A. Nilesh Fernando

About

A. Nilesh Fernando is a development economist whose research agenda focuses on understanding frictions in labor markets and the agricultural sector in the developing world. His current projects relate to migration, culture, structural change and technology adoption. He has been a Kellogg Institute faculty fellow since 2017.

He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2015 and completed his undergraduate studies at Hampshire College.

Thematic Interests

Development, labor markets, labor economics, applied microeconomics, culture, agriculture and technology adoption, migration

Current Research

Migration, culture, structural change, and technology adoption

Regions

Research Tags

Working paper (non-Kellogg)

Fernando, Nilesh. “Shackled to the Soil: The Long-Term Effects of Inherited Land on Labor Mobility and Consumption"

Fernando, Nilesh and Shawn Cole (Harvard Business School). “'Mobile'izing Agricultural Advice: Technology Adoption, Diffusion and Sustainability"

Fernando, Nilesh, Shawn Cole (Harvard Business School), Daniel Stein (World Bank) and Jeremy Tobacman (Wharton School). “Field Comparisons of Incentive-Compatible Preference Elicitation Techniques”

Fernando, Nilesh, Shawn Cole (Harvard Business School) and Hee Kwon Seo (University of Chicago). “Learning or Herding? Testing Between Theories of Technology Adoption with a Cluster Randomized Experiment"

Fernando, Nilesh, Sara Hernandez (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Reshmaan Hussam (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Natalia Rigol (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). “Contract Farming Among Marginal Farmers: A Randomized Evaluation of RUDI Multi-trade Company"

Fernando, Nilesh, Shawn Cole (Harvard Business School) and Laura Litvine (University College London). “Experiences from Mobile Phone-Based Data Collection: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment"

Fernando, Nilesh. “Social Interactions, Technology Adoption and Information Exchange: Evidence from a Field Experiment"

Fernando, Nilesh and Siddharth Eapen George (Harvard University). “Can Diversity Reduce Implicit Bias? Evidence from the Composition of Umpiring Panels in Cricket Matches"

Other Accomplishments & Recognitions

Luksic Family Collaboration Grant (2017-18): "The Notre Dame-PUC Luksburg Conference on Development Economics"

Grant Year: 2021-2022 Money and Motherhood: The Domestic Effects of a Migration Ban Grants to Support Faculty Fellows' Research

Grant Year: 2019-2020 Understanding (and Regulating) the Role of Labor Intermediaries in Migrant Welfare: Evidence from Two Natural Experiments in Sri Lanka Grants to Support Faculty Fellows' Research

Grant Year: 2019-2020 Can Technology Promote Opportunity? Evidence From An Online Job Portal in Bangalore Grants to Support Faculty Fellows' Research

2018-2019 Remitting Belief to the Global South: An Interdisciplinary Study of Migration through Fieldwork and Big Data Ford Program Project

Grant Year: 2018-2019 Reducing Hiring Frictions in Small Firms: Evidence from an Internet Platform-based Experiment Grants to Support Faculty Fellows' Research

Grant Year: 2017-2018 Remitting Belief to the Global South: Pilot Research in Mali and Spain Grants to Support Faculty Fellows' Research

Wed, Dec 8, 2021

Development Economics Working Group Meeting

Development Economics Working Group

A. Nilesh Fernando

Wed, Nov 17, 2021

Development Economics Working Group Meeting: The Effects of Restricting Women’s Labor Force Participation: Evidence from a Migration Ban in Sri Lanka

Development Economics Working Group

A. Nilesh FernandoPaul Shaloka

Wed, May 5, 2021

Hiring Frictions in Small Firms: Evidence from an Internet Platform-Based Experiment (VIRTUAL)

Development Economics Working Group

A. Nilesh Fernando

Wed, Oct 7, 2020

Unshackled from the Soil (VIRTUAL)

Development Economics Working Group

A. Nilesh Fernando

Feature

Kellogg’s Economic Development Working Group Benefits PhD Students and Faculty Alike

Apr 10, 2024

News

Interdisciplinary Project on Migration Now Underway

Nov 10, 2018

In our new project “Remitting Belief to the Global South,” Faculty Fellow Jaimie Bleck(political science) and I are bringing together fieldwork and “big data” methodologies to explore how international migration influences norms and values among migrants and their communities of origin. Our focus is migration from Mali (where Jaimie has previously worked) and Sri Lanka (where I have) to Europe and the Gulf States.

News

Three Kellogg Fellows Awarded Luksburg Foundation Collaboration Grants

Feb 7, 2018

Three Kellogg Faculty Fellows are among the Notre Dame faculty members that have been awarded Luksburg Foundation Collaboration Grants this year for projects with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) faculty in Santiago, Chile.

Assistant Professor of Economics

Affiliation

Positions & Degrees

Contact Info

Working paper (non-Kellogg)

Development Economics Working Group Meeting

Development Economics Working Group Meeting: The Effects of Restricting Women’s Labor Force Participation: Evidence from a Migration Ban in Sri Lanka

Hiring Frictions in Small Firms: Evidence from an Internet Platform-Based Experiment (VIRTUAL)

Unshackled from the Soil (VIRTUAL)

Kellogg’s Economic Development Working Group Benefits PhD Students and Faculty Alike

Interdisciplinary Project on Migration Now Underway

Three Kellogg Fellows Awarded Luksburg Foundation Collaboration Grants