Isabelle Cohen joined the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance in 2021. Her work focuses on institutional capacity constraints in developing countries, including taxation under low enforcement capacity, digital identification, and gender norms (particularly child marriage). Much of her research uses large-scale randomized control trials, with ongoing projects in countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Uganda. She is an affiliate at the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology at UW and the Center for Effective Global Action at UC Berkeley, as well as an invited researcher at J-PAL Africa’s Digital Identification and Finance initiative.

Isabelle holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.P.P. from the College of William & Mary, and a B.A. in International Relations from the College of William & Mary. Prior to beginning her doctorate, Isabelle worked as a Research Manager at the Centre for Microfinance at IFMR Lead in Tamil Nadu, India.