Shabana Mitra

Shabana Mitra’s main research interest are measurement, causes and consequences of  poverty and inequality with special focus on the Latin American and South Asian regions. She also works on political economy implications of affirmative action policies on gender and caste based inequalities in the Indian context. Prior to joining IIMB, she has worked at the World Bank, Washington DC and the Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), Norway. She completed here PhD in Economics from Vanderbilt University in 2011.

Mitra’s current research interests include the study of the long term impact of one-time targeted interventions on societal norms and economic outcomes. Mitra is also working on the implications of the 15-year civil war in Nepal on multidimensional poverty in the country and distribution of public goods within the country.

Research Areas:

Development Economics, Political Economy, Applied Econometrics

Significant Publications:

Electoral Uncertainty, Income Inequality and the Middle Class (with Anirban Mitra), Economic Journal, Volume 127, Issue 602, Pages 873–1216 Re-assessing “trickle-down” using a multidimensional criterion:The case of India , accepted Social Indicators Research. (Working paper with online appendix) Multidimensional human opportunity index (with T M Tonmoy Islam), Social Indicators Research, 2017, 130(2), 523–535 Synergies Among Monetary, Multidimensional and Subjective Poverty: Evidence from Nepal, Social Indicators Research, 2016, 125(1), 103-125 Towards a Multidimensional Measure of Governance, Social Indicators Research, 2013, 112(2):477-496 Multidimensional Poverty:Measurement, Estimation, and Inference (with Chris Bennett), Econometric Reviews,2013, 32(1): 57-83 Book Reviews: Mehrotra,S. "Realising the Demographic Dividend: Policies to Achieve Inclusive Growth in India", Cambridge University Press. Reviewed for Journal of Development Studies. (link)

Working Papers:

Economic consequences and redistribution of resources due to the Maoist conflict in Nepal (with Anirban Mitra) Crime, elections and Political Competition (with Althaf Shajahan) Wheels of Power: Long-term effects of targeting girls with in-kind transfers (with Kalle Moene) Cash for Votes: Evidence from India (with Anirban Mitra and Arnab Mukherji)