My academic and professional research investigates sustainable development through the lenses of both social enterprise and supply chain management. In academic research, I study the supply chains for products and services that help low-income households meet basic needs (e.g., electricity, education, housing, sanitation, healthcare, etc.), and the operations and business models of organizations that participate in these supply chains. As an international development professional, I help governments, companies, and development finance institutions design and implement programs that accelerate access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity. 

Peer-Reviewed Reports

ESMAP. (2022). Mini Grids for Half a Billion People: Market Outlook and Handbook for Decision Makers. Washington, DC: The World Bank. This is the World Bank’s most comprehensive and authoritative publication on mini grids to date. (Lead editor and co-author)

ESMAP. (2019). Ensuring that Regulations Evolve as Mini Grids Mature. LiveWire. Washington, DC: The World Bank. (Co-author)

ESMAP. (2019). Investing in Mini Grids Now, Integrating with the Main Grid Later: A Menu of Good Policy and Regulatory Options. LiveWire. Washington, DC: The World Bank. (Co-author)

Knuckles, J. (2015). “Mali: Programs to Support Private Mini-Grids for Rural Electrification,” in: Policies to Spur Energy Access: Volume 2 edited by Walters, T., et al. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Tenenbaum, B., Greacen, C., Siyambalapitiya, T., and Knuckles, J. (2014). From the Bottom Up: How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Academic Publications

Sodhi, M. and Knuckles, J. (2021). “Development-Aid Supply Chains for Economic Development and Post-Disaster Recovery.” Production and Operations Management.

Yu, J., Tang, C. S., Sodhi, M., and Knuckles, J. (2020). “Optimal subsidies for development supply chains.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management.

Knuckles, J. (2019). “Decentralized Clean Energy Solutions to Achieve SDG7.” One Earth, 1, p 389.

Knuckles, J. and Sodhi, M. (2017). “A Multiple Case Study of Development Supply Chains for Household Solar Products Sold in Haiti.” Academy of Management Proceedings, 2017(1). (Winner of the Best Student Paper award in the OSCM Division at the 2017 Academy of Management Annual Meeting)

Knuckles, J. (2016). “Business Models for Mini-Grid Electricity in Base of the Pyramid Markets.” Energy for Sustainable Development, 31, pp 67-82.

PhD Dissertation

I successfully defended my dissertation, “Development Supply Chains for Solar Lanterns and Solar Home Systems Sold in Low-Income Countries,” in March 2019, under the supervision of Professor Mohan Sodhi and examined by Professor Mellie Pullman and Dr Byung-Gak Son. The Institute of Supply Management awarded my dissertation proposal with a highly competitive Doctoral Dissertation Grant.

Working Papers

1. Knuckles, J. & Sodhi, M. “How ‘Practical Wisdom’ Shapes Operations Tactics in Social Enterprises: A Field Study of Solar Product Companies.”

2. Knuckles, J. & Sodhi, M. “Conceptualizing Development Supply Chains.”

3. Knuckles, J. “Mini Grid Supply Chains: Designing for Speed, Scale, and Sustainability”