About

Welcome – I am a Professor at the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. I am also Co-Director of the Executive MPA/MPP programme at the LSE.

I am a researcher, policymaker and economic policy advisor with over thirty years of experience equally spread between positions in academia/research and public policy. I connect the worlds of practice and research in pedagogy and economic policy, focusing on how to design, negotiate, operationalise and evaluate policy reforms.

My current work focuses on geoeconomics, political economy, public policy and on promoting economic capabilities in governments, international institutions, and businesses. I am setting up an initiative on geoeconomics, economic security and public policy. I am also exploring innovations in public leadership, institution-building and advising governments and businesses.

As a researcher and analyst, I have worked on economic development, political economy, state fragility and geoeconomics. As a practitioner, I have worked on economic policy impact through taking various positions in public leadership and by promoting co-creation of knowledge and institution-building. My teaching has focused on geoeconomics, public organisations, political economy, and development economics.

I worked for four years in the UK Government as Chief Economist and Director Analysis of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). I am a member of the Advisory Council of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). I have been a member of the Steering Committee for United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Global Synthesis Coalition. I have also been the Chairperson for FCDO-BII Evaluations and Learning Steering Group for the British International Investment (formerly CDC).

I am an Affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT, a co-leader 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), and a founder board member of Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP). I have been an Associate with the Building State Capability Program at Harvard University’s Center for International Development (CID) and an Affiliated Researcher with Precision for Development (PxD).

Previously, I have also been the Academic Director of the School of Public Policy. I had also served as Research and Policy Director at the International Growth Centre at the London School of Economics in partnership with the Oxford University, where I have been responsible for commissioning new research, for connecting researchers with policymakers and promoting economic reforms in various parts of the world, especially in Africa and Asia. I have also been a Visiting Lecturer of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. I have co-chaired LSE-Oxford Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development.