Prof. Sujata VISARIA
Associate Professor svisaria@ust.hk

CV


Academic qualifications
Ph.D. Economics Columbia University 2005
M.A. Economics Delhi School of Economics 1998
B.A.(Hons.) Economics Miranda House, University of Delhi 1996

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Academic and Professional ExperienceAssociate Director, HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies, July 2020 - present
Associate Professor, Economics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2017 - present
Assistant Professor, Economics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2009 - 2017
Visiting Assistant Professor, Ford School of Public Policy and Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, 2008-2009
Assistant Professor, Economics, Boston University, 2005-2009

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PUBLICATIONS The Borrowing Puzzle: Why Do Filipino Domestic Workers in Hong Kong Borrow Rather than Dissave? (with Wooyoung Lim), Asian Development Review, 2020, Volume 37, Issue 2, pp. 77-79.
Asymmetric Information and Middleman Margins: An Experiment with Indian Potato Farmers (with Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee and Maximo Torero), Review of Economics and Statistics, 2018, Volume 100, Number 1, pp. 1-36.
When Mindsets and Identity Diverge: The Effects of Implicit Theories and Incentive Schemes in a Field Intervention (with Melody M. Chao, Anirban Mukhopadhyay and Rajeev Dehejia), October 2017, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Volume 146, Number 10, pp. 1402-1419.
Financing Smallholder Agriculture: An Experiment with Agent-Intermediated Microloans in India (with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee and Alberto Motta), Journal of Development Economics, July 2017, Volume 127, pp. 306-337.
Working paper featured in The NBER Digest, March 2015.
Unintended Consequences of Rewards for Student Attendance: Results from a Field Experiment in Indian Classrooms (with Melody M. Chao, Rajeev Dehejia and Anirban Mukhopadhyay), Economics of Education Review, October 2016, Volume 54, pp. 173-184.
Media mention: How Do You Motivate Kids To Stop Skipping School? (by NurithAizenman), NPR, Washington DC, 22nd May 2015.
The Distributive Impact of Reforms in Credit Enforcement: Evidence from Indian Debt Recovery Tribunals (with Ulf von Lilienfeld-Toal and Dilip Mookherjee), Econometrica, March 2012, Volume 80, Number 2, pp. 497-558.
Legal Reform and Loan Repayment: The Microeconomic Impact of Debt Recovery Tribunals in India, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, July 2009, pp. 59-81.
Inter Country Comparisons of Poverty based on a Capability Approach (with Sanjay Reddy and Muhammad Asali). In Arguments for a Better World: Essays in Honour of Amartya Sen (editors: Kaushik Basu and Ravi Kanbur), 2009, Oxford University Press, pp. 7-29.
Segregation, Rent Control and Riots: The Economics of Religious Conflict in an Indian City (with Erica Field, Matthew Levinson and Rohini Pande), American Economic Review, May 2008, pp. 505-510.
WORKING PAPERSDo Women Receive Worse Financial Advice? (with Utpal Bhattacharya, Amit Kumar and Jing Zhao).
Media mention: Financial Advisers Give Women Worse Advice Than Men, Study Finds (by Ronojoy Mazumdar), Bloomberg News, 5th September 2020.
Decentralized Targeting of Agricultural Credit Programs: Private versus Political Intermediaries (with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra and Dilip Mookherjee).
The Equity Impacts of Targeted Smallholder Agricultural Credit (with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra and Dilip Mookherjee), HKUST IEMS Working Paper 2017-41.

WORK IN PROGRESSTargeting of Agricultural Credit Programs: Private Agents versus Local Governments (with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra and Dilip Mookherjee).
Incentivising the Poor to Save: A Study of Migrant Domestic Workers in Hong Kong (with Wooyoung Lim).
How to Make a Miracle: Structurally Disentangling the Mechanisms by which Agent-Intermediated Lending Increases Farmer Incomes (with coauthors).
Market Structure and Middleman Margins in Potato Markets in West Bengal: Evidence from Trader Surveys (with coauthors).
Assessing the Relative Importance of Information and Credit Constraints: An Empirical Study of Agricultural Sales (with coauthors).

NON-ACADEMIC WRITINGAgricultural Microfinance: An Alternative Trail(with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee and Alberto Motta),Spore, January 2017.
Financial Inclusion for Agricultural Growth: An Alternative Approach(with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee and Alberto Motta),Ideas for India, 8th December 2014.
Helping Microfinance Fulfill Its Promise: Raising Borrower Incomes through Agent-Intermediated Lending(with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee and Alberto Motta), IEMS Thought Leadership Brief, No. 3, October 2014.
Schooled Against Innovation(with Rajeev Dehejia),The Indian Express,20th September 2014.
Agent Intermediated Loans: A New Approach to Microfinance (with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee and Alberto Motta),ISB Insight, Jan-Mar 2014, Volume 1, Issue 2, pp. 33-37. (ISB Insight is the "Flagship Research Quarterly of the Indian School of Business".)

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AFFILIATIONSFaculty Associate,HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies
Research Affiliate,Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD)

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TEACHINGECON 5420 (formerly ECON 6100L): Topics in Economic Development,Masters elective(Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014).
ECON 4434: Economic Development & Growth,Undergraduate elective(Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Spring 2010).
ECON 4234:LabourEconomics & Human Resources,Undergraduate elective(Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014).
ECON 2113: Microeconomics,Undergraduate core course(Spring 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010).

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RESEARCH INTERESTS Development Economics, Applied Microeconomics, Institutional Economics, Financial Economics, Welfare and Poverty