Research Assistant – Retail Productivity and Consumer Behavior in Zambia

September 2024 – June 2025

As a Research Assistant at the Income Dynamics Lab, I collaborate with Professors Ajay Shenoy, Brenda Samaniego de la Parra, and Ph.D. students on a Zambia-based study, Measuring and Transferring Retail Productivity, building on Unpacking Total Factor Productivity. This research redefines traditional productivity metrics by decomposing retail efficiency into marketing, logistics, and inventory choice productivity. I ensure accurate data entry and quality control from field enumerators using SurveyCTO, monitor real-time data integrity, and refine survey functionality. Additionally, I analyze retail price dispersion and consumer behavior using Stata and Excel, investigating how price awareness and willingness to pay influence market efficiency, hoping to generate insights that inform government policies to enhance retail sector performance.

Research Project Details: https://www.theigc.org/collections/measuring-and-transferring-retail-productivity-evidence-structural-model-and-mentorship

Income Dynamics Lab: https://people.ucsc.edu/~azshenoy/lab.html

From left to right: Prof Brenda, Kayson Tang

Fall 2024 - From left to right: Prof Ajay, Amishi, Kayson, Sri, Evan

Winter 2025 - From left to right: Sri, Evan, Ajay, Kayson

Spring 2025 - From left to right: Sri, Ajay, Evan, Kayson