Nishith Prakash is a Professor of Public Policy and Economics with a joint appointment with the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the Department of Economics at the Northeastern University, Boston, MA. At Northeastern University, he is also a Co-Director of the Global Action for Policy Initiative. Before joining the Northeastern University, he was an associate professor of economics with a joint position with the Department of Economics and the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. 

Born and raised in Bihar, India, he earned a B.A. (honors) in economics from Shivaji College, an M.A. in economics from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University (India), and a Ph.D. in economics from University of Houston, TX. He was a post-doctoral research associate at Cornell University, NY from July 2010 till December 2011. He has previously held Visiting Assistant Professor positions at Ohio University, and Dartmouth College, and he has been a Visiting Fellow at Yale University, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, and Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. 

He is a Research Fellow at CESifo, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), HiCN Households in Conflict Network (HiCN), Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Network Researcher, Global Labor Organization (GLO), and Member of Insights on Immigration and Development (INSIDE-SPAIN). He is also currently serving in the Editorial Board of the journal PLOS ONE and Associate Editor at the Journal of Development Economics and Co-Editor at the Economics of Education Review.

Driven by his commitment to diversity and inclusion in Economics, Professor Prakash co-founded the  Association for Mentoring and Inclusion in Economics (AMIE) in 2021 with Professor Priya Mukherjee (University of Wisconsin, Madison). AMIE aims to foster a more inclusive and diverse economics profession.

Professor Prakash’s research is centered on empowering human capital in low-income countries, encompassing a broad spectrum of interrelated fields including development, political economy, public policy, economics of education, and behavioral economics. His academic pursuits have consistently focused on exploring the intricate relationship between government policies and economic development, utilizing rigorous empirical evidence to evaluate the impact of policies and institutions in fostering inclusive growth. Professor Prakash’s methodological expertise spans conducting surveys in developing countries, analyzing large-scale observational and administrative datasets, and designing and implementing field experiments (RCTs). His collaborative efforts extend to partnerships with various governmental bodies, including Education Departments in Bihar, Nepal, Zanzibar, and Zambia; State Police in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana; the Health Department in Bihar; the Ministry of Home Affairs (Government of India); and international organizations such as the World Bank. This extensive fieldwork and policy engagement inform his teaching, which covers critical areas such as Development Economics, Applied Econometrics, and the Economics of Gender and Inequality. Through his research and teaching, Professor Prakash continues to contribute valuable insights to the field of development economics and to the formulation of evidence-based policies aimed at improving human capital in developing nations.

Professor Prakash’s research has featured in The Economist, BBC, Business Insider, World Bank Development Impact Blog, World Economic Forum, Financial Times, Forbes, The Statesman, The Atlantic, The Indian Express, The Hindu, The Times of India, and other national and international newspapers.