Metcalf Summer Research Assistant at Becker Friedman Institute, Anup Malani

This internship is part of the University’s Jeff Metcalf Internship Program. Please review to learn more about benefits and program requirements for Metcalf interns.

If you are an international student, please make sure to visit the OIA website to familiarize yourself with your work authorization eligibility and requirements as soon as possible. If you’d like to make an appointment with your international adviser, please visit this page.

Anup Malani conducts research on inequality and on sex ratios in India. India has some of the highes rates of poverty and inequality, as well as some of the most skewed male/female ratios in the world. Malani uses government and private data to understand (a) recent trends in inequality and what drive those trends and (b) the relationship between sex ratios and marriage markets in India. He studies recent changes in the Gini coefficient and social mobility and how those measures vary by caste, gender and region. This work also examines inequality between slums and non-slums and within slums. His work on sex ratios examines how sex ratios vary across India and how sex ratios affect marriage markets, especially migration for marriage by women. The work on inequality is joint with Arpit Gupta (NYU) and Bartek Woda (U. Chicago). The work on marriage is joint with George Vojta (U. Chicago). Two examples of his work are available at https://www.nber.org/papers/w29597 and https://www.nber.org/papers/w28935.

 

Research assistant (RA). The work will be remote, with frequent zoom meetings and occasional in person meetings.

 

RAs are expected to compile and process data sets from several sources (Indian Census, Indian National Statistical Survey, Consumer Pyramids Household Survey). RA’s will use these data to visually and statistically describe key features of inequality and/or sex ratios/marriage in India (RA's may choose whether to work on inequality or sex ratios). Finally, RA’s will be expected to conduct regression analysis (estimate reduced form and structural models) to understand the mechanisms behind trends in inequality and sex ratios/marriage. The data will be in csv or text files or in Stata format. All coding will be conducted in Stata; code should be well commented so that other RA’s can understand the work. 

RA’s are expected to meet 2-3 times per week with Malani and/or collaborators. In between meetings, RA’s will conduct analysis, respond to offline queries, and report their results in latex files or Jupyter notebooks. RA’s should also read the literature relating to the tasks/questions they are assigned and are encouraged to suggest novel analyses. During meetings, RA’s will report and discuss their results.

RA’s that are very productive may be asked to continue work in the fall. Exceptional RA’s may be asked to join as co-authors on papers.

The internship starts June 13 and ends August 19, though the start and end dates are flexible so long as RA’s work at least 10 weeks. RA’s are expected to work 40 hours per week. The RA must be able to perform the essential job with a reasonable accommodation.

 

Required skills: Intermediate or advanced Stata and latex. Ability to write up your methods and results. Prompt response to electronic communications. 

Preferred skills: Ability to work with GIS data and to generate aesthically appealing and/or complex visualization. Familiarity with Endnote and/or bibtex.

 

Please submit a resume, a transcript, a short (1-3 paragraph) explanation of why this internship is a good fit, and a writing sample. A student can submit sample code, but may be required to take a short test to judge coding skills. 

 

Second or third year students.

 

Students must apply by March 15, 2022.