About

Claire O'Brien is currently working on a senior economics thesis, which will examine the successfulness of NGO schools in India compared to government schools.  As Professor Lakshmi Iyer’s research assistant, O’Brien has studied the effects of political gender quotas in India on violence against women, agricultural outputs in India, and sharecropping globally.  O’Brien works heavily in the realm of quantitative economics.

Through the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty, O’Brien completed an internship at Asylee Women Enterprise, a nonprofit that works with people seeking political asylum in Baltimore, MD.  Additionally, O’Brien has studied abroad in London where she completed an internship at St. John Bosco College, a school that serves primarily low income, immigrant students.

O'Brien is interested in the political economy in India.  Specifically, O’Brien is interested in women’s economic and political empowerment, migration, and education.

 

Thesis Title: Are NGO Schools More Successful Than Government Schools in India?

Adviser
Lakshmi Iyer
Major(s)
Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics
Economics
Minor(s)
Poverty Studies
Current Research

Research Interests
I am interested in studying immigration, especially forced migration.  Additionally, I am interested in women's economic empowerment.

Current Research
I study the political economy in India, examining the consequences of administrative decentralization.  The key question is whether devolving control to local governments improves health and education outcomes.