Summary
Rachel Sayers is a Research Scientist at AidData's Research and Evaluation Unit, where she conducts impact evaluations on a number of development topics. She combines econometric and GIS analysis methods to design and conduct rigorous evaluations with an emphasis on causal identification. Her primary research interests are labor markets, human capital, household bargaining, and gender. She also co-created AidData's new Gender Equity in Development initiative, which focuses on bringing AidData's geospatial and research expertise to the gender space, and served as a co-chair of the Global Research Institute's Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee. She was previously a Senior Research Analyst at AidData.
Education
Ph.D., Economics, Duke University
M.A., Economics, Duke University
B.A. (Honors), Economics, Political Science and Environmental Science, Loyola University New Orleans
Background
Prior to joining AidData, Rachel completed her Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics at Duke University. Her dissertation focused on the differential effect of labor market shocks by gender, as well as how such differential effects affect household bargaining and decision-making. While at Duke University, Rachel also earned Duke's Certificate in College Teaching. During her graduate studies, Rachel taught undergraduate introductory microeconomics at Durham Technical Community College, served as a guest lecturer and teaching assistant for undergraduate development economics at Duke University, and worked as a teaching assistant for two of IZA's short courses on causal impact evaluation methods for graduate students and policy-makers in Bangladesh and Zambia. Prior to her graduate studies, Rachel completed her B.A. with Honors at Loyola University New Orleans.