Jocelyn Finlay

Biography

Jocelyn E. Finlay, PhD, is a research Department Associate at the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Dr. Finlay’s research applies methods from economics, demography, and data science to address questions at the intersection of economics, policy and social change. Her recent work advances the use of machine learning for social science, including predictive modeling, sentiment analysis, and network analysis, to strengthen decision-making by companies, governments, NGOs, and international organizations.

She has led mixed-methods projects in sub-Saharan Africa to improve the measurement of socioeconomic indicators, making data collection more gender-sensitive and contextually relevant. Her research redefines the measurement of women’s labor force participation, drawing on economic theory, large-scale data comparisons, and newly piloted survey modules.

Dr. Finlay also uses natural experiments and long-horizon modeling to study the large-scale impact of shocks—such as natural disasters, conflict, and policy reforms—on gender roles, labor markets, and discrimination. Increasingly, she integrates computational tools such as Gaussian process modeling and sentiment analysis of news reels, social media and survey data to understand how perceptions, narratives, and attitudes shape economic outcomes.

She has served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Population, helping organize a workshop on Family Planning, Women’s Empowerment, and Societal Impacts. She was co-chair of the IUSSP Population, Poverty and Inequality Scientific Panel, convening international conferences, and contributed to The GovLab’s 100 Questions Initiative to identify priority research questions on gender and inequality.

Dr. Finlay’s research has been published widely in economics, demography, and public health journals. She collaborates with organizations such as the Population Reference Bureau, ShareNet International, and AFIDEP to translate research into policy impact.

She received her B.A. in Economics from the University of Melbourne and her Ph.D. in Economics from the Australian National University. She did a MicroMasters in Data Science at MIT. She has worked at the Harvard Chan School since 2006.

Education and Training

• PhD, Economics
  Australian National University
• BComm, Economics
  University of Melbourne
• BA, Arts (Japanese language major)
  University of Melbourne
• Honors, Economics
  University of Melbourne

Publications

• A Narrative Review of the Impact of Public Family Planning Policies and Programs on the Contraceptive Transition in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

  Jocelyn E. Finlay. Population and Development Review 2025

• Transition in social risk factors and adolescent motherhood in low- income and middle- income countries: Evidence from Demographic and Health Survey data, 1996-2018.

  Huda MM, Finlay JE, O'Flaherty M, Al Mamun A. PLOS Glob Public Health 2025

  PMID: 36962188

• Partner's characteristics and adolescent motherhood among married adolescent girls in 48 low-income and middle-income countries: a population-based study.

  Huda MM, O'Flaherty M, Finlay JE, Edmed S, Mamun AA. BMJ Open 2022 03 09

  PMID: 35264355

• Reproductive Health and Women’s Economic Activity

  Jocelyn E. Finlay. World Development 2025

• Time trends and sociodemographic inequalities in the prevalence of adolescent motherhood in 74 low-income and middle-income countries: a population-based study.

  Huda MM, O'Flaherty M, Finlay JE, Al Mamun A. Lancet Child Adolesc Health 2021 01

  PMID: 33245863