6th International Conference on
South Asian Economic Development

The Faculty of Economics at the South Asian University is pleased to announce its Sixth International Conference on South Asian Economic Development.

We live in a connected world, where prosperity as well as calamities like pandemics spread through interconnections among people and institutions. The South Asian region, however, presents a study in contrasts. Despite growing at impressive rates over the last decade and a half, it remains one of the least integrated regions of the world with a large untapped potential for development fostered through greater economic and financial integration. This is despite a common economic history that goes back several millennia. The region is home to the largest concentration of the world's poor with abysmal levels of access to basic economic and social infrastructure. Being part of a unique university with a mandate of inculcating regional consciousness among the citizens of South Asia, the Faculty of Economics envisions for itself a leading role in understanding the economic challenges and opportunities unique to this region. We believe that a rigorous scientific enquiry is needed for this purpose. As in the past, we hope that through this conference, we shall provide an effective platform for sharing cutting-edge research on methodological advances, both in economic theory and empirical methods. Our hope is that this shall contribute to a better understanding of South Asian Economic Development.

We have three area experts delivering masterclass lectures this year, who will also discuss two papers related to their research interest, on the following topics:

Themes for the Paper Presentation in the Conference

We invite theoretical and empirical contributions in all areas of relevance to South Asian economies. This may include (but not limited to):

• Issues in Economic development, with special focus on South Asia, such as:
  • COVID-19 and impact on South Asian economies
  • Labour market outcomes in South Asia
  • Regional and spatial economics pertaining to urbanization in the region
  • Income and wealth inequality
  • Issues in agriculture in South Asia
• Macroeconomic theory and policy relevant for the South Asian region.
• Trade and economic integration (including monetary and financial integration) in the SAARC region.
• Banking and financial institutions in South Asia
• Microeconomic and Game theoretic applications in development economics, such as
  • Mechanism design, industrial organization and information economics
  • Agent-based models, bounded rationality, learning and heterogeneous interacting agents (with applications in a South Asian context).
• Economics of health and education in South Asia.
• Economic policies and governance, law and economics with special emphasis on the institutional framework in the South Asian region.
• Issues in Environmental and Energy economics with a special focus on South Asia.
• South Asia in contemporary global economy: prospects and challenges