Fatiq Nadeem

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 tools from applied microeconomics, causal inference, and remote sensing, I examine how non-state institutions can enforce environmental rules where the state cannot and how people respond to gaps in monitoring and enforcement. My research builds satellite measurement systems that detect fires and measure pollution at high resolution, tests which policy instruments change behavior, and partners with policymakers to turn evidence into action.

I carry out most of my research in partnership with local governments and non-governmental 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.