Mukesh Kumar

Who: I am a research associate at VII State Finance Commission, Haryana.

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

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

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, December 2025
- Association for Mentorship and Inclusion in Economics ([AMIE] mentee), 2025
- Visiting Scholar Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, 2024
M.A. in Economics, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa
B.Com., F.G.M. Govt. College, Adampur, Hisar

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.

Mukesh Kumar

My PhD Thesis in a Figure

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