Contributor : Profile
Maitreesh Ghatak was educated at the Presidency College, University of Calcutta, Delhi School of Economics, and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1996. He has been Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics since 2004, having earlier taught at the University of Chicago. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Development Economics since 2009 and the Director of the research programme Economic Organization and Public Policy (EOPP) at STICERD, LSE since 2006. Earlier he was the Managing Editor of the Review of Economic Studies, and a Co-Editor of the Economics of Transition. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of BREAD, and a Co-Editor of Economica. He is a founder member of the research networks Theoretical Research in Development (ThReD) and Non-Profits, Governments, and Organisations (NGO). His areas of research interest are development economics, economics of contracts and organisations, and public economics. Current projects include the role of market structure in microfinance, land acquisition and compensation for displaced farmers, non-profits and social enterprise, and incentives and organisation design in public service delivery.
Posts by Maitreesh Ghatak
From 'Mess in India' to Made in India' as a global brand?
PM Modi recently launched the ‘Make in India’ campaign to attract investment and boost manufacturing. In this article, Maitreesh Ghatak contrasts the campaign with the Chinese model of economic g...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
15 October, 2014
- Perspectives
Please weight
The latest wealth index by New World Wealth that looks at multimillionaires has ranked India eighth in the global rich list. This article contends that looking at absolute numbers may be misleading. ...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
Debraj Ray
05 September, 2014
- Perspectives
Mirror, mirror on the wall, which is the most dynamic state of them all?
This column analyses the economic performance of 16 major Indian states over the last three decades. It finds that Bihar has improved the most during the 2000s, Kerala has always been a star performe...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
Sanchari Roy
23 March, 2014
- Articles
The Land Acquisition Act is deeply flawed
In the second part of the Land Acquisition Act debate, Ghatak and Ghosh argue that the legislation is ill-conceived and falls short on several counts. They contend that the formula for compensation is...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
Parikshit Ghosh
23 October, 2013
- Perspectives
Cash Transfer versus In-Kind Transfers: A conceptual framework and preliminary evidence
This project studied the performance of a conditional cash transfer scheme called Mukhyamantri Cycle Yojana, which provides money to purchase a bicycle to every student who is enrolled in standard nin...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
Sandip Mitra
01 June, 2013
- IGC Research on India
The Chit fund crisis: Should not put all financial intermediaries in the same bracket
The government has announced a bailout package for the participants of unregulated saving schemes that have been put at risk by the current Chit fund crisis in West Bengal. In this article, Banerjee ...
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Abhijit Banerjee
Maitreesh Ghatak
03 May, 2013
- Perspectives
Developing a Land Acquisition Policy for India
The Land Acquisition Bill is a key piece of legislation under consideration in the Indian Parliament. This column argues that the current policy on compensating landowners, as proposed in the Bill, is...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
Dilip Mookherjee
05 September, 2012
- Articles
Land acquisition: Is there a way out?
India is hungry for space to grow into a developed economy. Yet this hunger is increasingly raiding farmland and threatening traditional livelihoods. For some, this is a necessary evil, for others it ...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
Parikshit Ghosh
16 July, 2012
- Articles
Land Acquisition for Business and Compensation of Displaced Farmers
This project addresses the question of how farmers displaced by acquisition of agricultural land for the purpose of industrialisation ought to be compensated. Prior to acquisition, the farmers are lea...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
Sandip Mitra
Dilip Mookherjee
01 March, 2012
- IGC Research on India
Case study on successful land acquisitions in Bihar
This project addresses the question of compensation policies for rural communities that lose their traditional lands and livelihoods to make way for business (e.g., industry, commercial agriculture, u...
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Maitreesh Ghatak
Sandip Mitra
Dilip Mookherjee
01 March, 2012
- IGC Research on India
Improving Access to and Measuring the Impact of Public Health Insurance in India
This project aims to add to the broad literature on improving the quality of public services by looking at the effect of providing incentives to agents for spreading information regarding a government...
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Erlend Berg
Maitreesh Ghatak
D Rajasekhar
Sanchari Roy
01 April, 2011
- IGC Research on India
Improving Access to and Measuring the Impact of Public Health Insurance in India
This project aims to add to the broad literature on improving the quality of public services by looking at the effect of providing incentives to agents for spreading information regarding a government...
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Erlend Berg
Maitreesh Ghatak
D Rajasekhar
Sanchari Roy
01 April, 2011
- IGC Research on India




