Welcome!
I am currently a PhD candidate in Economics at the London School of Economics and serve as a PhD Scholar at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
My academic journey has led me through various institutions, including IFS (researcher), Princeton (visiting PhD student, 2023), LSE (MRes in Economics, 2018), and Sharif University (MSc in Economics, 2018, and BSc in Mechanical Engineering, 2015).
My research interests are in applied microeconomics, where I utilize empirical methods to explore diverse topics. Currently, my studies are concentrated on investigating the labour market dynamics and the political economy implications of immigration.
PhD in Economics, 2020-24
London School of Economics
MRes in Economics, 2018-20
London School of Economics
MSc in Economics, 2015-17
Sharif University of Technology,
BSc in Mechanical Engineering, 2011-15
Sharif University of Technology
You can download my CV here
Understanding multi-layered sanctions: A firm-level analysis
This paper examines which types of firms are hit by multi-layered sanctions, quantifies the extent of the economic impact on the affected firms, and identifies the channels through which these effects are propagated. To this end, I use a text-based approach from computational linguistics to gauge the exposure of publicly listed Iranian firms to sanctions, validating this measure through its anticipated fluctuation over time and across industries. The findings reveal three key insights. First, Iranian firms report significant challenges due to sanctions, exceeding COVID-19 concerns by up to 20%. Second, politically-connected and non-connected firms suffer equally from sanctions; for every $1 loss inflicted on connected firms, an externality of $5 is imposed on non-connected firms, considering their economic scale. This contradicts the idea that sanctions only inflict harm on political decision-makers. Third, sanctions are hurtful; firms with higher exposure to sanctions endure greater losses in stock market value in the wake of unanticipated sanction events. Sanctions also lead to reduced sales, investment and hiring. Furthermore, the study reveals that sanctions impact firms via several mechanisms, the primary one being the limitation of access to export destinations.
Media Coverage: VoxEU Column
Immigration Backlash: The Political Consequences of Open Borders. (draft available upon request)
Estimating the effect of online food delivery apps on consumers and businesses
Labour Market Dynamics and Political Change in the Europe. (with Tim Besley and Torsten Persson)
Can Environmental Activism Raise Public Awareness? Evidence from more than Thousand Protests. (with Azhar Hussain and Ranjana Sinha)
I’ve taught various courses at LSE, consistently earning teaching evaluations well above the course, department, and LSE averages.
EC101 Introductory Micro (Teacher Evaluation 4.95/5), Summer 2023
EC202 Intermediate Macro (Teacher Evaluation 4.93/5), Summer 2023
EC101 Introductory Micro (Teacher Evaluation 4.6/5), Summer 2022
EC221 Principle of Econometrics (Teacher Evaluation 4.6/5), 2021-22
EC220 Introduction to Econometrics (Teacher Evaluation 4.4/5), 2020-21
EC100 Economics A (Teacher Evaluation 4.5/5), 2019-20
EC102 Economics B (Teacher Evaluation 4.8/5), Summer 2019
Talking is better with coffee.