Trang Thi Pham is a researcher in innovation and development economics, with affiliations to UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University in the Netherlands and the University of Economics and Law, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City.
Her research examines how technological change shapes economic development, human capital, inequality, and social outcomes, with a particular focus on digitalization, mobile internet, and emerging artificial intelligence technologies in developing economies. Her work combines development economics, innovation studies, and public policy, with particular attention to Viet Nam and the wider Global South.
Her doctoral research investigates the socioeconomic impacts of mobile internet diffusion, including effects on household income, education, employment, and human capital. Her current research extends this agenda toward the implications of artificial intelligence and digital transformation for development, including AI preparedness, labour markets and skills, innovation systems, technological inequality, and the governance and sustainability of emerging digital infrastructure. Publication list https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1962-9382
Trang completed her PhD at UNU-MERIT, was a visiting PhD fellow at UNU-WIDER and a visiting researcher at CINPE, National University of Costa Rica, through the European Commission's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions CatChain project. Before joining UNU-MERIT, she worked across academia, consultancy, and public policy in Viet Nam and Singapore.
