Welcome to the PEARS lab, focusing on the political economy of agriculture and rural societies at UC-Merced.

The lab is a a social science lab focusing on the comparative study of agriculture and rural development, specializing in computational social science and geospatial methods. Some ongoing research topics include: assembling a new database of rural collective action events in India, a project on differences in the success of state-led development in agriculture across Africa, a project on the the long-run political consequences of technological change in the American great plains, as well as the political consequences of the green revolution in India.

For graduate and undergraduate students, in addition to co-authorship and paid RA opportunities, lab membership comes with a small book stipend and access to software, resources, and periodic trainings. The lab is directed by Prof. Aditya Dasgupta.