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Applied Economics
Applied Economics for Development, Institutions and Opportunity
My research examines how macroeconomic conditions, human capital, institutions and environmental pressures shape development outcomes in Somalia and sub-Saharan Africa. I am interested in questions that are analytically rigorous, empirically tractable and relevant to public decision-making.
A recurring concern across my work is the quality of transmission: how investment becomes productivity, how education becomes capability, how trade becomes structural transformation, and how policy commitments become institutional performance.
Methods. My work uses time-series and panel-data methods, including autoregressive distributed lag models, nonlinear specifications, causal-inference designs and research-synthesis techniques. Method choice follows the economic question and the structure of the data—not methodological fashion.
Research Areas
Six thematic questions organise my research agenda in Somalia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Human Capital and Inclusive Growth
How education, health, skills and institutional quality influence long-run growth in economies with large youth populations and constrained state capacity.
Food Security, Agriculture and Climate
How agricultural productivity, food prices, environmental degradation and climate variability interact in sub-Saharan Africa.
Macroeconomic Stability, Trade and Investment
Inflation, energy use, trade openness, foreign direct investment and domestic investment as components of structural transformation.
Education-to-Work Transitions
Career-development interventions and school-to-work pathways, including designs that can estimate programme effects.
Digital Transformation and Institutional Resilience
How Somalia’s rapid adoption of mobile and digital services can be made more secure, accountable and development-enhancing.
Publications
Peer-reviewed articles with permanent publisher links.
Peer-Reviewed Record
Policy Briefs
Accessible summaries that translate evidence into institutional and policy implications.
