Department of Economics

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Department of Economics

The Department of Economics at Ashoka University has 34 permanent faculty members, with research and teaching interests that span a broad range of fields which include economic theory, game theory, behavioral economics, experimental economics, theoretical and empirical macroeconomics, monetary economics, economic growth, development economics, time-series econometrics and different areas of applied microeconomics and financial economics.

The department offers a major in Economics and interdisciplinary majors in Economics & Finance, Economics & History, and in Politics, Philosophy & Economics (PPE). At the graduate level, the department offers MA in Economics and Ph.D. in Economics. This website provides more information about those programs, the faculty, and the department’s research activities.

Programmes

Undergraduate Programme in Economics

The undergraduate programmes in Economics at Ashoka University are designed to provide students with a sound understanding of…

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Ashoka Scholars Programme in Economics

In accordance with university policies,  the economics department provides various pathways for ASP students, including an Advanced Major in…

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Master of Arts in Economics

Ashoka University’s Master's programme in Economics has been developed to provide students the opportunity to be trained in…

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Axis Bank Ashoka Ph.D. Programme in Economics

The Ashoka approach to Economics is fundamentally about bringing together cutting edge economic theory and rigorous data analysis…

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Faculty at Economics

Amol

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Minnesota

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Aditya Aradhye

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Maastricht University

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Parush Arora

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of California, Irvine

Yatish Arya
Yatish Arya

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

PhD University of Warwick

Sneha Bakshi

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Texas, Dallas

Biswajit Banerjee

Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

D.Phil, University of Oxford

Piyali Banerjee

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Alabama

Arghya (Argo) Bhattacharya

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of California, Irvine

Mihir Bhattacharya

Associate Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Indian Statistical Institute

Abhinash Borah

Associate Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

Kalyani Chaudhuri

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of California, Davis

Lalit Contractor

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. John Hopkins University

Aparajita Dasgupta

Associate Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of California, Riverside

Ashwini Deshpande

Head of the Department, Economics and Professor of Economics, Ashoka University Founding Director, Centre for Economic Data and Analysis, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Delhi School of Economics

Bhaskar Dutta

Distinguished University Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Delhi

Srijita Ghosh

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. New York University

Bhanu Gupta

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Michigan

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Sanyyam Khurana

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Delhi School of Economics

Ratul Lahkar

Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison

Kanika Mahajan

Associate Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Indian Statistical Institute

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Bipasha Maity

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of British Columbia

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Prachi Mishra

Professor of Economics, Director and Head of the Isaac Center for Public Policy, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Columbia University

Ronit Mukherji
Ronit Mukherji

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of British Columbia

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Digvijay Singh Negi

Associate Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi

Saish Nevrekar

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. VU Amsterdam and IGIDR

Ayush Pant

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Warwick

Avantika Prabhakar

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Virginia

Abhishek Rai
Abhishek Rai

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University

Bharat Ramaswami

Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Minnesota

S.K. Ritadhi

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of California - Berkeley

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Devesh Roy

Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Maryland College Park

Anuradha Saha

Assistant Dean, Academic Affairs, Associate Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Indian Statistical Institute

Anisha Sharma

Associate Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Oxford

Suraj Shekhar

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University

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Anshumaan Tuteja

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Warwick

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Priyam Verma

Assistant Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Houston

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Abheek Barua

Visiting Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

MA, University of Maryland

Pragya Jain

Visiting Faculty of Economics, Ashoka University

MA Jawaharlal Nehru University

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Nitish Kashyap

Visiting Faculty of Economics, Ashoka University

MA Jawaharlal Nehru University

Smiling person with curly dark hair wearing a red jacket against a white background.
Kavita Sardana

Visiting Faculty of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Georgia

S.K. Shanthi

Visiting Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Institute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai

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Sidharth Sinha

Visiting Professor of Economics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley.

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Research

Discussion Paper Series

Ashoka’s department of Economics is filled with learned faculty members whose insights in applied, theoretical & modern Economics have far-reaching implications. Click on the tab below to read different discussion papers from recent years.

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Centre for Economic Data and Analysis

The Economics Department of Ashoka University has set up the Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA) with the primary aim of facilitating informed debate about economic and social developments in India. To this end, CEDA has developed a public data repository along with a visualization toolkit that is accessible, searchable, interactive, and will be of use to researchers, journalists, policymakers, students, and others.

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Isaac Centre for Public Policy

Isaac Centre for Public Policy (ICPP) at Ashoka University aims to contribute towards accelerated, inclusive and sustainable growth that enables India to become a developed country. To achieve this goal, ICPP works through three strands — academic programs and executive education, policymakers-led research including policy case studies and briefs, and public policy events.

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Dear All,



The Department of Economics invites you to their weekly seminar on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.



Time: 1:40 PM to 2:50 PM



Venue: AC-04-301



Speaker: Rakesh Chaturvedi



Title: Optimal Commission in a Marketplace



Abstract: The optimal commission problem is formulated for a monopoly retail marketplace, which charges a uniform commission rate to competing sellers in an industry, but must contend with their outside options. The unconstrained optimal commission rate satisfies a modified Ramsey formula that incorporates the (commission) passthrough elasticity of retail price. When sellers' outside options bite, the incentive-optimal commission rate is given by a formula that balances the tradeoff between sales boosting but margin dampening effects of the marketplace on the sellers. Extensions of these results are developed for the case of asymmetric seller competition. Finally, a formula for Nash-optimal commission rate is developed for contexts where the commission rates are negotiated.



Thanks & Regards,



Manish


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Dear All,



The Department of Economics invites you to their weekly seminar on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.



Time: 1:40 PM to 2:50 PM



Venue: AC-04-301



Speaker: Rakesh Chaturvedi



Title: Optimal Commission in a Marketplace



Abstract: The optimal commission problem is formulated for a monopoly retail marketplace, which charges a uniform commission rate to competing sellers in an industry, but must contend with their outside options. The unconstrained optimal commission rate satisfies a modified Ramsey formula that incorporates the (commission) passthrough elasticity of retail price. When sellers' outside options bite, the incentive-optimal commission rate is given by a formula that balances the tradeoff between sales boosting but margin dampening effects of the marketplace on the sellers. Extensions of these results are developed for the case of asymmetric seller competition. Finally, a formula for Nash-optimal commission rate is developed for contexts where the commission rates are negotiated.



Thanks & Regards,



Manish


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News

Events

News

Applying Evolutionary Game Theory to Understand Institutional Effectiveness

Apr 08 , 2025 03:04

Dr. Ratul Lahkar, Professor of Economics, Ashoka University, explores how societies navigate the conflict between individual incentives and social welfare.…

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Ashoka News

Ashoka University’s Economics Department Invites Applications For its Ph.D. Programme

Mar 24 , 2025 04:03

Applications are now open for the Ph.D. programme at Ashoka University's Department of Economics.

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Ashoka News

Ashoka University’s Anisha Sharma recognised as IEA’s Featured Economist for October 2024

Dec 05 , 2024 01:12

Her research focuses on labour economics, the economics of health and education, and public policy, with a particular emphasis on…

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Ashoka News

Academia, Policy and Finance : Prachi Mishra’s insights on Global Economics and…

Sep 18 , 2024 01:09

Prachi Mishra, Professor of Economics, Director and Head of the Isaac Center for Public Policy at Ashoka University, shares valuable…

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Ashoka News

Dr. Anisha Sharma, Assistant Professor and Garima Rastogi, Ashoka alum awarded 2023…

Oct 30 , 2022 12:10

An Assistant Professor of Economics and her former undergraduate student have carried on the success story of Ashoka University by…

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Ashoka News

Prof. Bhaskar Dutta named Distinguished University Professor of Economics

Jul 01 , 2022 01:07

Prof. Dutta has published extensively in leading journals, applying game-theoretic tools in the areas of mechanism design, cooperative game theory,…

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Ashoka News

Professor Ashwini Deshpande talks about the gendered effects of the pandemic and…

Mar 10 , 2021 12:03

We are in conversation with Ashwini Deshpande, Professor of Economics and Founding Director, Centre for Economic Policy and Analysis.

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Ashoka News

Department of Economics News

Aug 29 , 2019 12:08

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Ashoka News

In the Media

Economics Department | Weekly Seminars

September 10 @ 1:40 pm
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Contact Us

For any queries regarding Economics department, please contact:-

Sapna Sharma

Department Manager

sapna.sharma@ashoka.edu.in

If you have queries specific to the Economics, or the Economics and Finance programme, please reach out to:-

Economics Student Representatives

econreps@ashoka.edu.in

If you have queries specific to the PPE major, please reach out to:-

PPE Student Representatives

ppe.rep@ashoka.edu.in

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