Blair Read

Welcome! I am an Associate Fellow at the Office of Evaluation Sciences and a visiting Data Scientist at Code for America. I received my Ph.D. from the MIT Department of Political Science in September 2022. 

​

My academic research examines the political economy of public service delivery, with a focus on privatized services. My book project examines the formation and development of public service sectors in the Global South, focusing on state decisions to outsource education to non-state actors in India. In related work on India, I study how politicians make temporal decisions about governance investments, the politics of identity in civics textbooks, and the production of majoritarian violence. 

​

I also conduct applied policy research. Using randomized control trials, quasi-experimental design, and descriptive inference with big data, I study ways to improve citizens' experience with the safety net in the United States. Other applied research interests include political behavior in developing contexts, and survey design and measurement.

​

At MIT, I was a Graduate Research Fellow at MIT GOV/LAB and a Graduate Research Associate with the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard. My research has been supported by NSF, the Program on Governance and Local Development, MIT GOV/LAB, and the MIT Center for International Studies. I have conducted fieldwork in India (Delhi, Haryana, UP, and Kerala), Pakistan (Punjab), Tanzania, Uganda, Bangladesh, and Indonesia (Java).

​

You can reach me at bmread@mit.edu.