SUBHA MANI
Assistant Professor of Economics, Fordham University
(Fall 2008-present)
Research Affiliate, Population Studies center, University of Pennsylvania
(Jan 2012-present)
http://faculty.fordham.edu/smani/
Contact Details
Office Home
Department of Economics 6100 City Avenue
441 East Fordham Road Apt # 1112
Bronx, NY 10458 Philadelphia, PA - 19131
Phone: +1 215-450-4000
Email: smani@fordham.edu
Education
Ph.D. Economics, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, August 2002- August 2008
M.A. Economics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, August 2002-December 2003
M.A. Economics, Mumbai University, Mumbai, India, August 2000-May 2002
B.A. Economics (Honors), University of Delhi, India, August 1997-May 2000
Research and Teaching Interests
Development Economics, Applied Microeconomics, Applied Econometrics, Education, Health, Demography
Publications
Mani, S., J. Hoddinott, J. Strauss. 2012. Long-term impact of investments in early schooling — Empirical evidence from rural Ethiopia. Journal of Development Economics. Doi: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.03.002
Mani, S. 2011. Is there Complete, Partial, or No Recovery from Childhood Malnutrition? – Empirical Evidence from Indonesia. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0084.2011.00670.x
Role of the Household and the Community in determining Child Health, WIDER Research paper No. 2007/78, Helsinki: UNU-WIDER (peer reviewed, online research paper series)
Research papers
Determinants of schooling outcomes – Empirical evidence from rural Ethiopia (with John Hoddinott and John Strauss) (Journal of African Economies, Revise and Resubmit)
Abstract: This paper examines the determinants of schooling outcomes - current enrollment status and relative grade attainment - among primary school children in rural Ethiopia. We use repeated cross-sectional data from 15 rural villages in Ethiopia to capture the impact of the changing socioeconomic environment on these outcomes between 1994 and 2004. We find that parental schooling is positively associated with schooling enrollment but its estimated effects declines over time. We observe a similar decline in the estimated impact of father’s schooling on relative grade attainment, while the impact of mother’s schooling increased during this period. OLS estimates of the impact of household income are biased downwards relative to IV results. Community characteristics are not associated with schooling enrollment. However, the provision of electricity is positively, and distance to primary school negatively, associated with relative grade attainment. These findings suggest that policies that address both supply and demand side constraints have the potential to improve the low levels of schooling attainments found in Ethiopia and elsewhere.
Explaining Randomized Evaluation Techniques Using Classroom Games (with Utteeyo Dasgupta) (Perspectives on Economic Education Research, Revise and Resubmit)
Abstract: Over the last decade, randomized evaluations have taken the field of development economics by storm. Despite the availability of strong review pieces in the topic, there is no pedagogical paper on randomized evaluation. This paper bridges the gap by introducing three interactive classroom games to communicate the concepts of Average Treatment Effect (ATE), Intent–to-Treat Effect (ITT), Sub-group Average Treatment Effect (SATE), and Externality Effect (EE). The classroom games are easy to implement and provide students an opportunity to participate in a simple randomized trial of their own.
Socioeconomic determinants of child health - Empirical evidence from Indonesia (Asian Economic Journal, Revise and Resubmit)
Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to characterize the socioeconomic determinants of nutritional status among children. Understanding and analyzing the impact of such factors is essential for guiding policy initiatives that can influence these determinants in a way that health outcomes can be permanently altered at an early stage of an individual’s life. A static conditional health demand function is estimated to identify the socioeconomic determinants of child health. Our findings suggest that at the household level, parental height and household income are the two most important determinants of early nutritional status. Income effects as measured by log of
real per capita consumption expenditure (PCE) are strong and positive even after addressing endogeneity issues in PCE. At the community level, we find that provision of electricity and availability of a paved road is associated with improvements in child health. We also find while comparing household characteristics with community characteristics that household level observables (and interventions) are likely to have a larger impact in improving children’s nutritional outcomes compared to community level interventions.
Selection into Skill Accumulation: Empirical Evidence using Observational and Experimental Data (with Utteeyo Dasgupta, Lata Gangadharan, Pushkar Maitra, and Samyukta Subramanian) (work in progress)
Abstract: What is the effect of labor market training programs on labor market outcomes? While this is an important question, program participants are likely to be different from nonparticipants both in observables and unobservables. As a result comparing the welfare outcomes among participants and nonparticipants would bias the estimated effect of the program. Although the large literature acknowledges and addresses the selection issues based on observables, there is limited empirical information on the kind of selection that takes place on the basis of unobservables. The objective of this paper is to identify both observable and unobservable characteristics that distinguish program participants from non-participants of a vocational education program administered in selected slum communities of New Delhi, India. To identify differences in observables, a randomly selected pool of participants and non-participants were administered with a detailed household questionnaire. We find that the probability of applying for the training program varies along the following observable characteristics - experience, age, religion and enrollment. In order to capture differences in unobservables, participants and non-participants were invited to participate in a series of quasi-laboratory games that help us elicit differences in risk preferences, innate ability, level of confidence and attitudes towards competition. While we do not find any statistically significant differences in applicants and non-applicants ability, competitiveness and confidence, we do find that people who exhibit a preference towards risky outcomes in our laboratory games, have a higher probability of applying for the training program. The findings here provide novel empirical evidence that can be used to make a case for randomized evaluation techniques in assessing the impact of labor market programs.
Field Experience
Co-Principal Investigator, July 2011-current - The Impact of an English Language Training Program on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in Hyderabad, India (with Tarun Jain and Pushkar Maitra)
Co-Principal Investigator, July 2010-current – Learning and Earning – Evidence from a randomized evaluation in India (with Pushkar Maitra)
Research Analyst, 'Jnana Prabodhini', an institute of psychology, June 1998 – December 1998. Conducted field survey on Indian women leaders. This data on Indian women leaders was to be used for making comparisons between the different personality traits along certain leadership fields.
Research work in Progress
Learning and Earning – Evidence from a randomized evaluation in India (with Pushkar Maitra)
The Impact of Vocational Education on Behavioral Outcomes: Empirical Evidence from India (with Utteeyo Dasgupta, Lata Gangadharan, and Pushkar Maitra)
Gender differences in household bargaining: a pilot study (with Utteeyo Dasgupta)
The Impact of an English Language Training Program on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in Hyderabad, India (with Tarun Jain and Pushkar Maitra)
Earnings loss from Disability (with Sophie Mitra and Usha Sambamoorthi)
Early Child Growth and Development in Four Countries: Young Lives (with the entire Young Lives team)
Invited Presentations
Department of Economics, Hunter College, City University of New York, February 2012
Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, February 2012
National Conference on Teaching Economics and Research in Economic Education, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, California, June 2011
Vassar College, April 2011
71st International Atlantic Economic Conference, March 2011
PACDEV, California, March 2010
The 7th Midwest International Economic Development Conference, Minnesota, April 2010
Department of Economics, Jadavpur University, India, August 2009
Population Association of America, Detroit, April 2009
Department of Economics, Rutgers University, New Jersey, October 2008
Applied Microeconometrics workshop, Madison, Wisconsin, August 2008
Population Association of America, New Orleans, March 2008
Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania, February 2008
Fordham University, New York, January 2008
Northeast Universities Development Consortium (NEUDC), Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 2007
Department of Economics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, July 2007
Department of Economics, Monash University, Victoria, Australia, July 2007
United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), 2nd Project meeting on ‘Gender and Food Security’, Accra, Ghana, May 2007
United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), 1st Project meeting on ‘Gender and Food Security’, India, December 2006
Association of Pacific Rim Universities Conference, Singapore, July 2006
Bureau for Research and Economics Analysis of Development (BREAD) Summer School Participant, Calgary, Canada, July 2005
Western Economic Association International, San Francisco, California, July 2005
Grants
2012 International Growth Center (Co-PI with Pushkar Maitra)
2011 Faculty Research Grant, Fordham University (Co-PI with Tarun Jain and Pushkar Maitra)
2011 Fordham Undergraduate Research Grant, Fordham University (Co-PI with Pushkar Maitra)
2010 Faculty Research Grant, Monash University (Co-PI with Pushkar Maitra)
2010 Faculty Research Grant, Fordham University (Co-PI with Pushkar Maitra)
Fellowships and Awards
Faculty Fellowship, Fordham University, Spring 2012
Fellowship, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, USC, 2007-2008
Merit Fellowship, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, USC, 2006-2007
Fellowship Stipend Top Up, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, USC, 2007
Graduate Assistantship, USC, 2003-2006
Represented USC at the Asia Pacific Rim University (APRU) conference, selected by the provost’s office, USC, 2006
Travel award received from the provost’s office to present at the APRU conference, USC, 2006
Strategic Theme Summer Supplement, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, USC, 2005
Merit Fellowship, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, USC, 2002-2003
Scholarship, Department of Economics, Mumbai University, 2000-2002
Special Research Award, Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT), 2001-2002
Research and Professional Experience
Member of UNDP Equator Prize Technical Advisory Committee, 2011
Speaker in a one-day workshop on “Program Evaluation” at the Salessian Mission, New York
Editorial Assistant, part-time, Economic Development and Cultural Change, August 2005-August 2006
Project Consultant, part-time, United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), August 2006-May 2007
Summer Intern, full-time, Food Consumption and Nutrition Division, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), June 2005-August 2005
Summer Intern, full-time, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), June 2001-August 2001
Research Analyst, part-time, 'Jnana Prabodhini', an institute of psychology, June 1998-December 1998
Teaching Experience
Instructor, Principles of Microeconomics, Fall 2008-2011
Instructor, Applied Econometrics, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011
Instructor, Community Economic Development, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011
Teaching Assistant, Economies of Less Developed Countries, Professor John Strauss, 2005
Teaching Assistant, Contracts, Organizations, and Institutions, Professor Hyeok Jeong, 2005
Head Teaching Assistant, Principles of Microeconomics, Dr. Russell Mangum, 2004
Teaching Assistant, Principles of Microeconomics, Professor Timur Kuran, 2004
Teaching Assistant, Principles of Macroeconomics, Professor Robert Dekle, 2003
Journal Refereeing
Journal of Development Economics
Economics of Education Review
Economic Development and Cultural Change
Health Policy and Planning
Journal of African Economies
Growth and Change
Economics Bulletin
Department and University Service
Academic Advising for Economics Majors, 2009-present
Member of the economics department-hiring committees, Fall 2011
Organizer of the fall 2011 Economics department seminar series
Member of the Fulbright Campus Committee; 2009-10, 2010-11
Invited and hosted various speakers in the 2010-11 economics department seminar series
Undergraduate Thesis Mentor for Tyler Boston, 2010-2011
Presentation at the President’s Spring Preview Event, 2009-2010
Ph.D. thesis committee member for Maria Davalos, 2008-2009
References
John Strauss, Professor of Economics
Department of Economics, University of Southern California
3620 South Vermont Avenue, KAP 300, Los Angeles, CA 90089
+1 213 740-7698, jstrauss@usc.edu
Jeffrey B. Nugent, Professor of Economics
Department of Economics, University of Southern California
3620 South Vermont Avenue, KAP 300, Los Angeles, CA 90089
+1 213 740-2107, nugent@usc.edu
John Hoddinott, Senior Research Fellow
Food Consumption and Nutrition Division, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
2033 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006
+1 202 862-5637, j.hoddinott@cgiar.org
