Dr. Laura Nelima Barasa Email: [email protected] Tel.: +254 733 808
Dr. Laura Nelima Barasa Email: [email protected] Tel.: +254 733 808 472 Personal details Date of birth: 1st February, 1980 Gender: Female Nationality: Kenyan Languages: English, Kiswahili, French
Education
Ph.D. in Economics Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
Title: Made in Africa: Innovation and efficiency at the level of the firm 2014 to 2017 I examined innovation behaviour of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in developing countries using data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey and the Innovation Follow-up Survey. The main objective of my research was to find out how the business and investment climate, and trade impact firm level innovation in terms of product innovation involving the introduction new goods or services or the significant improvement of existing goods or services.
Master of Arts in Economics University of Nairobi, Kenya 2005 - 2008
Title: Economic impact of relocating hawkers from Nairobi central business district to the new Ngara market
Bachelors of Arts in Economics 1998 – 2002 Moi University, Kenya
Other qualifications . Behavioral Science in the Field, MIT GOV/LAB and Busara Center for Behavioral Economics. . Evaluation of Public Policies, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada . Certified Public Accountant, Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examination Board
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Dr. Laura Nelima Barasa Email: [email protected] Tel.: +254 733 808 472 Work experience 01.01.2013 – Current University of Nairobi, Kenya Position: Lecturer - School of Economics Responsibilities: . Teaching and supervision responsibilities.
Research and field-work experience 01.10.2018 – Current Principal investigator Project: The impact of projects in African countries financed by European Investment Bank Impact Financing Envelope. Funded by the European Investment Bank. Responsibilities: . Quantitative research on the impact of mobile Customer Relationship Management in Kenya.
14.12.2015 – 24.12.2015 Fieldwork co-ordination Project: Breaking the vicious cycle between poverty and ill-health: Are cash transfers and social health protection policies in Ghana and Kenya mutually complementing? Funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Responsibilities: . Overseeing data collection in West Pokot County, Kenya and transcription of interviews
20.04.2015 – 28.04.2015 Interview-based fieldwork Project: Co-ordinated country case studies: Innovation and growth, raising productivity in developing countries research program, funded by United Kingdom’s (UK) Department for International Development. Responsibilities: . Qualitative research on innovation in manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises in Kenya.
Recent research grants . United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), $8,000. . European Investment Bank- Global Development Network (EIB-GDN) fellow, €25,000. . Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) grant, $22,000. . African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) grant, $12,500.
Areas of research interest . Development Economics . Innovation Economics
Selected publications . Barasa, L., Kinyanjui, B., Knoben, J., Vermeulen, P., & Kimuyu, P. (2020). Innovation and exporting: the case of mediation effects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Industry and Innovation, 1-23. . Barasa, L. (2020). Teacher Quality and Mathematics Performance in Primary Schools in Kenya. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 24(1), 53-64. . Barasa, L., Kimuyu, P., Vermeulen, P., Knoben, J., & Kinyanjui, B. (2019). Innovation and efficiency in manufacturing firms in sub-Saharan Africa. European Journal of Innovation Management, 22(1), 59-83. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-11-2017-0176
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