Junior Economist

About GDN

The Global Development Network (GDN) is a public international organisation that supports high-quality, policy-oriented, social science research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) to promote better lives. Founded in 1999, GDN is headquartered in New Delhi (India), with offices in Clermont-Ferrand (France) and Arlington (USA). Our work spans the Global South.

Background

With financial support from the Gates Foundation, GDN is implementing a global research programme on the Economics of Open Transaction Networks (OTN). The programme develops economic theories around open transaction networks and their development impacts, and tests them empirically in low- and middle-income countries.

The programme brings together:

• GDN economists and invited senior economists, led by the President of GDN.
• A Scientific Committee of global experts on OTN projects.
• Up to six national research teams implementing comparative empirical projects across countries and sectors.

Position Summary

GDN seeks to recruit a Junior Economist to support the economics work of the OTN programme. The Junior Economist will work closely with GDN economists, invited senior economists, the Programme Manager, and the wider programme team. The programme’s theory work does not assume prior knowledge of OTN and applies tools from network economics, platform economics, market design, matching, and applied microeconomics.

The role strengthens the programme’s ability to translate theory into implementable research questions, measurable outcomes, and clean analysis for country research teams.

Key Responsibilities

A. Economic framing and theory development

• Contribute to the programme’s core economic framing of open and interoperable transaction networks using concepts from network effects, two-sided markets, platform competition, pricing and fees, and matching frictions.
• Prepare short model notes, diagrams, and examples to clarify mechanisms and translate them into testable predictions.

B. Literature and research synthesis

• Build a focused reading base connecting the programme’s questions to relevant theory and empirical work in network and platform economics, digital markets, and digital infrastructure.
• Produce concise notes distilling key assumptions, results, and implications for empirics.

Empirical preparation and applied analysis

• Contribute to early work with administrative datasets or platform logs, including dataset documentation, variable checks, and exploratory analysis.
• Produce clear descriptive outputs to help teams understand patterns around major events, rule changes, and shifts in participation or outcomes.

Portfolio and country project engagement

• Provide economic inputs to ensure country projects remain coherent with the programme’s theory, feasible given context and data, and comparable across settings.
• Prepare materials for technical convenings, linking theory, measurement, and empirical approaches.

Desired Profile

Education and Experience

• Currently enrolled in a PhD in Economics, or recently completed a PhD in Economics.
• Strong training in applied microeconomics, industrial organisation, development economics, or related fields.
• Interest in network and platform economics, digital markets, and digital infrastructure.

Preferred Skills

• Strong quantitative skills and comfort working with data.
• Ability to write clearly and communicate ideas through concise notes, tables, and figures.
• Experience with R preferred; Stata or Python also valuable.
• Ability to work in a collaborative, multi-country environment and deliver reliably against timelines.

Reporting

The Junior Economist will work closely with GDN economists and coordinate with the Senior Programme Manager. The President of GDN is the scientific and management lead and signs off on programme outputs.

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit the following documents via GDN’s Application Portal:

• Up-to-date Curriculum Vitae
• A cover letter detailing motivation for applying and addressing experience requirements (max 1 page)
• Contact details of at least three professional references

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis from January 2^nd until the position is filled.

Please specify in your application:

• Earliest date you can join
• Preferred country of work
• Salary expectations

Global Development Network is an equal opportunity employer and encourages candidates of all backgrounds and genders to apply. Only selected candidates will be contacted for an interview.