Rajshri Jayaraman

Raji Jayaraman holds the Karl-Heinz Kipp Chair in Research at ESMT Berlin. She has a PhD from Cornell University and worked at the Center for Economic Studies at the University of Munich prior to joining ESMT in 2007.

She is a development economist whose research has focused broadly on the role of incentives and social preferences on the decisions and performance of students, workers, and consumers. Her recent empirical work has examined the effect of incentive pay on worker productivity; school feeding programs on student outcomes; and defaults on charitable donations. In collaboration with theorists, she has also worked on the identification of peer effects in social interactions models. At present, she is working on a series of projects concerning immigration, with a focus on Germany’s recent refugee influx.

Professor Jayaraman is currently serving as the faculty lead for the ESMT MBA program. She teaches Econometrics in the Masters of Management program and Data Analytics in the MBA and EMBA programs. She has been on ESMT’s Honor Roll for Teaching Excellence for many years. She has also taught development economics at the undergraduate and graduate level. She is a regular participant in conferences and panel discussions on evidence based policy design. She is a member of the CESifo and HCEO research networks.

Research

Development Economics, Labor Economics, Applied Econometrics

Teaching

Econometrics, Data Analytics, Economic Development

Expertise

Areas

Americas, Asia, Europe Southern Asia Canada, India

Languages

English, French, German

Teaching

2016 * MBA: Business and Economic Development (Elective) * EMBA: Business Experiments (Elective) * MIM: Econometrics (Core)

Publications

Journal Article Anatomy of a contract change American Economic Review 106(2): 316–358 Published as NBER Working Paper No. 19849 under the title Productivity response to a contract change, 2016 KfW Research Prize for Excellence Rajshri Jayaraman, Debraj Ray, Francis de Véricourt (2016)

Journal Article The impact of school lunches on primary school enrollment: Evidence from India's midday meal scheme Scandinavian Journal of Economics 117(4): 1176–1203 Rajshri Jayaraman, Dora Simroth (2015)

Journal Article Linear social interactions models Journal of Political Economy 123(2): 444–496 Lawrence E. Blume, William A. Brock, Steven N. Durlauf, Rajshri Jayaraman (2015)

Journal Article Engendered access or engendered care? Evidence from a major Indian hospital Economic and Political Weekly 49(25): 47–53 Rajshri Jayaraman, Debraj Ray, Shing-Yi Wang (2014)

Journal Article Do higher costs spur process innovations and managerial incentives? Evidence from a natural experiment Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 22(3): 529–550 Benoit Dostie, Rajshri Jayaraman (2013)

Journal Article Organizational redesign, information technologies and workplace productivity B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy 12(1): 1–39 Benoit Dostie, Rajshri Jayaraman (2012)

Journal Article What (if any) are the returns to computer use? Applied Economics 41(27): 1–10 Benoit Dostie, Rajshri Jayaraman, Mathieu Trépanier (2009)

Journal Article Determinants of school enrollment in Indian villages Economic Development and Cultural Change 54(2): 405–421 Benoit Dostie, Rajshri Jayaraman (2006)

Journal Article The signalling role of municipal currencies in local development Economica 72(288): 597–613 Rajshri Jayaraman, Mandar Oak (2005)

Journal Article Small-scale industry, environmental regulation, and poverty: The case of Brazil World Bank Economic Review 18(3): 443–464 Rajshri Jayaraman, Peter F. Lanjouw (2004)

Journal Article The evolution of poverty and inequality in Indian villages World Bank Research Observer 14(1): 1–30 Rajshri Jayaraman, Peter F. Lanjouw (1999)

Book Institutional microeconomics of development CES ifo Seminar Series, Cambridge: MIT Press Timothy Besley, Rajshri Jayaraman (2010)

Book Chapter International public goods and the case for foreign aid In Global public goods: International cooperation in the 21st century, ed. Inge Kaul, Isabelle Grunberg, Marc A. Stern, 418–435. New York: Oxford University Press. Rajshri Jayaraman, Ravi Kanbur (1999)

Book Review An economist in the real world: The art of policy making in India Review of An economist in the real world: The art of policy making in India, by Kaushik Basu, Journal of Economic Literature Rajshri Jayaraman (2016)

Study Railway alliances in EC long-distance passenger transport: A competitive assessment post-liberalization 2010 Hans W. Friederiszick, Tseveen Gantumur, Rajshri Jayaraman, Lars-Hendrik Röller, Jens Weinmann (2009)

Working papers

Working Paper Impact of school feeding on cognitive skills: Evidence from India's midday meal scheme CESifo Working Paper Series Tanika Chakraborty, Rajshri Jayaraman (2016)

Working Paper Defaults and donations: Evidence from a field experiment CESifo Working Paper Series Steffen Altmann, Armin Falk, Paul Heidhues, Rajshri Jayaraman (2014)

Working Paper Linear social interactions models NBER Working Paper Published in Journal of Political Economy 123(2): 444–496. Lawrence E. Blume, William A. Brock, Steven N. Durlauf, Rajshri Jayaraman (2013)

Working Paper Gender differentials in the seeking of eye care International Growth Centre Rajshri Jayaraman, Debraj Ray, Shing-Yi Wang (2013)

ESMT Working Paper The impact of school lunches on primary school enrollment: Evidence from India's midday meal scheme ESMT Working Paper Published in Scandinavian Journal of Economics 117(4): 1176–1203. Rajshri Jayaraman, Dora Simroth (2011)

Work in progress

Choosing team members versus ideas: Evidence from a field experiment in entrepreneurial team performance Rajshri Jayaraman, Linus Dahlander, Christoph Ihl, Victoria Boss