Uma Ilavarasan

Hello!

I am a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Government at Harvard University and a Malcolm Wiener Ph.D. Research Fellow in Poverty and Justice through the Harvard Stone Program in Wealth Distribution, Inequality, and Social Policy. I am also an affiliate of the Center for American Political Studies, the Institute for Quantitative Social Science, and the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, as well as a Graduate Student Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

I study American and comparative politics, with an emphasis on American political development, comparative political economy, bureaucratic politics, and social and industrial policy. In my dissertation, I explore how and when states (the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union) wield what I call monopsonistic power to achieve programmatic goals. I focus specifically on the development of labor and environmental policy within the crucible of the government contract. I employ interviews, archival research, and quantitative analysis in my work.

I graduated in May 2019 from Reed College with a B.A. in Economics. Between July 2021 and July 2022, I served as a Financial Economist at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

I can be reached at uilavarasan@g.harvard.edu or you may make an appointment through my Calendly.