The 2nd Political Economy Workshop

Maitreesh Ghatak is a Professor of Economics and Political Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a co-editor of Economica starting 2016, having previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Development Economics from 2009-2015, the Managing Editor of the Review of Economic Studies from 2003-2006, and a co-editor of The Economics of Transition from 2003-2005. He is Director of the Economic Organisation and Public Policy programme at STICERD. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Bureau for Research in Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD).

Ashwini Deshpande is Professor of Economics at the Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi. Her area of research focuses on the Economics of Discrimination and Affirmative Action, with a special focus on caste and gender in India. Much of her work is published in peer-reviewed journals as well as the in the form books. Her most recent book is “Affirmative Action in India” an Oxford Short Introduction Series book. She has been the 2007 recipient of the VKRV Rao Prize in Economics, awarded to economists below the age of 45 for their outstanding contribution to the field.

Deepal Basak is on the Faculty in the Economics and Public Policy Area, Indian School of Business. His research interests includes Economics and Management , Managerial Economics and Economic Theory.

Parikshit Ghosh is on the Faculty at the Delhi School of Economics. Ghosh’s research focuses on game theory and information economics. He has also written about contemporary policy issues in various Indian newspapers, including Hindustan Times, Economic Times and Anandabazar Patrika.

Sisir Debnath is on the Faculty at Economics and Public Policy Area, Indian School of Business. His primary research interests are in the areas of Development Economics and Empirical Microeconomics.

Gaurav Dhamija is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Economics at Shiv Nadar University, India. His research interests lie in the fields of development economics, health economics, and labour economics. Prior to enrolling for the Ph.D. programme in August 2015, Gaurav was an assistant professor at the Indian School of Business and Finance, New Delhi.

Sujata Visaria is on the Faculty at the Department of Economics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). She was employed at Boston University for four years before moving to HKUST. Her research studies how financial institutions affect micro-level outcomes in developing countries. She is an affiliate of the Bureau for the Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) and the Small and Medium Enterprise Initiative of Innovations for Poverty Action.

Arijit Sen is Professor of Economics at Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. His research and teaching focuses on Micro & Game Theory. He engages with the practitioners in discourses on strategic behaviour, negotiations, and competitive bidding.

Tridip Ray is Professor with Economics and Planning Unit at the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Some of his research areas are Economic Development and Growth, Inequality, Financial Development, Economics of Education, Applied Microeconomics.

Ashutosh Varshney is Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Brown University, where he also directs the Center for Contemporary South Asia. His research and teaching cover three areas: Ethnicity and Nationalism; Political Economy of Development; and South Asian Politics and Political Economy. His academic writings have appeared in several prestigious journals and books.

Sandeep Shastri is the Pro Vice Chancellor of the Jain University and Director of its Centre for Research in Social Sciences and Education (CERSSE). He is also the National Coordinator of the Lokniti network. He is a political scientist by training, his research is largely in the fields of (a) Election Studies (b) Federalism and (c) Innovation in Teaching.

Prof M V Rajeev Gowda is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha since July 2014 and a national spokesperson for the Indian National Congress. He also currently serves as Chairman of the "Congress Research Department". He was Professor of Economics and Social Sciences and the Chairperson of the Centre for Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and taught a range of courses. He has also served as the Director of the Central Board, Reserve Bank of India.

Arnab Mukherji is an applied microeconomist whose work has focused on the economics of healthcare and governance with a focus on India. His work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and as book-chapters that are targeted to an academic audience. Some of this has been cited in the media in places as diverse as the Wall Street Journal, Knowledge@Wharton, Business Standard, and the World Bank Blog.

Shabana Mitra’s main research interest are measurement, causes and consequences of poverty and inequality with special focus on the Latin American and South Asian regions. She also works on political economy implications of affirmative action policies on gender and caste based inequalities in the Indian context. Prior to joining IIMB, she has worked at the World Bank, Washington DC and the Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), Norway.

Anirban Mitra's research interests lie in the areas of Development Economics and Political Economy – often in their overlap. He has been interested in the role of economic factors behind ethnic and civil conflicts; his other works relate to institutional design and its ramifications on elements of public expenditure. His work has been published in several high-quality peer-reviewed journals. Anirban is a research affiliate of the CESifo Research Network (Munich). Prior to joining Kent, he was employed at the University of Oslo.