Differential institutional performances and policy outcomes across countries, global South, anti-corruption, governance and development,
Dr. Pallavi Roy is a Professor in Political Economy at the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS. She is currently the Co-Director of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) £6 million Anti-Corruption Evidence (ACE) research partnership consortium working primarily in Bangladesh and Nigeria, as well as several other developing countries. This consortium is breaking new ground in research and anti-corruption advocacy by identifying evidence-based anti-corruption strategies that are feasible to implement in developing countries. She is also the Co-Principal Investigator on an FCDO-funded programme on generating evidence for inclusive growth in Nepal and part of a team that is helping the British Embassy design policies in post-conflict Nepal. Pallavi has extensive work experience with bilateral and multilateral donors like the FCDO, Agence Française du Développement (AFD) and the World Bank, national ministries and agencies in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Nigeria, and international organizations like Transparency International and the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development. She is frequently invited an as an expert to lecture on governance and corruption at the International Anti-Corruption Academy at Laxenburg. Among other outreach activities she currently serves as co-chair of the Scaling Community of Practice group on Fragile States, an adviser to Growth Teams and a Senior Fellow at the Youth Policy Forum Bangladesh. She also has extensive research and policy networks in Nigeria and South Asia. She is a contributor to articles in media organizations like Bloomberg, ThisDay (Nigeria), BBC Newshour and The Hindu (India) on related topics. She has previously worked as a senior business journalist in India for over a decade covering key sectors like mining, steel, and corporate sector growth, and as a political risk consultant in london.
Differential institutional performances and policy outcomes across countries. She is responsible for over twenty projects in Nigeria, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Uganda, Pakistan, and Indonesia, working closely with and supervising more than thirty researchers in the global South. She leads on the Nigeria research and manages large-scale projects in the power sector, financial services and exchange control, education, primary health care, extractives, and fertiliser subsidies. Her work on anti-corruption, governance and development uses a framework grounded in historical specificities of developing countries and questions Western donor driven discourses of ‘good governance’. This is not only contributing to decolonize development theory, research practices and policy design, it is also showing why effective governance and anti-corruption requires an analysis with a perspective from the South. She also maintains a keen interest in modern South Asian history and the rise of identity politics in the sub-continent.
Mapping the Nature, Drivers, Effects and Responses to Corruption in the Procurement of Pharmaceuticals in Anglophone Africa: A Scoping Review of Literature, Onwujekwe Obinna, Agwu Prince, McKee Martin, Odii Aloysius, Orjiakor Charles, Obodoechi Divine, Nwokolo Chukwudi, Roy Pallavi, Hutchinson Eleanor and Balabanova Dina, 2025, Journal of Health Management
Leadership for ethical conduct of Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) in Nigeria and the challenge of ‘Miracle Examination Centres’, Agwu Prince, Orjiakor Charles Tochukwu, Odii Aloysius, Onalu Chinyere, Nzeadibe Chidi, Roy Pallavi, Onwujekwe Obinna and Okoye Uzoma, 2023, Oxford Review of Education (50), 3, pp 349-365
Breaking the cycle of corruption in Nigeria’s electricity sector: Off-grid solutions for local enterprises, Roy Pallavi, Watkins Mitchell, Iwuamadi Chijioke Kelechi and Ibrahim Jibrin, 2023, Energy Research and Social Science (101)
The Promise of Grassroots Approaches to Solving Absenteeism in Primary Health-Care Facilities in Nigeria: Evidence from a Qualitative Study, Onwujekwe Obinna, Agwu Prince, Roy Pallavi, Hutchinson Eleanor, Orjiakor, Charles Tochukwu, McKee Martin, Odii Aloysius, Nwokolo Chukwudi, Khan Mushtaq, Mayhew Susannah H. and Balabanova Dina, 2023, Health Systems and Reform (9), 1
Designing feasible anti-corruption strategies in the Nigerian health system: A latent class analysis of a discrete choice experiment, Angell Blake, Onwujekwe Obinna, Roy Pallavi, Nwokolo Chukwudi, McKee Martin, Mandeville Kate, Obodoechi Divine, Agwu Prince, Odii Aloysius, Orjiakor Charles Tochukwu, Hutchinson Eleanor and Balabanova Dina, 2023, World Development (166)
Absenteeism in primary health centres in Nigeria: leveraging power, politics and kinship, Odii, Aloysius, Onwujekwe, Obinna, Hutchinson, Eleanor, Agwu, Prince, Orjiakor, Charles Tochukwu, Ogbozor, Pamela, Roy, Pallavi, McKee, Martin and Balabanova, Dina, 2022, BMJ Global Health (7), 12
Stakeholders’ perspectives on “miracle examination centres” in Nigeria, Agwu, Prince, Odii, Aloysius, Orjiakor, Charles Tochukwu, Roy, Pallavi, Nzeadibe, Chidi, Onalu, Chinyere, Okoye, Odera and Onwujekwe, Obinna, 2022, Quality Assurance in Education (30), 4, pp 539-554
Absenteeism among doctors in the Bangladesh health system: What are the structural drivers?, Naher, Nahitun, Balabanova, Dina, McKee, Martin, Khan, Mushtaq, Roy, Pallavi, Ahmed, Syed Masud and Hutchinson, Eleanor, 2022, SSM – Qualitative Research in Health (2)
“Miracle Examination Centres” as hubs for malpractices in Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in Nigeria: A systematic review, Agwu, Prince, Orjiakor, Charles Tochukwu, Odii, Aloysius, Onalu, Chinyere, Nzeadibe, Chidi, Roy, Pallavi, Onwujekwe, Obinna and Okoye, Uzoma, 2021, International Journal of Educational Development (88)
Digitizing Taxation and Premature Formalization in Developing Countries, Roy Pallavi and Khan Mushtaq, 2021, Development and Change (52), 4, pp 855-877
Targeting anticorruption interventions at the frontline: developmental governance in health systems, Hutchinson Eleanor, Naher Nahitun, Roy Pallavi, McKee Martin, Mayhew Susannah H., Ahmed Syed Masud and Balabanova Dina, 2020, BMJ Global Health (5), 12
An Adaptive Governance and Health System Response for the Covid-19 Emergency, Khan Mushtaq, Roy Pallavi, Matin Imran, Rabbani Mehnaz and Chowdhury Rajiv, 2020, World Development (137)
The UN and the Global South, 1945 and 2015: past as prelude?, Weiss Thomas G. and Roy Pallavi, 2016, Third World Quarterly (37), 7, pp 1147-1155
Economic growth, the UN and the global South: an unfulfilled promise, Roy Pallavi, 2016, Third World Quarterly (37), 7, pp 1284-1297
In fact, the BRICS bank’s challenges are even greater, Roy Pallavi, 2015, Europe’s World (Printed)
The Social Contract from Coal to Renewables: Can the Win-Win also have Losers?, Roy Pallavi (2020). In: Tongia Rahul (eds.) and Sehgal Anurag (eds.), Future of Coal in India: Smooth Transition or a Bumpy Road Ahead?. India: Brookings India, Notion Press India
Financing Gaps, Competitiveness and Capabilities: Why Bretton Woods needs a Radical Rethink, Roy Pallavi (2014). In: Weiss Thomas G. (eds.) and Plesch Dan (eds.), Wartime Origins and the Future United Nations. Basingstoke: Routledge, pp 160-178
India’s Vulnerable Maturity: Experiences of Maharashtra and West Bengal, Roy Pallavi (2012). In: North Douglass (eds.), Wallis John (eds.), Webb Steven (eds.) and Weingast Barry (eds.), In the Shadow of Violence: The Problem of Development in Limited Access Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 198-232
Peer-to-peer enforcement among businesses to assure electricity payment in Nigeria: a lab-in-the-field experiment, Roy Pallavi, Tres Vilanova, Mariona Zarazua, Miguel Nino, Olajide Adebayo, Animashaun Najim, Adigun Henry and Thomas Rahila (2025).
Characteristics of Better Performing Nepali SMEs and Implications for Policy, Khan Mushtaq, Roy Pallavi, Mainali Siddartha, Shrestha Aslesh, Neupane Saumitra and Rana Shreeya (2023), London, Lalitpur
A New Approach to Anti-Corruption: When Rule-Breakers Rule, Roy Pallavi, Slota Agata and Khan Mushtaq (2022), London, SOAS University of London
Challenge of Inclusive Federalism in Nepal: A Political Settlements Analysis of Madhesh Province, Khan Mushtaq, Roy Pallavi, Prasai Sagar, Acharya Anurag, Karna Avinash and Neupane Saumitra (2022), London, Lalitpur
Making anti-corruption real: using a ‘Power Capabilities and Interest Approach’ to stop wasting money and start making progress, Khan Mushtaq and Roy,Pallavi (2022), London
When rainy day funds run dry: corruption and mismanagement of Nigeria’s Excess Crude Account, Roy Pallavi, Watkins Mitchell, Adenikinju Adeola, Oranye Nkechi, Osagu Festus, Omotosho Yetunde, Olubusoye Olusanya and Falobi Emmanuel (2022), London
Mitigation and transformation solutions to networked corruption in artisanal refining in the Niger Delta: retooling anti-corruption analysis for effective policy, Roy Pallavi, Sewell Alexander and Dumnamene Fyneface (2022), London
Exploring the nature, enabling factors and solutions to corruption in the procurement of pharmaceuticals in Nigeria tertiary health institutions: a qualitative study, Onwujekwe Obinna, Agwu Prince, Odii Aloysius, Orjiakor Charles Tochukwu, Hutchinson Eleanor, Roy Pallavi, McKee Martin and Balabanova Dina (2022), London
How exchange rate (mis)management leads to illicit financial flows: a political economy analysis of feasible reform in Nigeria, Roy Pallavi, Obidairo Simeon and Ogunleye Ifejesu (2022), London
Corruption during final external examinations in private secondary schools in Nigeria: Qualitative insights into operations and solutions to ‘Miracle Examination Centres’, Agwu Prince, Orjiakor Charles Tochukwu, Odii Aloysius, Onalu Chinyere, Nzeadibe Chidi, Roy Pallavi, Onwujekwe Obinna and Okoye Uzoma (2022), London
Responding to Covid-19: Insights from Nepal’s Provinces and Local Governments, Neupane Saumitra, Rana Shreeya, Karna Avinash, Roy Pallavi and Khan Mushtaq (2021), London, Policy Entrepreneurs, SOAS University of London
Building Back Greener: A Strategy for Project Selection and Development, Khan Mushtaq and Roy Pallavi (2020), London
COVID-19: Locking in Solutions while in Lockdown, Khan Mushtaq and Roy Pallavi (2020), London
Breaking the cycle of corruption in Nigeria’s electricity sector: a political settlements analysis, Roy Pallavi, Iwuamadi Kelechi and Ibrahim Jibrin (2020), London
The political economy of automotive industry development policy in middle income countries: A comparative analysis of Egypt, India, South Africa and Turkey, Black Anthony, Roy Pallavi, El-Haddad Amirah and Yilmaz Kamil (2020), Manchester
Anti-corruption agencies as debt recovery agents: the unintended consequences of anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria, Onyema Emilia, Roy Pallavi, Obidairo Simeon, Ayinla Seye and Oredola Habeeb (2019), London
Digital identities: a political settlements analysis of asymmetric power and information, Khan Mushtaq and Roy Pallavi (2019), London
Exploring health-sector absenteeism and feasible solutions: evidence from the primary healthcare level in Enugu, South East Nigeria, Roy Pallavi, Onwujekwe Obinna, Odii Aloysius, Agwu Prince, Orjiakor Charles Tochukwu, Ogbozor Pamela, Hutchinson Eleanor, McKee Martin, Obi Uche, Mbachu Chinyere and Balabanova Dina (2019), London
Anti-corruption in adverse contexts: strategies for improving implementation, Khan Mushtaq, Andreoni Antonio and Roy Pallavi (2019), London
Illicit Financial Flows: theory and measurement challenges, Khan Mushtaq, Andreoni Antonio and Roy Pallavi (2019), London
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the politics of (in)effective implementation of Nigeria’s anti-corruption policy, Onyema Emilia, Roy Pallavi, Oredola Habeeb and Ayinla Seye (2018), London
Nepal’s Political Settlement and Inclusive Growth: Not Quite Business as Usual, Roy Pallavi and Khan Mushtaq (2017)
Anti-Corruption in Nigeria: A political settlements analysis, Roy Pallavi (2017), SOAS University of London
Anti-Corruption in Adverse Contexts: A Strategic Approach, Khan Mushtaq, Andreoni Antonio and Roy Pallavi (2016), London
Pakistan A Crisis of Legitimacy and Liberalization 1980-2010, Roy, Pallavi (2012), London
Tamil Nadu: Growth in the Time of Clientelism, Roy Pallavi (2011)
Rethinking anti-corruption: The need for politically located data, Roy Pallavi (2021)
Rethinking anti-corruption for COVID-19, Khan Mushtaq and Roy Pallavi (2020)
One size can’t fit all, Roy Pallavi (2015)
Debt, Diplomacy, and Trust: A Case Study Approach to Assessing the Architecture of Modern Debt Diplomacy, Rosier Kevin (2024), PhD thesis, SOAS
The Role of the Executive Head in Inter-Governmental Organisations: In Search of Agency: The Cases of the UNECE and the OECD, Mikkelsen Jonas Frørup (2023), PhD thesis, SOAS
Successes and Failures of Industrial Policies in Nigeria: The Cases of the Cement, Textiles, and Iron and Steel Industries, Salihu Hamisu (2023), PhD thesis, SOAS
The political economy of growth under clientelism: an analysis of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Pakistan, Roy Pallavi (2013), PhD thesis, SOAS
Outside/In: Caste and Race: The criminalization of protests, Roy Pallavi (2021)
The IMF, World Bank and SDGs, Roy Pallavi (2019)
The “Brics Bank”: Many Challenges and Many Opportunities, Roy Pallavi (2015)
