Rema Hanna


Rema Hanna is an economist and is the Jeffrey Cheah Professor of South East Asia Studies at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Moreover, she currently serves as Co-Director of the Evidence for Policy Design research programme at Harvard's Center for International Development and a Scientific Co-Director for Southeast Asia at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. Her research focuses on the efficiency and effectiveness of public services in developing countries.

Biography

Rema Hanna earned a B.S. in policy analysis from Cornell University in 1999 and a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005. After graduating, she became an assistant professor in New York University's Wagner School of Public Service and its Department of Economics. In 2009, Hanna moved to Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government as junior faculty, where she was promoted to Jeffrey Cheah Professor of South East Asia Studies in 2016. In parallel, she has held visiting appointments at Columbia University and the University of Zurich 2015. Moreover, Hanna has served as Co-Director of Harvard University's Evidence for Policy Design programme and as Scientific Co-Director for Southeast Asia at J-PAL since 2012. Additionally, she maintains affiliations with NBER, CEPR, IZA, and BREAD and edits the Review of Economics and Statistics, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and the Journal of Human Resources.

Research

According to IDEAS/RePEc, Rema Hanna currently belongs to the top 5% of most cited economists. Most of her research is located in public economics, often with a focus on Asia. Key findings of her research include: