Plamen Nikolov is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at The State University of New York (at Binghamton), an Affiliated Professor at The Harvard University Institute for Quantitative Social Science, The University of Chicago's Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, and a Research Fellow of the Global Labor Organization. Under the direction of Lawrence Katz and David Cutler, he received his doctorate from Harvard University and a masters degree in International Economics and Arabic/Middle East Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

His expertise is in the design and execution of randomized control trials (RCTs) and cohort studies in resource-limited settings. Using mainly experimental methods (lab and field), his research focuses in three major areas: (1) improving education and health outcomes in developing countries, (2) finance and credit markets in low-income settings, and (3) improving productivity and labor outcomes in developing countries.

In an ongoing collaboration with The World Bank and BRAC, Dr. Nikolov is involved in several experimental or quasi-experimental interventions in South Asia and East Africa. Dr. Nikolov has extensive field experience in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tanzania, Kenya and Egypt.

Plamen Nikolov joined IZA as a Research Fellow in July 2019.