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Faculty


Farah Said

Assistant Professor, Department of Economics & Research Fellow, Centre for Research in Economics and Business (CREB)
Research Interests

Development Economics, Applied Microeconomics, Behavioural Economics

Teaching

Econometrics - Theory (MPhil), Applied Development - Research and Evaluation in Development Economics (MPhil), International Economics (BSc), Introduction to Macroeconomics (BSc), Pakistan Economy (BSc)

Publications

Afzal, U., d'Adda, G., Fafchamps, M., Quinn, S. and Said, F. Two Sides of the Same Rupee? Comparing Demand for Microcredit and Microsaving in a Framed Field Experiment in Rural Pakistan. Forthcoming in Economic Journal.

Said, F. (2016). Access to Finance and Agency: An Overview of the Constraints to Female-Run Enterprises. The Lahore Journal of Economics 21: SE (September 2016), 331 - 349.

Said, F., Afzal, U. and Turner, G. 2015. Risk Taking and Risk Learning after a rare event: Evidence from a field experiment in Pakistan. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 118 (October), 167 - 183.

Turner, G., Said, F. and Afzal, U. 2014. Microinsurance Demand after a Rare Event: Evidence from a field experiment in Pakistan. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice 39 (2), 201 - 223.

Ahmed, H. and Said, F. 2012. Determinants of Export Performance in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from South Asia. Pakistan Development Review Special Edition 51 (4), 227 - 243.

Said, F., Musaddiq, T. and Mahmud M. 2011. Macro Level Determinants of Poverty: Investigation through Poverty Mapping of Districts of Pakistan. Pakistan Development Review Special Edition 50 (4), 895 - 911.

Mahmud, M., Musaddiq, T. and Said, F. 2010. Internal Migration Patterns in Pakistan: Case for fiscal decentralization. Pakistan Development Review Special Edition 49 (4), 593 - 607.

Book Chapter

Turner, G., Said, F., Afzal, U. and Campbell, K. 2014. The Effect of Early Flood Warnings on Mitigation and Recovery during the 2010 Pakistan Floods in Preventing Disaster: Early Warning Systems for Climate Change, United Nations Environmental Programme.

Working Papers

Said, F., Mahmud, M., d'Adda, G and Chaudhry, A. 2017. Hiding Money: Evidence from a field experiment with aspiring female entrepreneurs. CSAE Working Paper No. WPS/2017-07.

Ansari, Z., and Said, F. 2017. Homophily in Strategic Behaviour in Social Interactions: Evidence from a Lab Experiment. CREB Working Paper No. 02-17.

Afzal, U., d'Adda, G., Fafchamps and Said, F. 2016. Gender and Agency within the Household: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan. CEPR Discussion Paper No. 11464.

Afzal, U; Turner, G. and Said, F. 2015. Natural Disasters and Social Capital: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Pakistan. CREB Working Paper No. 02-15.

Work in Progress

  • Comparing Demand for Microcredit and Microsaving in a Framed Field Experiment in Rural Pakistan with Uzma Afzal, Marcel Fafchamps. Giovanna d'Adda and Simon Quinn.
    The study is a Randomized Control Trial designed to compare the effectiveness of micro-savings and micro-loans as means for households to manage risk and liquidity. This research is funded by the IGC and is conducted in collaboration with the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), Pakistan. The research project has also received funding from Department for International Development (DfID) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to carry out a scaled up version of the study that is currently in the field. Previously a pilot was conducted in one district of Punjab, Pakistan in August 2013.
  • Impact assessment of startup loans to female run micro-enterprises with Azam Chaudhry, Giovanna d'Adda, Naved Hamid and Mahreen Mahmud.
    This study is an impact evaluation of a unique micro-loan product with a training component that is provided only to female borrowers to start-up their microenterprise. The research is a collaboration between the Lahore School of Economics and the Kashf Foundation, Pakistan. Baseline activities were funded by the Kashf Foundation and were concluded in August 2014. Endline activities are being funded by the International Growth Centre (IGC).
  • Pressures from peers and spouses and self-control problems as constraints to microenterprise growth: Experimental evidence from Pakistan with with Uzma Afzal, Marcel Fafchamps and Giovanna d'Adda.
    This study will assess the role of self-control problems and peer pressures on take-up and use of a financial product by female micro-entrepreneurs in Pakistan, by combining laboratory and field experiments. This project is funded by the IGC. Pilots for this study were conducted in April, 2015.
  • Access to solar electricity in rural Sindh: Role of payment schedule and planning with Jacopo Bonan, Giovanna d'Adda, Mahreen Mahmud and Massimo Tavoni.
    This research is funded by the IGC and will be conducted in collaboration with Eco Energy Finance (EEF). EEF provides solar energy solutions to customers in o_-grid areas under a pay-as-you-go monthly repayment scheme. This field experiment will use behavioral measures to investigate individual constraints to repayment and the sustainability of this business model.
  • Constraints to Female Entrepreneurship in Pakistan: the role of womens goals and aspirations with Giovanna d'Adda, Mahreen Mahmud and Diego Ubfal.
    This study involves a RCT and behavioural experiments in Punjab, Pakistan to test the role that psychological and social factors have in limiting female autonomous decision making and control over resources. The interventions will be focused changing aspirations, motivation and self-confidence and on setting goals and making plans for business investment as a soft commitment mechanism that can help address self-control problems.
  • Behavioural insights for evidence-based policy making - impact of depression intervention on individual preferences with Sonia Balhotra and Utteeyo Dasgupta.
    This research aims to use lab-in-the-field experiments to identify behavioural effects of depression on women. Among preferences that we expect are modified by depression or violence exposure are the valuation of agency, present-biasedness, risk-aversion and confidence.
  • Breaking the cycle. Reducing non-payment for electricity: experimental evidence from Pakistan with Jacopo Bonan, Giovanna d'Adda, Mahreen Mahmud and Massimo Tavoni.
    This research is funded by the IGC and will be conducted in collaboration with Karachi Electric (KE). Energy provision by KE follows a policy of selective load shedding at the neighborhood level, with the number of hours of outages increasing in the level of losses. Under this policy, the individual decision to pay in full is, therefore, also that of contributing to a local public good. This research will test the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in fostering regular bill payment through a randomised field experiment (RCT) to be conducted in Karachi, Pakistan.
Conference Presentations (last three years)

Said, F., Mahmud, M., d`Adda, G. and Chaudhry, A. Microfinance for Start-ups: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Pakistan. Royal Economic Society Conference, Brighton, UK & CSAE Conference 2018: Economic Development in Africa, Oxford, UK (March 2018).

Said, F., Mahmud, M., d`Adda, G. and Chaudhry, A. Identity and Enterprise: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan. Royal Economic Society Conference, Brighton, UK & CSAE Conference 2018: Economic Development in Africa, Oxford, UK (March 2018).

Said, F., Mahmud, M., d`Adda, G. and Chaudhry, A. Hiding Money: Evidence from a Field Experiment with Aspiring Female Entrepreneurs. Lahore School of Economics and University of Oxford

Conference on Microfinance Products and Processes, Lahore, Pakistan (April 2017). Said, F., Mahmud, M., d`Adda, G. and Chaudhry, A. Agency in Female Entrepreneurs: Evidence from a field experiment in Pakistan. What Works Global Summit, London, UK (September 2016).

Afzal, U., d'Adda, G., Fafchamps, M. and Said, F. Gender and agency within the household: Experimental evidence from Pakistan. Advances with Field Experiments, Chicago, USA (September 2016).

Said, F., Mahmud, M., d`Adda, G. and Chaudhry, A. Agency in Female Entrepreneurs: Evidence from a field experiment in Pakistan. Symposium on Economic Experiments in Developing Countries (SEEDEC), Nairobi, Kenya (July 2016).

Said, F., Mahmud, M., d`Adda, G. and Chaudhry, A. Access to finance and agency: What constrains enterprise? Lahore School of Economics 12th Annual International Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy, Lahore, Pakistan (March 2016).

Said, F., Mahmud, M., d`Adda, G. and Chaudhry, A. Impact assessment of loans to female run start-ups. Lahore School of Economics and University of Oxford Conference on Microfinance and Enterprise Development, Lahore, Pakistan (April 2015).

Afzal, U., d'Adda, G., Fafchamps, M., Quinn, S. and Said, F. Two Sides of the Same Rupee? Comparing Demand for Microcredit and Microsaving in a Framed Field Experiment in Rural Pakistan. CSAE Conference 2015: Economic Development in Africa, Oxford, UK (March, 2015).

Afzal, U., d'Adda, G., Fafchamps, M., Quinn, S. and Said, F. Two Sides of the Same Rupee? Comparing Demand for Microcredit and Microsaving in a Framed Field Experiment in Rural Pakistan. iiG Conference: Improving Institutions for Growth, Oxford, UK (March, 2015).

Workshops Attended

Global School in Empirical Research Methods (GSERM) 2017, held at University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. (June, 2017).

Health and Gender: Global and Economic Perspectives, supported by RCUK-CONFAP Newton Fund and ESRC, conducted by the University of Essex (September, 2016).

Mastering Metrics: An empirical strategies workshop, conducted by Joshua D. Angrist, Ravello, Italy (June, 2015).

Making Impact Evaluation Matter: Better evidence for effective policies and programmes, conducted by 3ie and Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines (September, 2014).

Project and Data Management, conducted by the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan and Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results, Lahore, Pakistan (July, 2012).

Monitoring and Evaluation, conducted by the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan, Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results and J-Pal, Lahore, Pakistan (November, 2011).

Reviewer for

  • The World Bank Economic Review
  • Journal of Economics Behavior and Organization.
  • The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice.
  • Lahore Journal of Economics.

Degrees :
Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Economics, Lahore School of Economics,
Pakistan, August 2013 -May 2018
Advisor: Azam Chaudhry
MSc. Financial Economics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, 2009
BSc. (hons.) Economics (Minor in Accounting and Finance),
Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, 2008
Passed CFA level III in Aug 2014.
Email : farahs@lahoreschool.edu.pk
Tel : 42-36561230 (Ext 183)

Website : https://sites.google.com/
site/farahziasaid/
Office : : Office No. 3,(CREB)

Member of :
Reviewer for: Reviewer for: Journal of Economics Behavior and Organization
The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice
Lahore Journal of Economics.

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