Kaushik Basu

Kaushik Basu
Name	Kaushik Basu
Caption	Basu in 2011
Birth date	9 January 1952
Birth place	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Nationality	Indian
Field	Development economics, Welfare economics, Game theory
Institution	Cornell University, World Bank, Government of India
Alma mater	University of Delhi (BA), London School of Economics (MSc, PhD)
Known for	Puppet regime theory, ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work
Awards	Padma Bhushan (2008)

Kaushik Basu is an Indian economist and academic who has held prominent positions in global economic governance and policy-making. He served as the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India and later as the Chief Economist of the World Bank, the first person from a developing nation to hold the latter role. His influential research spans development economics, welfare economics, and game theory, with notable contributions to the theory of puppet regimes and the analysis of child labor.

Early life and education

Born in Kolkata, he completed his initial schooling in the city before moving to Delhi. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, a constituent college of the University of Delhi. For postgraduate studies, he attended the London School of Economics, where he received a Master of Science degree and subsequently a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics. His doctoral thesis was supervised by renowned economists, laying the foundation for his future work in game theory and social choice theory.

Academic career

Basu began his academic career as a professor at the Delhi School of Economics, part of the University of Delhi. He later joined the faculty of Cornell University in the United States, where he served as a professor in the Department of Economics and the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. At Cornell, he was appointed the C. Marks Professor of International Studies and also directed the university's Center for Analytic Economics. His tenure at Cornell solidified his reputation as a leading scholar in development economics and political economy.

Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India

In December 2009, he was appointed by the Government of India under Prime Minister Mammohan Singh to the position of Chief Economic Adviser. Serving in the Ministry of Finance, he authored the influential Economic Survey of India for the fiscal years 2010-11 and 2011-12. His tenure coincided with the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, and his policy advice focused on issues like inflation, fiscal policy, and economic liberalization. He played a key role in policy debates during a period of significant economic transition for the country.

World Bank and international roles

In 2012, he was appointed Chief Economist of the World Bank by its then-President, Jim Yong Kim, becoming the first person from a developing country to hold this prestigious post. At the World Bank Group, he oversaw the World Development Report and provided intellectual leadership on global economic issues. After his term, he served as the President of the International Economic Association and was appointed by the International Labour Organization as Chair of their Global Commission on the Future of Work. He has also served as an economic advisor to the United Nations Development Programme.

Research and publications

His scholarly work is extensive, with influential papers published in journals like the American Economic Review and the Journal of Political Economy. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including *Analytical Development Economics*, *Prelude to Political Economy*, and *Beyond the Invisible Hand: Groundwork for a New Economics*. A seminal contribution is his model of puppet regimes in game theory, analyzing the strategic interactions between a powerful nation and a subordinate government. His research on child labor, industrial organization, and welfare economics has been widely cited and has informed policy discussions at institutions like the International Monetary Fund.

Awards and recognition

In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, by the Government of India. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society and the World Academy of Sciences. He has received honorary doctorates from institutions such as the University of Bath and the University of Lucknow. His work has been recognized with awards like the Mahalanobis Memorial Medal from the Indian Econometric Society and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the London School of Economics.

Category:Indian economists Category:World Bank officials Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan