Trained as a medical doctor in Iran, Afshin also holds an MBA and PhD in management. His research is broadly in role of performance measurement in transnational governance. He currently studies the construction and use of different calculative knowledge forms such as rankings and ratings in transnational governance regimes. He is a member of the editorial board of Accounting, Organizations and Society. Prior to starting his academic career Afshin had years of experience in the design of environmental and social rankings and ratings. He has advised a range of development and sustainability related initiatives such as Access to Medicine Index, Aid Transparency Index, Medicines Transparency Alliance, Access to Nutrition Index and Responsible Mining Index.