Miguel Niño-Zarazúa

Miguel Niño-Zarazúa is a Reader in Development Economics in the Department of Economics at SOAS University of London, a Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at the United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), and Research Associate of the Health Economics Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford. His research spans poverty and inequality measurement with applications across labor markets, welfare institutions, and the political economy of foreign aid, state capacity, taxation, and redistribution. His work has a particular geographic focus on sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia.

His research interests encompass social protection and welfare institutions in the global south, informality and labor market policies, poverty, social exclusion, inequality and polarization, tax policy and redistribution, economics of microfinance, aid and development, and the political economy of state capacity. His recent publications reveal a strong focus on social exclusion measurement, income inequality, lifespan disparity, and the relationship between clientelism and development outcomes.

Niño-Zarazúa's scholarly contributions demonstrate consistent engagement with major development challenges through rigorous empirical analysis. His work on social exclusion has provided the first global estimates of populations at risk, while his research on lifespan disparity has created open repositories tracking inequality in length of life across decades. His scholarship bridges theoretical frameworks with practical policy implications for social protection systems worldwide.

• Research Associate, Health Economics Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford
• Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow, UNU-WIDER

As Director of Teaching and Learning in the Department of Economics, Niño-Zarazúa oversees academic programs and instructional quality. His extensive publication record across top journals including Nature Scientific Data, World Development, and Journal of African Economies demonstrates significant scholarly impact. His 2019 book 'The Politics of Social Protection in Eastern and Southern Africa' represents a major contribution to understanding social protection systems in the global south.