Economics and Public Policy

Aranya Chakraborty earned his PhD in Economics from McGill University in 2023. He completed his MSc in Economics from the University of Calcutta and a BSc in Economics from Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur. Aranya's research interests lie in development economics, information economics, and applied microeconomics. He studies the adoption of risk management and mitigation practices in developing countries, focusing primarily on the role of networks, social learning, and learning from experience. His doctoral research investigated development policies for resolving information frictions and aiding economic agents in developing countries to learn about new technologies and products.

For an up-to-date version of the following list, visit here.

Working Papers

• “Inefficiency in Agricultural Production: Do Information Frictions Matter?” March 2025. (with Digvijay Singh Negi and Rahul Rao)
• “Lessons from the Past: How Experience Reduces the Impact of Weather Shocks on Ugandan Smallholders,” November 2024. (with Giuseppe Maggio and Fabio G. Santeramo)
• “The Role of Active Discussion in Learning about Uncertain Technologies,” October 2024. (with Javier Escobal, Sonia Laszlo, and Jim Warnick)
• “Network-Based Targeting with Heterogeneous Agents for Improving Technology Adoption,” March 2024.
• “The Role of Experience in Learning for Index Insurance Products: Evidence from Rural Kenya,” March 2023.

Work-in-Progress

• “Testing Alternative Models of Informal Risk Sharing with Data from Tsimane' Villages.” (with Francesco Amodio and Pau Milán)

Other Papers

• “Industrial Performance in West Bengal: Analysis of Technical Efficiency with ASI Data,” August 2016. (with Panchanan Das and Swayambhu Mukherjee)

Book Chapters

• “Food Insecurity, Price Volatility and Trade: A Panel Data Analysis in Developing Countries,” Chapter-10 in Indian Agriculture under Multilateral and Regional Trade Agreements - Competitiveness and Food Security, Sharma and Bathla (eds.), CWS in association with Bookwell, Delhi, 2017, 177-194. (with Panchanan Das and Swayambhu Mukherjee)

ECO220: Econometrics, Monsoon 2024

ECO321/ECO620: Empirical Research Methods in Economics, Winter 2024-25

ECO100: Microeconomics, Monsoon 2023-24 [Bi-Semester Course]