海员ob Piracha got his BS in Electrical Engineering and MA in Economics from Ohio University. After working as an engineer first and then as an economist at various organisations both in the US and Pakistan, he decided to study for a PhD in Economics at the University of Exeter. Currently he is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Economics at the University of Kent, UK.

His main research interests are migration and strategic trade policy. He has recently finished work on an ESRC funded project titled “Borders, Migration and Labour Market Dynamics in a Changing Europe” whose main objective was to study the determinants of the decision to migrate and the welfare impacts on both origin and destination regions. He is also involved in a few other research projects that include the analysis of the impact of economic policies on EU enlargement, specifically studying the patterns and impact of migration within the enlarged European Union.

He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in April 2004.