Person: Ebadi, Ebad
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Last updated:August 31, 2025
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Ebad Ebadi is an Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist of the Sustainable Development Global Practice at the World Bank. He specializes in applying econometric and data analysis techniques to explore developmental issues, with a focus on labor markets, international trade, and the economic and social consequences of environmental externalities. Prior to joining the World Bank, he was involved in academia, teaching at George Washington University and the University of Tehran. He also engaged in research roles at various think tanks and institutions, including the IMF. Ebad earned his Ph.D. in Economics (George Washington University, the US) and holds an MSc in Economics (London School of Economics, UK).
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Publication Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-09-01) Damania, Richard; Ebadi, Ebad; Mayr, Kentaro; Russ, Jason; Zaveri, Esha“Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet” explores how the foundational natural endowments of land, air, and water—long taken for granted—are under growing threat, putting at risk the very progress they helped create. For generations, natural resources have powered development, supporting health, food, energy, and economic opportunity. Today, strains on these resources are intensifying. This report argues that failing to maintain a livable planet is not merely a distant environmental concern, but a present economic threat. Drawing on new data, the report shows that over 90 percent of the world is exposed to poor air quality, degraded land, or water stress. Loss of forests cuts rainfall, dries soils, and worsens droughts, costing billions of dollars. The nitrogen paradox emerges—fertilizers boost yields but overuse in some regions harms crops and ecosystems. Meanwhile, air and water pollution silently damage health, productivity, and cognition, sapping human potential. The report warns that these hidden costs are too large to ignore. Yet the message is not one of constraint but of possibility. Nature, when wisely stewarded, can drive growth, create jobs, and build resilience. The report shows that more efficient resource use—like better nitrogen management and forest restoration—yields benefits that far exceed the costs. It also urges a shift to cleaner sectors and producing “better things,” noting that these provide new sources of growth, creating more jobs per dollar invested. The findings are clear: Investing in nature is not only good for the planet, it is smart development.Publication Nature's Paradox: Stepping Stone or Millstone?(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-13) Damania, Richard; Ebadi, Ebad; Mayr, Kentaro; Rentschler, Jun; Russ, Jason; Zaveri, EshaDoes access to natural resources and a clean environment provide a stepping stone out of deprivation, or does it act as a millstone that impedes the transition to greater progress? Nature’s Paradox: Stepping Stone or Millstone? assesses the intersection of the two major crises of the 21st century—the growing scarcity of land, air, and water and rising vulnerability. As countries around the world grapple with multiple crises, local communities and the most vulnerable populations often bear the brunt of the impacts. Vulnerable and underrepresented groups predominantly reside in rural areas, are employed in agriculture, and have limited access to essential public services. While these groups may be less exposed to air and water pollution, the impact of their underrepresentation in decision-making processes is disproportionately high, likely due to a lack of public services and an inability to cope with environmental stresses. These groups also suffer more due to land degradation and deforestation, with the notable exception of Indigenous peoples in Latin America, who experience lower deforestation rates. Understanding the intersection of social vulnerability and environmental degradation helps address these dual crises more effectively. Through this thorough analysis, Nature’s Paradox highlights how sound policy designs can create economic opportunities by promoting environmental sustainability. Its findings will interest policy makers, stakeholders, researchers, development practitioners, and the general public.Publication Trade's Emissions Paradox: Cutting Greenhouse Gases, Raising Air Pollution(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-07) Ebadi, Ebad; Aldaz-Carroll, EnriqueTrade’s impact on emissions is not straightforward. Existing literature on trade and emissions primarily focuses on countries' net export emissions, often neglecting the emissions saved by importing products instead of producing them domestically. The environmental impact from trade is influenced by the balance between emissions generated from exporting goods and emissions avoided by not producing them domestically. This paper investigates the environmental impacts of trade, focusing on the spatial differences in production emissions. Our estimates indicate that direct emissions embodied in exports are significant and rising, accounting for 31 percent of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 25 percent of annual particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions in 2021. However, considering the direct emissions saved through imports, trade results in a reduction of global GHG emissions annually by up to 2.2 percent from 2004 to 2021, as it allows countries with high emission intensity to import rather than produce domestically. This reduction is not observed in PM2.5 emissions, where trade leads to an increase of up to 1 percent. These findings highlight the discrepancy in emission intensities between exporting and importing countries, which influences the impact of trade on global emissions.Publication Fit for (re)purpose?: A New Look at the Spatial Distribution of Agricultural Subsidies(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-04-21) Ebadi, Ebad; Russ, Jason; Zaveri, EshaAgricultural subsidies make up a large share of public budgets, exceeding 40 percent of total agricultural production value in some countries. Subsidies are often important components of government strategies to raise agricultural productivity, support agricultural households, and promote food security. They do so by reducing production costs, promoting the use of inputs or modern farming techniques, encouraging the production of certain crops, and raising household incomes. Given the magnitude of these subsidies, their distributional implications and the externalities they impose on the environment are of significant consequence. This paper uses a new spatial analysis to explore the distributional implications of agricultural output subsidies across 16 countries/regions and the distributional and select environmental implications of input subsidies across 23 countries/regions. The findings show that, relative to the spatial distribution of income, both types of subsidy are distributionally mixed. Output subsidies are relatively progressive in 10 countries/regions and regressive in six, while input subsidies are relatively progressive in 11 countries/regions, regressive in nine, and neutral in three. The results also show that input subsidy schemes significantly increase fertilizer use, particularly in richer regions within countries, leading to soil saturation of nitrogen, an indicator of accelerated environmental degradation.