Doctor of Philosophy (Agricultural and Resource Economics), University of California, Berkeley, 2007

Master of Science (Agricultural and Resource Economics), University of California, Berkeley, 2002

Bachelor of Arts (Economics, Environmental Science, Politics), Claremont McKenna College, 2001

PubH 6445: Quantitative Methods for Impact Evaluation, Department of Global Health

PubH 6495: Field Trial Methods and Application, Department of Global Health

Dr. Baird is an Associate Editor at World Development. She is also a peer reviewer for numerous journals including the American Economic Review, Demography,  Journal of Development Economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics,and The Lancet. Dr. Baird is also a member of a number of professional organizations including the American Economic Association (AEA), International Health Economics Association (IHEA) and Population Association of America (PAA). 

Dr. Baird’s research interests are largely contained within the intersection of health, poverty and education at a micro level. She utilizes quantitative research methods to investigate the causal effects of programs and policies on health and education outcomes, with a particular focus on gender and youth. She is currently the quantitative lead for the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) program (https://www.gage.odi.org/), a study that is longitudinally following girls and boys in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Jordan and Rwanda to understand what works to improve the lives of adolescents. She is also the the PI on the the Connect project (https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/library/connect-increasing-use-pospartum-family-planning-first-time-parents), which aims to increase pospartum family Planning by first-time parents in Bangladesh and Tanzania.  She also has ongoing randomized impact evaluations in Malawi (cash transfers), Kenya (school based deworming), and Uganda (Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy + cash transfers).

(Selected Publications)

Journal Articles

1. Baird, S., Özler, B., Dell'Aira, C., and Us Salam, D. (2020). "Using Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy to Improve the Well-Being of Adolescent Girls." Journal of Development Economics, Registered Report Phase 1.
2. Baird, S., Hamory Hicks, J., Ozier, O. (2020). “Randomized control trial as social observatory: A case study.” World Development. Vol. 127, 104787.
3. Baird, S., McIntosh, C., and Özler, B. (2019) “When the Money Runs Out: Do Cash Transfers Have Sustained Effects?” Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 140, pp. 169-185.
4. Baird, S., Bhutta, Z., Abu Hamad, B., Hamory Hicks, J., Jones, N., Muz, J. (2019) “Do Restrictive Gender Attitudes and Norms Influence Physical and Mental Health during Very Young Adolescence? Evidence from Bangladesh and Ethiopia.” SSM-Population Health. Vol. 9, 100480.
5. Brauner-Otto, S., Baird, S., Ghimire, D. (2019). “Maternal employment and child health in Nepal: The importance of job type and timing across the child’s first five years.” Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 224, pp. 94-105.
6. Baird, S., McKenzie, D., and Özler, B. (2018). “The Effects of Cash Transfers on Adult Labor Market Outcomes.” IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Vol. 8 (1), pp. 1-20.
7. Baird, S., Bohren, A., McIntosh, C., and Özler, B. (2018). “Optimal Design of Experiments in the Presence of Interference.” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 100 (5), pp. 844-860.
8. Baird, S., Hamory-Hicks, J., Kremer, M., and Miguel, E. (2016) “Worms at Work: Long Run Impacts of a Child Health Investment.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 131 (4), pp. 1637-1680.
9. Ahuja, A., Baird, S., Hamory Hicks, J., Kremer, M., Miguel, E., and Powers, S. (2015), “When Should Governments Subsidize Health? The Case of Mass Deworming,” World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 29 (suppl 1), pp. S9-S24.
10. Baird, S., Gong, E., McIntosh, C. and Özler, B. (2014), “The heterogeneous effects of HIV testing,” Journal of Health Economics, Vol. 37, pp. 98-112.
11. Baird, S., Ferreira, F., Özler, B., and Woolcock, M. (2014), “Conditional, Unconditional and Everything in Between: A Systematic Review of the Effects of Cash Transfer Programs on Schooling Outcomes,” Journal of Development Effectiveness, Vol. 6(1), pp. 1-43.
12. Baird, S., McIntosh, C. and Özler, B. (2013), “The Regressive Demands of Demand Driven Development,” Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 106, pp. 370-403.
13. Baird, S., de Hoop, J. and Özler, B. (2013) “Income Shocks and Adolescent Mental Health,” Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 48(2), pp. 370-403.
14. Baird, S. and Özler, B. (2012), “Examining the Reliability of Self-Reported Data on School Participation,” Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 98(1), pp. 89-93.
15. Baird, S., Garfein, R., McIntosh, C., and Özler, B. (2012), “Effect of a cash transfer programme for schooling on prevalence of HIV and herpes simplex type 2 in Malawi: a cluster randomised trial,” The Lancet, Vol. 379(9823), pp. 1320-1329.
16. Baird, S., McIntosh, C., and Özler, B. (2011), “Cash or Condition: Evidence from a Randomized Cash Transfer Program,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 126(4), pp. 1709-1753.
17. Baird, S., Friedman, J. and Schady, N. (2011), “Aggregate Income Shocks and Infant Mortality in the Developing World,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 93(3), pp. 847-856.