Asim Khwaja Photo
Director, Center for International Development
Sumitomo-FASID Professor of International Finance and Development
Contact:
617-384-7790
Assistant: Linda Almeida
617-495-8157

For more information, go to Professor Asim Khwaja's full website and twitter

Asim Ijaz Khwaja is the Director of the Center for International Development and the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, and co-founder of the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP). His areas of interest include economic development, finance, education, political economy, institutions, and contract theory/mechanism design. His research combines extensive fieldwork, rigorous empirical analysis, and microeconomic theory to answer questions that are motivated by and engage with policy.

He has been published in leading economics journals, such as the American Economic Review and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has received coverage in numerous media outlets, such as The Economist, The New York Times, the Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, Al-Jazeera, BBC, and CNN.

His recent work ranges from understanding market failures in emerging financial markets to examining the private education market in low-income countries. He was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 to pursue research on how religious institutions impact individual beliefs.

Khwaja received BS degrees in economics and in mathematics with computer science from MIT and a PhD in economics from Harvard. He was born in London, U.K. and lived in Kano, Nigeria and Lahore, Pakistan before moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts. He continues to enjoy interacting with people around the globe.

Khwaja also serves as the faculty co-chair of a week-long executive education program, "Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy and Practice," aimed primarily at professionals involved in the design and regulation of financial products and services for low-income populations.

Academic Journal/Scholarly Articles

HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series

Transparent Engagement 

Harvard Kennedy School is proud of its energetic involvement in the world. To better understand how to solve public problems by improving policy and leadership, we engage directly with policymakers, public leaders, governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses whose activities affect those problems. However, we recognize that such engagement can raise questions about perceived and potential conflicts of interest, so we disclose publicly the key professional activities of our faculty outside the Kennedy School. The activities disclosed below are for the most recent reporting period, as defined by University policy. Some may be paid, some may be unpaid, and others may be in exchange for expense reimbursement only.

Outside Professional Activities For Asim Khwaja

Organization Relationship
Center for Economic Research Pakistan Fiduciary board membership
Giving Tuesday Fiduciary board membership
Center for Economic Research Pakistan Research or teaching appointment

Contact

Phone: 617-384-7790
Assistant: Linda Almeida

Expertise

Social Policy
Public Finance
Business & Regulation
Science, Technology & Data
Education, Training & Labor
Development & Economic Growth
Social Innovation & Philanthropy

Mailing Address

Harvard Kennedy School
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138