Purnima Purohit

2006 - 2007 Masters in Development Studies, specialization in Economics of Development, with minor in Quantitative Economic Policy Analysis, Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, The Netherlands.

1998-2000 Masters in Economics (special papers: Mathematical Economics and Econometrics), University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India.

1996-1998 Bachelor of Arts [Honours] English & Economics, Maharani’s College, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India.

Institutional design and operation of agricultural markets: Implications for poverty reduction in India.

Supervisors: Kunal Sen and Katsushi Imai.

Macroeconomics and international trade, Development microeconomics with inclination on growth, poverty and inequality aspects, Institutions and Policy evaluation, project planning (social & economic).

The thesis examines institutional aspects of agricultural markets primarily governed by the Agriculture Produce Markets Act across Indian states over time. It argues that agricultural growth vary across states depending on their institutional framework and quality of regulators. Expectedly, these legal arrangements are, in turn, determined by the economic, political and socio-cultural theories of institutions.

Merely putting in place market regulation may not be sufficient. The quality of legal framework has consequences on performance of the agriculture sector. It could reinforce disparity in agriculture productivity between states with varying inherent natural factors with implications for poverty.

Research Report/Working Paper/Case Studies

State-Business Relations in Indian States: Paper towards constructing an effective SBR index for Indian states (with M. Cali & S. Mitra) IPPG Discussion Paper No. 25, August 2009, available at www.ippg.org.uk (revised version is being reviewed by the Journal of International Development).

A case-study on Impact of Trade liberalisation on Carpet Industry of India, “Trade-Development-Poverty Linkages - Reflections from Selected Asian and Sub-Saharan African Countries" (with P. Gosh). (A book complied of 13 country case studies on trade-development-poverty linkages, published by CUTS, September 2008).

Operationalising South-South Trade Cooperation: Linking selected LDC’s in Eastern and Southern Africa with India, (with P. Kumar and P. Gosh) written for RFTP (Regional Trade Facilitation Programme of South Africa; supported by DFID, UK., March 2008).

Poultry Sub-sector as Contributor to Pro-Poor Growth Process in Bangladesh, (with A. Eusuf) Bangladesh Journal of Resource and Development, Vol IV/Number l/2007.

Institutions and Pro-Poor Growth in Bangladesh: IPPG Inception Phase Study, DESTIN, London School of Economics & Political Science, UK, (co-authored, June 2006).

Identifying a Comprehensive IBSA Strategy for the Post-Hong Kong Phase of the Doha Round Agriculture Negotiations (with P. Kumar) Country research paper, 2005, supported by AusAid).

Policy Briefs

Analytical Update: WTO negotiations on Trade Facilitation, June, 2008, CUTS

Trade in Textiles & Clothing – Likely Problems in the New Regime, March 2005, CUTS

Special and Differential Treatment-Issues for South Asia, 2003 published by SAWTEE, Nepal.

Monographs/FAQs (Indian context) (published by CUTS)

Globalisation and India: Myths and Realities (2001).

ABC of the World Trade Organisation (2002).

WTO Agreement on Agriculture (2003).

WTO Agreement on Textiles & Clothing (2005).

Globalisation and Small Scale Industries (2006).

2010 ESNIE's Accessit Award of the Best PhD Project, May 31-June 4,  2010, Corsica, France (European School on New Institutional Economics).

2009 Commonwealth Scholarship for full-term PhD Programme.

2006 Nuffic Scholarship for Masters Degree, Netherlands Fellowship Programme, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Merit score in the MA research paper ‘India’s External Current Account Deficits: Dynamics and Determinants’, ISS, The Hague, 2006-07.

Last professional post:  Asst. Policy Analyst, Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment, CUTS, India based international NGO. For more: www.cuts-international.org / www.cuts-citee.org/.

Visited more than 15 countries world-wide for both research work and participation in the international conferences like WTO Ministerial conference in Hong Kong and UNCTAD conference in São Paulo, Brazil.