Arnab Basu

Biography

Arnab K. Basu is an economist and professor at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. His primary research interests are within the area of labor markets in developing countries, the economics of eco- and social labeling, and designing lab-in-the-field experiments to elicit behavioral preferences.

Within labor markets, Basu's research spans topics on the informal sector, minimum wage and enforcement, labor contracts, employment guarantee schemes, child labor, human trafficking, and migration driven by climate and social networks. Within behavioral economics, his research involves both designing experiments as well as the use of secondary data to analyze altruism, intra-household bargaining power, human capital investments, and response to disasters in various countries (Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, and Vietnam). Basu is also involved in several projects that are India-specific, such as the link between indoor air pollution and child mortality, differential health (hypertension and clinical depression) reporting error amongst older adults, the effect of Kerala's partial alcohol ban on intimate partner violence, and dishonest behavior in individual and group settings.

Basu is a research fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn, Germany, a fellow of the Global Labor Organization, and a recent visiting scholar at the World institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki, Finland, and visiting professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Oxford, UK. He was awarded a research fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, and is a recipient of the Theodore W. Schultz Young Economist Prize awarded by the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE). He is an associate editor for the Journal of Economic Policy Reform and an academic editor for the Public Library of Science journal, PLoS ONE.

Basu holds a PhD in economics from the Johns Hopkins University, and an MA in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, India.

Selected Publications

• Basu, Arnab; Dimova, Ralitza; Gbakou, Monnet; Viennet, Romane. "Parental risk preferences, maternal bargaining power, and the educational progressions of children: Lab-in-the-field evidence from rural Côte d'Ivoire"Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. 102 (2023): 101957
• Basu, Arnab; Chau, Nancy H.; Soundararajan, Vidhya. "Contract Employment as a Worker Discipline Device"Journal of Development Economics. 149 (2021): 102601
• Basu, Arnab; Chau, Nancy H.; Soundararajan, Vidhya. "Wage fairness in a subcontracted labor market"Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. 168 (2019): 24-42
• Bose, Pinaki; Compton, Ryan; Basu, Arnab. "Paying for Freedom: Indentured Labor and Strategic Default"Economic Modelling. 89 (2020): 502-511
• Basu, Arnab; Chau, Nancy H.; Kanbur, Ravi. "Contractual Dualism, Market Power and Informality"Economic Journal. 125.589 (2015): 1534–1573
• Akee, Randall; Basu, Arnab; Bedi, Arjun; Chau, Nancy H. "Transnational Trafficking, Law Enforcement and Victim Protection: A Middleman's Perspective."Journal of Law and Economics. 57.2 (2014): 349-386
• Basu, Arnab. "Impact of Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes on Seasonal Labor Markets: Optimum Compensation and Workers' Welfare"Journal of Economic Inequality. 11.1 (2013): 1-1
• Basu, Arnab; Chau, Nancy H.; Kanbur, Ravi. "Turning a Blind Eye: Costly Enforcement, Credible Commitment and Minimum Wage Laws"Economic Journal. 120 (2010): 244-269
• Basu, Arnab; Qaim, Matin. "On the Adoption of Genetically Modified Seeds in Developing Countries and the Optimal Types of Government Intervention"American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 89.3 (2007): 784-804
• Basu, Arnab; Chau, Nancy. "Exploitation of Child Labor and the Dynamics of Debt Bondage"Journal of Economic Growth. 9.2 (2004): 209-238

Awards and Honors

• Research Award (2007) Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• TransCoop Grant (2011) Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence (2013) College of William and Mary

Recent Courses

• AEM 2300/ECON 2300 - International Trade and Finance
• AEM 1300 - Introduction to Macroeconomic Theory and Policy
• AEM 6991 - MPS Research Seminar I

Academic Degrees

• PhD Johns Hopkins University, 1997
• MA Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 1990
• BS St. Xavier's College, University of Calcutta, 1988