Introduction
Mohammad Ferdosi (PhD) has a background in Sociology, Economics and Political Science - the three main disciplines underpinning the study of Political Economy. He researches and writes about labor legislation, welfare policies and socio-economic outcomes in developed countries from a political economy perspective using qualitative and quantitative methods. He has (co-)authored more than 30 research publications and been the co-recipient of nearly 10 research grants. Two of his ongoing projects focus on Canada's Ontario Basic Income Pilot and the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 in Ontario.
Expert
Mohammad Ferdosi was the lead author of the report 'Southern Ontario’s Basic Income Experience', which salvaged data from the prematurely cancelled Ontario Basic Income Pilot (2017-2019). This multi-funded report provided a partial yet insightful overview of the effects of the Ontario basic income on the living and working conditions of nearly a quarter of recipients from the Hamilton-Brantford pilot site. The report was published in March 2020 right before a COVID-19 state of emergency was declared by Ontario's Premier Doug Ford, whose Conservative Party cancelled the pilot upon assuming office in mid-2018. As a result of the cancellation, payments to basic income recipients were stopped in March 2019 and the formal evaluation of the program was terminated without any meaningful data collected by the government. Incidentally, the report was co-authored by Dr. Wayne Lewchuk who had been contracted by the Ministry of Community and Social Services of Ontario's previous (Liberal) administration to evaluate the pilot. Along with Dr. Tom McDowell and Dr. Stephanie Ross, the four authors highlighted the transformational effects of the more generous and less conditional Ontario basic income on recipients' physical and mental health, housing stability, food security, social relations and labor market participation. The results were subsequently covered in broadcast media around the world, endorsed by former Ontario Senator Hugh Segal, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and US Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang as well as examined by parliamentary committees interested in basic income schemes. The report is publicly accessible here: https://labourstudies.mcmaster.ca/news/access-southern-ontario2019s-basic-income-experience-report. The findings have also been published in the academic journals 'Basic Income Studies' and the 'Canadian Review of Social Policy'. A follow up (federally funded) research project is expected to produce new knowledge utilizing unused data previously collected in order to offer a richer understanding of Ontario basic income experiences. A third federally funded research project examines in-depth the educational and work trajectories of basic income recipients and the impact of the pilot’s cancellation and pandemic on their livelihoods. Additionally, Ferdosi is a co-investigator of McMaster University's COVID Economic and Social Effects Study (CESES), which is a federally funded longitudinal study on the pandemic's impact on Ontario workers, workplaces and social assistance recipients. Information about CESES and its preliminary findings are available here: https://labourstudies.mcmaster.ca/research/covid19-impact. Ferdosi is also a member of an international panel of social policy academics and experts for the International Labour Organization.
Fields of expertise: Health and wellbeing, Reduction of inequalities / equity / poverty eradication, Social policy, Social protection