Hoda Zobeiri is Associate Professor at the University of Mazandaran, Iran, where she conducts research in various areas of development economics, health economics, institutional economics and the economy of Iran in general.
As part of the PICAIS scholarship, Professor Zobeiri investigated the topic of Macroeconomic Conditions and Population Health in Iran in order to ideally create a basis for further research in the field of public health in the Middle East.
During her Research-in-Residence Fellowship at our chair (October - December 2023), she gave a public lecture entitled: "Trends in population health in Iran - The role of internal reforms and international sanctions". The lecture gave an overview of the most important health policy measures and reforms in the health system as well as the development of population health in Iran in recent decades. Moreover, her research stay was used to discuss further possibilities such as student exchanges and applying for joint funding; however, in view of the current situation in Iran, this might represent a major challenge.
To summarise, her stay at the University of Passau was a great success and the collaboration will continue beyond the research stay. She herself says that she will cherish the memories from Passau.
Contact details:
h.zobeiri@umz.ac.ir
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Edward is a Development Economist at the University of Ghana. He teaches courses in development finance, public sector finance and economics, and labor economics.
In his research, Edward seeks to understand challenges facing developing countries, particularly Sub-Saharan African countries, with the aim to help design and evaluate interventions.
Prior to his appointment in Ghana, Edward Asiedu was a postdoctoral teaching and research fellow at the Chair of Development Economics University of Passau. Edward continues to collaborate with the team in Passau.
Edward holds a Bachelor’s degree with first class honors from the University of Ghana, Legon and a M.A in Economics and M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Guelph in Canada. He obtained his PhD in Economics from the University of Göttingen in September 2014.
Edwards research and interest lies in the application of field experiments (both lab-in-the field experiments and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and empirical economics to address issues critical for developing countries including the provision and monitoring of public goods in developing countries, designing of strong institutions (using experimental methods), addressing micro-enterprises challenges, increasing investments into agriculture and agricultural research, targeting corruption, economics of poverty and inequality, and evaluating anti-poverty policies.
During his time in Passau, Edward was in particular involved in a project jointly undertaken with DIE (Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik) that examined the impact of interventions aimed at improving the effectiveness of the decentralization programme in Togo. Edward was responsible for the baseline implementation of the project. Edward was also the international consultant for the BMZ -supported ‘Green Innovation Center’ One World - No Hunger Initiative implemented by the GIZ. Edward served as the project lead for Ghana.
Currently Edward is involved in the World Bank’s Ghana Poverty (ASA) project and the FAO’s Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (METASIP) evaluation.
Edward is a member of the Economic Science Association and the Canadian Economics Association.
Edward Asiedu at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS)
Sidiki Soubeiga is a Development Economist, with 10+ years of professional and academic experience in developing projects and programs, and impact evaluations; in designing and implementing large surveys of firms, households, and other institutions; in coordinating and overseeing the execution of experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluations of innovative interventions; provides peer review and advisory services for project development and analytical work for greater impacts on jobs and skills development; and conducts research on entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, targeted supports to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and, institutions and political instability.
He works as a consultant for the World Bank, previously he worked for the United Nations Development Program, government entities and private firms. His work spanned across different sectors with a focus on supporting development projects and delivering policy-oriented analytical reports. He served as a local researcher for the design and implementation of experimental impact evaluations on local government accountability, citizen engagement, forest governance and supports to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
His research is mainly focused on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, supports to MSMEs and households behavior under weak political institutions and uncertainties.
Sidiki holds a PhD from the University of Passau where he joined our chair with a doctoral research grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), He holds a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Ouaga2 and the Interuniversity Postgraduate Program in Economics (NPTCI).
CV
Asankha Pallegedara is a lecturer at the Department of Industrial Management, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. He has completed his bachelor’s degree in Engineering from University of Electro-Communications (UEC), Japan and MA & PhD degrees in Development Economics from National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan. He was a Japanese government monbukagakusho (MEXT) scholar for his undergraduate and post-graduate studies. His main research interests include development economics, economics of education, health economics, industrial and financial economics.
He joined our chair with a Georg Forster-stipend from the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation from March 2016 until February 2018.
Raphael Babatunde holds a First Class Honours Bachelor and Master of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. In 2005 he was awarded the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) Fellowship for Doctoral studies and he obtained his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences from the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany in 2009. Dr. Babatunde has been a Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, Nigeria since 1999.
Raphael's research activities focus on development economics, food security and nutrition economics, livelihood diversification, social protection and remittances with special interest on Nigeria and Benin Republic.
In 2010, he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for International Cooperation and Development (CICOPS), University of Pavia, Italy where he studied the impact of remittances on food security and nutrition in rural Nigeria. He has also won a Visiting Research Fellowship under the African Guest Researcher’s Programme 2013 at The Nordic Africa Institute (NAI), Uppsala, Sweden. He is the Ambassador of CICOPS in Nigeria and a member of the DAAD alumni network. He is a consultant to a number of International organizations such as IFPRI, USAID, UNDP and IDRC. He is a partner in several local consultancy firms such as JIDE ORO and TIMY Consultancy firms and he is the founder of Havana Consult Nigeria Limited.
Raphael stayed with us for the winter term 2015/16 on a German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) stipend.
Prof. Dr. Raphael Olanrewaju Babatunde at the University of Ilorin
