About Me

I am an applied/labor economist who makes extensive use of economic theory in my research. In my main line of research I develop and estimate models of human behavior to deliver quantitive answers to important public policy questions. Some of my current research here is about contracting in health care, the determinants of teacher quality, and social interactions models. In prior work, I’ve studied how charter school policy affects the distribution of student achievement, as well as the determinants and consequences of ability tracking.

I also use economic theory to help interpret data, even when not explicitly estimating behavioral models. For example, we can use economic theory to think about how we should measure teacher quality, inform us about the channels underlying teacher quality growth, or to complement the statistical machinery typically used to extrapolate estimates of studies based on regression-discontinuity designs.

I did my Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Before that, I did an M.Sc. in Economics at the London School of Economics and my (dual) B.A. is from the University of South Carolina, in Economics and International Studies.

Contact Information

Here is my CV.

Email me at nirav [dot] mehta [at] uwo [dot] ca.

My office is Room 4011, Social Science Centre.

Undergrad students seeking a letter of recommendation: Please use these instructions to fill out this template.