About
Taha Rauf (Ph.D., University of Michigan) serves as the Center for Asian Democracy’s Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Rauf studies the divergent implications of historical religious institutions for long-run development and democratic performance.
Research
Rauf's research involves the use of census-level administrative data from multiple sources across decades to develop large observational village-level datasets for Sufi Khanaqahs in India. This allows for rigorous statistical analysis and causal inference with multiple placebo tests and instrumental variable analysis, illuminating the channels of persistence. In addition to quantitative methods, he employs multi-site and multi-method qualitative fieldwork, including archival research, participant observation, and in-depth interviews, to elaborate on the institutional differences in coordination mechanisms.