Ahsanuzzaman, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Ahsanuzzaman is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Risk Analysis program at JIFSAN's monitoring and impact effort associated with the evaluation of JIFSAN's capacity building efforts. In order to obtain evidence to inform policy, he investigates the research questions through experimental studies. He received his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics in 2014 and a Master's Degree in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Prior to joining JIFSAN, he worked at North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, the Center for Experimental and Applied Economics (CEAE), Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE. He has been a Fellow at the Center for Behavioral and Experimental Agri-Environmental Research (CBEAR), a center of excellence established by the United States Department of Agriculture. He has experience in conducting experiments in Bangladesh and the United States.

Prior to joining JIFSAN, he had been involved in teaching and research as an Assistant Professor of Economics at North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and in the Department of Applied Economics and Statistics at the University of Delaware, Newark, DE. He has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and advised several undergraduate and graduate students and served in Master’s thesis committees in both North South University and the University of Delaware. He has also been a member of the Mentorship Committee of Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) for the period 2018-2021.

Understanding the impact of and adoption behavior of agricultural technology by farmers has been one of his research foci. In particular, he is interested in understanding the role of different types of uncertainties on farmers’ technology choices. Genetically Modified technology adoption and its impact assessment has been his recent research agenda, focusing particularly on the Bt eggplant in Bangladesh. In the domain of applied microeconomics, he studies economic agents’ behavior using experiments both in the laboratory and in-field. He also works on non-experimental studies pertaining to the interesting research questions. In order to inform policy related to ensure food safety and security, his interest lies in bridging the issues related to agriculture, food, environment, and health.

1. Ahsanuzzaman and K.D. Messer (2021). Motorists’ willingness to drive through flooded roads: Evidence from a stated preference experiment. forthcoming in Journal of Flood Risk Management.

2. Li, T., Ahsanuzzaman, and K.D. Messer (2021). Is there a potential market for seaweed-Based Products? A framed field experiment on consumer acceptance. Marine Resource Economics 36(4).

3. Li, T., Ahsanuzzaman, and K.D. Messer (2020). Is this Food ‘Local’? Evidence from a framed field experiment. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics: 45(2): 179-198.

4. Ahsanuzzaman and M.Q. Islam (2020). Children’s vulnerability to natural disasters: Evidence from natural experiments in Bangladesh. World Development Perspectives Vol. 19.

5. S.H. Bidisha, M. Alam, and Ahsanuzzaman (2006). How volatile are the stocks of the pharmaceutical companies of Bangladesh? Some evidence from the market model. Bank Parikrama: a quarterly journal of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), Dhaka, Bangladesh:Vol. XXX, No. 2, June 2005.

Under Review

1. Ahsanuzzaman, L.H. Palm-Forster, and J.F. Suter. Experimental evidence of common pool resource use in the presence of uncertainty (Revise & Resubmit.)

2. Ahsanuzzaman, A.K.K. Priyo, and Kanti A. Nuzhat. Effects of Communication and Group Selection on Risk and Ambiguity Attitudes: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh, (Revise & Resubmit.)

Research Reports

1. Girls’ education as a solution to child malnutrition in Copenhagen Consensus Center Priority Solutions (2016).

2. Benefits and Costs of Sexual and Reproductive Health for Bangladesh in Cophenhagen Consensus Center Priority Solutions (2016).

3. Ahsanuzzaman and D. Zilberman (2018). Bt Eggplant in Bangladesh Increases Yields and Farmers’ Incomes, and Reduces Pesticide Use, ARE Update 22(2): 5-8.

Book Chapter

1. “Boosting Plastic Exports from Bangladesh” chapter 9 in Navigating New Waters: Unleashing Bangladesh’s Export Potential for Smooth LDC Graduation eds. Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

2. “Basic Keynesian Economics” (ed.) in A Concise Guide to Modern Economics Ed. Robert Cunningham, Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2015. Gale Researcher.Web. 20 Dec. 2015.

3. “Partial Equilibrium versus General Equilibrium” (ed.) in A Concise Guide to Modern Economics Ed. Robert Cunningham, Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2015. Gale Researcher.Web. 20 Dec. 2015.

4. “Intra household allocation and women’s bargaining power: Testing the Unitary Model in Bangladesh” with Abdur Razzaque and Mahbubur Rahman, chapter 9 of the book ‘Intra-Household Distribution and Poverty Dynamics: Empirical Analyses of Bangladesh’ edited by M.A. Razzaque (2009).

• • UC Berkeley grant on ‘Health impact of farming genetically engineered crops: Evidence from Bt eggplant (brinjal) in Bangladesh’ (PI) (Other investigator(s): David Zilberman).

• • Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics of University of California grant on ‘Assessing the Feasibility of GM Labeling: The Case of Bt Eggplant in Bangladesh’ as Co-PI (Other investigators: Carly Traughtman, David Zilberman, Ethan A. Ligon).

• • UC Berkeley grant on ‘How effective are the genetically modified crop varieties in yield-increasing and cost-saving? The case of BT brinjal in Bangladesh’ (PI) (Other investigator(s): David Zilberman).

• • Grant awards (as a co-Investigator) from the International Growth Center, London School of Economics (LSE) & Monash University, Melbourne, Australia for the project ’Social Norms to Reduce Energy Consumption: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh’ (Other investigators: Asad Islam, and Liang Choon Wang).

• • North South University Seed funding for faculty research (Other investigators: Asad K.K. Priyo, and Kanti A. Nuzhat).

• • USAID-IPM CRSP(Innovation Lab) Dissertation scholarship Spring 2012-Fall 2014.

Awards and Honors: