Scholarship and Biography

Nidhiya Menon is a development economist. She has worked on topics that include labor and occupational choice, gender-differentiated impacts of policies, land rights, conflict, gender-specific technology use, environmental influences on child and adult health, social, cultural and religious norms, and most recently, the effects of climate change on human capital in the developing world. Her research includes both theoretical and empirical work, and spans countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. She has consulting experience with the Food and Agricultural Organization, the World Bank, the United Nations Foundation, and the Asian Development Bank. She is an Associate Editor at the Journal of Development Economics and World Development, and a J-PAL Invited Researcher. At Brandeis University, she is Professor in the Economics department, where she teaches statistics and development economics. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Brown University. 

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Honors

Norman Research Grant
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 2008
Research Grant
World Bank (United States, Washington D.C.), 2009
Who's Who in America
Marquis Who’s Who, 2009
Research Grant
World Bank (United States, Washington D.C.), 2010
Research Grant
International Growth Center , 04/2011
UN Foundation Grant
United Nations Foundation (United States, Washington D.C.), 2012
Research Grant
International Growth Center , 04/2013
Food and Agricultural Organization, UN
United Nations (United States, New York) - UN, 2016
Asian Development Bank
Asian Development Bank (Japan, Tokyo) - ADB, 2015
Provost Research Grant
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 2016, 2018
Theodore and Jane Norman Research Grant
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 2016-2018
Theodore and Jane Norman Research Grant
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 2019
Theodore and Jane Norman Research Grant
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 03/2022
Bernstein Fellowship Award for Teaching Excellence
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 03/2004
Schiff Fellowship Award
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 04/2003
Mazer Research Award
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 03/2002
Asian Development Bank, Visiting Fellow
Asian Development Bank (Philippines, Manila), 12/2023
J-PAL Invited Researcher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States, Cambridge) - MIT, December 2024 -
Fellow
Harvard-Radcliffe Institute, 2025-2026
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Research prize, 2024
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, 2024

Organizational Affiliations

Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Brandeis University

Affiliated Faculty, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University

Affiliated Faculty, Interdepartmental Program in South Asian Studies, Brandeis University

Affiliated Faculty, Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University

Affiliated Faculty, Brandeis International Business School, Brandeis University

Education

Brown University
Ph.D.
Brown University
M.A.
Mount Holyoke College
B.A.