My work assists small- and medium-sized business entrepreneurs to grow with technology and AI in emerging economies.
Rowan Clarke
Doctoral Student
Doctoral Student
Rowan Clarke is a PhD candidate in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School. His interests are in strategy/entrepreneurship and technology/AI for economic development and social impact. His work assists small- and medium-sized business entrepreneurs to grow with technology and AI in emerging economies. It also focuses on social and environmental impact. He works with tech firms and startups including in fintech, economic empowerment, poverty, and environment.
Rowan uses field experiments, causal AI, and applied theory, and his research has won large funding awards, including IGC and Grand Challenges, and multiple best paper prizes, as well as the INFORMS/MSOM Award for Responsible Research. He received his bachelor's in statistics and economics, and master's in economics from the University of Cape Town, in South Africa. Prior to Harvard he worked as a researcher with Innovations for Poverty Action, and as a director of research running experiments with entrepreneurs in Africa. More: Website
Rowan uses field experiments, causal AI, and applied theory, and his research has won large funding awards, including IGC and Grand Challenges, and multiple best paper prizes, as well as the INFORMS/MSOM Award for Responsible Research. He received his bachelor's in statistics and economics, and master's in economics from the University of Cape Town, in South Africa. Prior to Harvard he worked as a researcher with Innovations for Poverty Action, and as a director of research running experiments with entrepreneurs in Africa. More: Website
Contact Information
Rowan Clarke is a PhD candidate in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School. His interests are in strategy/entrepreneurship and technology/AI for economic development and social impact. His work assists small- and medium-sized business entrepreneurs to grow with technology and AI in emerging economies. It also focuses on social and environmental impact. He works with tech firms and startups including in fintech, economic empowerment, poverty, and environment.
Rowan uses field experiments, causal AI, and applied theory, and his research has won large funding awards, including IGC and Grand Challenges, and multiple best paper prizes, as well as the INFORMS/MSOM Award for Responsible Research. He received his bachelor's in statistics and economics, and master's in economics from the University of Cape Town, in South Africa. Prior to Harvard he worked as a researcher with Innovations for Poverty Action, and as a director of research running experiments with entrepreneurs in Africa. More: Website
Rowan uses field experiments, causal AI, and applied theory, and his research has won large funding awards, including IGC and Grand Challenges, and multiple best paper prizes, as well as the INFORMS/MSOM Award for Responsible Research. He received his bachelor's in statistics and economics, and master's in economics from the University of Cape Town, in South Africa. Prior to Harvard he worked as a researcher with Innovations for Poverty Action, and as a director of research running experiments with entrepreneurs in Africa. More: Website
- Journal Articles
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- Uppari, Bhavani Shanker, Serguei Netessine, Ioanna Popescu, and Rowan P. Clarke. "Design of Off-Grid Lighting Business Models to Serve the Poor: Field Experiments and Structural Analysis." Management Science 70, no. 5 (May 2024): 3038–3058. View Details
- Uppari, Bhavani Shanker, Ioanna Popescu, Serguei Netessine, and Rowan P. Clarke. "A Smarter Way to Design Business Strategies to Serve the Poor." INSEAD Knowledge (October 5, 2023). View Details
- Klege, Rebecca, Martine Visser, Manuel Barron, and Rowan P. Clarke. "Competition and Gender in the Lab vs Field: Experiments from Off-grid Renewable Energy Entrepreneurs in Rural Rwanda." Art. 101662. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics 91 (April 2021). View Details
- Working Papers
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- Russel, Dominic, Claire Shi, and Rowan Clarke. "FinTech & Financial Frictions: The Rise of Revenue-Based Financing." SSRN Working Paper Series, July 2024. View Details
- Otis, Nicholas G., Rowan Clarke, Solène Delecourt, David Holtz, and Rembrand Koning. "The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-042, December 2023. View Details
- Research Summary
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- Awards & Honors
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Winner of the 2024 MSOM Responsible Research Award from the Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society (MSOM) with Bhavani Shanker Uppari, Serguei Netessine, and Ioana Popescu.Winner of the 2024 Distinguished Paper Award from the Strategic Management Division of the Academy of Management for “The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance” with Nicholas Otis, Solène Delecourt, David Holtz, and Rembrand Koning.Winner of the 2024 Wharton People Analytics White Paper Competition for “The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance” with Nicholas Otis, Solène Delecourt, David Holtz, and Rembrand Koning.Winner of the 2022 INFORMS Technology, Innovation Management, and Entrepreneurship Section (TIMES) Best Working Paper Award for “Design of Off-Grid Lighting Business Models to Serve the Poor: Field Experiments and Structural Analysis” with Bhavani Shanker Uppari, Serguei Netessine, and Ioanna Popescu.Winner of the 2021 INFORMS Public Sector Operations Research (PSOR) Best Paper Award.Nominated for the 2021 INFORMS Service Science Paper Award Competition.Finalist for the 2020/2021 POMS Applied Research Challenge for “Off-Grid Lighting Business Models to Serve the Poor: Evidence From a Structural Model and Field Experiments in Rwanda” with Bhavani Shanker Uppari, Serguei Netessine, and Ioanna Popescu.Finalist for the 2020 INFORMS Decision Analysis Practice Award.
- Additional Information
- Area of Study
- Areas of Interest
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- artificial intelligence
- economic development
- entrepreneurship
- strategy
- technological innovation
- emerging markets
- environment
- sustainability
- energy
- financial services
- green technology
- high technology
- management consulting
- microfinance
- retail financial services
- Africa
- Asia
Additional TopicsIndustriesGeographies