Debayan Pakrashi

Debayan Pakrashi

Associate Professor

Department of Economic Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
and
Economic Research Unit
Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata

Office: Room 628, Economic Research Unit
Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata

Email: pakrashide@gmail.com

Skype: debayan.pakrashi

Project Funding, Consultancy and Collaboration:

• “Impact of Couple Counselling on Social Norms, Time-Use, and Women Empowerment: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) in India” (received US$15,500) funded by the Asian Development Bank Institute 2022 (co-PI) with Ashish Sedai (University of Texas Arlington).

• “Identifying the most cost-effective way to large scale vaccination in rural Bangladesh” (received US$250,000) funded by the Asian Development Bank 2022-2023 (co-PI).

• “A kitchen-garden based intervention to understand woman autonomy and resource sharing within the households in rural India” (received US$15,000) funded by Colgate & Cornell University 2022-2025 (co-PI) with Sounak Thakur (IIT Kanpur).

• “India Vaccine Hesitancy Study” (received US$70,000) funded by Monash University 2022-2023 (PI).

• “COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program” (received US$41,000) funded by the Asian Development Bank 2021-2022 (PI).

• “A kitchen-garden based intervention to improve nutritional outcomes of children in rural areas” (received US$24,000) funded under the J-PAL Cash Transfers for Child Health (CaTCH) Initiative 2021-2022 (PI) with Sounak Thakur (IIT Kanpur).

• “Maternal knowledge, wellbeing & child health: Evidence from the Indian slums” (received US$20,000) funded under the J-PAL Cash Transfers for Child Health (CaTCH) Initiative 2021-2022 (co-PI) with Chitwan Lalji (IIM Kozhikode).

• “Health, Wellbeing and household dynamics among Women and Vulnerable Population in the times of COVID-19” (received INR 20 lakhs) funded by the Shastri Covid-19 Pandemic Response Grant (SCPRG): Call for Innovative Solutions 2020-21 (Indian PI) with support from the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India, with Myra Yazbeck (University of Ottawa) and Chitwan Lalji (IIM Kozhikode).

• “COVID-19 pandemic in India” (received £5,000) a small pilot project funded by the University of Kent under the GRCF partnership Fund in 2020

• “Women’s financial inclusion” (received AUD 24,690) funded by Monash University to Dr. Denni Tomassi under the 2020 Early Career Research Grant Scheme, with Asadul Islam (Monash) and Marcel Fafchamps (Stanford) as research collaborators.

• “Knowledge is Power: A Scoping Study on Women’s Safety” (received £20,000) funded by the International Growth Centre India (Bihar) 2019-2020 (PI) with Sarani Saha (IIT Kanpur).

• “Addressing financial inclusion in rural India: The role of information and peer pressure” (received £20,000) funded by the International Growth Centre India (Bihar) 2019-2020 (co-PI) with Asadul Islam (Monash) and Marcel Fafchamps (Stanford).

• “Affirmative Action, Discrimination and Economic Development: Lessons and Evidence” (received AUD 30,000) with Monash University, Australia, funded by the Australia-India Council. 2016-2017 (co-PI).

• “A workshop into women’s safety in India” (received AUD 50,000) with Prof Paul Frijters, funded by the Australia India Council. 2016-2017 (co-PI).

• “Pre-feasibility study for Comprehensive Agriculture Information System (CAIS)” (received INR 19,77,000) with other Indian Institute of Kanpur researchers, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Uttar Pradesh. 2016-2017 (co-PI).

• “Discrimination in the demand for health services in India” (received AUD 19,500) with Yves Zenou, Choon Wang, and Asad Islam, funded by Department of Economics, Monash University. 2016-2017 (co-PI).

• “Evaluating and Learnings from India’s Family Planning Investments” with the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW), IPE Global, IIPS Mumbai and others, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 2016-2018 (PI).

• "Skill Formation and Self-Employment Generation through Vocational Training" (received amount INR 850,000) as PI with Deep Mukherjee and Arun Kumar Sharma (IIT Kanpur), Paul Frijters (University of Queensland) and Asadul Islam (Monash), funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. 2016-2018 (PI).

• “Understanding Concepts in Behavioural Economics in the context of Developing Countries: Evidence from India and Bangladesh” (received amount £ 25,000 in 2015) funded by Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Faculty Research Initiation Grant scheme, 2015-2018 (PI).

• “Technology Adoption and Diffusion: The System of Rice Intensification and Food Security in Bangladesh” (received amount £ 74,000 in 2015) with Asadul Islam (Monash), Christopher Barrett (Cornell), Marcel Fafchamps (Stanford), Paul Christian (Cornell) and BRAC, BRRI from Bangladesh, funded by the International Growth Centre Bangladesh, directed by the London School of Economics and Oxford University, 2015-2016 (co-PI).

• “Technology Adoption and Food Security in Rural Bangladesh” (received amount £ 60,000 in 2014) with Asadul Islam (Monash), Christopher Barrett (Cornell), Marcel Fafchamps (Stanford), Garth Holloway (Reading) and other researchers from IRRI, Monash, Dhaka University and BRAC, funded by the International Growth Centre Bangladesh, directed by the London School of Economics and Oxford University, 2014-2015 (co-PI).

• “Can We Select the Right Peers in Indian Education? Evidence from Kolkata” (received amount £ 10,000 in 2013) with Paul Frijters (Queensland) and Asadul Islam (Monash), funded by the International Growth Centre India Central, London School of Economics, directed by the London School of Economics and Oxford University, 2014-2015 (co-PI).

Other Grants

• Grant of INR 50,000 from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur to conduct a workshop on Development Policy. 2016-2017.

• Grant of INR 1,00,000 from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur to develop the Development Policy Research Network. 2016-2017.

• “Religion and Politics in India” (received £ 23,000) with Sonia Bhalotra (University of Essex), Lakshmi Iyer (University of Notre Dame), Irma Clots-Figueras (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) and Joe Vecci (University of Gothenburg), funded by International Growth Central India Central. 2016-2018 (Indian collaborator for DPRN project).

• Written a report (with Grace Lordan) for Nuffield Health with London School of Economics, titled “12 minutes more…” and is expected to promote the importance of physical activity, sports and exercise in maintaining good health.[ Download ]