Dr. Sheetal Bharat
Assistant Professor
Email: sheetal@base.ac.in
Education
- PhD Economics, University of California, Riverside, California; 2012
“Where the Runners went: British Motivations for Post Office Allocation in Colonial India”
Advisors: Profs Susan Carter (Chair), Anil Deolalikar, Gary Dymski, Richard Sutch
- MA Development Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK; 2004
“Moral Hazard in Microfinance: A New Perspective, A Way out of Poverty?”
- BA (Honours) Economics, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University; 2003
Positions held
- Assistant Professor, BASE: September 2017 – present
- Assistant Professor, Economics Dept, Christ University, Bengaluru: Nov 2015 – Aug 2017
- Associate-In, UC Riverside; Spring 2010, Winter 2011
- Teaching Assistant, UC Riverside; Fall 2007 – Fall 2010
- Senior Lecturer, Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur: Jun 2006 – Aug 2007
- Research Assistant, C-CIER, Consumer Unity and Trust Society, Jaipur: May 2005 – Apr 2006
- Research Assistant, EQUATIONS: Nov 2004 – Apr 2005
Peer-Reviewed Publications
- Post Offices and British Indian Grain Price Convergence, with Michael Kuehlwein and Tahir Andrabi, Economic History of Developing Regions, 35(1), pp23-49, 2020.
- Two Sides of the Colonial Coin: British and Indian women’s engagements with colonialism and patriarchy, Economics and its History, Routledge, eds Ajit Sinha and Alex Thomas, 2019.
- Indian Women’s Agency through Indian Women’s Literature, Routledge Handbook of History of Women’s Economic Thought, eds Kirsten Madden and Robert Dimand, 2018
- Re-evaluating Asoka: A Relational Contract Theoretical Explanation for Economic Transformation, with Gerard Rassendren, Journal of Dharma: Dharmaram Journal of Religions and Philosophies 42(2), 2017.
Projects
- Impact of Ahar Anudan Yojana on Nutrition and Healthcare among Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in Madhya Pradesh [sponsored by Atal Bihari Bajpayee Institute for Good Governance and Policy Analysis, Bhopal
- Quantum and Spread of Government Support to Households: Direct and Indirect Transfers of Subsidies, Goods and Services under Social Protection Policies in Select South Indian States [sponsored by UNICEF, Hyderabad]
- Child Budget Analysis and Public Expenditure Efficiency for the state of Uttar Pradesh [sponsored by UNICEF, Lucknow]
- Impact of MGNREGS in Preventing Distress Migration in Mashal Village, Afzalpur Taluk, Kalburgi District, Karnataka [sponsored by Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Development, Government of Karnataka]
- Economic and Environmental Impact of MGNREGA Plantation Works in Honnakiranagi village, Kalburgi Taluk and District, Karnataka [sponsored by Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Development, Government of Karnataka]
Ongoing research
- Beginning and Evolution of the Concept of Opportunity Cost
- Clarity in the Concept of Opportunity Cost
- Future of education in a fast-changing world
- Borrow a pedagogical tool from the world of magic
- Information and Price Convergence: Telegraphs in British India, with Andrabi and Kuehlwein
- Social Development Indicators across Indian states
Conference presentations
- 46th Annual Economic and Business History Society Conference, 18th – 21st May 2021, (two papers, virtual mode)
- Young Scholars Initiative Virtual Plenary; History of Economic Thought Working Group, 13th Nov 2020
- 43rd Annual Economic and Business History Society Conference, 30th May – 2nd Jun 2018, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland (two papers)
- Economics and its History, workshop by Azim Premji University, November 2016
- History of Economics Society, 43rd Annual Meetings, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, June 2016 (two papers)
- Economic History Society Annual Conference, Oxford, UK; March 2012 (two papers)
- All-UC Group for Economic History conference: “Information, Intermediation and Financial Markets”, Riverside, California; January 2012
- All-UC Group for Economic History conference: “Transport, Institutions and Economic Performance: Historical Perspectives”, Irvine, California; December 2011
- All-UC Group for Economic History Graduate students workshop, Davis, California; Oct 2011
- Economic History Association Annual Meeting: “Crises and Turning Points”, Boston, Massachusetts; September 2011 (poster abstract)
- Asia-Pacific Economic and Business History Conference: “The Great Divergence: Perspectives from the Pacific Rim”, Berkeley, California; February 2011
Courses taught
- Microeconomics i, ii; Macroeconomics I; Statistics for Economics; Mathematics for economics; Political Economy; Environmental Economics; History of Economic Thought; Game Theory; Trade, Globalisation and Development; Economics Laboratory
- Development economics [Structured XLRI syllabus; taught at the MBA and doctoral levels]
- World Economic History [for Economics major undergraduate students at UCR]
- Managerial Economics [XLRI’s Satellite and Dubai extension programmes]
Other Publications
- Views on Participative Democracy and International Mission Statements, Faculty contribution to Ephemeris Vol 7, Issue ii, Sep 2016, p31
- Post Office Allocations in India during the Raj: Where and Why?, The Economic History Society Annual Conference Booklet, University of Oxford, March 2012, p1
- Communication vs Transportation: The Relative Contributions of Railways and Post Offices to British Indian Grain Price Convergence, The Economic History Society Annual Conference Booklet, University of Oxford, March 2012, p281
- Water Provision and Pricing in and around Jamshedpur, Principle Researcher, project report for Jamshedpur Utility Services Company, 2007
- CUTS in Action, Special Issue for UN Conference on Competition Policy – Fifth Review, Turkey, 2005
- Wrote 11 articles for, edited, co-ordinated design, layout and publishing for eight issues of two in-house magazines Policy Watch, ReguLetter, C-CIER, CUTS-International, 2005
- Bilateral Trade Agreements: Issues and Concerns for India, Equations, Bangalore, 2005
Seminar presentations and invited lectures
- Economic and Community Development Projects: An Institutional Perspective, Guest Speaker at Rotary District 3272, Lahore, July 2020 [web]
- Union Budget 2020 Panel Discussion, Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, Feb 2020
- Delivered lecture on “Economic Applications of Game Theory: Google’s Auctions”, BASE University December Lecture Series, 2019
- Delivered keynote address at Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, “Industry 4.0 and Development in India”, December 2019
- Conducted a session for Quality Improvement Programme on “Simulation Games in Economics”, Economics Department, Christ University, Main Campus, May 2017
- “Re-Evaluating Asoka”, Brown Bag Series, Economics Dept, Christ University, March 2017
- “What makes for effective presentation slides”, invited talk to PG students, Economics Department, Christ University, February 2017
- Moderated Pre-Budget Panel Discussion, Christ University, Bannerghatta, January 2017
- “A History of Indian Women’s Economic Thought”, Christ University Forum of Humanities and Social Sciences, December 2016
- Doctoral research presentation at the Applied Economics seminar, UC Riverside; May 2012
- Doctoral research presentation at the Brown Bag seminar, UC Riverside; May 2011
- Talk on Mohammed Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize, Rotary Club, Jamshedpur, August 2007
- Talk on Water Provision and Pricing in and around Jamshedpur, XLRI, Jamshedpur, July 2007
Awards and grants
- Warren J. and Sylvia J. Samuels Young Scholars Award, History of Economics Society 43rd Annual Meetings, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, June 2016
- UCR Graduate Students Assn. and Economics Dept. conference grant; March 2012
- UCR Humanities Graduate Student research grant; May 2010
- All-UC Group for Economic History data collection grant; 2009, 2010
- UCR Graduate Division Dissertation research grant; November 2009, February 2010
- UCR Graduate Student Fellowship; 2007-2012
Academic service
- Part of committee implementing NEP from academic year 2021-22
- Acted as referee for the Journal of Economic History
- Faculty coordinator for BASE University Placement Cell, 2021-22
- Part of BSc (Honours) and MSc Economics course structure and syllabus revision committee
- Organised the BASE University December Lecture Series
- Managed student internships for May-June 2019
- Organised the Career-Talk series of lectures
- Guided undergraduate students’ dissertation
- Member of Disciplinary Action Committee, Sexual Harassment Cell
- Served as committee member in Curriculum Development Cell, and Research Development Cell at Christ University
- Faculty coordinator for Ephemeris, students’ economics newsletter, June 2016 – July 2017
- Organising Secretary for Christ University Economics Department National Conference, “Big Debates, New Methods and Old Lessons in India’s Development”, 5-6 December 2016
- Guide for MPhil, MA and BA (H) Economics theses at Christ University, BSc (H) Economics students at BASE
- Served as committee head for preparing World Economic History and History of Economic Thought syllabi for MA Applied Economics programme, 2016
- Organised a training seminar on mergers and acquisitions investigation skills for Ministry of Trade officials in Vietnam, August 2005