Rohini Somanathan (born 1965) is an Indian economist focusing on

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

and

development economics Development economics is a branch of economics that deals with economic aspects of the development process in low- and middle- income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural c ...

, and especially on

public goods In economics, a public good (also referred to as a social good or collective good)Oakland, W. H. (1987). Theory of public goods. In Handbook of public economics (Vol. 2, pp. 485–535). Elsevier. is a goods, commodity, product or service that ...

in India. Her research has included work on the conflation of

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

with disadvantage as a legacy of colonialism in India, and the effects of high temperatures on worker productivity. She is a professor of economics at the

Delhi School of Economics Delhi School of Economics (DSE), popularly referred to as D School, is an institution of higher learning within the Delhi University. The Delhi School of Economics is situated in University of Delhi's North Campus in Maurice Nagar. Establishe ...

Education and career

Somanathan graduated with honours in 1986 from

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

, and received a master's degree in economics in 1988 from the Delhi School of Economics. She went to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in the US for doctoral study in economics, and received her Ph.D. in 1996. Her dissertation, ''School Systems, Educational Attainment, and Wages'', was jointly supervised by Debraj Ray and

Glenn Loury Glenn Cartman Loury (born September 3, 1948) is an American economist, academic, and author. He is the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences at Brown University, where he has taught since 2005 also as a professor of economics. At the ...

. She was a lecturer at Delhi University in 1989–1990, and a visiting assistant professor at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

in the US from 1995 to 1998. She became a regular-rank assistant professor at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1998 to 2005, while also holding an assistant professorship at the

Indian Statistical Institute The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a public research university headquartered in Kolkata, India with centers in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Tezpur. It was declared an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India und ...

from 2001 to 2004. She returned to the Delhi School of Economics as a reader in 2005, and has been a professor there since 2008.

Recognition

Somanathan was named as a Fellow of the

International Economic Association The International Economic Association (IEA) is an NGO established in 1950, at the instigation of the Social Sciences Department of UNESCO. To date, the IEA still shares information and maintains consultative relations with UNESCO. In 1973 the ...

in 2018, and as a

Fellow of the Econometric Society In the scientific discipline of economics, the Econometric Society is a learned society devoted to the advancement of economics by using mathematical and statistical methods. This article is a list of its (current and in memory) fellows. Fellows ...

in 2021.

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Somanathan, Rohini 1965 births Living people 20th-century Indian economists 21st-century Indian economists Indian women economists Delhi University alumni Boston University alumni University of Michigan faculty Academic staff of the Indian Statistical Institute Academic staff of Delhi University Fellows of the Econometric Society