I am Mamidipudi Ramakrishna Sharan, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Maryland, College Park.
My research centres around questions in development economics and political economy. I have worked as a researcher and policy economist with various research organisations and both state and central governments in India. I earned my PhD from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in May 2020 and subsequently served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center For Global Development.
My research examines inequality in socially diverse settings and explores how institutional and technological innovations can empower marginalised groups. Much of my work is set in India, with a common theme centred around rural local government institutions. I investigate topics such as political selection, politician incentives, bureaucratic innovations, corruption, affirmative action, and collective action.
Prior to my PhD, I obtained a B.A. in Economics from Hansraj College and an M.A. from the Delhi School of Economics.
Besides my academic research, I contribute to media and other platforms. My narrative non-fiction book on village politics in Bihar, titled Last Among Equals was released in December 2021, and my novel Blue was published by HarperCollins in 2014. I also co-host the podcast “Brothers in Music: The A. R. Rahman Edition”.