"Pre-Doctoral Fellow"

Position Description:

Summary of the role
Augustin Bergeron is recruiting a full-time Pre-Doctoral Fellow based at Harvard University. The position will begin July 1, 2026, and is for one year, with the possibility of renewal for a second year. The Fellow will work closely with Augustin Bergeron at all stages of research on projects in development economics, political economy, public economics, and economic history, with a focus on taxation, state capacity, and governance in low-capacity settings.

The role will include supporting the implementation and analysis of ongoing field experiments conducted in partnership with the Provincial Government of Kasaï-Central in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Fellow will also assemble and clean administrative and survey data, conduct statistical analysis, and produce high-quality research outputs (tables, figures, and memos) for internal and external audiences.

The Fellow will work primarily with Augustin Bergeron and will also collaborate with co-authors and partners on related projects, including Jonathan Weigel (UC Berkeley), Gabriel Tourek (UC Davis), Samuel Kapon (UC Berkeley), Joana Naritomi (LSE), Abdoulaye Ndiaye (NYU Stern), Marina Ngoma (World Bank), James Robinson (University of Chicago), Nathan Nunn (UBC), and other collaborators.

Project DescriptionThe Pre-Doctoral Fellow will work on several projects, including but not limited to:

(i) Progressive taxation and fiscal capacity. A randomized controlled trial with the provincial tax ministry studying how the progressivity of the property tax schedule affects compliance, revenue, and citizens' perceptions of fairness. The project tests whether (i) better alignment between tax liabilities and ability to pay and (ii) improved perceived legitimacy translate into higher compliance and revenue. The Pre-Doctoral Fellow will contribute to the empirical analysis and research outputs.

(ii) Dispute resolution and the tax-based social contract. A large-scale randomized evaluation with the provincial Ministry of Justice, a Congolese NGO, and the provincial tax ministry examining how expanded access to dispute resolution affects property-rights security, social cohesion, trust in institutions, and tax compliance. The intervention compares two justice models: (a) a formal model in which government lawyers provide subsidized mediation and legal services, and (b) an informal model in which customary chiefs provide analogous mediation services. The study also includes experimental information treatments to test mechanisms related to perceived competence and impartiality. The Pre-Doctoral Fellow will assist with cleaning the endline data and contribute to empirical analysis and research outputs.

(iii) Bargaining, enforcement, and equity in high-value property tax collection. A field study of taxpayer–state bargaining during the province's first sustained push to enforce property taxes among high-value properties. The project combines quasi-random variation in enforcement – driven by operational capacity constraints – with randomized invitations for delinquent taxpayers to negotiate, including random assignment to individual versus group negotiation formats. The central question is whether bargaining complements credible enforcement by facilitating payment and improving information, or instead undermines equity and capacity by enabling preferential treatment, particularly for politically connected taxpayers. The intervention was piloted in 2025 and is being implemented at scale in 2026. The Fellow will work with the team in Kananga to support RCT logistics and monitor survey data quality.

(iv) Tax legitimacy as a constraint on state capacity: This project uses a novel dataset from 40,852 colonial administrative documents on taxation in Nigeria to study tax sentiment and resistance (including complaints and episodes of unrest) and evaluate how colonial fiscal reforms affected legitimacy where they displaced pre-existing fiscal institutions. To do so, it leverages a spatial regression discontinuity design around the former Sokoto Caliphate boundary. The project also links historical variation to contemporary attitudes using survey data (e.g., Afrobarometer). The Pre-Doctoral Fellow may contribute to data construction, validation of text-based measures, and empirical analysis.

*This position is fully paid and visa may be arranged

Basic Qualifications:
Successful candidates have come from a variety of backgrounds. Strong applicants will typically have:

1. A bachelor's or master's degree (completed by the start date) in economics, mathematics, computer science, statistics, or a related field.
2. Demonstrated interest in development economics, political economy, public economics, and/or economic history.
3. Solid training in causal inference, including experimental and quasi-experimental methods.
4. Strong programming skills in Stata and/or R.
5. Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, with strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
6. Excellent written communication skills, including the ability to produce clear memos and well-documented code.
7. Interest in pursuing a PhD in Economics or a related discipline.

Ideally, the candidate will also be willing and interested in spending time in the DRC during the appointment to support field implementation and coordination, as project needs require.

Salary Range: $50,000

Contact Information:
Sonia J
Contact Email: econacademicappointments@fas.harvard.edu