Lahore School Of Economics

Azam Amjad Chaudhry

Dr. Azam Amjad Chaudhry is the Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Co-Director of the Innovation and Technology Center and Pro-Rector at the Lahore School of Economics. Before his time at the Lahore School of Economics, he worked as an economist at the World Bank and taught at Brown University and Boston University. He completed his PhD at Brown University and his dissertation focused on the role of institutions in innovation, cross-country economic growth and development.

Dr. Chaudhry’s current research looks at the impact of trade as well as innovation and technology on firm-level productivity, the relationship between economic activity and climate change and the role of industrial policy in export promotion and economic growth. He has also worked on understanding how behavior responses and social networks impact outcomes in developmental programs.

Dr. Chaudhry was awarded the first WTO Chair for Pakistan (https://wtochairs.org/users/azamlahoreschooledupk) and in this capacity his work focuses on trade-related research, curriculum development and stakeholder engagement in international trade.

His research has been published in top academic journals like the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the American Economic Review, the Journal of Development Economics, World Bank Economic Review, World Development and Research Policy and is ranked by RePEc as one of the top-ranked research economists in Pakistan. He has also written extensively in non-academic outlets. His research has been supported by grants from the Global Challenges Research Fund (UK), the International Growth Center (FCDO/UK), Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (FCDO/UK), the British Academy (UK), the Open Society Institute and the Lahore School of Economics.

SELECTED PAPERS

“Measuring process innovation outputs and understanding their implications for firms and workers: Evidence from Pakistan,” with Waqar Wadho in Technovation, 2024.
“The Closed-Form Solutions for a Model with Technology Diffusion via Lie symmetries,” with R. Naz in Continuous Dynamical Systems Series S, 2024.
“Empowered mothers and co-resident grandmothers: Two fundamental roles of women impacting child health outcomes in Punjab, Pakistan,” with Rabia Arif and Theresa Chaudhry in PLOS ONE, 2023.
“Adjustments in markups after a Free Trade Agreement: An analysis of Pakistani firms gaining increased access to China,” with Nida Jamil and Theresa Chaudhry in Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, 2023.
“Strategic Trade Policy for Pakistan’s Textile Sector in 2018: Enhancing High Value-Added Exports through Low-Priced Intermediate Input”, with Rabia Arif and Nida Jamil in Pakistan Development Review, 2023.
“Emigration's Heterogeneous Impact on Children's Wellbeing in Punjab, Pakistan,” with Rabia Arif and Theresa Chaudhry in Child Indicators Research, 2023.
“Trading Textiles along the New Silk Route: the impact on Pakistani firms of gaining market access to China,” with Nida Jamil and Theresa Chaudhry in Journal of Development Economics, 2022.
“Innovation strategies and productivity growth in developing countries: Firm-level evidence from Pakistani manufacturers,” with Waqar Wadho in Journal of Asian Economics, 2022.
“Home-based Enterprises: Experimental Evidence on Female Preferences from Pakistan,” with Farah Said, Mahreen Mahmud and Giovanna d’Adda in Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2022.
“Where to Locate? The Correlation Between Spatial Proximity and Location Choice of New Firms: The Case of Pakistan,” with Maryiam Haroon in Asian Economic Journal, 2021.
“First integrals of Hamiltonian systems: The inverse problem,” with R. Naz and F. M. Mahomed in Discrete & Continuous Dynamical Systems-S, 2020.
“It is not power, but how you use it: Experimental evidence on altruism from households in Pakistan,” with Farah Said, Mehreen Mahmud and Giovanna d'Adda in Applied Economics Letters, 2020.
“Do young innovative companies create more jobs? Evidence from Pakistani textile firms,” with Waqar Wadho and Micheline Goedhuys in World Development, 2019.
"Closed-form solutions of the Lucas-Uzawa model with externalities via the partial Hamiltonian approach," with R. Naz in Computational and Applied Mathematics, 2018.
"Innovation and Firm Performance in Developing Countries: The case of Pakistani Textile and Apparel Manufacturers," with Waqar Wadho in Research Policy, 2018.
“Closed-form Solutions for the Lucas-Uzawa Growth Model with Logarithmic Utility Preferences via the Partial Hamiltonian Approach,” with R. Naz in Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems Series S, 2018.
“Organizational Barriers to Technology Adoption: Evidence from Soccer-Ball Producers in Pakistan,” with David Atkin, Shamyla Chaudry, Amit K. Khandelwal and Eric Verhoogen in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2017.
“Unique and multiple equilibria in a macroeconomic model with environmental quality: An analysis of local stability,” with Hafsa Tanveer and R. Naz in Economic Modelling, 2017.
“Comparison of Closed-Form Solutions for the Lucas-Uzawa Model via the Partial Hamiltonian Approach and the Classical Approach,” with R. Naz in Mathematical Modelling and Analysis, 2017.
"Pakistan's Experience with the Pak-China Free Trade Agreement: Lessons for CPEC," with Theresa Chaudhry and Nida Jamil in the Lahore Journal of Economics, 2017.
“On the Origins and Development of Pakistan’s Soccer-Ball Cluster,” with David Atkin, Shamyla Chaudry, Amit K. Khandelwal and Eric Verhoogen in the World Bank Economic Review, 2016.
Closed-form solutions for the Lucas –Uzawa model of economic growth via the partial Hamiltonian approach,” with R. Naz and F. M. Mahomed in Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 2016.
“A partial Lagrangian method for dynamical systems,” with R. Naz and F. M. Mahomed in Nonlinear Dynamics, 2016.
“Does genetic proximity to high growth countries affect a country's own growth?” with Rabia Ikram in Economic Modelling, 2016.
“A Panel Data Analysis of Electricity Demand in the Pakistani Industrial Sector,” in Energy Sources Part B: Economics, Planning and Policy, 2016.
“Innovation in the Textiles Sector: A Firm-Level Analysis of Technological and Nontechnological Innovation,” with Waqar Wadho in the Lahore Journal of Economics, 2016.
“Reforming a Broken System: A New Performance Evaluation System for Pakistan Civil Servants,” with Maryam Tanwir in Pakistan Development Review, 2016.
“Markup and Cost Dispersion across Firms: Direct Evidence from Producer Surveys in Pakistan,” with David Atkin, Shamyla Chaudry, Amit K. Khandelwal and Eric Verhoogen in the American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 2015.
“The effects of external migration on enrolments, accumulated schooling and dropouts in Punjab,” with Rabia Arif in Applied Economics, 2015.
“A Partial Hamiltonian Approach for Current Value Hamiltonian Systems,” with R. Naz and F. M. Mahomed in Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 2015.
“Beyond the Poverty Line: A Multi-dimensional Analysis of Poverty in Pakistan,” with Theresa Chaudhry, Muhammad Haseeb, and Uzma Afzal, in Rashid Amjad and Shahid Javed Burki (ed.) Pakistan: Moving the Economy Forward, Cambridge University Press, 2015.
“The Need for a Coordinated Industrial Strategy to Boost Pakistani Exports: Lessons from Asia,” with Gul Andaman in the Lahore Journal of Economics, 2014.
“Patronage in Rural Punjab: Evidence from a New Household Survey Dataset,” with Kate Vyborny in the Lahore Journal of Economics, 2013.
"A structural V AR analysis of the impact of macroeconomic shocks on Pakistan's textile exports," in Economic Modelling, 2013.
"The Political Economy of Income Comparisons and Economic Growth," with Phillip Garner in Economic Modelling, 20l3.
“The Birth of Exporters: Entry and Scale of Firms in Punjab’s Export Sectors,” with Marjan Nasir and Maryiam Haroon in the Lahore Journal of Economics, 2012.
“Tariffs, Trade and Growth: Do Institutions Matter?” in the Lahore Journal of Economics, 2011.
“A Panel Data Analysis of Electricity Demand in Pakistan,” in the Lahore Journal of Economics, Special Edition, 2010.
“Total Factor Productivity Growth in Pakistan: An Analysis of the Agricultural and Manufacturing Sectors,” in the Lahore Journal of Economics, 2009.
“The Effects of Rising Food and Fuel Costs on Poverty in Pakistan,” with Theresa Thompson Chaudhry, in the Lahore Journal of Economics, 2008.
“Do Governments Suppress Growth? Institutions, Rent-Seeking and Innovation Blocking in a Model of Schumpeterian Growth,” with Phillip Garner in Economics and Politics, 2007.
“Political Competition Between Countries and Economic Growth,” with Phillip Garner in the Review of Development Economics, 2006.
“Corruption and Trade Liberalization: Has the World Bank Anti-Corruption Initiative Worked?” in the Lahore Journal of Economics, 2005.
“Survey of IFC Firms on Local MBA Quality,” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Number 3182, World Bank, Washington D.C., 2004.
“Procurement and the World Bank’s Anti-Corruption Initiatives,” Operations Evaluation Department Working Paper, World Bank, Washington D.C., 2000.

CURRENT RESEARCH

Pull Funding for Product Innovation and Learning Spillovers with David Atkin, MIT, Amit K. Khandelwal, Yale University, Eric Verhoogen, Columbia University and Shamyla Chaudry, Lahore School of Economics.
Promoting investment in Solar Energy across SMEs in Pakistan: The Role of Information Provision with Theresa Chaudhry, Lahore School of Economics, Phillip Garner, Utah Tech University and Nikita Grabher-Meyer, University of East Anglia.
Improving Agricultural Income through a Package of Climate Smart Practices for Small Farmers with Dr. Omar Masud, the Urban Unit, Dr. Mujtaba Piracha, and Dr. Theresa Chaudhry, Lahore School of Economics.
Trade Liberalization and Carbon Emissions: Firm-Level Evidence from Pakistan with Theresa Chaudhry, Lahore School of Economics, and Nida Jamil, University of Edinburgh.
Measuring Innovation in the Pakistani Textile Sector with Waqar Wadho, Lahore School of Economics.
Closed-Form Solutions for a Model with Technology Diffusion via Lie symmetries with Rehana Naz, Lahore School of Economics.
Pricing Dynamics in an Informal Economy - A Bayesian DSGE Analysis with Dr. Rabab Mudakkar, Lahore School of Economics.
Measuring the Barriers to Industrial Upgrading using Evidence from Pakistan with David Atkin, MIT, Amit K. Khandelwal, Yale University and Eric Verhoogen, Columbia University.
Measuring the effects of agglomeration on new firms in Punjab with Maryiam Haroon, University of Chicago.

SELECTED RESEARCH GRANTS

International Growth Centre (FCDO, UK) for Research on Improving Agricultural Income through a Package of Climate Smart Practices for Small Farmers, 2025.
International Growth Centre (FCDO, UK) for Research on Pull Funding for Product Innovation and Learning Spillovers: An Experiment in the Pakistani Surgical Goods Industry, 2024.
International Growth Centre (FCDO, UK) for Research on Promoting Investment in Solar Energy across SMEs in Pakistan, 2023.
World Trade Organization (WTO) Chair, 2022.
Global Challenges Research Fund (UK) for Research on Innovation and Firm Growth in the Pakistani Textile Sector, 2018.
International Growth Center (DFID/UK) for Research on Measuring Innovation in the Pakistani Textile Sector, 2014.
Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL/UK) for Research on Barriers to Industrial Upgrading in Pakistan, 2014.
British Academy (UK) Grant for Research on Patron Client Relations in Rural Punjab (Pakistan), 2014.
International Growth Center (DFID/UK) Project Grant for Research on Technology Spillovers in the Pakistani Manufacturing Sector, 2011.
International Growth Center (DFID/UK) Project Grant for Research on Technology Spillovers in the Pakistani Manufacturing Sector, 2010.
Open Society Institute Grant for Social Choice and Network Assistance Survey, 2010.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES

Co-Director, Innovation and Technology Centre, Lahore School of Economics.
Head, Quality Assurance Cell, Lahore School of Economics.
Editor, Lahore Journal of Economics.
Invited Researcher, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), MIT.
Research Affiliate, International Growth Centre, DFID, UK.
Research Supervisor:
- Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) Approved PhD Supervisor.
- PhD Economics (completed thesis: Dr. Maryiam Haroon, Dr. Farah Said and Dr. Ayesha Afzal).
- MPHIL Economics (completed theses: (i) Rabia Ikram, (ii) Rabia Arif, (iii) Maryiam Haroon, (iv) Marjan Nasir, (v) Zehra Gardezi, (vi) Taimoor Naseer, (vii) Mahnoor Asif, (viii) Saba Firdousi, (ix) Hafsa Tanveer, (x) Mehreen Zahid, (xi) Mehreen Irshad, (xii) Ammara Riaz, (xiii) Tahreem Zia and (xiv) Nayab Kanwal).

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS

Ranked as one of the top research economists in Pakistan in 2025 International RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) Rankings: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.pakistan.html#authors10.