Our Research

The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) is a premier policy driven research institution with a distinguished 69 years history of advancing academic discourse and providing strategic solutions to Pakistan’s socio-economic challenges. PIDE remains committed to a revitalized spirit of intellectual rigor and institutional innovation through evidence-based research and policy advisory services to government, leveraging both institutional research priorities and responsive engagement with government departments and ministries.

Over seven decades, PIDE’s research, spanning critical areas such as administrative “sludge,” government footprint, regulatory reform, and elite capture, has successfully translated into actionable policy implementations. Currently, the Institute operates through eight specialized Research Centers focused on high-impact domains, including export-led growth, digital transformation, mobilizing endogenous resources, human capital development, and structural reforms. The aim of PIDE’s current research centers is to build policy-praxis articulation, ministerial and sectoral research collaborations, policy dialogue, empirical footprint and informed discourse within the domains of economy, development, governance and policy.

Dean Research

Dr. Shujaat Farooq

Research Centers

Eight research centers focusing research on contemporary economic issues; export-led growth, institutional reforms, social development, infrastructure, market economy, deregulation & evidence-driven policy. PIDE research is synergetic, theoretical & applied that impacts policy outcomes & outputs.

Our Researchers

Our researchers are trained in Economics, Public Policy, Development Studies, Demography & Anthropology. This academic diversity reflects in topicality & criticality, wherein researchers not only conduct & publish research but also disseminate results in Op-eds, policy engagements & conferences. 

Research Products

You will find research on public policy, deregulation of markets, sludge, export-led economy, export diversification, sectoral growth &social development (education, health & gender). Our research and policy briefs map research on all the critical topics.

Global Connections

Over the last 69 years, PIDE has engaged with the government sector, private sector, local and international universities & think tanks marking a global footprint typified by concrete policy actions, research collaborations, and cross-fertilisation of knowledge. 

SPOTLIGHT

Latest from the PIDE

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Navigating a New Regional Order: Connectivity, Energy, and Economic Resilience
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Distance Learning and Academic Performance: Evidence from a Qualitative Study
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Responsible and Scalable Agricultural Drone Adoption in Pakistan: A CPEC 2.0 Pilot-to-Scale Pathway
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Spending More, Transforming Less: Rethinking Social Protection Spending and Poverty in Pakistan
Our Research
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The Emerging Connectivity Link
Mujtaba Arshad
October 5, 2026
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Greenland’s power shift: new Arctic twist reshaping the world
Madiha Riaz
October 5, 2026
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Rural transformation: a structural solution
Farah Naz
October 5, 2026
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Venture capital reform: the real test
Ahmad Fraz
October 5, 2026
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A shield, not a sword: what the Makkah pact’s first test reveals
Mansoor Qaisar
October 5, 2026
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A new export route?
Mujtaba Arshad
September 29, 2026
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Agriculture: Tobacco - a cash crop without a market
Wajid Islam
September 29, 2026
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Who will finance Pakistan’s climate future?
Muhammad Faisal Ali
September 29, 2026
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After UNGA: Can a broken memorandum be put back together?
Mansoor Qaisar
September 29, 2026
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Iran just gave Washington a deadline. Watch Islamabad, not the White House
Mansoor Qaisar
September 29, 2026
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A smarter way to keep Islamabad clean
Shamaila Zareen
September 29, 2026
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Houthis choking the life out of Asia’s gasping energy supplies
Mansoor Qaisar
September 25, 2026
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Millions remain outside the financial system - Pakistan cannot afford it
Irem Batool
September 25, 2026
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Distance Learning and Academic Performance: Evidence from a Qualitative Study
Eman Qadeer
September 23, 2026
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Responsible and Scalable Agricultural Drone Adoption in Pakistan: A CPEC 2.0 Pilot-to-Scale Pathway
Eeman Taimur, Uzair Khaleeq-uz-Zaman
September 22, 2026
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The Makkah Pact’s first test: Can Pakistan defend Saudi Arabia without entering Yemen’s war?
Mansoor Qaisar
September 21, 2026
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Leveraging CPEC for CBAM
Sapna V Khemani
September 21, 2026
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Infrastructure Gaps Test Pakistan’s Flagship CPEC Industrial Zone, Field Survey Finds
Mujtaba Arshad
September 21, 2026