Her fields of interest include public finance and development, with a particular focus on issues related to taxation, redistribution, and fiscal federalism. Her current research focuses on how developing countries can strengthen tax revenue collection and build state capacity. Ongoing projects in Bangladesh, India, and Ecuador examine how tax authorities can use policy tools such as social recognition and information technology to improve compliance as well as how taxation affects individual and firm behavior. She is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a member of the International Growth Centre (IGC). She received her BA and PhD from Harvard University.