I am an economist with interests in anthropology and demography.
I study the economic and social determinants of living standards in poor countries. Here are the home pages of some other micro-development economists. I have written papers in three general areas: marriage markets, inequality, and integrating theories from anthropology and sociology into economics. Specific topics include: Marriage markets and the rise in dowries in India; domestic violence and its impact on intra-household resource allocation; whether the poor pay higher prices for the same goods than the rich and how this affects measures of inequality; marriage markets, bargaining and fertility in Brazil; identity switching in a model of statistical discrimination; compensating differentials for social mobility within the Indian caste system; and the impact of dietary variation on mortality. You are invited to browse the titles and abstracts of my research papers, until I am able to convert them into a downloadable format. The rest of my cv is here.
Current projects continue examining various aspects of marriage systems and their effect on inequality within and between households, and I have recently embarked on a new project studying aspects of old-age support in India. All my recent work combines the econometric analysis of survey data with qualitative methods -- analyzing data from open-ended interviews, participatory rapid appraisals (PRAs), and focus groups. Much of it is based upon field work conducted in Karnataka State in Southern India.
I teach in the Economics Department at Williams College, located in the Berkshires in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. I have taught a variety of courses, with a particular focus on economic development and population . In the Spring I will teach Econ 389 , an upper level course that will contrast economic ways of thinking with social theory. In addition to these specialized courses, I have taught Econometrics, and Introductory Economics. Here is my Econ 101 syllabus with links to all the readings on the Web.
One of the nice things about Williams is the Winter Study programme, where I have shared my deep interest in Indian Classical Music with students. I hope in the future to teach a course on my other extra-curricular passion, cooking Indian food.
Office Hours for Spring 1997:
Monday 2-4, Wednesday 9-11, Friday 4-5, and by apointment.
Phone: 413-597-2144
Department of Economics, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA