Skip to main content
Back to Faculty & Staff
Mitch Mokhtari

Mitch Mokhtari

Professor

Dr. Mokhtari is a distinguished expert in public financial management (PFM), financial literacy, poverty reduction through growth, tax reform, health system strengthening, strategic planning, and organizational change. With experience spanning nearly 20 countries, his expertise includes cost-benefit analysis of infrastructure and public investment, domestic resource mobilization (tax policy and administration reforms), sovereign wealth fund design, and applied econometrics.

In addition to his academic credentials, Dr. Mokhtari has held numerous senior-level positions, including Economist at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Chief of Party for USAID, Team Leader for FCDO, Senior Adviser, and Presidential appointee as Commissioner for the New Tax Code and the Reorganization of the State Tax Service. He has led the establishment of sovereign wealth funds in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Egypt, and played a pivotal role in creating Parliamentary Budget Offices (PBOs) and Fiscal Analysis Units (FAUs) in several transition economies—institutions modeled on the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Dr. Mokhtari has held faculty appointments at Princeton University, the New Economic School, Eurasia University, the University of Houston, and the University of Maryland. He also served as a Senior Research Associate at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He was the editor of Affordable Health Care, Health and Consumer Finance, and Health, Economics, and the Family Role.

His scholarly work has been widely published in top-tier, peer-reviewed journals, including Women’s Health, Review of Economics and Statistics, International Economic Review, Economic Inquiry, Explorations in Economic History, International Economic Journal, Empirical Economics, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Policy Modeling, Journal of Global Drug Policy & Practice, Economic Journal–HSE, Economic Policy and Poverty, Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, and Economic Systems.

Contact

mokhtari@umd.edu

SPH | Room 1142M

(301) 405-4014

Departments/Units

Areas of Interest

Leadership & Management, Public Financial Management, Financial literacy, Health System Strengthening, Poverty Reduction, Organizational Change,  Tax Policy & Tax Administration, Statistics & Econometrics, Big Data.

Professor Mokhtari possesses a wealth of experience in international development, financial literacy, public financial management (PFM), cost-benefit analysis (CBA), health system strengthening (HSS), poverty reduction through economic growth, leadership, governance, project leadership, , tax administration and policy (JSR, DRM), , health system strengthening, strategic planning, change management, econometrics with a focus on big data, as well as micro- and macroeconomic modeling and policy analysis. He has held positions such as Visiting Associate Professor of Economics at Princeton University, Research Professor of Economics at the New Economic School (NES), and Senior Research Associate at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University (GSU). Additionally, he has served as the Chief of Party (COP), Team Leader (TL), and Senior Adviser on projects funded by various donors. 

In the past, Dr. Mokhtari taught economics at Princeton University and the University of Houston, among others. He has also presented his research findings at renowned forums and organizations such as the World Forum, Harvard, Cambridge, the American Economic Association (AEA), the American Public Health Association (APHA), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC),  the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), and the East-West Center.

Dr. Mokhtari has contributed to a wide range of top scholarly peer-reviewed academic journals, including the Review of Economics and Statistics, International Economic Review, Economic Inquiry, Explorations in Economic History, International Economic Journal, Empirical Economics, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Policy Modeling, Journal of Global Drug Policy & Practice, Economic Journal-HSE, Economic Policy and Poverty, Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, Journal of Economics and Family Issues, Women's Health, and Economic Systems.

He has served as the Editor for journals such as "Affordable Health Care" (JFEI), "Health and Consumer Finance" (JFCP), and "Health, Economics, and Family Role" (JFEI). He is an Associate Editor for Health & Finance: Journal of Family and Economic Issues. Currently, Dr. Mokhtari's research interests encompass international development, public financial management and taxation, and the application of blockchain technology in healthcare and personal finance. He sits on the Editorial Board of several scientific journals.

Dr. Mokhtari's international honors reflect his impactful contributions and leadership in both academic and advisory capacities across the globe:

·       Appointment by the President as a Commissioner on the New Tax Code

·       Member of the Commission for the Reorganization of the State Tax Service of Armenia

·       Recipient of official appreciations as a Senior Advisor to the governments of several countries receiving USAID-funded technical assistance over the past decades

·       Offers of academic and research positions at Princeton, Harvard, Cambridge, and the New Economic School (NES)

·       Served as the Chief of Party and Team Leader on several donor-funded, multimillion-dollar international projects.

·       Invited as a keynote speaker at prestigious events and institutions, including the World Forum, the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF, the World Bank Group, Harvard University, Cambridge University, and the East-West Center.

·       Recipient of the George F. Kramer Outstanding Practitioner Award from the University of Maryland

PhD, Economics

 

George F. Kramer Outstanding Practitioner Award

Appointed by President as a Commissioner on the New Tax Code of Kyrgyz Republic

Selected as the Member of Commission on Restructuring State Tax Service of Armenia

Recipient of offcial appreciations & honors as a Senior Advisor to the governments of several countries receiving USAID funded Technical Assistance during the last couple of decades.

Invited talks: World Forum, the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & IMF and the World Bank Group, Harvard University, Cambridge University, East-West Center

The Review of Economics and Statistics

International Economic Review

International Economic Journal

Economic Inquiry

Economic Systems

Empirical Economics

Explorations in Economic History

Journal of Consumer Affairs

Journal of Policy Modeling

Economic Journal

Economic Policy and Poverty Journal

Journal of Family and Economic Issues

Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning

Journal of Economic Surveys