Mukesh Kumar

Who: I am a Ph.D. student in economics interested in the economics of nutrition and human capital, health, well-being, and socioeconomic inequality.

What: My research interests are development economics, health, nutrition, & WASH.

Where: At the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Visiting Scholar Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, 2024
Association for Mentorship and Inclusion in Economics ([AMIE] mentee), 2025

Why: For more info, you can contact me at mb.cdlu[at]gmail[dot]com

Education

Ph.D. in Economics, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (Thesis submitted, September 2025)
M.A. in Economics, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa
B.Com., F.G.M. Govt. College, Adampur, Hisar

"Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible" (Richard Feynmann)

My PhD Thesis in a Figure

The figure shows framework of my PhD thesis. First three chapters explore the double burden of malnutrition using the NFHS, LASI, and CNNS data and following the theoretical model of Nutrition Transition developed by Barry M. Popkin.

Chapter four and five dives into the persistence of (mal)nutrition into adolescence and human capital and well-being outcomes using Young Lives Study (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam) and CNNS data. This is based on theoretical insights from human capital accumulation model given by James J Heckman.

Final chapter examine the spatio-temporal analysis and district-level clustering (hot-spot and cold-spot) of utilisation of the Integrated Child Development Services program. Using NFHS data we test the elite exit poor quality services hypothesis developed by V. K. Borooah rooted in A. O. Hirschman's quality-quantity trade-off theory.