I am an economist, with an undergraduate education from Presidency College [now Presidency University] Calcutta, and masters and doctoral degrees in Economics from the University of Southern California. Since graduation from USC in 1994, I have worked both within and outside of academics in Bulgaria, Germany, India and the United Kingdom.

Currently, I am a Honorary Professor at the Management School at the University of Sheffield. I continue to be a member of the University of Sheffield’s representation at the Trade and Sustainable Development Domestic Advisory Group (TSD DAG) that works with the Department of Business and Trade. I am also a Research Fellow at IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, and a Fellow of Global Labor Organization. I wear some other hats as well, as a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of World Business, and the British Journal of Management, and as a member of ESRC‘s peer review college.

Until recently, I had a Chair in Finance at the Management School. I was also the Head of the Management School's Accounting & Financial Management subject group and, thereby, a member of its Executive Board. I have worn some other hats as well. Within the university, I was an elected member of the university's Senate, a member of the Senate’s Research & Innovation Committee and, until recently, the Council Finance Committee. I was also the Research Development Director of the Finance area within the Management School. Outside the university, I was part of the REF2021 Sub-panel 17 (Business & Management Studies), and on the Editorial Review Board of Journal of International Business Studies.

Over the years, my research interest has shifted from drivers of firm performance to factors that influence firms’ strategic decisions and the institutional contexts in which firms operate. My ongoing research is focused largely on ownership-organizational forms such as family firms and business groups that dominate the corporate landscape in emerging market economies, corporate governance, and multinational firms. Over time, I have also developed a keen interest in the political economy of policy making, and the wider issue of governance, and these will dominate my research work in the foreseeable future. As such, my research is empirical in nature, and, unsurprisingly perhaps, India has featured prominently in it as a context of analysis.

The empirical/evidence-based nature of my research has led to project work for organizations such as the (erstwhile) UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, NESTA and UK Trade & Investment. I was also associated with the ESRC-funded Enterprise Research Centre and, in the past, have done some work with/for organizations such as the Conference Board and the World Bank. A fair proportion of my research output has been underpinned by financial support from funding agencies such as the UK Department for International Development, ESRC, the British Academy and the UK-India Education and Research Initiative.

And aside from academic writing, I enjoy (have enjoyed) engaging with a wider audience through publications such as The Conversation, blogs and byte-size interviews on media outlets such as BBC’s Bengali Service.

Enough said! The details are for you to find out in this web site.