Akshay Mangla

Associate Professor at Said Business School

Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School

Biography

Said Business School

Akshay's primary expertise lies in the comparative political economy of developing countries, with a regional specialisation in South Asia. Akshay's research focuses on public and private governance, institutional performance, and the changing nature of state-society relations in India. Akshay’s current research interests are in the political economy of India, focusing on the institutional capacity and performance of the state. India is among the fastest-growing economies in the world, with globally-recognised firms, a comparatively young population and an expanding consumer base. At the same time, India faces many development hurdles, not least of all, the challenge of governing a large, heterogeneous and rapidly changing market. In addition, the nature of politics and business varies tremendously across India’s multi-ethnic federal democracy. How well the state manages these differences and administers its core functions has profound consequences for India’s business environment, societal welfare and prosperity.

Akshay employs innovative research designs and empirically-grounded methods to study the dynamics of governance. His research analyses variation in the performance of the state in India, across different regions and policy domains. Currently, he is conducting an in-depth study of the Indian police. The study investigates the norms, incentives and political conditions that influence how the police administer law and order. Akshay and his collaborators are using a mix of qualitative and experimental methods to evaluate the impact of institutional reforms on police behaviour, citizen perceptions and crime reporting. Akshay’s previous research examined the delivery of public services in rural India. Drawing on more than two years of comparative fieldwork, he analysed the uneven implementation of universal primary education programmes, both within and across Indian states. This work has culminated in a book manuscript, entitled “Inside the State: Norms, Capabilities and Primary Education in Rural India” (currently under review), as well as multiple articles and working papers. In his earlier work, Akshay researched private initiatives to govern labour standards in global supply chains. He carried out field research in apparel export factories to investigate when and how firms effectively monitor and enforce labour standards. He also analysed the efficacy of child labour interventions in India’s carpet supply chain, identifying the mechanisms by which non-state actors promote social change. Akshay completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania and received a B.S. in Finance and B.A. in Philosophy (summa cum laude). He earned a M.Sc. in Management Research (with Distinction) from the University of Oxford. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he also taught a graduate-level course in qualitative research design and field methods. Prior to joining Saїd Business School, Akshay taught on the faculty of Harvard Business School, where he was an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government and International Economy Unit. Alongside his role at Saїd Business School, Akshay is a Research Fellow at Green Templeton College.

Expertise:

  • Global strategy and institutions
  • Comparative political economy
  • Development of emerging economies
  • Public and private governance
  • Education and social policy
  • Business and politics in India
  • State-society relations in South Asia

Research

Akshay’s research interests are broadly in comparative political economy and development, with a regional focus on South Asia.

He seeks to understand when, why and how states acquire capabilities to govern effectively. His research analyses variation in state performance, institutional practices and related policy outcomes in India.

Engagement

Akshay’s research addresses questions that impact individuals and organisations at multiple levels.

He conducts empirically-grounded, comparative field research. From conducting interviews to sharing his research findings, Akshay routinely interacts with policymakers, managers and ordinary citizens, whose perspectives help to inform his understanding.

Akshay has presented his research to multiple stakeholder audiences, including policymakers, development practitioners and business executives in India and elsewhere. He also engages with foundations, international agencies and policy think tanks. He has participated in policy panels and roundtable discussions on development and has contributed to reports for the World Bank, ILO and UNICEF.

Before joining Saїd Business School, Akshay was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School. While at Harvard, he led several initiatives on Indian politics and business. As a Faculty Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, he co-directed the Brown-Harvard-MIT Joint Seminar on South Asian Politics. He has been a Steering Committee Member of the Lakshmi MIttal South Asia Institute (SAI) at Harvard, assembling together leading thinkers and policymakers from South Asia. He also led SAI’s Education Seminar Series, which facilitated the exchange of ideas between academics and practitioners in the field of education.

Education

  • Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • M.Sc. University of Oxford
  • B.S. and B.A. University of Pennsylvania

Companies

  • Associate Professor Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (2018)
  • Assistant Professor Harvard Business School (2013 — 2017)
  • KCCI Intern UNICEF (2006 — 2006)
  • Business Analyst Deloitte Consulting (2004 — 2005)

Harvard Business School

Akshay Mangla’s expertise is in comparative political economy, governance and development, with a regional specialization in South Asia.

A political scientist by training, Akshay’s research seeks to understand the causes and consequences of state capacity and institutional reform in developing countries. His ongoing projects investigate how governments and non-state actors work collectively to implement public policies and services in India.

His first book, Making Bureaucracy Work: Norms, Education and Public Service Delivery in Rural India (forthcoming with Cambridge University Press), investigates why and how state agencies implement universal primary education programs (more or less) effectively in India. It advances a theoretical framework centered on informal bureaucratic norms, the unwritten rules of the game that guide the behavior of state officials and their relations with citizens and non-state agencies. The findings are based on more than two years of subnational comparative field research in four Indian states.

Akshay has an active research agenda focusing on the political economy of institutions and frontline public service delivery in developing countries. This includes a large-scale study of police reform and women’s security in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. He has embarked on a second book project on state capacity and social welfare, entitled The Indian Welfare State, which explore the historical development of social policies in India. Akshay’s applies intensive field research methods, including ethnography, interviews, focus group discussions, surveys and field experiments. His research has been published in Asian Survey, Governance, Politics and Society and Public Administration and Development.

Alongside his role at Saїd Business School, Akshay is a Research Fellow at Green Templeton College. Prior to joining the University of Oxford, Akshay taught on the Harvard Business School faculty, as an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government and International Economy Unit. Akshay holds a B.S. in Finance and B.A. in Philosophy (summa cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.Sc. in Management Research (with Distinction) from the University of Oxford, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he taught a doctoral course on qualitative research design and field methods.

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