On September 12th, 2025, the Centre for Integral Economics and Research Exchange Forum at Chanakya University hosted Dr. Shiv Hastawala, who presented an overview of his research on development economics and causal inference methods.
This interactive session focused on two key projects: First, Dr. Hastawala’s study on female politicians and corruption in Indian Gram Panchayats, which found that women leaders initially received more bribes when appointed through quotas, but this decreased over subsequent terms as confidence grew. Second, his research on electricity access in West Bengal showed that electrification improved test scores for younger children, with diminishing effects for older students.
Dr. Hastawala also outlined his upcoming projects including creating a Gurukul database to document traditional Indian educational institutions and developing an India Evidence Database highlighting the country’s cultural and institutional traditions. The session closed with a useful discussion of teaching methods in economics and how they could be made more engaging for students.
