Samuel Bazzi

Samuel Bazzi has been selected as an Institute Junior Faculty Fellow beginning in fall 2014.  Samuel is an assistant professor of Economics and a development economist with a Ph.D. in Economics from University of California, San Diego in 2013. He currently works with large-scale administrative datasets to study topics at the intersection of labor and macroeconomics. He has published papers investigating (i) the effect of foreign aid on economic growth, (ii) econometric best practice in identifying the causes of economic growth, and (iii) the effect of global commodity price shocks on civil war in low-income countries.  Bazzi’s present research agenda is focused on three areas. First, he examines the causes and consequences of labor mobility in the process of economic development. One study looks at the long-run effects of large-scale population resettlement on regional inequality. Second, he investigates the role of access to finance in driving the entry and growth small, productive firms. Third, he explores the role of political decentralization as an alternative to violent conflict in ethnically diverse, resource-rich societies. Most of his research is based in the large emerging markets of Brazil and Indonesia.