Akash Shaji
Predoctoral Research Fellow · CEGA, UC Berkeley
Predoctoral Research Fellow · CEGA, UC Berkeley
I care about what makes economies work for people who've been left out of them, and about whether the evidence we produce to answer that question is honest and accessible. My research sits at the intersection of development economics, research ethics and transparency, and evidence-to-policy integration, because I think those threads are inseparable. I'm also drawn to how institutions and political economy shape the conditions that make development possible.
At UC Berkeley, I work with Edward Miguel at the Center for Effective Global Action on projects that put those commitments into practice — from the Kenya Life Panel Survey, one of the longest-running longitudinal studies in the developing world, to research investigating publication bias and missing results in economics, to newer work using large language models for evidence synthesis. I've also led a randomized controlled trial on financial literacy among rural women in India. I hold an M.S. in International and Development Economics from the University of San Francisco and a B.Sc. in Economics, Statistics & Mathematics from St Aloysius College, India.
BITSS, UC Berkeley · PIs: Edward Miguel, Fernando Hoces de la Guardia
CEGA, UC Berkeley · PIs: Edward Miguel, Michael Walker
University of San Francisco · Principal Investigator
Education
Fellowships & Honors
Interactive · Sports data
Messi or Ronaldo depends entirely on what you decide greatness means. I treat “GOAT” as a weighted sum of nine measurable dimensions, sample 8,000 reasonable weightings, and map exactly where the answer flips, then hand you the sliders to settle it yourself.
Interactive · Election data
Karen Bass is locked into November; the real fight is the second runoff ticket, Spencer Pratt vs. Nithya Raman. A two-lever model, plus the registration, polls, and the ballots still uncounted, on why the late mail leans Raman.
I'm always glad to talk about development economics, research transparency, or potential collaborations. The fastest way to reach me is email.