Saumitra Jha

Research Statement

Saumitra'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: (1) mechanisms that support inter-ethnic complementarities and trade, (2) financial innovations that can allow conflictual groups to credibly share in the gains from peace, (3) organizational innovations that can sustain non-violent political movements at scale, and (4) mechanisms that recognize and productively channel the organizational skills of veterans acquired during war. Saumitra 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 and at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Jha’s research has been published in leading journals in economics and political science, including Econometrica, Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Political Science Review and 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 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

• Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, 2020–21
• Associate Professor of Political Economy, and by courtesy of Economics and Political Science, Stanford University 2013–present
• Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, 2017–present
• Senior Fellow, Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Affairs, Stanford University, 2017–present
• Assistant Professor of Political Economy, and by courtesy of Economics and Political Science, Stanford University 2008–13
• 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

• Consultant, Google, 2017
• Consultant, World Bank, 2001, 2008, 2011
• Editor, International Trade Center, UNCTAD/WTO, 1998

Awards and Honors

• 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
• Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences 2020–21
• 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

• Pandemic Spikes and Broken Spears: Indigenous Resilience after the Conquest of Mexico
  Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, Juan Espinosa-Balbuena, Saumitra Jha Journal of Historical Political Economy 2022
• Valuing Peace: The Effects of Financial Market Exposure on Votes and Political Attitudes
  Saumitra Jha, Moses Shayo Econometrica September 2019 Vol. 87 Issue 5 Pages 1561-1588
• Trading for Peace
  Saumitra Jha Economic Policy August 2018 Vol. 33 Issue 95 Pages 485-526
• Financial Market Exposure Raises Support for Peace
  Saumitra Jha, Moses Shayo The Political Economist April 2016 Vol. XII Issue 1
• Financial Asset Holdings and Political Attitudes: Evidence from Revolutionary England
  Saumitra Jha Quarterly Journal of Economics August 2015 Vol. 103 Issue 3
• 'Unfinished Business': Historic Complementarities, Political Competition and Ethnic Violence in Gujarat
  Saumitra Jha Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization August 2014 Vol. 104 Pages 18-36
• Gandhi's Gift: Lessons for Peaceful Reform from India's Struggle for Democracy
  Rikhil Bhavnani, Saumitra Jha Economics of Peace and Security Journal April 2014 Vol. 9 Issue 1 Pages 80-92
• Can Financial Innovations Mitigate Ethnic and Civil Conflict?
  Saumitra Jha World Financial Review 20, 2013
• Analyzing Political Risk in Developing Countries: A Practical Framework for Project Managers
  Saumitra Jha Business and Politics 2013 Vol. 15 Issue 1 Pages 117–136
• Trade, Institutions and Ethnic Tolerance: Evidence from South Asia
  Saumitra Jha American Political Science Review 2013 Vol. 107 Issue 4
  
• Does Combat Experience Foster Organizational Skill? Evidence from Ethnic Cleansing During the Partition of South Asia
  Saumitra Jha, Steven Wilkinson American Political Science Review 2012 Vol. 106 Issue 4 Pages 883-907
• Sharing the Future: Financial Innovation and Innovators in Solving the Political Economy Challenges of Development
  Saumitra Jha Institutions and comparative economic development 2012 Pages 131-151
• Who Has Voice in a Deliberative Democracy? Evidence from Transcripts of Village Parliaments in South India
  Radu Ban, Saumitra Jha, Vijayendra Rao Journal of Development Economics 2012 Vol. 99 Issue 2 Pages 428–438
• The Administrative Foundations of Self-Enforcing Constitutions
  Yadira Gonzalez de Lara, Avner Greif, Saumitra Jha American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 2008 Vol. 98 Issue 2 Pages 105-109
• Governance in the gullies: Democratic responsiveness and leadership in Delhi's slums
  Saumitra Jha, Vijayendra Rao, Michael Woolcock World Development 2007 Vol. 35 Issue 2 Pages 230-246
• Maintaining peace across ethnic lines: new lessons from the past
  Saumitra Jha Economics of Peace and Security Journal 2007 Vol. 2 Issue 2 Pages 89-93