Research Associate Position – Emissions Trading Scheme – J-PAL South Asia

J-PAL South Asia, a regional office of J-PAL, is based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research in India and leads J-PAL’s work in the South Asia region. J-PAL South Asia conducts randomized evaluations, builds partnerships for evidence-informed policymaking, and helps partners scale up effective programs.

We have a growing number of partnerships in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In 2011, we were selected to host the South Asia Center for CLEAR, a global initiative coordinated by the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group. Under this initiative, we host a knowledge sharing roundtable series and equip practitioners with the expertise to carry out rigorous evaluations through training courses, advisory services, and joint research projects.

Company Description:

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) seeks qualified applicants for positions as Research Associates for projects on agriculture, education, environment, finance, health, labor, and governance in locations around the world. The projects study a variety of topics within the previously listed fields. The positions offer an opportunity to gain first-hand field management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. These positions are located primarily in developing countries around the world and the principal investigators are J-PAL affiliated professors.

Education: Bachelor’s Master’s

Start Date (Earliest):  1 March 2023

Start Date (Latest): 30 March 2023

Language Requirement: Hindi

Length of Commitment: One year

Research Associate Position – Emissions Trading Scheme

Project Title: Emissions Trading Scheme – Clean Air Markets

Country: India

State: Gujarat (Surat / Ahmedabad)

Start Date: 1 March

Length of Commitment: 14 months

Education: Bachelors/Master’s in Economics, Engineering or related fields

Organization: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR

Project Description:

The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) project is a collaborative exercise between the Central Pollution Control Board,

Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, State Pollution Control Boards of  Gujarat, J-PAL South Asia at IFMR and EPIC-India to implement and evaluate a pilot ETS across  pollutants like particulate matter and carbon in India. The position offers an opportunity to gain first-  hand research experience, including field operations and with the chance to be placed directly at  Centre and State departments like the Climate Change Dept. and the Energy Dept., working in  government policy building, in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. This  research team is headed by Prof. Michael Greenstone (UChicago), Prof. Rohini Pande (Kennedy  School of Government, Harvard), Dr. Nicholas Ryan (Yale University), and Dr. Anant Sudarshan  (Executive Director, EPIC).

Research Associate Roles and Responsibilities:

The RA will work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to:

• Overseeing implementation of the evaluation in accordance to the research design, in association with our partner organizations.
• Maintaining relationships with partner organizations at both headquarters and field levels
• Supervising data collection and data-entry and ensuring data quality and productivity
• Designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running scoping exercises, refining study design and surveying instruments.
• Managing field teams: Recruit, train, and supervise both field-based and data operations teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators and other field and office staff.
• Assisting with data cleaning, preliminary data analysis, and preparation of documents and presentations for dissemination.
• Reporting to PIs and supervisor on all the above-mentioned activities.

Required Qualifications and Experience:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Economics (or related fields like Political Sc) or Engineering
• At least 1 year of work experience
• Familiarity with impact evaluations and randomized controlled trials is required
• Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills
• Fluency in Hindi and English and strong communication skills are required.
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player
• Willingness to live in Gujarat and travel extensively to study areas
• Basic knowledge of STATA or other data analysis tool

Desired:

• Master’s degree in economics, engineering or related disciplines is preferred
• Experience living in a developing country and/or liaising with government officials is a strongly desired
• Prior experience with field data collection
• Proficiency in STATA (or other tools such as R, SPSS etc.) is desired
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations We are looking for a commitment period of 14 months for this position.

Note on Work Authorizations: Candidates must have work authorization to work in India. This covers citizens of India, Nepal or Bhutan, Persons of Indian origin (PIO), and an Overseas Citizens of India (OCI).

How to Apply
If you are interested in this position, please click on the apply button ; the first-time users will be asked to sign up and upload your CV, cover letter, and academic transcripts (optional).

Any queries, please write to recruitment.jpalsa@ifmr.ac.in.