KARTIK MISRA Department of Economics +1-413-695-4244 Crotty Hall, 412 North Pleasant Str. kmisra@econs.umass.edu University of Massachusetts Visa Status: F1 Amherst, MA 01002 EDUCATION: Ph.D. Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (expected Spring 2018) M.Sc. Development Studies, London School of Economics & Political Science, 2011 B.A.(Honors) Economics (First Division), University of Delhi, India, 2009 DISSERTATION: Title: Three Essays on the Role of Institutions in Indian Agriculture Committee: Deepankar Basu (Chair), James Boyce, Michael Ash, Lynnette Sievert FIELDS OF INTEREST: Development Economics, Applied Econometrics, Labor Economics and Political Economy AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS: Dissertation Fellowship, Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), 2017-2018 Dissertation Research Fellowship, American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS), 2016-2017 Course Development Grant, College of Social and Behavioral Science Online Fellows Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2015 Teaching Assistant Recognition, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2015 Chair s Research Fellowship, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2015 Graduate Support Scheme Scholarship, London School of Economics & Political Science, London, UK, 2010
Page 2 of 5 PUBLICATIONS: Basu, Deepankar, Debarshi Das and Kartik Misra (2016), Farmer Suicides in India: Levels and Trends Across Major States, 1995-2011, Economic & Political Weekly, 51(21), 61. Basu, Deepankar, and Kartik Misra (2015), BJP s Youth Vote Dividend, Economic & Political Weekly, 50(3), 69. WORKS IN PROGRESS: Misra, Kartik (2017), Is India s Employment Guarantee Program Successfully Challenging Her Historical Inequalities? (Job Market Paper) Misra, Kartik (2017), Understanding the Role of Tied-Labor Contracts in Wage Negotiations Post-NREGA: Evidence from Uttar Pradesh University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. Githinji, Mwangi and Kartik Misra (2017), The Role of Land Based Social Networks in Agrarian productivity: The Case of Kenya, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. Misra, Kartik and Danish Khan (2017), Reconceptualising the Conflict of Kashmir: A Case of Competitive Militarization, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. TEACHING EXPERIENCE: Course Development Development: History, Theory and Policy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Fall 2015 (online course) Instructor Introduction to Macroeconomics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Spring 2017 (online course) Intermediate Macroeconomics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Fall 2016 (online course) The Great Recession 2008 -? University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Spring 2015 (online course) Development: History, Theory and Policy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Winter 2015 (online course)
Page 3 of 5 Teaching Assistant Intermediate Macroeconomics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Spring 2015 Political Economy of Environment, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Fall 2015 Introduction to Macroeconomics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Fall 2014, Spring 2016 Introduction to Microeconomics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Fall 2013, Spring 2016 RESEARCH EXPERIENCE: Research Assistant. Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). India. Conducted research for the project Climate Change and the Economic Competitiveness of Cities: Making the Business Case for Adaptation funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. Also conducted field research for the project Preparing India for the Urban Challenges of the 21st Century, funded by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, 2012-2013 Research Assistant. Centre for Civil Society. India. Conducted a primary research study to assess the cost incurred by Budget Private Schools in implementing the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Conducted research and analysis of the RTE State Rules across all states of India and prepared an online portal for it, 2011-2012 India Analyst. Blackwell Strategic Research, London, UK. Researcher on the economics, politics and culture of India. Conducted a study on the role of political compulsions in economic policy choices in India, 2011 Survey Coordinator. Jameel Abdul Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Conducted 350 surveys of the Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), 2010 FIELD EXPERIENCE: Mirzapur, India. Conducted 950 primary household surveys to assess the impact of rural institutions. Formed, trained and led a team of 7 surveyors, 2016-17 New Delhi, India. Centre for Civil Society. Conducted a primary research based study to assess the cost incurred by Budget Private Schools in implementing the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2012 New Delhi, India. J-PAL. Coordinated 350 surveys of the Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) across Delhi for a research study headed by Drs. Abhijit Banerji and Rohini Pande. Supervised fifteen surveyors, organized monitoring, data scrutiny and other back check activities, 2010
Page 4 of 5 PRESENTATIONS: Is India s Employment Guarantee Program Successfully Challenging Her Historical Inequalities? Annual Meeting of the Midwest Econometrics Group, Texas A&M, USA, October 2017 American Institute of India Studies, Junior Fellows Annual Conference, University of Chicago Center, New Delhi, India, January 2017 Delhi School of Economics Winter Conference, New Delhi, India, December 2016 Eastern Economic Conference, Washington DC, USA, February 2016 Azim Premji Summer School Bangalore, India 2015 The Role of Land Based Social Networks in Agrarian Productivity: The Case of Kenya Eastern Economic Association New York, USA, February 2015 Critical Agrarian Studies Group, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 2014 Re-Conceptualizing the Conflict of Kashmir: A Case of Competitive Militarization South Asia Conference University of Wisconsin Madison 2015. WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS: Is India s Employment Guarantee Program Successfully Challenging Her Historical Inequalities?, History and Development Workshop, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, November 2017. Heterogeneous Wage Impact of MGNREGS in India: Are Winners Historically Determined?, Department of Ambedkar Studies, Baba Sahab Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, June 2017. POPULAR WRITING: Limited Liability But only for limited few, London School of Economics International Development Blog, March 18, 2016. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Computer Skills: Stata, R Languages: English (fluent), Hindi (fluent) REFERENCES: Prof. Deepankar Basu (primary advisor), Department of Economics, Crotty Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003; 413-545-2082; dbasu@econs.umass.edu
Page 5 of 5 Prof. James Boyce, Department of Economics, Crotty Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003; 413-545-2082; boyce@econs.umass.edu Prof. Michael Ash, Department of Economics, Crotty Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003; 413-545-2082; mash@econs.umass.edu JOB MARKET PAPER ABSTRACT: Is India's Employment Guarantee Program Successfully Challenging Her Historical Inequalities? (Job Market Paper) India s largest public employment program, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), has been her flagship rural poverty alleviation program since 2006. By providing 100 days of guaranteed employment to every rural household, it aims to challenge the hegemony of the landed elite as major employers in the countryside and raise market wages which have long been depressed. This paper analyzes the impact of NREGA on rural wages, and how it is conditioned and complicated by historical inequalities in agricultural landownership which have persisted since the colonial period. I find that in the lean season of agriculture, the program is highly successful in raising wages by generating more public employment in districts not characterized by historically high levels of socioeconomic inequality. In these districts, the increase in public employment is attributable in part to women's participation in the program. High inequality in landownership adversely impacts the bargaining power of workers and the enforcement of their entitlements under the program. In districts where land is concentrated in the hands of few large landowners, the program s impact on wages and employment is greatly attenuated compared to those that have a more equitable land distribution. Further, I estimate the differences in access to NREGA employment for different social groups and find that marginalized social groups like Scheduled Castes (SC), Other Backward Castes (OBC) and women are at a greater disadvantage in landlord districts. In districts where economic and political power are concentrated in the lands of large landowners, they may benefit from limiting the supply of public employment to prevent it from becoming a credible alternative to private employment. I find that landlord districts are characterized by higher excess demand for participation in NREGA. The erratic and inadequate nature of public employment generation is insufficient to dent the wage-setting power of landlords and consequently the impact of NREGA on the bargaining power of workers is stymied in these districts.