. He holds a multitude of experience in the research realm with a keen interest in the areas of economic development, the political economy of development and state fragility, state capacity, and social protection. He teaches courses on public policy and economic development in order to bridge the gap between academia and practice. He has also served in the government as a member of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) and is a recipient of the President’s Medal for performance. Professor Adnan has a PhD in Economics from Queen’s University. He completed his Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology.
Adnan Qadir Khan

Adnan Qadir Khan

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Research Fellow
Adnan Qadir Khan is Co-Founder and Research Fellow at CERP. He is currently Chief Economist and Director for Economics and Evaluation Directorate in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). He is also Professor in Practice at the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a joint appointment with Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), LSE. Adnan has been an Affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT. He has also been appointed as an Associate with the Building State Capability Program at Harvard’s Center for International Development. Prior to his appointment with Harvard and LSE. Professor Adnan successfully led the International Growth Centre (IGC) as Research and Policy Director and was also a Visiting Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School from 2018-2019. He has been actively involved in the areas of policy, research, and training. He has been a co-leader the of Reducing State Fragilities Initiative at the International Growth Centre, an Affiliated Researcher with the Political Economy group of Yale University’s Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE), an Affiliated Researcher with Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD) With 15 years of experience in the policy world, Adnan name is synonymous as a practitioner and policymaker where he regularly interacts with policy actors from around the world, with a focus on Asia and Africa, in the areas of state fragility and state capacity building. He holds a multitude of experience in the research realm with a keen interest in the areas of economic development, the political economy of development and state fragility, state capacity, and social protection. He teaches courses on public policy and economic development in order to bridge the gap between academia and practice. He has also served in the government as a member of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) and is a recipient of the President’s Medal for performance. Professor Adnan has a PhD in Economics from Queen’s University. He completed his Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology.

Adnan Qadir Khan

Research Fellow
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Adnan Qadir Khan is Co-Founder and Research Fellow at CERP. He is currently Chief Economist and Director for Economics and Evaluation Directorate in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). He is also Professor in Practice at the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a joint appointment with Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), LSE. Adnan has been an Affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT. He has also been appointed as an Associate with the Building State Capability Program at Harvard’s Center for International Development. Prior to his appointment with Harvard and LSE. Professor Adnan successfully led the International Growth Centre (IGC) as Research and Policy Director and was also a Visiting Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School from 2018-2019. He has been actively involved in the areas of policy, research, and training. He has been a co-leader the of Reducing State Fragilities Initiative at the International Growth Centre, an Affiliated Researcher with the Political Economy group of Yale University’s Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE), an Affiliated Researcher with Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD) With 15 years of experience in the policy world, Adnan name is synonymous as a practitioner and policymaker where he regularly interacts with policy actors from around the world, with a focus on Asia and Africa, in the areas of state fragility and state capacity building. He holds a multitude of experience in the research realm with a keen interest in the areas of economic development, the political economy of development and state fragility, state capacity, and social protection. He teaches courses on public policy and economic development in order to bridge the gap between academia and practice. He has also served in the government as a member of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) and is a recipient of the President’s Medal for performance. Professor Adnan has a PhD in Economics from Queen’s University. He completed his Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology.

Adnan Qadir Khan

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Research Fellow
Adnan Qadir Khan is Co-Founder and Research Fellow at CERP. He is currently Chief Economist and Director for Economics and Evaluation Directorate in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). He is also Professor in Practice at the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a joint appointment with Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), LSE. Adnan has been an Affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT. He has also been appointed as an Associate with the Building State Capability Program at Harvard’s Center for International Development. Prior to his appointment with Harvard and LSE. Professor Adnan successfully led the International Growth Centre (IGC) as Research and Policy Director and was also a Visiting Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School from 2018-2019. He has been actively involved in the areas of policy, research, and training. He has been a co-leader the of Reducing State Fragilities Initiative at the International Growth Centre, an Affiliated Researcher with the Political Economy group of Yale University’s Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE), an Affiliated Researcher with Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD) With 15 years of experience in the policy world, Adnan name is synonymous as a practitioner and policymaker where he regularly interacts with policy actors from around the world, with a focus on Asia and Africa, in the areas of state fragility and state capacity building. He holds a multitude of experience in the research realm with a keen interest in the areas of economic development, the political economy of development and state fragility, state capacity, and social protection. He teaches courses on public policy and economic development in order to bridge the gap between academia and practice. He has also served in the government as a member of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) and is a recipient of the President’s Medal for performance. Professor Adnan has a PhD in Economics from Queen’s University. He completed his Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology.

,

Mahvish Shaukat

Mahvish Shaukat

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Principal Investigator
Mahvish Shaukat is a Principal Investigator on Social Compact: Urban Services and Taxes at CERP. Dr Mahvish is an Economist in the Macroeconomics and Growth Team in the Development Research Group. Her research studies issues in Governance, Political Economy, and Public Finance, with the goal of understanding how institutions and incentives shape state efficacy and citizen welfare. Dr Mahvish received her PhD in Economics from MIT in 2019.

Mahvish Shaukat

Principal Investigator
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Mahvish Shaukat is a Principal Investigator on Social Compact: Urban Services and Taxes at CERP. Dr Mahvish is an Economist in the Macroeconomics and Growth Team in the Development Research Group. Her research studies issues in Governance, Political Economy, and Public Finance, with the goal of understanding how institutions and incentives shape state efficacy and citizen welfare. Dr Mahvish received her PhD in Economics from MIT in 2019.

Mahvish Shaukat

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Principal Investigator
Mahvish Shaukat is a Principal Investigator on Social Compact: Urban Services and Taxes at CERP. Dr Mahvish is an Economist in the Macroeconomics and Growth Team in the Development Research Group. Her research studies issues in Governance, Political Economy, and Public Finance, with the goal of understanding how institutions and incentives shape state efficacy and citizen welfare. Dr Mahvish received her PhD in Economics from MIT in 2019.
Mahvish Shaukat

Mahvish Shaukat

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Principal Investigator
Mahvish Shaukat is a Principal Investigator on Social Compact: Urban Services and Taxes at CERP. Dr Mahvish is an Economist in the Macroeconomics and Growth Team in the Development Research Group. Her research studies issues in Governance, Political Economy, and Public Finance, with the goal of understanding how institutions and incentives shape state efficacy and citizen welfare. Dr Mahvish received her PhD in Economics from MIT in 2019.

Mahvish Shaukat

Principal Investigator
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Mahvish Shaukat is a Principal Investigator on Social Compact: Urban Services and Taxes at CERP. Dr Mahvish is an Economist in the Macroeconomics and Growth Team in the Development Research Group. Her research studies issues in Governance, Political Economy, and Public Finance, with the goal of understanding how institutions and incentives shape state efficacy and citizen welfare. Dr Mahvish received her PhD in Economics from MIT in 2019.

Mahvish Shaukat

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Principal Investigator
Mahvish Shaukat is a Principal Investigator on Social Compact: Urban Services and Taxes at CERP. Dr Mahvish is an Economist in the Macroeconomics and Growth Team in the Development Research Group. Her research studies issues in Governance, Political Economy, and Public Finance, with the goal of understanding how institutions and incentives shape state efficacy and citizen welfare. Dr Mahvish received her PhD in Economics from MIT in 2019.

,

Benjamin A. Olken

Benjamin A. Olken

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Research Fellow
Benjamin Olken is a Research Fellow at CERP. He is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses on development economics, with a particular interest in improving the performance of the public sector in developing countries, including social protection programs, taxation, and quality of governance, and on environmental challenges in developing countries and his research focuses on the political economy of developing countries with a particular focus on corruption. He is involved in several randomized evaluations in Indonesia that seek to reduce corruption and improve the targeting of programs that provide local public goods to villages He is a Director of J-PAL, Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, and Co-Chair of J-PAL’s Political Economy & Governance sector and Co-Chair of the J-PAL’s Social Protection Initiative. He is the Editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Development Economics Program. Dr Benjamin received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 2004 and his BA summa cum laude as a double major in Mathematics and Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in 1997. In 1997-1998 he was a Henry Luce Scholar, living in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Benjamin A. Olken

Research Fellow
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Benjamin Olken is a Research Fellow at CERP. He is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses on development economics, with a particular interest in improving the performance of the public sector in developing countries, including social protection programs, taxation, and quality of governance, and on environmental challenges in developing countries and his research focuses on the political economy of developing countries with a particular focus on corruption. He is involved in several randomized evaluations in Indonesia that seek to reduce corruption and improve the targeting of programs that provide local public goods to villages He is a Director of J-PAL, Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, and Co-Chair of J-PAL’s Political Economy & Governance sector and Co-Chair of the J-PAL’s Social Protection Initiative. He is the Editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Development Economics Program. Dr Benjamin received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 2004 and his BA summa cum laude as a double major in Mathematics and Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in 1997. In 1997-1998 he was a Henry Luce Scholar, living in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Benjamin A. Olken

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Research Fellow
Benjamin Olken is a Research Fellow at CERP. He is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses on development economics, with a particular interest in improving the performance of the public sector in developing countries, including social protection programs, taxation, and quality of governance, and on environmental challenges in developing countries and his research focuses on the political economy of developing countries with a particular focus on corruption. He is involved in several randomized evaluations in Indonesia that seek to reduce corruption and improve the targeting of programs that provide local public goods to villages He is a Director of J-PAL, Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, and Co-Chair of J-PAL’s Political Economy & Governance sector and Co-Chair of the J-PAL’s Social Protection Initiative. He is the Editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Development Economics Program. Dr Benjamin received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 2004 and his BA summa cum laude as a double major in Mathematics and Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in 1997. In 1997-1998 he was a Henry Luce Scholar, living in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Benjamin A. Olken

Benjamin A. Olken

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Research Fellow
Benjamin Olken is a Research Fellow at CERP. He is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses on development economics, with a particular interest in improving the performance of the public sector in developing countries, including social protection programs, taxation, and quality of governance, and on environmental challenges in developing countries and his research focuses on the political economy of developing countries with a particular focus on corruption. He is involved in several randomized evaluations in Indonesia that seek to reduce corruption and improve the targeting of programs that provide local public goods to villages He is a Director of J-PAL, Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, and Co-Chair of J-PAL’s Political Economy & Governance sector and Co-Chair of the J-PAL’s Social Protection Initiative. He is the Editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Development Economics Program. Dr Benjamin received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 2004 and his BA summa cum laude as a double major in Mathematics and Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in 1997. In 1997-1998 he was a Henry Luce Scholar, living in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Benjamin A. Olken

Research Fellow
Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Benjamin Olken is a Research Fellow at CERP. He is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses on development economics, with a particular interest in improving the performance of the public sector in developing countries, including social protection programs, taxation, and quality of governance, and on environmental challenges in developing countries and his research focuses on the political economy of developing countries with a particular focus on corruption. He is involved in several randomized evaluations in Indonesia that seek to reduce corruption and improve the targeting of programs that provide local public goods to villages He is a Director of J-PAL, Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, and Co-Chair of J-PAL’s Political Economy & Governance sector and Co-Chair of the J-PAL’s Social Protection Initiative. He is the Editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Development Economics Program. Dr Benjamin received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 2004 and his BA summa cum laude as a double major in Mathematics and Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in 1997. In 1997-1998 he was a Henry Luce Scholar, living in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Benjamin A. Olken

Linkedin-in Icon-internet
Research Fellow
Benjamin Olken is a Research Fellow at CERP. He is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses on development economics, with a particular interest in improving the performance of the public sector in developing countries, including social protection programs, taxation, and quality of governance, and on environmental challenges in developing countries and his research focuses on the political economy of developing countries with a particular focus on corruption. He is involved in several randomized evaluations in Indonesia that seek to reduce corruption and improve the targeting of programs that provide local public goods to villages He is a Director of J-PAL, Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, and Co-Chair of J-PAL’s Political Economy & Governance sector and Co-Chair of the J-PAL’s Social Protection Initiative. He is the Editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Development Economics Program. Dr Benjamin received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 2004 and his BA summa cum laude as a double major in Mathematics and Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in 1997. In 1997-1998 he was a Henry Luce Scholar, living in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The social compact between citizen and state – whereby a citizen pays taxes and receives (public) goods and services – is a critical link in the development process. This link is especially salient in the context of local governments and a significant metric on which they are judged. However, if citizens perceive little benefit from their tax payments, or local services are disconnected from local decision-making, this link can be broken. This can create a vicious cycle where citizens do not receive high quality services because resources are limited by low levels of local tax revenue, and the low quality of services leads to a low willingness to pay taxes, as well as a broader lack of trust in the state.

This study seeks to examine how to break this cycle through a series of reforms that strengthen the link between the provision of local services and local property tax collection in urban Pakistan. We aim to increase the link between taxes paid and local services received by enhancing the linkages between a) local preferences and the types of local urban services provided, and b) the amount of local tax revenue and amount of local services provided. The goal is to reduce evasion of local property taxes, increase the quality of local services, make local urban services more responsive to local needs – and ultimately to help repair the social compact between citizenry and the state. Building on the Punjab Property Tax Project, the Social Compact project at CERP is partnering with the Government of Punjab to examine a series of reforms that strengthen the link between the provision of local services and local property tax collection in urban Pakistan.

Date:

2016 – ongoing

Funding & Implementing Partner:

Habib Bank Limited

Tags:

Local Services, Service Delivery, Preferences