Simon is a South African development economist and Reader (Associate Professor) in Economics at Queen Mary University of London. He received his DPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford. His research lies at the intersection of development, urban, and labor economics, with a particular focus on cities, housing, migration, social protection, and labor markets in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Africa. He combines field experiments, urban spatial models, bespoke household and spatial datasets, and large-scale policy evaluations conducted in collaboration with governments to study how public policy can improve urban development and economic opportunity.