Development economist and mixed-methods researcher specializing in causal inference, program evaluation, and cost-effectiveness analysis applied to vulnerable populations.
Currently Senior Data Analyst at Homebase and completing MS in International and Development Economics at University of San Francisco.
Contact
matthieukaman@berkeley.edu
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Biography
I am a dual French-American development economist and mixed-methods researcher committed to understanding what systems keep people in poverty and how to dismantle them.
Growing up between Paris and San Francisco, including two years in the Tenderloin, gave me an early and unfiltered understanding of poverty and displacement. I came to believe that structural and psychological forces are inseparable — systems create the conditions for poverty, but understanding why people stay requires grappling with both dimensions. That conviction drives my research.
As Senior Data Analyst at Homebase, I lead research and evaluation of homelessness response systems across the United States. My work applies econometric methods to real-world administrative data to surface findings that challenge conventional assumptions. I am particularly focused on identifying heterogeneous pathways to homelessness across demographic groups, uncovering how structural factors like incarceration history and foster care intersect with clinical vulnerability measures to determine who gets resources and who gets left behind.
I am completing my MS in International and Development Economics at the University of San Francisco, where my thesis examines a multi-country RCT across Peru, Uganda, and India using causal mediation analysis and causal forests to understand how psychological and structural factors interact in determining who benefits from financial literacy interventions.
Born in Paris, raised in San Francisco, and shaped by two years serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica, I am trilingual in French, English, and Spanish.