Members in the Area conduct research and publish on a variety of themes. Policy related work constitutes a large part of this work and the faculty of the Area has been extensively involved in the formulation and evaluation of public policy. Members explore the rationale and efficacy of policies relating to agriculture, small-scale sector, intellectual property rights, competition, foreign direct investment, technology and state owned enterprises and analyze individual policy instruments in the larger macro-economic context. Recent studies have focused on various issues relating to privatization and financing of public sector enterprises and regulatory and other constraints on the efficiency of the public sector. Linkages between competition law-policy and sector specific regulation are being explored. In addition, significant research is being done in the areas of capital markets, taxation, deficit financing, issues relating to foreign exchange management, balance of payments and broader fiscal and monetary policy in India. The work on fiscal policy reform has had a national as well as a state level focus. Analysis of issues relating to infrastructure has been an important area of work in recent years. Another strand of policy related work has been to investigate firm level responses to various policy initiatives. Other firm level research focuses on the determinants, scope and impact of inter-firm and other alliances in building enterprise level capabilities. Determinants of export behavior and performance of firms is also an important area of firm level research.



Research in the Area has also explored sources of economic growth in India, regional disparities in the country's growth patterns and differential rates of growth of developing countries. Studies relating to rural development, employment, entrepreneurship and industrial clusters are also undertaken. A strand of research on cooperation focuses on issues relating to property rights and incentive structures. Work has also been initiated on the impact of globalization and WTO negotiations on employment, poverty and specific sectors like textiles and the pharmaceuticals industry. Research is not restricted to the Indian economy. Studies analyze developments in East Asia, China, the Commonwealth and other countries.

Most of the research mentioned above involves rigorous analysis of secondary and primary data. Consequently, research in the area grapples with measurement and estimation related issues on a continuing basis. While most of the research is empirical in nature, there is a significant body of work that deals with rational choice, social choice and welfare economic theory. The major focus of research in this area has been the axiomatic characterization of social choice rules in fair division problems and in the theory of elections. Some work on the theoretical underpinnings of corruption has also been undertaken.

LIST OF COURSES

PGP: Compulsory Courses
     Economics Analysis (EA)
     Economic Environment and Policy I (EEP-I)
     Economic Environment and Policy II (EEP-II)

PGP: Electives
     Business Contracts & Property Rights (BCPR)
     Economic Analysis for Business Planning (EABP)
     Economic and Business Forecasting (EBF)
     International Banking and Finance (IBF)
     International Trade and Finance (ITF)
     Managing Technology Networks (MTN) - (Joint Area course)
     Multinational and the International Economy (MIE)
     Project Planning for Industrial Development (PPID) - (Joint Area course)
     Strategic Management of Intellectual Property Rights (SMIPR) - (Joint Area course)
     Trade, Finance and Development: Global Impacts on Business Decisions

FPM: Compulsory Courses
    Advanced Macroeconomics
    Advanced Microeconomics
    Econometric Analysis

FPM: Electives
    Economic Development & Growth – (Joint Area course)
    Economics of Industrial Organization and Policy (EIOP)
    Electric Power Economics and Policy (EPEP) – (Joint Area Course)
    Infrastructure Policy – (Joint Area Course)
    Multinational and the International Economy (MIE)
    Public Finance – (Joint Area Course)
   Trade, Finance and Development: Global Impacts on Business Decisions

Some Recent Doctoral Students (Economics Area) and their Thesis: