"Let me be to someone else what no one ever was to me" — Wentworth Miller
Johir's Photo

Hello! I am Johir.

Welcome to my website. I am a Senior Research Associate at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University, attached to the Gender and Social Development Cluster.

I work under the supervision of Dr. Munshi Sulaiman, Dr. Khandker Wahedur Rahman, and Dr. Shaila Ahmed. Previously, I worked as a Research Associate at the same institution and as a remote Research Assistant for Dr. Naila Kabeer at the London School of Economics (LSE).

I hold a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh, and I am currently pursuing a master's in Mathematics at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST).

To know more details, you can see my CV here.

Research Interests

My research interest lies at the intersection of Development Economics, Data and Computational Science. I am passionate about addressing challenges in developing countries through:

Focus Areas: Child marriage, social protection, poverty, social networks, intimate partner violence, empowerment, education, mental health, microcredit, and parenting.

Research & Publications

Publications

Journal Article The Cost of Discipline? Exploring the Impact of Corporal Punishment on Children's Foundational Learning Skills in Bangladesh
With Marjan Hossain, Sheikh Touhidul Haque
International Journal of Educational Development, 2025, Online Appendix
Using 2019 MICS data and an instrumental variable approach, we find that corporal punishment in Bangladesh significantly reduces children's foundational reading and numeracy skills, particularly among boys. The findings underscore the need for stronger enforcement of bans and targeted early-childhood interventions.

Working Papers

Working Paper Behind Closed Doors: Corporal Punishment at Home and Its Consequences for Emotional Regulation in Children-An Instrumental Variable Approach
With Arishfa Nawar Iqra and Md. Robiul Hossain
Under Review at Child Abuse & Neglect journal
Corporal punishment remains common despite evidence of harm. Using survey data and an instrumental-variables strategy, this paper examines its effects on children’s psychological outcomes. Linear Probability Models show strong positive associations with emotional regulation problems and anxiety/depression, but 2SLS estimates reveal a causal effect only on emotional regulation difficulties—especially for girls—with no consistent impact on anxiety or depression. The findings indicate that corporal punishment impairs children’s emotional development and strengthen the case for banning it and encouraging non-violent discipline.
Working Paper Belief Measurement: The Role of Survey Incentives
With Atiya Rahman
We investigate if monetary incentives improve the accuracy of reported beliefs about social norms in rural Bangladesh. Results from a randomized survey experiment show that while incentives modestly reduce misperceptions, these effects are statistically fragile after adjusting for multiple hypothesis testing, suggesting limited cost-efficiency for sensitive norm research.
Working Paper Perception Versus Reality: Social Media, Elopement Fears, and Marriage Decisions in Rural Bangladesh
With Munshi Sulaiman and Shaila Ahmed
Using RCT data from rural Bangladesh, we examine the link between daughters' social media use and parental fears of elopement. We find that social media use increases perceived elopement risk and the likelihood of self-chosen marriage. However, the program intervention significantly reduces early marriage rates, particularly among social media users, highlighting the need to integrate digital literacy with empowerment.
Working Paper Women’s Property Rights and Fertility: Cross-Country Evidence
With Shaila Ahmed, Akmam Binte Arif, and Sheikh Touhidul Haque
Using a balanced panel of 136 countries (2002–2022), this paper instruments an index of women’s ownership and inheritance rights with colonial legal origin to estimate causal effects on fertility. Strengthening property rights from the 25th to the 75th percentile increases the total fertility rate by about 0.50 births per woman, a result robust across specifications, bounds tests, and regional and income subsamples. The findings challenge standard theories by showing that legal empowerment can raise fertility, possibly by easing liquidity constraints and reducing the perceived risks of motherhood, offering policymakers a gender-equitable lever to address demographic decline.

Selected Work in Progress

In Progress Optimizing Cash Transfers with Social Empowerment Interventions to Reduce Child Marriage in Bangladesh
With Munshi Sulaiman, Shaila Ahmed, Khandker Wahedur Rahman, Sakib Mahmood.
AER RCT Registration. Update: Midline is completed; Endline survey is scheduled in January 2026
In Progress Play-Based Learning in Crisis Contexts: A Randomized Controlled Trial on Educational and Psychosocial Outcomes in Host Community Children
With Shaila Ahmed, Justine Howard, Sakila Yesmin, Muhammad Towkir Hossain.
AEA RCT Registration. Update: Both baseline and endline survey is completed; Analysis and paper writing are ongoing as of December 2025.

Policy Writings/Reports

Research Projects

This section includes the projects that I worked only as a (Trainee) Research Associate

Partnership for Research on Progress and Resilience in Education (PREPARE) Bangladesh Round 1 and 2
In collaboration with Centre for Global Development (CGD) Europe
This study assesses foundational literacy and numeracy among children aged 5–18 in Bangladesh using phone-based ASER assessments. We find that while enrollment is higher for girls and younger children, significant learning gaps persist, particularly in rural areas and among those exposed to shocks like COVID-19 and natural disasters. The findings emphasize the need for resilient education systems and targeted post-pandemic recovery interventions.
Parenting-For-Adolescent (PFA) Program (Pilot Study)
With Centre for Global Development (CGD) Europe
Despite high educational aspirations, parents in the Ultra Poor Graduation Program often marry daughters early due to reputational fears and a lack of communication. This study tests a counseling intervention adapted from the CONNECT program to bridge the parent-adolescent gap, aiming to reduce conflict, lower early marriage rates, and increase secondary school enrollment.

Bookshelf

Inspired by Rohan Alexander and Patrick Collison's version, this is a list of books that I have either as hard or softcopy. If anyone has any other recommendations that I should read, please get in touch.

Non-fiction

  • Who will cry when you die by Robin Sharma
  • The First Muslim by Lesley Hazleton
  • The hour between dog and wolf by John Coates
  • Noise by Cass R. Sunstein
  • Think Again by Adam Grant
  • Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
  • What Every BODY is saying by Joe Navarro
  • Nudge: The final Edition by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R Sunstein
  • The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
  • Against Empathy by Paul Bloom
  • Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
  • Misbehaving by Richard H. Thaler
  • Nudge: Improving Decision about health, wealth, and happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
  • Choosing not to choose by Cass R. Sunstein
  • Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
  • A Mathematician's Apology by G.H Hardy
  • The subtle art of not giving a f*ck by Mark Manson
  • Super Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
  • Think Like A Freak by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
  • Remember by Lisa Genova
  • Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone
  • Just Babies: The Origin of Good and Evil by Paul Bloom
  • Why we love by Helen Fisher
  • Anatomy of love by Helen Fisher
  • Switch: How to change things when change is hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
  • Justice by Michael Sandel
  • What Money Can't Buy by Michael Sandel
  • Descartes' Baby by Paul Bloom
  • How pleasure works by Paul Bloom
  • Economic Facts and Fallacies by Thomas Sowell
  • The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty by Dan Ariely
  • The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely
  • Indistractable by Nir Eyal
  • After the prophet by Lesley Hazelton
  • The courage to be disliked by Fumitake Koga
  • The little book of Economics by Greg Ip
  • Pillow Thoughts I, II, III, IV by Courtney Peppernell
  • The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
  • The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova
  • Capital and Ideology by Thomas Piketty
  • Grit by Angela Duckworth
  • Payoff by Dan Ariely
  • Dollars and Sense by Dan Ariely
  • The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
  • The 7 Habits of highly effective people by Stephen R. Covey
  • The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
  • Ikigai by Francesc Miralles
  • The art of Procrastination by John Perry
  • Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
  • Breaking Night by Liz Murray
  • Give and Take by Adam Grant
  • Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty
  • Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo
  • How to lie with statistics by Darrell Huff
  • Games people play by Berne Eric
  • When Helping hurts by Steve Corbett
  • Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
  • The Last Girl by Nadia Murad
  • The Economics of Inequality by Thomas Piketty
  • The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
  • So Rich, So Poor by Peter Edelman
  • The White Man's Burden by William Easterly
  • Saving Capitalism by Robert B. Reich
  • Seriously Curious by Tom Standage
  • Uncommon Knowledge by Tom Standage
  • Hitler was my friend by Heinrich Hoffmann
  • He was my chief by Christa Schroeder
  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu
  • The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
  • One Thing by Gary W. Keller, Jay Papasan
  • The Idea of Justice by Amartya Sen
  • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
  • Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo
  • Everything is f*cked by Mark Manson
  • Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
  • Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
  • The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
  • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
  • Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
  • Start With Why by Simon Sinek
  • The Sweet Spot by Paul Bloom
  • Behavioral Code by Adam Fine and Benjamin van Rooij

Resources for Economists

A comprehensive list of resources can be found on this website that I created. Please, feel free to reach out to me if you have any suggestions.

My Contributions

This subsection includes resources that I have created or contributed to.

STATA Resources

Programming, Data, and Econometrics

Hobby

Regional Achiever's Summit 2018
My hobby is photography. I love to take pictures. This photo was from the Regional Achiever's Summit 2018 organized by Active Citizen-British Council, where I served as the official Photographer.

Some of my favorite captures

Milestones & Rejections

Inspired by the "CV of Failures," this list includes both my successes and the invisible failures—rejected grants, papers, and applications—that are part of the academic journey.

Type Year Outcome / Achievement
Academic 2024 Published paper in International Journal of Educational Development
Graduate App 2024 Rejected from [University Name] (Final Round Interview)
Professional 2022 Promoted to Senior Research Associate at BIGD
Grant 2022 Declined for [Grant/Fellowship Name] funding
Fellowship 2022 Young Researchers' Fellowship at BIGD
Paper 2021 Rejected from [Journal Name] (Desk Rejection)
Education 2021 Graduated with Bachelor's in Economics from University of Chittagong
Award 2018 Official Photographer at Regional Achiever's Summit (British Council)