Karan Talathi is Assistant Professor - Economics at FLAME University. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of California, Irvine. During his doctoral studies, he was also associated with the Asian Development Bank as a Consultant and a Research Intern. 

His research is at the intersection of Economic Development, Political Economy, and Public Economics and examines differences in institutions (historical and contemporary), government policies (e.g., decentralization), political accountability, and geography to better understand regional disparity in economic development and growth within development countries, with India as a leading example. He uses innovative measures constructed using high resolution spatial data (e.g., satellite data), government administrative data, elections data, and survey data to address challenges pertaining to the unavailability of conventional economic data higher levels of spatial disaggregation. He also relies on GIS data and techniques for measures on physical infrastructure, geographical characteristics, and climatic conditions. 

More information on his research can be found on his personal website; 

Peer Reviewed Publications

• Impact of Colonial Institutions on Economic Growth and Development in India: Evidence from Night-Lights Data (with Priyaranjan Jha), Economic Development and Cultural Change, 72 (4), July 2024.


• Trade Liberalization and Local Development in India: Evidence from Nighttime Lights (with Priyaranjan Jha), Indian Economic Review, 58 (Suppl 1), March 2023.

Research Brief Publications

• Impact of Colonial Institutions on Economic Growth and Development in India: Evidence from Night Lights Data (with Priyaranjan Jha), Research Briefs in Economic Policy No. 269, Cato Institute, September, 2021.

Working Papers

• Sub-National Institutions and Local Economic Growth and Development: Evidence from India, September, 2023.


• Discontinuities in Economic Growth and Development along State-borders in India: Evidence from village-level spatial data, June, 2022.

Work in Progress

• Digital Trade Regulations and Global E-Commerce Trade: Evidence from High-Frequency International Parcel Data (with Elaine Tan, Daniel Boller, Jose Anson, and Peter Rosenkranz).


• Females Over Males in Politics? Evidence from Local Elections in India (with Manasvi Sharma and Rekha Sharma).


• Personal Website: https://sites.google.com/view/karantalathi/