My research examines how public policies and economic interventions shape livelihoods, nutrition, and working conditions in India. I focus on three interconnected areas: the interaction between cash transfer and employment guarantee programs in rural households; work precarity and labor market frictions in India’s growing gig economy; and community-based approaches to reducing malnutrition in tribal communities.

I combine econometric analysis of primary and secondary panel data with qualitative fieldwork, drawing on over fifteen years of experience implementing and evaluating programs across 25 districts in 12 Indian states. My dissertation applies causal inference methods to study how gendered cash transfers and MGNREGA interact, while my gig economy research builds on two months of immersive fieldwork as a delivery rider alongside 50+ in-depth worker interviews. My first book, Gigged: Lives on the Edge of the Platform, is under contract with Pan Macmillan India.