Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre (LUMS)

What Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre (LUMS) does

The Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre (MHRC) is the flagship social science research centre at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), operating as a non-profit, university-affiliated knowledge production and dissemination platform. Founded in 1995 and headquartered on the LUMS campus in DHA, Lahore, MHRC supports interdisciplinary scholarship on human development, social exclusion, and inequality across South Asia, organizing its work around research clusters covering firms, cities, education, political economy and governance, technology in society, inequality/poverty/social inclusion, energy/environment/public health, public finance, and gender.

MHRC's core offerings are publications and convening activities rather than technology products. These include the Pakistan Dialogues blog series, the Friday Economist collaborative blog with the CNM Department of Economics, the South Asia Human Development Reports, working papers, and recurring events such as the Pathways to Development Conference and the Future of Work conference. The centre runs mentorship programmes linking junior South Asian researchers with senior scholars and has co-published books through academic publishers including Cambridge University Press. The underlying technology footprint is minimal: MHRC is not a software or AI product company and does not operate proprietary technology platforms.

Its business model is grant and institutional funding-based. MHRC does not sell commercial products or services; all publications, reports, and event participation are offered free of charge. Revenue (where ascertainable) flows from LUMS institutional allocation, UK Aid Direct funding, and co-organized programme grants from partners such as IZA/FCDO's G²LM|LIC programme, BREAD, IGC, IDS, CERP, CDPR, and IDEAS. Its served audiences are academics and scholars, policymakers and development practitioners, and social actors/civil society — segmented horizontally rather than by revenue tier, with engagement driven by content quality and convening credibility rather than commercial pricing.

Name

Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre (LUMS)

Legal name

Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre

Website

https://mhrc.lums.edu.pk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre (MHRC) is LUMS's flagship non-profit social science research centre, producing interdisciplinary research on human development, inequality, and governance across South Asia through publications, blogs, conferences, and mentorship programmes for academics, policymakers, and civil society.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Sciences & Public Policy Research Universities (EDAHABAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Access & Quality (International Development) (BPAGABAE), Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

Keywords

• Social science research
• Development economics research
• Human development reports
• Policy research
• Academic publication series

Headquarters

HQ city

Lahore

HQ country

Pakistan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding: As a flagship research centre of LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences), MHRC receives institutional funding from the university and operates as part of its academic structure.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

MHRC conducts interdisciplinary social science research on human development, social exclusion, and inequality across South Asia. It delivers this through structured research clusters (Firms, Cities, Education, Political Economy and Governance, Technology in Society, Inequality/Poverty/Social Inclusion, Energy/Environment/Public Health, Public Finance, and Gender), publication series such as the Pakistan Dialogues blog and South Asia Human Development Reports, the MHRC Spotlight book series, and academic events including the Pathways to Development Conference and the EduTalk lecture series, in collaboration with LUMS schools and external development partners.

Product overview

MHRC is the flagship social science research centre at LUMS, operating as a knowledge production and dissemination platform rather than a technology product company. Its offerings consist of research publication series (Pakistan Dialogues blog, South Asia Human Development Reports), academic conferences and events (Pathways to Development Conference, EduTalk series), and research cluster programs. The centre focuses on interdisciplinary research on human development, social exclusion, and inequality across South Asia, producing publications and hosting events rather than selling software products or services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Clusters Interdisciplinary research clusters at MHRC covering Firms, Cities, Education, Political Economy and Governance, Technology in Society, Inequality, Poverty and Social Inclusion, Energy, Environment and Public Health, and Public Finance. These clusters serve as the centre's programmatic framework for conducting and publishing research on human development, social exclusion, and inequality across South Asia, targeted at academics, policymakers, and development practitioners.
• Leaving Legacies: The Individual in Early Modern South Asia

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• IZA/FCDO G²LM|LIC (Gender, Growth and Labor Markets in Low-Income Countries Programme)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Joint organizer of the Pathways to Development Conference 2025. IZA/FCDO programme focuses on gender, growth and labour markets research in low-income countries, working with MHRC on development economics research.
• BREAD (Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Co-organizer of the Pathways to Development Conference 2025. BREAD is a non-profit organization supporting research and training in development economics.
• Path2Dev (Pathways to Development)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Co-organizer of the Pathways to Development Conference 2025, focused on connecting rigorous research with practical policy solutions for development.
• Institute of Development Studies (IDS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Collaborating institution for the Pathways to Development Conference 2025, bringing expertise in development studies and knowledge sharing.
• International Growth Centre (IGC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Co-organizer of the Pathways to Development Conference 2025, focusing on growth research and policy advice for developing countries.
• Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Co-organizer of the Pathways to Development Conference 2025, conducting economic research to inform policy in Pakistan.
• Consortium for Development Policy Research (CDPR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Co-organizer of the Pathways to Development Conference 2025, working on development policy research in Pakistan.
• Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Co-organizer of the Pathways to Development Conference 2025, focused on economic development research in Pakistan.
• Chaudhry Nazar Muhammad Department of Economics (CNM) at MGSHSS, LUMScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Joint organizer of the Pathways to Development Conference 2025 and collaborative partner on the Friday Economist blog series. MGSHSS is the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences at LUMS.
• Syed Ahsan Ali and Syed Maratib Ali School of Education (SOE), LUMScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Collaborated on hosting Dr. Tahir Andrabi's talk on education and learning outcomes as part of SOE's EduTalk series. Joint engagement on education research in Pakistan.
• atomcampmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Collaborated with MHRC to host 'The Future of Work: Trends, Tech, and Transformation' conference, bringing together industry specialists and academics to explore employment, skills development, and AI in professional landscapes.
• Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences (MGSHSS), LUMScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHome school of MHRC at LUMS, supporting interdisciplinary humanities and social science research.
• Institute of Telecommunications (ITU), KarachiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a collaborating institution, working on research and knowledge exchange.
• Habib UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a collaborating institution, participating in knowledge exchange and research partnerships.
• SEED (Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurial Development)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a collaborating institution working on social enterprise and development research.
• SMEDA (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a collaborating institution, working on SME development research and policy.
• Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department, PunjabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a collaborating institution, engaging on policy research related to taxation and governance.
• LEAPS (Learning and Educational Achievement in Pakistan Schools)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMHRC collaborates with the LEAPS project, a long-term study following children in rural Pakistan for over 15 years. LEAPS Principal Investigator Dr. Tahir Andrabi gave a talk at MHRC/SOE on long-term impacts of improving foundational learning.
• Cambridge University PressminorOthersPublisher of MHRC Spotlight Series book 'Leaving Legacies: The Individual in Early Modern South Asia' by Shayan Rajani, Assistant Professor of History at Michigan State University and former LUMS faculty.

Scale indicators1 record

Direct peers

• International Growth Centre (IGC): IGC provides growth-focused research and policy advice for developing countries. It co-organised the Pathways to Development Conference 2025 with MHRC and has directly overlapping research themes around firms, cities, and governance in low-income economies.
• Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE): PIDE is a leading Pakistani economics research institution focused on development policy. It is comparable to MHRC in geography (Pakistan) and core thematic focus (development economics, inequality, governance), and is a natural regional peer.
• Institute of Development Studies (IDS): IDS is a leading global development research and teaching organisation based at the University of Sussex. It is a confirmed collaborating partner of MHRC on the Pathways to Development Conference 2025 and shares the same focus on interdisciplinary development research and policy engagement.
• Consortium for Development Policy Research (CDPR): CDPR is a Pakistan-focused development policy research consortium. It co-organised the Pathways to Development Conference 2025 with MHRC and operates on closely aligned themes around inequality, governance, and inclusive growth in Pakistan.
• Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD): BREAD is a non-profit supporting research and training in development economics globally. It co-organised MHRC's 2025 Pathways to Development Conference and shares a comparable role as a convening organisation for development economics researchers.
• Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS): IDEAS conducts research on economic development in Pakistan with a focus on inequality and institutions. It co-organised MHRC's 2025 Pathways to Development Conference and is directly comparable in mission and Pakistan-centric scope.
• Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP): CERP is a Pakistan-based development economics research centre conducting rigorous policy research. It is a confirmed co-organiser of MHRC's 2025 Pathways to Development Conference and shares geographic and thematic overlap in Pakistani development economics.

Broad incumbents

• Center for Global Development (CGD): CGD is an influential think tank working on global development, poverty, and policy reform. It is a broad incumbent that overlaps with MHRC's development economics and inequality research, but at significantly larger scale and with a global rather than South Asia focus.
• Brookings Institution: Brookings is a major US-based policy research institution with broad development, governance, and economic policy programmes. It represents a larger, well-resourced incumbent operating in overlapping thematic territory (inequality, governance, education) but at a much broader global scale.

Regional players

• Oxford Department of International Development (ODID): ODID at the University of Oxford conducts interdisciplinary research on development, inequality, and governance. It is comparable in academic-research-centre structure and theme, but operates from a UK base and serves a global rather than South Asia-centric audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HaqMahbub
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCNyztcNIfmZquNp45gf54dg
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mahbub-ul-haq-research-centre-lums
• Instagraminstagram.com/mhrclums

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre (LUMS)