About Me: I joined the Department of Economics, Ashoka University as an Assistant Professor in 2024. I did my Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Houston and Postdoctoral research at Aix-Marseille School of Economics. My interests span international, spatial, and macro economics. In my research, I study spatial outcomes and optimal regional policies through the lens of quantitative trade models. Core of my research focuses on highlighting synergies between government spending and trade policies to optimize regional gains from trade. I can be reached at priyam.verma@ashoka.edu.in.
Publication
Optimal Infrastructure after Trade Reform in India, Journal of Development Economics, Volume 166, (January 2024), 103208.
Working Papers
Industrial Policy and Trade Tensions in Strategic Sectors with Lorenzo Rotunno and Michele Ruta - IMF Working Paper - submitted.
The Geography of Trade Shocks: Market Access and the Redistribution of Employment Losses, with Ernesto Ugolini.
Geography and City Size: Remains of Bukhara to the Modern US*, with Rocco Rante and Federico Trionfetti - INFER WP Policy Brief.
*Awarded the 2025 INFER Research Prize in Rome.
Expenditure Smoothing under Balanced Budget Rules, with Xavier Bautista, Steven Craig, Annie Hsu, Bent Sørensen, and Vasundhara Tanwar - CEPR Discussion Paper.
Work in Progress
AI-Innovation and Trade: Evidence from India with Despoina Balouktsi and Laura Contreras.
Presentations (* by co-author): ETSG Athens (*2024), U Bologna (*2025), AMSE (*2026).
Choosing Winners? Aggregate Productivity Gains and Resource Allocation under India’s New Industrial Policy with Kriti Khanna.
Reports
A comment on Xu (2022). Reshaping Global Trade: The Immediate and Long-Term Effects of Bank Failures with Guillaume Bérard and Dimitria Freitas - No 85, I4R Discussion Paper Series.
Non-Economics Publications
Determining Sample Size and Power in Research Studies: A Manual for Researchers, with J. P. Verma, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020. Online ISBN: 978-981-15-5204-5.