Wifag Adnan is an Associate Professor of Economics at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), and a Research Fellow at the ERF and IZA@Liser.

She received her B.S. at Duke University (magna cum laude with distinction) and her Ph.D. from Princeton University,

Her research sits at the intersection of Labor Economics, Political Economy, and Development Economics. Her work spans two main agendas. First, she studies labor market frictions in developing economies. This work evaluates how information interventions, entry barriers, and border policies impact employment outcomes and worker bargaining power. Second, she investigates the structural causes of economic inequality. Using rich administrative data, she examines the role of immigrant integration, intergenerational mobility, spatial wage gaps, and family dynamics in shaping long-term economic opportunity.