Mo Alloush

Mo Alloush is an applied microeconomist with research interests at the intersection of economics, psychology, and geography — and in using insights from these disciplines to understand the persistence of poverty and to design effective poverty-alleviation policy. Specifically, he is interested in urban poverty and how the conditions of poverty (including exposure to violence, noise, pollution, and lack of access to resources) affect psychological well-being and how that, in turn, plays a role in prolonging poverty. He earned his doctorate from the University of California, Davis; his master of public policy degree from Georgetown University; and a bachelor’s in economics from the American University of Beirut.

In his teaching, Alloush strives to create spaces where students collaborate to apply economic theory to develop solutions to real-world problems that they care about.

Recent Courses Taught

Urban Economics
Urban Poverty and Inequality

Research Interests

Development Economics
Behavioral Economics
Applied Econometrics
Labor Economics
Health Economics

Distinctions

• Building Evidence on Protracted Forced Displacement Grant, UK Department for International Development, 2017-21
• Provost Fellowship, University of California Davis, 2014
• Graduate Fellowship, Georgetown University, 2008-10

Select Publications

• “Neighborhood Violence, Poverty, and Psychological Well-being.” Journal of Development Economics (with Jeff Bloem), forthcoming.
• “Income Improves Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from South Africa.” Economic Development and Cultural Change (with Steve Wu), forthcoming.
• “Economic Life in Refugee Camps.” World Development, 95(6), 334-347, 2017. (with J.E. Taylor, I. Rojas, A. Gupta, and E. Gonzalez)
• “The Economic Impact of Refugees.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(27), 7449-7453, 2016. (with J.E. Taylor, M. Filipski, A. Gupta, I. Rojas, E. Gonzalez) 
• “Informality and Exclusion: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee data for Lebanon and Syria.” IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 2(1), 1-18, 2013. (with R. Gatti, J. Silva, and C. Chartouni) 

Professional Affiliations

American Economic Association
American Agricultural Economics Association

Professional Experience

Consultant and Professional Associate at the World Bank

Appointed to the Faculty

2019

Educational Background

Ph.D., University of California, Davis
M.P.P., Georgetown University
B.A., American University of Beirut