Bio-Sketch

Sheetal Sekhri is an Associate Professor in the economics department. Her research focuses on development economics, and she is a leading scholar on water issues in developing countries. A number of her studies examine the causes and consequences of water scarcity. Her notable publications demonstrate how water scarcity leads to an increase in poverty and violence against women. Her work on higher education and skill development covers new ground, demonstrating college access empowers women and that elite colleges yield high labor market returns despite no differential effects on learning outcomes. She has also contributed to the literature examining the impact of wages on child labor and human capital.  Her work has also developed novel insights into how government welfare program delivery can be improved in developing countries. She has won numerous grants for her policy-oriented work in India and was invited to speak at one of India’s most prestigious policy platforms -the India Policy Forum. She was the Giorgio Ruffolo Fellow in the Sustainability Science Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2012-2013. 

Her recently funded work investigates how training elected women representatives can enhance flood resilience, how technologically assisted crop residue markets can reduce agricultural fires and air pollution, and how information about groundwater availability impacts farmers' irrigation choices.