{{distinguish|Manish Shah (disambiguation){{!}}Manish Shah}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2019}} {{Infobox economist |name = Manisha Shah |image = |image_size = |alt = |caption = |birth_date = |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |residence = |citizenship = United States |nationality = |ethnicity = |field = Economics <br /> Development |institution = University of California, Berkeley <br>University of California, Los Angeles <br> University of California, Irvine |alma_mater = B.A. (1995), Ph.D. (2006), University of California, Berkeley<br> MSc in Development Studies (1997) London School of Economics |doctoral_advisor = Ethan Ligon |doctoral_students = |known_for = |prizes = |website = [https://manishashah.net/ Official website] |repec_prefix = e | repec_id = psh195 }}
'''Manisha Shah''' is an American economist and academic who serves as Chancellor's Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/faculty/manisha-shah|title=Manisha Shah - Goldman School of Public Policy|access-date=29 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.elsevier.com/journals/journal-of-health-economics/0167-6296/editorial-board|title=Editorial board - Journal of Health Economics - ISSN 0167-6296|last=Elsevier|website=www.elsevier.com}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://gspp.berkeley.edu/assets/uploads/faculty/cv/Shah_CV_2023.pdf|title=Manisha Shah CV |access-date=29 January 2024}}</ref> She is a development economist whose primary research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of applied microeconomics, health, and gender.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Affairs |first=Public |date=2024-02-20 |title=Meet our new faculty: Manisha Shah, economics |url=https://news.berkeley.edu/2024/02/20/meet-our-new-faculty-manisha-shah-economics/ |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=Berkeley News |language=en}}</ref>
== Education == Shah earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Development Studies from University of California at Berkeley in 1995.<ref name=":1" /> She subsequently received an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics in 1997. Returning to UC Berkeley, she completed both an MS (2003) and a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics (2006).<ref name=":0" />
== Career == Shah spent much of her academic career at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she progressed from Assistant Professor to Professor in the Department of Public Policy.<ref name=":1" /> During her tenure at UCLA, she held several leadership roles, including Vice-Chair of the department from 2017 to 2020<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foulsham |first=George |date=2017-12-11 |title=The Goal: Making Diversity Redundant |url=https://luskin.ucla.edu/goal-making-diversity-redundant |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=UCLA Luskin |language=en-US}}</ref>, Founding Director of the Global Lab for Research in Action from 2019 to 2023<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Day |first=Zoe |date=2021-06-07 |title=Shah Calls for Decriminalization of Sex Work |url=https://luskin.ucla.edu/shah-calls-for-decriminalization-of-sex-work |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=UCLA Luskin |language=en-US}}</ref>, and Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. Chair in Social Justice from 2021 to 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunseith |first=Les |date=2021-11-15 |title=Endowed Chair Awarded in Honor of Former Dean Gilliam |url=https://luskin.ucla.edu/endowed-chair-awarded-in-honor-of-former-dean-gilliam |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=UCLA Luskin |language=en-US}}</ref>
Shah returned to UC Berkeley in 2023 when she was appointed Chancellor's Professor in 2023.<ref name=":2" />
She has also held appointments in the Economics Department at the University of Melbourne from 2006 to 2009, UC Irvine from 2009 to 2012 served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing from 2010 to 2011.<ref name=":1" />
Shah has served as Editor of the Journal of Health Economics from 2018 to 2025, and is currently an Associate Editor of The Review of Economics and Statistics since 2021 as well as an Editorial Board Member of the ''American Economic Review'' since 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-23 |title=Manisha Shah {{!}} IPA |url=https://poverty-action.org/people/manisha-shah |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=poverty-action.org |language=en}}</ref>
Shah is a Faculty Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and maintains affiliations with leading research organizations<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manisha Shah |url=https://g2lm-lic.iza.org/investigators/manisha-shah/ |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=g2lm-lic.iza.org}}</ref>, including the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manisha Shah |url=https://www.povertyactionlab.org/person/shah |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) |language=en}}</ref>, the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Manisha Shah |url=https://cega.berkeley.edu/person/manisha-shah/ |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=cega.berkeley.edu |language=en-US}}</ref>, and the California Center for Population Research (CCPR).<ref name=":1" />
Beyond her editorial work, she has contributed to the field through service on National Science Foundation economics panels, committees of the National Academies of Sciences, and multiple international advisory boards, reflecting her extensive influence on both the research and policy communities.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Manisha Shah |url=https://www.theigc.org/people/manisha-shah |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=International Growth Centre |language=en}}</ref>
== Research and scholarly work == Her research has been supported by major institutions, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Bank, National Science Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, National Institutes of Health, J-PAL, and Innovations for Poverty Action.<ref name=":0" />
Shah's research agenda spans applied microeconomics<ref>{{Cite web |title=Applied Microeconomics Seminar - Dec 5th, 2024 |url=https://www.sciencespo.fr/department-economics/events/applied-microeconomics-seminar-dec-5th-2024/ |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=Department of economics |language=en}}</ref>, international development, global health, and policy evaluation, with a central focus on how public policies and interventions can improve health outcomes, education, human capital formation, and economic wellbeing in low- and middle-income settings.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shah |first1=Manisha |last2=Steinberg |first2=Bryce |date=2019 |title=The Right to Education Act: Trends in Enrollment, Test Scores, and School Quality |url=https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20191060 |journal=AEA Papers and Proceedings |language=en |volume=109 |pages=232–238 |doi=10.1257/pandp.20191060 |issn=2574-0768}}</ref> Her work combines rigorous empirical methods including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), impact evaluations, and quasi‑experimental designs to provide causal evidence on the effects of social programs and policies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manisha Shah {{!}} Agricultural & Resource Economics |url=https://are.berkeley.edu/people/manisha-shah |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=are.berkeley.edu}}</ref>
=== Global Health ===
==== Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual behaviors ==== Her research explores interventions that target female adolescents and their male partners to reduce IPV in East Africa. Her work has focused on involving males in the endeavor to decrease global IPV.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Intimate partner violence: Causes, costs and prevention |url=https://voxdev.org/topic/health/intimate-partner-violence-causes-costs-and-prevention |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=VoxDev |language=en}}</ref> She has written a paper which documents insights from the economics literature on causal and cost-effective methods to decrease IPV in LMICs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shah |first1=Manisha |last2=Barski |first2=Lydia |title=Intimate Partner Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Insights from Economic Research |url=https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.20251769 |journal=Journal of Economic Literature |language=en |doi=10.1257/jel |issn=0022-0515}}</ref>
==== Pandemic effects on violence and well-being ==== She documents how strict COVID-19 lockdowns correlated with increased reports of domestic violence (shadow pandemic)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ravindran |first1=Saravana |last2=Shah |first2=Manisha |date=2023 |title=Unintended consequences of lockdowns, COVID-19 and the Shadow Pandemic in India |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01513-5 |journal=Nature Human Behaviour |language=en |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=323–331 |doi=10.1038/s41562-022-01513-5 |pmid=36658214 |issn=2397-3374}}</ref>and how containment measures affected women's mental health and food security in India.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bau |first1=Natalie |last2=Khanna |first2=Gaurav |last3=Low |first3=Corinne |last4=Shah |first4=Manisha |last5=Sharmin |first5=Sreyashi |last6=Voena |first6=Alessandra |date=2022-05-01 |title=Women's well-being during a pandemic and its containment |journal=Journal of Development Economics |volume=156 |article-number=102839 |doi=10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102839 |pmid=35221446 |pmc=8860469 |issn=0304-3878}}</ref>
==== Health system responses and provider behaviors/biases ==== Shah's work in health economics investigates how health system characteristics and provider practices shape service quality and uptake in low‑income countries. In large RCTs across Tanzania, Burkina Faso, and Pakistan, she evaluates strategies to reduce bias among health care providers in family planning, improving the quality of reproductive services. She examines disparities in reproductive health care quality, showing persistent gaps in care for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXsLuXEJRWQ |title=Contraception without prejudice: Reducing bias in family planning |date=2025-08-13 |last=VoxDev |access-date=2026-03-10 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
Her recent work evaluates strategies to reduce bias among health care providers in family planning, improving the quality of reproductive services. She examines disparities in reproductive health care quality, showing persistent gaps in care for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXsLuXEJRWQ |title=Contraception without prejudice: Reducing bias in family planning |date=2025-08-13 |last=VoxDev |access-date=2026-03-10 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
==== Child health and sanitation infrastructure ==== A significant strand of Shah's research explores the impact of sanitation and infrastructure improvements on health and nutrition outcomes. In a multi‑country randomized field experiment, she and collaborators documented how increases in village sanitation coverage driven by behavior change and facility access led to measurable improvements in child height and health outcomes, with large gains observed once coverage passed defined thresholds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cameron |first1=Lisa |last2=Gertler |first2=Paul |last3=Shah |first3=Manisha |last4=Alzua |first4=Maria Laura |last5=Martinez |first5=Sebastian |last6=Patil |first6=Sumeet |date=2022-11-01 |title=The dirty business of eliminating open defecation: The effect of village sanitation on child height from field experiments in four countries |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387822001328 |journal=Journal of Development Economics |volume=159 |article-number=102990 |doi=10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102990 |pmid=39583182 |issn=0304-3878}}</ref>
=== Human capital, education, and labor === Shah studies how economic opportunities, public works programs, and early‑life conditions affect schooling and skill formation among children and adolescents.<ref name=":0" /> Her work explores the tradeoffs between labor supply and education investment, showing how program rollouts that increase labor demand can reduce school enrollment in some contexts while also generating long‑term welfare effects.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Bau |first1=Natalie |title=Human Capital Investment in the Presence of Child Labor |date=2020 |type=Working Paper |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w27241 |access-date=2026-03-10 |series=Working Paper Series |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |doi=10.3386/w27241 |id=27241 |last2=Rotemberg |first2=Martin |last3=Shah |first3=Manisha |last4=Steinberg |first4=Bryce}}</ref>
She has investigated how aggregate employment programs, such as India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), impacted economic activity and output, showing that these programs can increase aggregate economic indicators while generating heterogeneous regional effects.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Cook |first1=C. Justin |title=Aggregate Effects from Public Works: Evidence from India |date=2020 |type=Working Paper |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w27395 |access-date=2026-03-10 |series=Working Paper Series |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |doi=10.3386/w27395 |id=27395 |last2=Shah |first2=Manisha}}</ref> She has also examined how this rural workfare program in India (NREGS) influenced adolescent labor versus schooling decisions, providing evidence on how expanding labor opportunities alters human capital investment.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Shah |first1=Manisha |title=Workfare and Human Capital Investment: Evidence from India |date=2015 |type=Working Paper |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w21543 |access-date=2026-03-10 |series=Working Paper Series |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |doi=10.3386/w21543 |id=21543 |last2=Steinberg |first2=Bryce Millett}}</ref>
Her research also addresses the long‑term effects of early life conditions, such as weather shocks and livelihoods, on later educational outcomes and income trajectories.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shah |first1=Manisha |last2=Steinberg |first2=Bryce Millett |date=April 2017 |title=Drought of Opportunities: Contemporaneous and Long-Term Impacts of Rainfall Shocks on Human Capital |journal=Journal of Political Economy |volume=125 |issue=2 |pages=527–561 |doi=10.1086/690828 |issn=0022-3808}}</ref>
=== Other research === Shah is one of the leading economists who has studied the economics of sex work in both developing countries and the United States. Her study ''Risky Business: The Market for Unprotected Sex'' with Paul Gertler and Stefano Bertozzi was published in 2005 in the ''Journal of Political Economy''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Risky Business: The Market for Unprotected Commercial Sex|first1=Paul|last1=Gertler|first2=Manisha|last2=Shah|first3=Stefano M.|last3=Bertozzi|date=1 June 2005|journal=Journal of Political Economy|volume=113|issue=3|pages=518–550|doi=10.1086/429700|citeseerx = 10.1.1.194.8463|s2cid=14622205}}</ref> The study focused on how beauty and willingness to have unprotected sex affected the bargaining power and earnings of sex workers in Mexico.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Arunachalam |first1=Raj |last2=Shah |first2=Manisha |title=The Prostitute's Allure: The Return to Beauty in Commercial Sex Work |journal=The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy |date=13 December 2012 |volume=12 |issue=1 |doi=10.1515/1935-1682.3203 |s2cid=30002925 }}</ref>
Since then Shah has written papers on impacts of regulating sex markets showing with Scott Cunningham that decriminalization of indoor sex work in Rhode Island decreased STI transmission and reported rape offenses.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cunningham |first1=Scott |last2=Shah |first2=Manisha |date=2018-07-01 |title=Decriminalizing Indoor Prostitution: Implications for Sexual Violence and Public Health |url=https://academic.oup.com/restud/article/85/3/1683/4756165 |journal=The Review of Economic Studies |language=en |volume=85 |issue=3 |pages=1683–1715 |doi=10.1093/restud/rdx065 |issn=0034-6527}}</ref> In another seminar paper Shah and co-authors Lisa Cameron and Jennifer Seager show that criminalizing brothels in Indonesia increases the spread of STIs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cameron |first=Lisa |last2=Seager |first2=Jennifer |last3=Shah |first3=Manisha |date=2020-12-22 |title=Crimes Against Morality: Unintended Consequences of Criminalizing Sex Work* |url=https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/136/1/427/5912394 |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |language=en |volume=136 |issue=1 |pages=427–469 |doi=10.1093/qje/qjaa032 |issn=0033-5533}}</ref>
== Honors and awards ==
* Chancellor's Professorship, University of California, Berkeley (2023)<ref name=":2" /> * Professor of the Year, UCLA Department of Public Policy (2018)<ref name=":3" /> * Quartz Media Award for Best Economics Research (2017)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-22 |title=13 economists on the research that shaped our world in 2017 |url=https://qz.com/1158930/13-economists-on-the-best-research-of-2017 |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=Quartz |language=en}}</ref> * Dean's Teaching Award, University of Melbourne (2008)<ref name=":1" /> * Keynote Speaker, Liberal Arts Colleges Conference on Development Economics (2025)<ref name=":5" /> * Keynote Speaker, French Economic Association Congress (2025)<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFSE Annual Congress 2025 - Sciencesconf.org |url=https://afse2025.sciencesconf.org/ |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=afse2025.sciencesconf.org}}</ref> * Keynote Speaker, Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society (2022)<ref>{{Cite web |title=2022 Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society in East and South-East Asia, Tokyo, Japan |url=https://editorialexpress.com/conference/AMES2022T/program/AMES2022T.html |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=editorialexpress.com}}</ref> * Keynote Speaker, Korean Economic Association (2022)<ref name=":4" /> * Keynote Speaker, Latin American Health Economics Network Workshop (2024)<ref name=":5" />
== Selected publications == *{{Cite journal |last1=Cameron |first1=Lisa |last2=Shah |first2=Manisha |date=2015 |title=Risk-Taking Behavior in the Wake of Natural Disasters |journal=Journal of Human Resources |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=484–515 |doi=10.3368/jhr.50.2.484 |issn=0022-166X}} *{{Cite journal |last1=Cunningham |first1=Scott |last2=Shah |first2=Manisha |date=2017-12-20 |title=Decriminalizing Indoor Prostitution: Implications for Sexual Violence and Public Health |journal=The Review of Economic Studies |volume=85 |issue=3 |pages=1683–1715 |doi=10.1093/restud/rdx065 |issn=0034-6527}} *{{Cite journal |last1=Gertler |first1=Paul |last2=Shah |first2=Manisha |last3=Bertozzi |first3=Stefano M. |date=2005 |title=Risky Business The Market for Unprotected Commercial Sex |journal=Journal of Political Economy |volume=113 |issue=3 |pages=518–550 |doi=10.1086/429700 |issn=0022-3808}} *{{Cite journal |last1=Cameron |first1=Lisa |last2=Seager |first2=Jennifer |last3=Shah |first3=Manisha |date=2020-09-26 |title=Crimes Against Morality: Unintended Consequences of Criminalizing Sex Work* |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |volume=136 |issue=1 |pages=427–469 |doi=10.1093/qje/qjaa032 |issn=0033-5533}} *{{Cite journal |last1=Shah |first1=Manisha |last2=Steinberg |first2=Bryce Millett |date=2017 |title=Drought of Opportunities: Contemporaneous and Long-Term Impacts of Rainfall Shocks on Human Capital |journal=Journal of Political Economy |volume=125 |issue=2 |pages=527–561 |doi=10.1086/690828 |issn=0022-3808}} *{{Cite journal |last1=Ravindran |first1=Saravana |last2=Shah |first2=Manisha |date=2023-01-19 |title=Unintended consequences of lockdowns, COVID-19 and the Shadow Pandemic in India |journal=Nature Human Behaviour |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=323–331 |doi=10.1038/s41562-022-01513-5 |pmid=36658214 |issn=2397-3374}} *{{Cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=Tom Y. |last2=Jacobson |first2=Mireille |last3=Shah |first3=Manisha |last4=Kopetsky |first4=Matthew |last5=Pramanik |first5=Rajiv |last6=Shah |first6=Samir B. |date=2023-07-24 |title=Reminders, but not monetary incentives, increase COVID-19 booster uptake |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=120 |issue=31 |article-number=e2302725120 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2302725120 |doi-access=free |pmid=37487101 |pmc=10400997 |bibcode=2023PNAS..12002725C |issn=0027-8424}} *{{Cite journal |last1=Cameron |first1=Lisa |last2=Olivia |first2=Susan |last3=Shah |first3=Manisha |date=2019 |title=Scaling up sanitation: Evidence from an RCT in Indonesia |journal=Journal of Development Economics |volume=138 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.12.001 |pmid=31057208 |issn=0304-3878}} *{{Cite book |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199915248.001.0001 |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Prostitution |date=2016-12-05 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-991524-8 |editor-last=Cunningham |editor-first=Scott |series=Oxford Handbooks Online |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199915248.001.0001 |editor-last2=Shah |editor-first2=Manisha}} *{{Cite journal |last1=Shah |first1=Manisha |last2=Baird |first2=Sarah |last3=Seager |first3=Jennifer |last4=Avuwadah |first4=Benjamin |last5=Hamory |first5=Joan |last6=Sabarwal |first6=Shwetlena |last7=Vyas |first7=Amita |date=2023-11-07 |title=Improving Mental Health of Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries |journal=Journal of Human Resources |volume=59 |issue=S |pages=S317–S364 |doi=10.3368/jhr.1222-12707r2 |issn=0022-166X}}
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Manisha}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American economists Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni