Manisha Shah

Manisha Shah is a Professor of Public Policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. She is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Faculty Affiliate at UC Berkeley's Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), and a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Prior to joining UCLA, Shah was an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at UC Irvine.

Shah received her Ph.D. in agriculture and resource economics from UC Berkeley. Her academic journey reflects a strong commitment to addressing critical development challenges through rigorous economic analysis.

As a development economist, Shah's primary research spans several critical areas including:

• The economics of sex markets and HIV/AIDS prevention
• Child health and development
• Sanitation interventions and their health impacts
• Gender-based violence and women's wellbeing
• Public works programs and their economic effects

Shah's research is characterized by extensive fieldwork across multiple countries including Mexico, Ecuador, Indonesia, India, and Tanzania. Her recent work has particularly focused on understanding the impacts of sanitation interventions, the effects of lockdowns on gender-based violence during the pandemic, and mental health interventions for adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries. She frequently employs randomized controlled trials to establish causal relationships in development contexts.

Her scientific contributions have been recognized through prestigious affiliations including:

• National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Faculty Research Fellow
• UC Berkeley's Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) Faculty Affiliate
• Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Research Fellow

Shah serves as an editor at the Journal of Health Economics and an Associate Editor at The Review of Economics and Statistics. Her research has been generously supported by major foundations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the World Bank, and the National Science Foundation. Her work consistently bridges disciplinary boundaries, combining economics with public health and gender studies to address complex development challenges with practical policy implications.