Dr. Shaan Akbar

Biography

Shaan Washique Akbar is a Master of Arts student in Economics at the University of Calgary, focusing on labor and development economics. He has served as a Research Associate on sectoral projects in Bangladesh, where he combined fieldwork and policy analysis. His flagship project studies the 2023 minimum wage in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector, assessing its implications and compliance for industry discussions. His contributions include projects on disability inclusion and energy transitions through partnerships with NGOs and academic institutes. Shaan's methodological background incorporates mixed methods and applied econometrics, utilizing tools such as survey design, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, Stata, and Excel. His research interests include wage policy, gender in the workforce, political economy, and industrial transformation, with the aim of producing evidence to improve labor standards for inclusive growth. He has worked on diverse projects, including analyzing the effects of the new wage implementation in the RMG sector, mapping disability inclusion for visual impairments, and studying the decline in women's labor force participation in Bangladesh. Additionally, he has engaged in experiments related to climate risk and insurance decisions, contributing valuable insights through extensive stakeholder engagements and recommendations for renewable transition roadmaps.

Research Interests

Awards