Professor Joshua D. Merfeld began his career here at KDI School in July of 2020. Before coming to KDI School, he conducted a great deal of research for use in his own project to obtain a Ph.D. in Public Policy. He reveived his PhD from the University of Washington in public policy and management. After graduation, he taught at the Fobert F.Wagner GraduatE School of Public Service at New York University. He worked for two years in New York City before coming to KDI School.

His research interests are labor allocation in developing countries especially poor households working in agriculture. With KDI School’s funding, he is also working on a Korean development project, which aims to understand how labor changed from being a primarily agricultural country in the 1960s to an industrial country in the 1990s. It focuses on migration from rural areas to urban areas and how people’s industries changed, in terms of whether they were working in manufacturing countries. In an additional KDIS-funded project, he will research households in rural areas of India, exploring how they reallocated labor following the introduction of a large government workfare program which provided rural hoseholds with up to 100 days of employment.

His top goals are to advise students and help students with their own research. He wishes to aid students with their programs, including their master’s theses or Ph.D. dissertations. Additionally, he is of course there to help students as someone who enjoys conducting research and publishing.

The Globe – KDI School Yearzine 2020