Research Associate ,Data – Emissions Trading Scheme – J-PAL South Asia

Organization: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR

Project Title: Emissions Trading Scheme

Country: India

Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Start Date: ASAP

Length of Commitment: 14 months

Education: Bachelors/Master’s in Economics, Environmental Economics, Engineering, Public Policy or related field

Company Description:

J-PAL is a global research centre working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. The Research team at J-PAL South Asia at the Institute of Financial management and Research (IFMR) forges relationships with implementers on the ground, designs randomized evaluations and survey instruments, carries out data collection, statistical analysis and data publishing and provides evidence to answer key questions on social policy and social development.

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) seeks qualified applicants for position as Research Associate for the Environment, Energy and Climate Change sector. J-PAL’s Environment, Energy, & Climate Change sector measures the real-world impacts of energy and environmental policies, particularly on energy access, pollution reduction, and climate change mitigation and resilience.

Project Description:

The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) project is a collaborative exercise between the Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, J-PAL South Asia at IFMR and Energy Policy Institute of Chicago (EPIC) to implement and evaluate a market-based mechanism for Particulate Matter in India. The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand experience in using big data in public policy, doing associated field work and interaction with Centre and State officials, in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research.

This research team is headed by Prof. Michael Greenstone (University of Chicago), Prof. Rohini Pande (Yale University), Dr. Nicholas Ryan (Yale University), and Dr. Anant Sudarshan (University of Warwick).

Roles and Responsibilities:

• The RA will work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to:
• Maintaining relationships with Government/Partner organizations at both Head Office and Regional Office levels
• Understand working and updation of government-owned emission databases for various pollutants. Collaborate with IT and other relevant departments to understand data transmission and storage processes.
• Understand government CEMS data architecture, systems integration and other back end systems related to CEMS in Gujarat
• Document the database updating processes, including sources, key steps and encountered challenges.
• Gather key data regarding new government publications, reports, policy briefs on environmental regulation. Ensure the accuracy and completeness of collected data.
• Organize and maintain large emission datasets as well as acquire new ones and design data structure frameworks to integrate datasets
• Periodically monitoring and analysing the Market Data and understanding the trading behaviour of participating industries under the project
• Help government/partner organizations improve existing data architecture
• Regular reporting to PIs and supervisors on all the above-mentioned activities.

Desired Qualifications and Experience:

Required:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Economics (or related field) or Engineering, engineering (IT) is preferred.
• At least 1 year of work experience
• Prior experience in an IT role
• Prior experience with field data collection is desired, but not necessary
• Familiarity with impact evaluations and randomized controlled trials is required
• Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills.
• Fluency in Hindi and English and strong communication skills are required.
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player
• Willingness to live in Ahmedabad and travel extensively to study areas.
• Intermediate or advanced knowledge of SQL, Python, STATA. Knowledge of additional data analysis tools will be an advantage

Desired:

• Master’s degree in economics, environmental economics, engineering, public policy or related disciplines is preferred
• Work experience in environmental sciences/ engineering will be an advantage
• Proficiency in STATA, SQL, Python (or other tools such as R, SPSS etc.) is desired.
• Conversational-level skills in Gujarati language are desired
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level stakeholder relationships with partner organizations
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials/clinical trials/quasi-experiments preferred
• Experience living in a developing country and/or liaising with government officials is a strongly desired but not necessary
• High level of attention to detail