INDIA: University of Delhi, Delhi

Research | Practical information

RESEARCH

Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi

Shortly after independence, a group of visionaries led by Professor V.K.R.V. Rao and supported by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, launched a project to create a Centre for advanced studies in the social sciences that would compare with the best in the world. Thus began the Delhi School of Economics in 1949.

Currently, the School comprises the departments of economics, geography and sociology, of which the first has undoubtedly been outstanding and dynamic. The department of economics was designated a Centre of Advanced Study by the University Grants Commission. In 1993, the Centre for Development Economics was created within the department, to strengthen the research infrastructure. Among the faculty have been the likes of V.K.R.V. Rao, B.N. Ganguly and K.N. Raj (all three of whom went on to serve as vice-chancellors at the University of Delhi), Amartya Sen (who won the Nobel Prize), Manmohan Singh (who served as India's finance minister for many years), Sukhamoy Chakravarty (who was a member of the Planning Commission and the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister), Jagdish Bhagwati, Raj Krishna and many others who have excelled professionally.

The department has been associated with three important journals over the years. It publishes the Indian Economic Review, several faculty members edit the Indian Economic and Social History Review, and for many years it housed the Journal of Quantitative Economics.

The seminars, conferences and workshops periodically organized by the department have attracted some of the highest quality academics from the world over. These have included Sir John and Lady Ursula Hicks, Edmond Malinvaud, Frank Hahn, Jacques Dreze, James Tobin, James Meade, Joan Robinson, Milton Friedman, Michael Kalecki, Nicholas Kaldor, Tibor Scitovsky, Tjalling Koopmans, Lawrence Klein, Agnar Sandmo and Joseph Stiglitz.

Researchers and areas of interest

Prof. T.C.A. Anant: Econometrics, Industrial Economics, Law and Economics

Dr. Abhijit Banerji: Economic Theory, Applied Micro

Dr. Aditya Bhattacharjea: International Trade, Industrial Economics

Dr. Mausumi Das: Growth & Development, Macroeconomics

Dr. Ashwini Deshpande: International Economics

Prof. Pami Dua: Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Forecasting

Ms. Nira Goyal: Macroeconomics, International Economics

Dr. Shreekant Gupta: Environmental Economics

Dr. Param Jit: Quantitative Methods

Dr. Sunil Kanwar: Development Economics, Agricultural Economics

Dr. J.V. Meenakshi: Agricultural Economics, Economic Policy

Prof. Pulin B. Nayak: Public Economics, Economic Theory

Prof. Santosh C. Panda: Social Choice Theory, Microeconomic Theory

Prof. Bansi L. Pandi: Macroeconomics, Monetary Theory, Financial Markets

Prof. Partha Sen: International Trade, Macroeconomic Theory, International Finance

Dr. Sudhir A. Shah: Economic Theory, Mathematical Economics

Dr. Ram Singh: Economic Theory, Law and Economics

Dr. Uday Bhanu Sinha: Industrial Organization Theory, Applied Game Theory

Dr. Rohini Somanathan: Economic Development, Political Economy, Public Economics

Prof. K. Sundaram: Planning and Development, Population Studies, Agricultural Economics

Datasets and library access

Fellows will have access to the Ratan Tata Library located on the Delhi School of Economics campus (see the University of Delhi website http://du.ac.in/ for details) as temporary users. They will have access to all the data sets available at the Centre for Development Economics, housed in the Department of Economics (www.econdse.org). These include the National Sample Survey, several rounds; Prowess (data from the Centre for Monitoring of the Indian Economy); Annual Survey of Industries; Indian Census 2001; Handbook of Statistics released by the Reserve Bank of India; Indian Development Information upto 2001; National Accounts Statistics 1950-51 to 2002-03; Supreme Court Case Finder; State Domestic Product 1960-2000-01; World Development Indicators.

Research Seminars

Fellows can attend all the research seminars in the department.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Accommodations

Fellows should contact Dr. Ashwini Deshpande (ashwini@econdse.org) who will be the overall coordinator of the program in the department. There are a variety of possible options, subject to availability: two University Guest Houses (10 minutes walk from the department); Institute of Economic Growth guest house (less than 5 minutes from the department); International Students’ Hostel (10-15 minutes walk); Ambedkar Ganguly House for Women (3 kms ~ 2 miles away); private rentals. She can also provide information on the costs of living in Delhi.

Health Insurance

The US State Department provides extensive information on health insurance for Americans traveling abroad.

Office Space

Fellows would get access to a computer in the research lab for graduate students.

Timing

Winter-Spring (December to April) would be the best time.

Professors available as advisors

Several of the faculty members (www.econdse.org) could be potential advisors. Dr. Ashwini Deshpande will facilitate interaction between individual fellows and professors, depending upon the research proposals.

Visa information

All the information should be available on the Indian Embassy website. If Fellows require an invitation letter for obtaining the visa, the department chair would send one. Fellows should contact Dr. Ashwini Deshpande for this purpose.

For more information on Delhi University, check out their website at: http://www.du.ac.in/.