Nathan Fiala

Assistant Professor, Agriculture and Resource Economics

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Primary Research Theme

Economic and Community Development

Secondary Research Themes

Healthy Cities, People and the City

Research Interests

Nathan Fiala’s research interests include international development, housing and food security and regional health and economic development. Dr. Fiala’s work generally focuses on impact evaluation, specifically randomized control trials (RCTs). He has conducted dozens of RCTs in Africa and Asia as well as experimental work in Connecticut and New York State. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California at Irvine and his work has been featured in top economics and development journals, as well as popular press such as Scientific American and the New York Times.

Recent Cities-related Projects

• Homeless in Eastern Connecticut. Nathan Fiala works with agencies in Eastern Connecticut to understand the impact of their programming on low income people and have conducted experimental behavioral games with homeless and previously homeless people to measure social capital within and between these groups.
• City of Newburgh tracking forced evictions. Nathan Fiala is working with the City of Newburgh, NY to understand the impact of forcing renters out of condemned housing on their income, housing, food and health security.
• City of Rochester reducing evictions in low income households. Nathan Fiala is working with the City of Rochester, NY to identify ways to help low-income people avoid evictions through savings and payment plans.

Selected Urban-Related Publications

Blattman, Christopher, Nathan Fiala and Sebastian Martinez (2020), “The long-term impacts of grants on poverty: 9-year evidence from Uganda’s Youth Opportunities Program”, forthcoming, American Economic Review.

Blattman C., Emeriau M., Fiala N. (2018). Do anti-poverty programs sway voters? Experimental evidence from Uganda. Review of Economics and Statistics.

Bauer M., Fiala N., Levely I. (2018). Trusting Former Rebels: An Experimental Approach to Understanding Reintegration after Civil War. Economic Journal.

Lachaud M.A., Bravo-Ureta B.E., Fiala N., Gonzalez S.P. (2018). The impact of agri-business skills training in Zimbabwe: an evaluation of the Training for Rural Economic Empowerment (TREE) programme. Journal of Development Effectiveness.

Calderone M., Fiala N., Mulaj F., Sadhu S., Sarr L. (2018). Financial Education and Savings Behavior: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment among Low-Income Clients of Branchless Banking in India. Economic Development and Cultural Change.

Fiala N. (2018). Returns to microcredit, cash grants and training for male and female microentrepreneurs in Uganda. World Development.

Fiala N., He X. (2017). Unitary or noncooperative intrahousehold model? Evidence from couples in Uganda. World Bank Economic Review.

Fiala N. (2015). Skills in the marketplace: Market efficiency, social orientation, and ability in a field-based experiment. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.

Fiala N. (2015). Economic Consequences of Forced Displacement. Journal of Development Studies.