Rohini Pande

Rohini Pande is an economist and the Mohammed Kamal Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. She co-directs the Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) Initiative (@EPoDHarvard). Her research examines the economic costs and benefits of informal and formal institutions and the role of public policy in affecting change. Her work in India has examined how institutions – ranging from electoral to financial – can be designed to empower historically disadvantaged groups; how low-cost improvements in information collection and dissemination can enable flexible regulation and more efficient outcomes in areas as diverse as environmental protection and elections; and how biased social norms, unless challenged by public policy, can worsen individual well-being and reduce economic efficiency.