Shamena Anwar

Photo of Shamena Anwar
Economist
Pittsburgh Office

Education

Ph.D. in economics, Yale University; B.A. in economics, UC Berkeley

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Shamena Anwar is an economist at the RAND Corporation. Her main areas of interest include evaluating criminal justice system reforms and studying racial disparities. Her previous work has examined the role that race plays in areas such as motor vehicle searches, parole release decisions, and healthcare outcomes. She has also done a series of projects investigating the impact that jury characteristics such as race, age, zip code, and political party have on criminal trial outcomes. Her previous research has used a wide range of research designs to assess causal effects and has been published in journals including the American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and The Journal of Law and Economics. She received her Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Shamena Anwar, Patrick Bayer, and Randi Hjalmarsson, "The Role of Age in Jury Selection and Trial Outcomes," Journal of Law and Economics, 57(4), 2014

Shamena Anwar, "Testing for Discrimination: Evidence from the Game Show Street Smarts," Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 81(1), 2012

Shamena Anwar, Hanming Fang, "Testing for the Role of Prejudice in Emergency Departments Using Bounceback Rates," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy (Advances), 13(3), 2012

Shamena Anwar, Patrick Bayer, Randi Hjalmarsson, "The Impact of Jury Race in Criminal Trials," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127(2), 2012

Shamena Anwar, Tom Loughran, "Testing a Bayesian Learning Theory of Deterrence Among Serious Juvenile Offenders," Criminology, 49(3), 2011

Shamena Anwar, Hanming Fang, "An Alternative Test of Racial Prejudice in Motor Vehicle Searches: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, 96(1), 2006

Shamena Anwar Hanming Fang, "Testing for Racial Prejudice in the Parole Board Release Process: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Legal Studies, 44, 2015

Shamena Anwar, Patrick Bayer, Randi Hjalmarsson, "Politics and Peer Effects in the Courtroom," Journal of the European Economic Association, (forthcomin) (forthcoming)

Publications