Chris Grady
Research Affiliate
email cdgrady21@gmail.com
I am a political scientist with substantive interests in behavioral science and international development. My methodological expertise is in experimental design, survey research, and causal inference. I am generally interested in interventions to improve human well-being and in manifestations of commitment problems and collective action problems. I serve on the Board of Directors for EGAP and was formerly Senior Metrics Advisor for USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Rights, and Governance.
Projects
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Research December 2025
Public Service Provision and the Virtuous Circle: Evidence from Malawi
GOV/LAB Research Director Nuole (Lula) Chen and research affiliate Chris Grady are co-authors on a study of trust in local government in Malawi, where government services are minimal and there is widespread non-payment of taxes. Their article shows that following a shock to improve desired public services (such as waste management), citizens were more likely to pay their taxes and to increase their trust in government.
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News September 2025
[TWISS] Democratic Citizenship
Are citizens competent enough to fulfill their democratic responsibilities? We're sharing a recent post from This Week in Social Science's by Research Affiliate Chris Grady.
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News June 2025
This Week in Social Science
In a weekly newsletter, MIT GOV/LAB research affiliate Chris Grady summarizes the latest social science research for a general audience on timely topics. Have a topic to suggest? Details below.