Plamen Nikolov

I am an Affiliated Professor at The Harvard University Institute for Quantitative Social Science, The University of Chicago's Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, a Research Fellow of the Global Labor Organization, and a Research Fellow of the IZA Institute of Labor Economics. My expertise is in the design and execution of randomized control trials (RCTs) and cohort studies in resource-limited settings and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). I am a development & labor economist whose research broadly focuses on human capital in LMICs. Using mainly experimental methods, I research in three major areas: (1) causes and consequences of better educational attainment and better health in developing countries, (2) the role of credit constraints in financial markets in low-income settings, and (3) causes and consequences of higher productivity and better labor market outcomes, with particular emphasis on insights from the behavioral sciences, in developing countries. In several ongoing (distinct) collaborations with The World Bank and BRAC, I am involved several experimental or quasi-experimental interventions in South Asia and East Africa. I received my doctorate from Harvard University under the direction of Lawrence Katz, David Cutler, and Raj Chetty. I also hold a master's degree in International Economics and Arabic/Middle East Studies from Johns Hopkins University (SAIS). I have very extensive field experience in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tanzania, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa. Follow pnikolov on Twitter