Asad Islam

I am the Director of the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES) and a Professor at the Department of Economics at Monash University. I am one of the Chief Investigators for the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW). I am also an affiliated Professor at Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), adjunct fellow at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) in Bangladesh. Before joining Monash in 2009, I was a Research Fellow Bangladesh Institue of Development Studies (BIDS)- the leading think-tanks in Bangladesh. I also taught Economics at the University of Dhaka.

I am a Development Economist. My recent research focuses on early childhood and primary education, health, Gender, social networks and technology adoption, energy, microfinance, SMEs, and risk-sharing mechanisms. I am particularly interested in issues that can generate public policy interest. I am passionate about making changes in the lives of the poor people in developing countries through my research, collaboration and external engagement with NGOs, governments, policymakers and development practitioners around the world.

My recent fieldwork includes working in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Fiji, Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Tanzania, and Cambodia. My research has been funded by the UK ESRC, Australian Research Council (ARC), International Growth Centre (IGC) and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)/AusAID, Australia, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and European Union. I am also the founder of Global Development Research Initiative (GDRI) which employs local researchers and field workers to help academics around the world to conduct surveys and field experiments including large scale RCTs. I like to do field work for my research and deeper understanding of the real-world problems. I believe my childhood in a remote rural village in Bangladesh, and my experience working with NGOs, think-tanks and development research organizations helped me to understand better of what I do, and what really works in development!