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asad_headshotAsad LiaqatDoctoral candidate, Public Policy PhD program, Harvard Kennedy School

Asad’s field of study is the behavioral political economy of development. The common theme in his research is how underlying societal norms and cues and psychological processes affect interactions among citizens and between citizens and the state. In particular, he is doing research on how citizens’ subjective expectations from the state are formed and what the expectations may mean for government performance. He is also conducting a randomized evaluation of an intervention aimed at fostering empathy and tolerance among school children in Pakistan and India. His ongoing co-authored work is focused on bureaucratic decision making, local government capacity, party responsiveness to voter preferences at a local level and the importance of political connections for local government elections. Asad is a Graduate Student Fellow at the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan, plays for the Harvard Cricket Club and often finds himself reading Urdu poetry during work hours. He holds a BA in Political Economy and Philosophy from Williams College.