Maha Rehman

I am a PhD student in Applied Economics at Cornell University, where I study how firms respond to economic disruptions and shocks. My research examines how frictions such infrastructure failures, financial frictions, and weak state capacity shape firm adaptation, resource reallocation, and long-run productivity in developing economies.

I work across two related streams: one on shock-induced misallocation, and another on behavioural responses during crises—both anchored in policy-relevant design. My recent work shows that when firms anticipate limited government support, they rationally over-adapt by substituting public goods through costly self-provisioning. This behaviour ultimately undermines long-term productivity and resilience. I formalise this mechanism in a model of adaptive misallocation, where policy uncertainty drives over-investment in short-term defensive strategies, distorting capital allocation and entrenching inefficiency.

Methodologically, I combine experimental and quasi-experimental designs with tools from empirical industrial organisation to identify institutional inefficiencies and misaligned incentives. These empirical insights inform economic theory and help design scalable reforms that improve industrial resilience and policy delivery—especially in South Asia.

You can explore my research, policy writing, and teaching here, or connect with me on the platforms below:

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