Saumitra Jha

Saumitra Jha
Associate Professor, Political Economy

Saumitra Jha

Associate Professor of Political Economy

Associate Professor of Political Science and of Economics (by courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences
Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Faculty Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
Academic Area:

Research Statement

Saumitra Jha’s research focuses upon understanding the effectiveness of organizations and innovations that societies have developed to address the problems of violence and other political risks, and to seek new lessons for fostering peace and development. So far, his research has focused on understanding and empirically assessing the effectiveness of four related approaches: mechanisms that support interethnic complementarities and trade, financial innovations that can allow conflictual groups to credibly share in the gains from peace, organizational innovations that can sustain nonviolent political movements at scale, and mechanisms that recognize and productively channel the organizational skills of veterans acquired during war. Jha has a specific interest in the South Asian experience in comparative perspective.

Bio

Jha is an associate professor of political economy at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and, by courtesy, of economics and of political science at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences; and convenes the Stanford Conflict and Polarization Lab. He is also a senior fellow at the Center for Democracy, Development and Rule of Law within the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Affairs, a faculty fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. 

Jha’s research has been published in leading journals in economics and political science, including Econometrica, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the American Political Science Review and the Journal of Development Economics, and he serves on a number of editorial boards. His research on ethnic tolerance has been recognized with the Michael Wallerstein Award for best published article in political economy from the American Political Science Association in 2014 and his coauthored research on heroes with the Oliver Williamson Award for best paper by the Society for Institutional and Organizational Economics in 2020. Jha was honored to receive the Stanford MSx Teacher of the Year Award, voted by the students in 2020.

Jha holds a BA from Williams College, a master’s degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in economics from Stanford University. Prior to joining Stanford GSB, he was an Academy Scholar at Harvard University. He has been a center fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford and at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance and the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University. Jha has consulted on economic and political risk issues for the United Nations/WTO, the World Bank, government agencies, and for private firms.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD, Economics, Stanford University, 2006
  • Master of Advanced Study: Mathematics (Part III), University of Cambridge, 2001
  • Master of Philosophy: Economics, Cambridge University, 2000
  • BA summa cum laude, with highest honors: Economics and Mathematics, Williams College, 1999

Academic Appointments

  • Associate Professor of Political Economy, and by courtesy of Economics and Political Science, Stanford University 2013–present
  • Faculty Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, 2022–present
  • Senior Fellow, Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Affairs, Stanford University, 2017–present
  • Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, 2017–present
  • Assistant Professor of Political Economy, and by courtesy of Economics and Political Science, Stanford University 2008–13
  • Center Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, 2020–21
  • Fellow, Center for Study of Democratic Politics and Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance, Princeton University, 2012–13
  • Academy Scholar, Harvard University, 2006–08

Professional Experience

  • Advisory Board, Accord, 2022-
  • Consultant, Google, 2017
  • Consultant, World Bank, 2001, 2008, 2011
  • Editor, International Trade Center, UNCTAD/WTO, 1998

Awards and Honors

  • Lee J. Alston Award for best paper published in the Journal of Historical Political Economy, 2023
  • Dan C. Chung Faculty Scholar at the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Affairs, 2022
  • Inaugural Stanford Teagle Fellow in Liberal Education, 2022
  • Teacher of the Year, awarded by the Stanford GSB Sloan Fellows/MSx Class of 2020
  • Oliver Williamson Award for Best Paper, Society for Institutional and Organizational Economics, 2020
  • Center Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences 2020–21
  • Finalist for the 2020 Exeter Prize for best published paper in Experimental Economics, Decision Theory and Behavioral Economics
  • Peiros Family Faculty Fellow, 2018–19, 2019–20
  • Winnick Family Faculty Fellow, 2017–18
  • Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Economies Award, 2015
  • Michael Wallerstein Award for best published article in Political Economy in previous year, American Political Science Association, 2014
  • John A. Gunn & Cynthia Fry Gunn Faculty Scholar, 2013–14
  • Fellow, Center for Study of Democratic Politics, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, 2012
  • Fellow, Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance, Princeton University, 2012
  • John A. Gunn and Cynthia Fry Gunn Faculty Scholar, 2011–12
  • Academy Scholar, Harvard University, 2006–08
  • Koret Foundation Dissertation Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, 2005
  • Herchel Smith Scholar, Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, 1999–2001
  • Carl Van Duyne Prize in Economics, Williams College, 1999
  • Phi Beta Kappa (junior year), Williams College, 1998

Publications

Journal Articles

Book Chapters

Academic Publications

Teaching

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Teachings Materials

POLECON 683 Political Development Economics Syllabus

Stanford GSB Affiliations

Stanford University Affiliations

Service to the Profession

  • Associate Editor, Journal of Development Economics, 2016–present
  • Associate Editor, Journal of Comparative Economics, 2017–present
  • Editorial Board, Global Perspectives, 2018–present
  • Editorial Board, Business and Politics, 2020- present
  • Faculty Fellow, Jameel Poverty Action Lab
  • Faculty Fellow, Center for Effective Global Action
  • Faculty Fellow, Association for Analytic Learning about Islam and Muslim Societies

In the Media

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