A bit about me:
- I’m an Economist at the International Growth Centre (IGC) based at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford working on public finance and urban governance.
- My job is to support better urban policymaking in developing countries, I do this through (1) working directly with policymakers on specific policy reforms, (2) working with economists to create actionable research that is in-demand by policymakers, and (3) combine research and practical experiences into clearly communicable policy directions.
- I also write on public policy in Pakistan.
I tweet @ShahrukhWani and can be emailed at s[dot]rukh[at]lse.ac.uk. I’m a citizen of Pakistan, and presently live in London.
Webpages: International Growth Centre / Blavatnik School of Government
Lectures, Panels and Conferences:
- “Institutional fragmentation in urban governance.” Presentation. Blavatnik School of Government and the Said Business School Joint Early Career Research Showcase. 3rdJuly 2019.
- “Kabul: identity and legitimacy in a fragile context.” Panel chair and organizer. University of Oxford’s Challenges of Government Conference 2019. 31st October 2019 (video here).
- “Financing Punjab’s cities: Land and property taxes workshop.” Speaker and workshop moderator. International Growth Center and Government of Punjab. 1st September 2019. (more)
- “Governing fast-growing cities.” Presentation. Peking University. December 2019.
- “Taxing Land and Property for urban service delivery in Pakistan.” Speaker. Federal Board of Revenue. Lahore, Pakistan. 3rd March 2020. (presentation here).
Policy Publications:
- “Designed to succeed: Building authorising environments for fast-growing cities” with Sir Paul Collier (Oxford), Edward Glaeser (Harvard), Tony Venables (Oxford), and Astrid Haas (IGC). International Growth Center.
- “Public-private partnerships in urban settings.” with with Sir Paul Collier (Oxford), Edward Glaeser (Harvard), Tony Venables (Oxford), and Priya Manwaring (IGC). International Growth Center.
- “Urban Property Taxes in Pakistan’s Punjab.” with Hina Shaikh (IGC) and Oliver Harman (IGC). International Growth Center.
Commentary:
Cross-country:
- Making policy decisions under uncertainty. International Growth Centre, 23 Jun 2020.. with Paul Collier (Oxford) and Vicky Delbridge (IGC).
- In defence of density. International Growth Centre. 3rd July 2020. with Solly Angel (NYU), Patrick Lamson-Hall (NYU), and Oliver Harman (IGC).
- Navigating the Urban Age. Oxford Government Review 4. 6th November 2019. with Oliver Harman (IGC).
- Urbanisation in Fragile Societies: Thinking about Kabul. Urbanet. December 4th 2019. with Oliver Harman (IGC), Freshta Karim (Charmaghz), and Shoaib Rahim (Kabul Municipality).
- Using Markets for Development? The Potential of Advanced Market Commitments, London School of Economics Blog. January 30th, 2018
- What Does the Rise of Populism Mean for International Development?, London School of Economics Blog. March 23rd, 2018
- Getting the right institutions in place to run Africa’s cities efficiently, The Conversation Africa.(with Astrid Haas, Policy Director IGC) May 15, 2019
On Pakistan:
- Sugar and the making of a rentier economy, The Express Tribune, May 8, 2020. with Adeel Malik (ODID, Oxford)
- Pakistan’s urban transition, DAWN, November 23, 2019
- So, what comes after the IMF?, DAWN, June 10, 2019
- Why Pakistan will go to the IMF again, and again and again, DAWN, October 16, 2018
- Has Punjab just taken a step towards unlocking the potential of its cities?, DAWN, May 10, 2019
- How do you pay for a programme like PTI’s Ehsas?, DAWN, April 24, 2019
- Imran Khan envisions a Pakistani welfare state. Is it possible?, DAWN, August 28, 2018
- Are insecure property rights holding back Pakistan’s economy?, DAWN, Jan 17, 2019
- For too long, Pakistani schools have been a means to provide jobs, rather than education, The Guardian Tue 27 Jun 2017
- Reforming Pakistan’s tax system: Evidence-based suggestions, International Growth Centre, 3rd Dec 2018.
- The Case of Culture of Learning for Pakistan, Alif Ailaan, May 28th, 2018 (compensation was received from DAI Global for this article)
In media
Note: I don’t represent the views of Oxford or IGC in my conversations with the press
- (Video, Urdu) Interview Dawn News’s primetime news program Newswise on Pakistan’s COVID19 response in June 2020.
- (Text, English) Comments for Dawn on changes to the federal budget by the Pakistani government in Sep 2018.
- (Text, Urdu) Interviewed by BBC’s Urdu service on Pakistan’s stock market stabilisation fund in June 2019.
- (Text, Urdu) Interviewed by BBC’s Urdu service on Imran Khan’s first year in office in August 2019.
- (Video, Urdu) On Dawn News’s primetime news program Newswise to talk about a new decentralisation law in Punjab. 10th of May, 2019 (video here)
- (Video, English) On Indus Special with Ejaz Haider to talk about urban governance in Pakistan. 16th May 2019. (video here)
- (Video, English) Interviewed by World Bank – LUMS’s collaboration Pakistan at 100 on cities in Pakistan. (video here)
- (Video, Urdu) On Dawn News’s current affairs talkshow, Zara Hut Kay, to talk about Pakistan’s agreement with the IMF. 13th of May, 2019. (video)
- (Text, English) Interviewed by Arab News of Pakistan’s social spending push. 26 January 2020.
Audio
- (English) I had a conversation with Professor Jean-Paul Faguet of the London School of Economics on institutional change. (Soundcloud)
- (English) I and, my friend, Jovan talked to Professor Naila Kabeer of the London School of Economics. (Soundcloud)
- (English) I was interviewed as part of LSE South Asia Centre’s podcast on Cities in South Asia. (Soundcloud).
