Welcome! I am an environmental economist at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. I am on the 2026–27 job market.
I study why environmental policies fail in the Global South, with a focus on fires and air pollution. Using applied microeconomics, causal inference, and remote sensing, I examine how non-state institutions shape environmental outcomes, how weak enforcement changes behavior, and how environmental harms affect public institutions. My research develops better ways to measure environmental damage, strengthen enforcement, and help governments translate policy into results.
I carry out most of my research in partnership with local governments and institutions in Pakistan, India, Indonesia, and Bolivia. My work has been published in The Economic Journal, Science, and Energy Policy, and has received competitive funding from the World Bank, the International Growth Centre, the Schmidt Family Foundation, and J-PAL.
Previously, I was a Robert S. McNamara Research Fellow in the World Bank’s Development Research Group and a Predoctoral Fellow at Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP), UCLA. I hold a BSc (Honors) in Economics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan.
Email: mnadeem(at)bren(dot)ucsb(dot)edu
Address: 2400 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5131