Job Opportunity for Research Associate- Payments and Governance Research Program at Poverty Action Lab

Project Title: Payments and Governance Research Program

Country: India

Start Date: April-May 2023

Length of Commitment: 14 months initial commitment, with scope to extend

Partners in the Project: Government of Odisha

Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s in Economics, or related quantitative social science fields

Organisation: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR

Professors Karthik Muralidharan, Paul Niehaus, and Sandip Sukhtankar, Gaurav Chiplunkar and Kartik Srivastava seek a qualified applicant for the position of Research Associate based in India. The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand field experience while undertaking cutting-edge development research. The RA will work on multiple research projects under the Payments and Governance Research Program.

Context

India has witnessed major changes in social policy over the last few years. These changes, based on universal bank accounts (Jan Dhan), biometric authentication (Aadhaar), and mobile phones (the “JAM” platform), and ensuing JAM-enabled Direct Benefits Transfers (DBT), have elicited animated debates. Proponents view the shifts as essential to improving anti-poverty programs and efficiently using public finance. The Chief Economic Adviser to the Government describes this as “a quiet revolution of social welfare policy”. Yet critics point out some challenges that could prevent the JAM platform from delivering its full potential, including implementation challenges, subversion by vested interests, exclusion errors, unexpected perverse consequences, and unknown cost-effectiveness.

In this sensitive environment, it is essential to have scientifically rigorous and representative data on the impacts of social policy reforms. The Payments and Governance Research Program works closely with the Government of India and several state governments to design policy reforms for subsidy programs and conduct a series of rigorous impact evaluations. The program aims to introduce global best practices in integrating high-quality research and evidence in policy-making, with real-time data collection on the most topical policy issues and with potential for immediate impact on the lives of hundreds of millions. Besides contributing directly to policy formation, these methods will also help to promote a culture of evidence-based decision-making at the heart of the Indian policymaking process.

The Payments and Governance Research Program is funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and is housed in the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab South Asia at IFMR (J-PAL SA), which is one of six regional J-PAL offices across the world. Globally, J-PAL is headquartered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Research Associate Roles and Responsibilities:

The RA will work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety of tasks, including, but not limited to:

• Designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative and quantitative research, running pilot exercises, refining study design and survey instruments
• Managing field teams: Recruit, train, and supervise both field-based and data operations teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators and other field and office staff
• Oversee the implementation of the evaluation following the research design in association with our partner organisation
• Maintain relationships with partner organisation at both headquarters and field levels
• Supervise data collection and data entry and ensure good quality of the data at each of these two stages
• Assist with data cleaning and preliminary data analysis
• Assist in preparation of documents and presentations for dissemination
• Report to the Research Manager on all of the activities mentioned above

Desired Qualifications and Experience:

• A Bachelors’s or Master’s degree in Economics, or related fields
• Fluency and excellent communication skills in English and Hindi. Familiarity with Odia is strongly desirable
• Experience living or working in a developing country
• Excellent management and organisational skills along with strong quantitative skills
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player
• Ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organisations
• Knowledge of data analysis software (ideally Stata)
• Familiarity with impact evaluations and randomised controlled trials
• Ability to give and receive completely frank feedback
• Willingness to live in rural or peri-urban areas and travel extensively to study areas is essential
• Excellent management and organisational skills along with strong quantitative skills
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player
• Ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organisations
• We are looking for a commitment period of 14 months for this position.

Note on Work Authorizations:

Candidates must have work authorisation to work in India. This covers citizens of India, Nepal or Bhutan, Persons of Indian origin (PIO), and an Overseas Citizens of India (OCI).