Adnan Qadir Khan

Adnan Qadir Khan is a Professor at the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he previously served as Academic Director. He is currently on secondment as Chief Economist to the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), maintaining a teaching role at LSE. His research focuses on state capacity, economic development, political economy, and state fragility, with over 15 years of policy experience. Khan has held roles at the International Growth Centre, Harvard Kennedy School, and Princeton University, and co-chaired the LSE-Oxford Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development. His work bridges academia and policy, emphasizing evidence-based reform and bureaucratic performance improvement.

Education details are not explicitly listed, but his career trajectory indicates advanced training in public policy and economics. Research interests include decentralization, public finance, and social protection programs, with field experiments in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Africa. He has advised international organizations and governments on capacity-building strategies, emphasizing incentive structures for public servants and institutional reforms. Key collaborations include J-PAL MIT, Harvard’s Building State Capability program, and the International Growth Centre.

Publications span bureaucratic performance, tax policy, and governance, with recent focus areas including pandemic response strategies and SDG implementation. His experimental studies, such as incentive-based postings for bureaucrats, have informed policy in multiple countries. Khan’s current initiatives include steering UN SDG coalitions and evaluating British International Investment programs.