Hana Dedic
Hana Dedic is a researcher whose work focuses on Islamic finance and its relationship to political stability and development. Her current research asks whether Islamic banking delivers on the socio-political and developmental outcomes often attributed to it. Rather than treating Islamic finance as an autonomous force for economic or social transformation, her research considers how its effects are shaped by the political, institutional, and demographic environments in which it operates. The study combines quantitative analysis with comparative case studies across Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. It examines differences in Islamic banking penetration and their relationship to political instability, armed conflict, governance, and demographic context. Her findings suggest that the effects of Islamic banking are conditional rather than universal, challenging interpretations of Islamic finance as inherently stabilizing, redistributive, or development-enhancing.
Dedic earned a B.A. with Honors in Economics and Political Science and a minor in Business Institutions from Northwestern University. She studied at both Northwestern’s Evanston and Qatar campuses, and her research is affiliated with both. Her academic work has been presented at the European Conference of African Studies (ECAS) in Prague in 2025, the International Conference of Management, Economics, and Finance (ICMEF) in Vienna in 2025, and the 83rd Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference in 2026, where she is also a member. Her academic interests are informed in part by her Bosnian heritage and longstanding engagement with the Bosnian-American community. She has worked with the Bosnian Educational and Cultural Center of America and the Society of American Bosniaks and Herzegovinians. She also teaches Islamic studies to students ages 13–17 at the Rumija Islamic Center and has contributed writing on the history of American Bosniaks in the Chicago metropolitan area to the Chicago History Museum. Dedic is a native speaker of Bosnian, is certified biliterate in Spanish, and reads Arabic script.
Alongside her academic work, Dedic is an Associate at Blaige & Company, a lower-middle-market investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions within the plastics, packaging, chemicals, and related industrial sectors. She works on both buy-side and sell-side transactions, supporting clients throughout the M&A process. Her responsibilities include financial analysis and valuation, industry research, buyer identification, due diligence, and transaction execution. This professional experience has given her a practical perspective on how financial institutions, capital allocation, and corporate decision-making operate in practice—an experience that complements her academic interest in the role of financial systems within broader political and economic institutions.
Hana Dedic is a researcher whose work focuses on Islamic finance and its relationship to political stability and development. Her current research asks whether Islamic banking delivers on the socio-political and developmental outcomes often attributed to it. Rather than treating Islamic finance as an autonomous force for economic or social transformation, her research considers how its effects are shaped by the political, institutional, and demographic environments in which it operates. The study combines quantitative analysis with comparative case studies across Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. It examines differences in Islamic banking penetration and their relationship to political instability, armed conflict, governance, and demographic context. Her findings suggest that the effects of Islamic banking are conditional rather than universal, challenging interpretations of Islamic finance as inherently stabilizing, redistributive, or development-enhancing.
Dedic earned a B.A. with Honors in Economics and Political Science and a minor in Business Institutions from Northwestern University. She studied at both Northwestern’s Evanston and Qatar campuses, and her research is affiliated with both. Her academic work has been presented at the European Conference of African Studies (ECAS) in Prague in 2025, the International Conference of Management, Economics, and Finance (ICMEF) in Vienna in 2025, and the 83rd Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference in 2026, where she is also a member. Her academic interests are informed in part by her Bosnian heritage and longstanding engagement with the Bosnian-American community. She has worked with the Bosnian Educational and Cultural Center of America and the Society of American Bosniaks and Herzegovinians. She also teaches Islamic studies to students ages 13–17 at the Rumija Islamic Center and has contributed writing on the history of American Bosniaks in the Chicago metropolitan area to the Chicago History Museum. Dedic is a native speaker of Bosnian, is certified biliterate in Spanish, and reads Arabic script.
Alongside her academic work, Dedic is an Associate at Blaige & Company, a lower-middle-market investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions within the plastics, packaging, chemicals, and related industrial sectors. She works on both buy-side and sell-side transactions, supporting clients throughout the M&A process. Her responsibilities include financial analysis and valuation, industry research, buyer identification, due diligence, and transaction execution. This professional experience has given her a practical perspective on how financial institutions, capital allocation, and corporate decision-making operate in practice—an experience that complements her academic interest in the role of financial systems within broader political and economic institutions.