Niaz Asadullah is a Visiting Professor of Economics at Reading University, UK. He has previously held visiting/academic positions at Monash Malaysia, Harvard, Oxford, Kent, Manchester, Malaya, Mindanao, Chulalongkorn, BRAC and Dhaka Universities.

His research interests include development economics, economics of education, labor economics and happiness economics. His research has been supported by grants from AUSAID, Asian Development Bank Institute, International Growth Centre, South Asian Network of Economic Research Institutes (SANEI), UNESCO, UNU-WIDER and the World Bank. He received a Leverhulme Trust (UK) fellowship in 2011.

Niaz regularly contributes to the international media including the Project Syndicate, the Conversation, World Economic Forum, the Diplomat, the East Asia Forum, D+C Development & Cooperation, and World Education Forum of the UNESCO. His research has been covered by Al-jazeera, ABC Australia, Astro Awani TV (Malaysia), BBC, Business FM (Malaysia), the Economist, the Star (Malaysia) and the Edge Financial Daily.

Niaz is a co-editor of Singapore Economic Review, the Journal of Human Development & Capabilities, PLOS One, and International Journal of Educational Development. He is also on the editorial board of Feminist Economics, COMPARE, Poverty & Public Policy and Journal of Public Affairs.

He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in September 2007.