Michael Mbate is a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics. His fields of research include public finance, governance, and the evaluation of public policies using quasi-experimental designs. Prior to joining the LSE, he was an economist with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and has previously been with the African Union Commission and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. He has training in both economics, statistics and political science from Egerton University, Paris School of Economics, London School of Economics, Columbia University and the University of California Berkeley.