Grounded in fieldwork. Driven by evidence. Committed to policy impact.
Rahul Kumar Singh is a development economist and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Tokyo, Japan. Previously, he held a postdoctoral position at the Isaac Centre for Public Policy, Ashoka University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
His research examines how social networks influence credit access, technology adoption, and productivity in rural India, with particular emphasis on risk management in rainfed agricultural regions. His methodology combines primary field data with secondary sources, employing causal inference techniques, dynamic network analysis (RSiena), stochastic frontier analysis, and geographic information systems.
Sarthak Gaurav, Devesh Roy, Bharat Ramaswami, Tom Snijders, Christian Steglich, Marijtje van Duijn, Mohit Kumar
FieldVista Policy Lab is founded on a simple conviction: the best policy evidence comes from the field. Too often, policy design happens far from the communities it affects. By embedding rigorous research methods within real-world settings -- village economies, farmer networks, insurance markets, migration corridors -- we generate insights that are both scientifically credible and practically relevant.
Our approach is rooted in long-term engagement with communities, iterative data collection, and a commitment to understanding the structural factors that shape rural livelihoods. Whether it is mapping how information travels through social networks, measuring the welfare impacts of crop diversification, or calibrating insurance triggers for rainfed agriculture, every study begins with the field.
FieldVista Policy Lab envisions a world where policy decisions affecting rural communities are systematically informed by field evidence. We work to bridge the gap between academic research and policy implementation, ensuring that the voices, data, and realities from the field reach the tables where decisions are made -- from state capitals to international organizations.
Continuing research on agricultural development, social networks, and climate adaptation in South and Southeast Asia.
Led research on rural development, policy evaluation, and field study design at one of India's premier policy research centers.
Doctoral research focused on social networks, credit markets, and technology adoption in semi-arid village economies of Maharashtra.
Research themes and methodological competencies developed through years of fieldwork and academic inquiry.
Dynamic network analysis, information diffusion, peer effects, network targeting for interventions, and longitudinal network panel methods (RSiena).
Informal credit markets, microfinance, financial inclusion, and the role of social capital in shaping access to credit in rural economies.
Determinants of agricultural technology uptake, seed varieties, irrigation adoption, and the role of networks in technology diffusion.
Weather-index insurance, basis risk measurement, rainfed agriculture vulnerability, and adaptive strategies for climate variability.
RCTs, difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, synthetic control, and propensity score methods.
Geospatial data integration, remote sensing applications in agriculture, spatial econometrics, and mapping rural infrastructure.
