Muntasir Shami

I joined the Economics, Finance and Entrepreneurship (EFE) department at Aston Business School (ABS) in September 2018 as a Research fellow in Economics and am also a Research fellow at the Department of Economics and the Centre for the Study of Economics (CSAE) at the University of Oxford. I am currently an Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship at ABS and my research interests span across various areas of Development Economics, Entrepreneurship, Institutions, Political Economy and Business Improvement.

As of August 2023 as a Co-Investigator, my Principal Investigator (Dr. Natalie Carlson at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania) and I have launched a field experiment research and impact Business Training Support project to aid microenterprises in Zimbabwe and Zambia commencing piloting in the spring of 2024 and roll-out in the summer of 2024. The program involves three components of training that aim to aid microenterprises in idea generation, business start-up, and business improvement activities in a differentiated manner and responsible manner. Our partners in the project include local Zimbabwe based training partner the Royal Business Consult Trust (RBCT) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) of the United Nations. The project has secured £100K in funding so far.

I am passionate about developing evidence-based recommendations for how policymakers should lead and support economic efforts, and how they can best support their constituents, all of which in various ways contributes to positively changing the society we live in. Thus far, my research has been supported by competitive grants from numerous funders, such as The Wharton School Fund, the Centre for Study of African Economies (CSAE) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) via the Department for International Development (DFID, UK) and GIZ (Germany).

As programme director (course director) of the undergraduate course International Business and Management (IBAM), I have lead responsibility for the success, well-being and overall experience of students within the course, working closely with the Head of the Business School and others in the School Leadership Team, contributing to the wider leadership of the College and University to ensure that corporate and strategic aims are met. I ensure arrangements are in place for the planning and operation of all key processes required for effective course delivery and administration, including recruitment, admissions, timetabling and induction through collaboration with appropriate colleagues. Additionally, I actively contributed to developing a quality assurance process for learning and teaching to mitigate the pandemic challenges and beyond (develop good practice and help manage the department more efficiently), to foster a more productive team atmosphere and to mentor staff to ensure they have a supportive environment to excel and meet our students’ expectations in the Economics, Finance and Entrepreneurship department at ABS. As sub-team leader, I ensure that there is consistency and complementarity (no unintended overlaps) between modules within a sub-team. Academics in the team will become more familiar with the curriculum and work to ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of our students. In time this will then be able to feed into modifications to our modules and programs. My team is also responsible for ensuring that all assessments (that is exams and coursework) (and including referral and deferral papers) are written at the highest level of quality. This means thorough proofreading to eliminate errors and ensure no overlap between assessments across the years. We also ensure that assessments are designed such that students can excel but also ensure that we do not have a disproportionate amount of very high marks or failures. Hence, under normal circumstances, assessment should be designed to generate a normal distribution of marks. I also manage the peer monitoring process where colleagues peer review one another within our team in terms of teaching delivery and support. I also participated in the curriculum development committee and actively contributed to the development of the BSc Economics program at two universities. I am currently actively involved in the launch of the Aston Online Program with Online Education Services (OES), an online education provider and currently designing the IBAM-online version addressing those aspects that could have a positive backward and forward knowledge transfer to Aston from the important partnership with OES. Since September 2022, I have overseen Open Days, Applicant Visit Days and Induction Week, where I actively engaged in presenting incoming and current students with the important opportunities provided through IBAM that include but not limited to the Business, Skills, and Employability Enrichment Network (BSEEN), the Learning Development Centre (LDCs), and placement teams. This incorporation resulted in overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents and prospective stakeholders.

Research interests span across various areas of Development Economics, Entrepreneurship, Gender and entrepreneurship, Institutions, Political Economy and Business Improvement.

PhD in Economics, Aston University, UK (2018).

Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCert), Aston University, UK (2017).

MSc Economic Policy, University of Birmingham, UK (2012).

Bachelor of Business Administration, Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport, Egypt (2007).

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Member of the Academy of Management

Member of the British Academy of Management

Member of the Centre for the Study of African Economics (CSAE, University of Oxford

As an Assistant Professor, I have led the tutorials, seminars, and lectures for several modules:

• Entrepreneurial Finance, UG Final Year;
• Economics for Entrepreneurship, BSc Final Year;
• Management Research Methods BSc and PG;
• International Business and Emerging Market Economies, BSc 2^nd Year;
• International Business Environment, BSc 1^st Year;
• Economic Environment of Business, BSc 2^nd Year;
• Emerging and Transitional Economics, BSc Final Year;
• Business Economics (intro to microeconomics) and Business Economics for Finance (intro to macroeconomics), BSc 2^nd and Final Year;
• Economics for Business, BSc 1^st Year ;
• Management Competencies for Business Economics, BSc Final Year;
• Business Consultancy Project, BSc Final Year.
• Postgraduate dissertation supervision.

• As Co-Investigor of a Business Training Livelihoods program for Microentreprises in Zimbabwe, secured funding for experimental treatment of £100,000 commencing piloting beginning of 2024 and roll-out in spring of 2024.
• As an expert in behavioural economics working with both Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Saudi Arabian Human Capital Development Fund - Behavioural Science Unit (HRDF – BSU), I am involved in creating multiple phases of behavioural interventions to address identified labour market issues. The initial phase consists of 6 interventions, including:
  • Enhancing employer participation for improved job matching.
  • Encouraging new employers to register on the job matching platform.
  • Increasing engagement of job seekers through behaviourally informed matching.
  • Empowering women in STEM fields to improve their employment opportunities.
  • Facilitating employment for individuals from remote areas.
• Secured £15,000 from the UK Department of Business Trade as a secondment from January 2024 – April 2024.