I am a Professor of Economics in the School of Business, Monash University Malaysia.  
Previously I have worked at the University of Malaya as a Full Professor (2014-2022) and Deputy Director of the Centre for Poverty and Development Studies (2014-2016)Reading University (UK) as an assistant professor (2007-2013); BRAC (research and evaluation division) as a Distinguished Fellow; BRAC University as a Senior Fellow; honorary research adviser to BRAC International (Afghanistan) and have held visiting positions at Harvard University (Centre for International development) and Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). 

Other current affiliations include: research associate at SKOPE (Dept of Education, University of Oxford), visiting Fellow in Economics at Reading University, visiting Professorial Fellow (Hon.) at the University of Manchestervisiting Professor at the Mindanao State University (MSU) and Chulalongkorn University (College of Population Studies)research member of the Centre on Effective States and Inclusive Development (ESID), Research Fellow at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Southeast Asia Lead of the Global Labor OrganizationRSA Life Fellow and Fellow of the ESRC Peer Review College

Among my other academic responsibilities, I serve as an Academic Editor of PLOS One, Associate Editor of Singapore Economic Review Co-Editor of International Journal of Educational Development (IJED),  Associate Editor of the Journal of Human Development and Capabilitiesand on the editorial advisory board of 4 academic journals - Poverty & Public PolicyJournal of Public AffairsCOMPARE (Journal of International and Comparative Education) Asia Pacific Education Review, Talim: Journal of Education in Muslim Societies and Communities and Malaysian Economic Journal

My current research interests include development economics, economics of education and labor economics. Current research draws upon data from South and South-East Asia and focuses on issues such as inter-generational economic mobility, subjective well-being, causes and consequence of extreme poverty, inequality of opportunity, quality of secondary schools and the rise of Islamic schools (aka madrasahs), and the low level of student learning in schools. For my research, I've held resident and project assignments in 10 countries across the Middle East (Jordan), Far East (Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam), South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan) and Africa (Ethiopia, Nigeria). 

Outside academia, I have held policy advisory positions in the Government of Malaysia -- with Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) and Ministry of Food and Agriculture (as a Permanent member of the National Agricultural Advisory Council (MPPN)). I have also completed numerous policy/consultancy assignments for international agencies such as the Global Education Commission, the Asian Productivity Organization, Oxford Policy Management, American Institutes for ResearchUN-ESCAP, UNESCO, the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO)The most prominent policy report is the first-ever global assessment of education quality in Islamic (OIC) countries.

I also regularly contribute to the international media and have so far published 200+ commentary articles /opinion pieces in newspapers/magazines including the Project Syndicate, the Conversation, World Economic Forum, the Diplomat, the East Asia ForumD+C Development & Cooperation,  and World Education Forum (UNESCO). I've also appeared on interviews with Al-jazeera, ABC Australia, Astro Awani TV (Malaysia), BBC World Service, Business FM Malaysia, the Economist, the Star (Malaysia),  the Edge Financial Daily (Malaysia) & Daily Sabah (Turkey). For further details on media appearance and publications, please visit "newspaper opeds & media"

As for academic research, I have published widely in economics as well as development studies journals and leading multidisciplinary journalsFor further details on these works, please click on "publications"

Want to get in touchYou can contact me using any of the following email addresses:

Monash University Malaysia email id: niaz.asadullah @ monash.edu
University of Reading email id: m.asadullah @ reading.ac.uk