Krishna B. Kumar

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Director, Research and Policy in International Development (RAPID); Senior Economist; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. in economics, University of Chicago

Overview

Biography

Krishna Kumar is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation. He directs Research and Policy in International Development (RAPID) within RAND Labor and Population and leads the Rosenfeld Program on Asian Development at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His research and teaching interests are economic growth and development, human capital accumulation, and technological change. He has studied the role of public policy on Indian entrepreneurship and conducted a comparative analysis of the Indian and Chinese education systems. He has researched the role of economic openness on education and growth, higher education policies in the United States, the effect of tax reform on economic growth, international capital flows, reasons for U.S.–Europe productivity differences, the effect of the Green Revolution on recipient and donor countries, cross-country determinants of firm size, policies to revive the stagnant sub-Saharan African economies, and the role of social capital in economic development. His research has been published in leading journals in economic growth and development and macroeconomics. He teaches development economics at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and global economics at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. He has received awards in teaching excellence at these schools. He has also taught at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and has prior experience in the American and Indian software industries. Kumar received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.

Recent Projects

  • Labor Markets for Anesthesiology
  • A scoping exercise of socioeconomic issues likely to affect the poor and vulnerable in the United States
  • Federal Funding of University R&D: The Pathway to Commercialization
  • Designing a Policy-Relevant Data Collection System for the Kurdistan Region
  • Assessing Impact of Farmer Field Schools on Excess Fertilizer Use in China

Selected Publications

Krishna B. Kumar, John G. Matsusaka, "From Families to Formal Contracts: An Approach to Development," Journal of Development Economics, 90:106-119, 2009

Elizabeth M. Caucutt, Krishna B. Kumar, "Africa: Is Aid an Answer?" The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics (Advances), 8(1), 2008

Elizabeth M. Caucutt, Krishna B. Kumar, "Education for All: The Right Course for Africa?" Review of Economic Dynamics, 10:294-326, 2007

Ana Fernandes, Krishna B. Kumar, "Inappropriate Technology: What is in it for the rich?" Macroeconomic Dynamics, 11:487-518, 2007

Elizabeth M. Caucutt, Selahattin Imrohoroglu, Krishna B. Kumar, "Does the Progressivity of Income Taxes Matter for Human Capital and Growth?" Macroeconomic Dynamics, 8(1):95-118, 2006

Ayse Imrohoroglu, Krishna B. Kumar, "Intermediation Costs and Capital Flows," Review of Economic Dynamics, 7(3):586-612, 2004

Dirk Krueger, Krishna B. Kumar, "Skill-specific rather than General Education: A Reason for US-Europe Growth Differences?" Journal of Economic Growth, 9(2):167-207, 2004

Dirk Krueger, Krishna B. Kumar, "US-Europe differences in technology-driven growth: quantifying the role of education," Journal of Monetary Economics, 51(1):161-190, 2004

Honors & Awards

  • 2010 President's Award, RAND
  • 2008 Silver Merit Award, RAND
  • Awards for teaching excellence, Pardee RAND Graduate School, Duke Fuqua School of Business, Indian School of Business