Katrina Kosec is a Senior Research Fellow in the Development Strategy and Governance Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) where she is Theme Leader for Public Investment. She is an applied microeconomist working at the intersection of development economics, political economy, and public economics. Her research focuses on the linkages between governance, public investment, and poverty. One strand of work investigates the impacts of decentralization and local political competition on growth, environmental investments, tax policy, and public service provision. A second considers individual aspirations, including what drives them and how they influence economic, political, and social behaviors and opinions. A third considers the drivers and impacts of migration, including the roles that both economic factors and institutions play in shaping decisions surrounding locations and sectors of employment. Katrina holds a Ph.D. in Political Economics from Stanford University, where she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow in Economics.

• International Growth Centre (IGC), “Mechanisms for Increasing the Accountability of Teachers and Schools in Rural Pakistan to Improve Learning Outcomes” (150,000 GBP), 2016-2019
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Conflict and Development Center (CONDEV), “Mechanisms for Strengthening Accountability to the Rural Poor: Evidence from Public Expenditures in Mali” ($40,000), 2016-2017 
• International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) Proposal Preparation Grant, “Effectiveness of Land Policy in Curbing Illegal Land Evictions in Uganda” ($20,000), 2015-2016
• Lead P.I., 3ie Social Protection Thematic Window Grant, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Community-Based Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Tanzania” ($620,000), 2012-2013
• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Strategic Innovations Fund Award ($50,000), 2012
• Time Warner Cable, Award from Research Program on Digital Communications ($20,000), 2011
• Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) Dissertation Fellowship, 2010 – 2011
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (Economics), 2006 – 2010
• Best Paper Award, NYU Alexander Hamilton Center for Political Economy Conference, 2008
• Grant, Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) Workshop, 2010
• Fulbright Fellowship for research in Ecuador, 2003
• Outstanding Undergraduate Honors Thesis Award, 2003
• Toyota Community Scholars Award ($20,000 scholarship in recognition of community service), 1999-2003