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Research Associate - Direct Benefit Transfers for Electricity - J-PAL South Asia

Research Associate - Direct Benefit Transfers for Electricity - J-PAL South Asia

J-PALindia, India
1 day ago
Job description

About the organization

J-PAL South Asia at the Institute for Financial Management and Research seeks a qualified applicant for the position of Research Associate to lead impact evaluations in India . The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand data and field management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. The Research Associate will join a team of world class researchers from leading universities in the world and will gain first-hand experience implementing Randomized Control Trials in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research.

About the project

Heavy subsidies on electricity used to pump water have spurred agricultural output in India but left farmers with little incentive to conserve power or water. This project tests a new voluntary contract with farmers in Andhra Pradesh by providing them with a fixed target and paid incentives for reductions, effectively splitting the gains in social and producer surplus between farmers and the state. The farmer could choose to spend the lump-sum subsidy on power or to reduce power consumption and keep the money. This refundable power subsidy model has been rolled out in Srikakulam, Eluru and East Godavari districts as an alternate model to the existing agricultural free power scheme and implemented by the Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APEPDCL). We are looking for an RA to join the current team to support the intervention monitoring and endline survey for the study.

The Principal Investigators on the project are Nicholas Ryan (Yale University) and Anant Sudarshan (University of Warwick).

Key responsibilities

The Research Associate (Data) will work closely with the field Research Associate, Research Manager and the academic researchers to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to :

  • Overseeing implementation of the evaluation in accordance to the research design, in association with our partner organization.
  • Designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, conducting quantitative analysis of real time incoming consumer billing data and refining surveying instruments.
  • Working with the Manager to visualize the data in a meaningful manner and develop presentations / briefs / insights to share with the government partner.
  • Assist in preparation of documents and presentations for donor reporting as well as dissemination activities
  • Ensuring project documentation stays up-to-date.
  • Work with field RA to manage field teams
  • Support partner management in Vizag as needed
  • Reporting to PIs on all of the above mentioned activities.

Qualifications and experience

  • Required A Bachelor's / Master’s degree in economics, engineering, social sciences, public policy, or related fieldsFamiliarity with impact evaluations and randomized controlled trials is requiredExcellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skillsFluency and excellent communication skills in English. Working knowledge of Telugu preferred.Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team playerProficiency in STATA (or other data analysis tools such as R, Python etc.)Ability to deal with unstructured and changing environments
  • Desired Master’s degree in economics, engineering or related disciplines is preferredExperience living in a developing country and / or liaising with government officials is a strongly desired but not necessaryWillingness to live in Andhra Pradesh and travel extensively to study areasDemonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizationsAt least 1 year of work experience is desired but not necessaryPrior experience with field data collection is desired but not necessary

    • Location : Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

    Note on work authorizations

    Candidates must have work authorization to work in India.

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