James Habyarimana joined the Georgetown Public Policy Institute in 2004 after completing doctoral studies at Harvard University. His main research interests are in Development Economics and Political Economy. In particular he is interested in understanding the issues and constraints in health, education and the private sector in developing countries. In health he is working on understanding the impact of policy responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa and evaluating a number of health improving interventions in road safety and water supply. In education, his work focuses on the prevalence and impact of teacher absence and the role of household level constraints in the school enrollment decisions. He is also doing work on the link between ethnic diversity and collective action using experimental methods. His primary regional focus is Africa. He is a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development.
At GPPI, James teaches the second course in statistical methods and courses on the history of development and education and health policy in developing countries.