Economics and Public Policy
Rikhia Bhukta
Assistant Professor
PhD (IIT Kanpur)
+91.79.61911517
Research Interests: Development Economics, Gender Economics, Applied Microeconomics, Labour Economics, Household Finance, Energy Economics
Profile
Professor Bhukta has completed her PhD in Economics from the Department of Economic Sciences at IIT Kanpur. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in economics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Her research interests lie in development economics, applied microeconomics, gender economics, identity-based exclusion, household finance, labour economics, and energy economics. She is a research affiliate at the Global Labour Organisation (GLO) and has worked as a short-term consultant at the World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab.
Publications
- Sedai, A. K., Crowder, W. J., Yasar, M., and Bhukta, R. (2025). Banks and inequality: Evidence from a nationwide branch authorization policy. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. Advance online publication.
- Jha, C. K., Joshi, S., Sedai, A. K., and Bhukta, R. (2025). Does bank expansion reduce domestic violence? Causal evidence from India. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 231, 106933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2025.106933
- Pakrashi, D., Saha, S., Sedai, A. K., and Bhukta, R. (2024). Community electrification and women’s autonomy. Energy Economics, 137, 107792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107792
Working Papers
- Pakrashi, D., Saha, S., Sedai, A. K., and Bhukta, R. (2026). Does financial inclusion mitigate social exclusion? [Working paper].
- Pakrashi, D., Saha, S., Sedai, A., and Bhukta, R. (2026). Signing for safety: Can mandatory marriage registration reduce domestic violence? [Working paper].
- Bhukta, R. (2026). Factories and fertility: The impact of manufacturing growth on son preference [Working paper].
- Bhukta, R., Garg, S., and Sedai, A. K. (2026). Digital finance and gendered labor reallocation [Working paper].
- Bhukta, R., Saha, S., and Sedai, A. (2026). Justice at doorstep: Mobile courts and crime against women [Working paper].
Work in Progress
- Bhukta, R., Pakrashi, D., Rahut, D., Sedai, A., and Sonobe, T. (n.d.). From knowledge to action: The power of goal-setting and monitoring for sustained WASH practices [Manuscript in preparation]. Funded by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).
- Bhukta, R., Majumdar, R., Saha, S., and Thakur, S. (n.d.). Media reported violence and child health outcomes [Manuscript in preparation].