Gaurav Khanna
Assistant Professor
- Profile
- Publications
- Research
- Media Mentions
Profile
Gaurav Khanna is a respected scholar whose research focuses on development economics, labor economics and applied econometrics. Many of his current projects concentrate on education policy, high-skill immigration, infrastructure, public-works programs, conflict and crime.
He is an assistant professor of economics at the School of Global Policy and Strategy and a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development. Khanna teaches courses at GPS including Immigration and Immigration Policy, The Economics of Immigration and the Public Policy Capstone.
Prior to joining UC San Diego, Khanna was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. and a consultant for the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Unit.
For more information, please visit Gaurav Khanna’s personal site.
Education and CV
Ph.D., Economics, University of Michigan, 2016
M.Sc., Economics for Development, University of Oxford, 2009
B.A., Economics, Delhi University, 2008
CV
GPS Spotlight
Cash Transfers More Effective than Workforce Training in Improving Lives of Rwandans
Sept. 10, 2020 | Study compared the efficacy of the workforce-training program to simply disbursing the cost of the same program directly to beneficiaries
Affirmative Action Incentivizes High Schoolers to Perform Better, New Research Shows
Aug. 20, 2020 | Evidence from India reveals underrepresented students stay in school longer under the policy
Hiring highly educated immigrants leads to more innovation and better products
Sept. 26, 2018, authored by Gaurav Khanna and Munseob Lee in The Conversation
Publications
Selected Recent Publications
“Development for peace: The decline of Naxalite violence in India,” (with Laura Zimmermann) Sustainable Security, Sept. 28, 2017.
“Guns and Butter? Fighting Violence with the Promise of Development” (with Laura Zimmermann) Journal of Development Economics, vol 124, January 2017, p 120-141.
"Recruitment of Foreigners in the Market for Computer Scientists in the US" (with John Bound, Breno
Other Publications and Book Chapters
"Reservoir of Foreign Talent" (with John Bound & Nicolas Morales) Science, vol. 356, Issue 6339, pp. 697, May 2017.
“Fighting Maoist violence with promises: Evidence from India’s Employment Guarantee Scheme” (with Laura Zimmerman) The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, vol 9, no. 1, 2014.
“Finishing Degrees And Finding Jobs” (with John Bound, Murat
"Fewer Jobs or Smaller Paychecks? Aggregate Crisis Impacts in Selected
"Understanding the Economic Impact of the H-1B Program
Articles and Blogs
a. "Transit Networks and Regional Development in India"
b. "Quotas and Schooling Decisions"
c. "Maoist Violence and MNREGA"
d. "What are Schools Worth? That Depends on the General Equilibrium Effects"
e. "How the American dream led to India’s IT boom”
f. "How the US Immigration Ban Hurts Students, Universities, and the US Economy"
Research
Research in Progress
“Large-scale Education Reform in General Equilibrium: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from India”
"Resources, Conflict and Economic Development in Africa" (with Ach Adhvaryu, James Fenske and Anant Nyshadham)
"Incentivizing Standards and Standardizing Incentives: Affirmative Action in India"
"Road Oft Taken: The Route to Spatial Development"
"The IT Boom And Other Unintended Consequences of Chasing the American Dream" (with Nicolas Morales)
"Unintended Effects of Public Colleges: Evidence from Primary and Secondary Education Markets in India" (with Maulik Jagnani)
"A Passage to America: University Funding and International Students” (with John Bound, Breno Braga and Sarah Turner)
“The Effectiveness of Decentralize Education Programs: A Multi-Dimensional Regression Discontinuity Approach”
Media Mentions
Recent Media Mentions
"Hiring highly educated immigrants leads to more innovation and better products," The Conversation, Sept. 26, 2018.
"An Economic Sleuth", UC San Diego News, June 7, 2018.
"The development of modern Africa: Conflict, resources
“H-1B visa cuts would damage US and Indian economies,“ The PIE News, Sept. 1, 2017.
“H-1B Visa Program Benefited Both US and India,” Bloomberg Technology (video), Aug. 15, 2017.
Workers in U.S. and India Make Huge Financial Gains Thanks to H1B Program, New Study Says, Murthy Law Firm, Aug. 15, 2017.
“The Economic Benefits of the H-1B Visa Program,” Bloomberg, Aug. 14, 2017.
“Scrapping the H1B Visa Program Would Hurt Both US and India,” Nearshore Americas, Aug. 14, 2017.
“5 immigration reform proposals that Americans actually support,” Think Progress, Aug. 10, 2017.
“India and US benefit from panned H-1B work visa program – study,” Techwire Asia, Aug. 10, 2017.
“US may lose its competitive edge due to H-1B clampdown: Report,” The Economic Times, Aug. 9, 2017.
“H1B visa clampdown may cost
“Study: H-1B visa program has pushed incomes up in US, India,” CIO Dive, Aug. 9, 2017.
“Controversial visa scheme benefits both US and India: Study,” The Straits Times, Aug. 9, 2017.
“H-1B work visa programme benefits US, India: study,” The Business Times (subscription required), Aug. 9, 2017.
“H-1B工作签证项目赋予美国更高竞争力,” VOA (Chinese), Aug. 9, 2017
“Technology, Innovation, and the American Dream: New Study Finds H-1B Visas Benefit US and Indian Workforce,” Center for Global Development, Aug. 8, 2017.
“US may lose its competitive edge due to H-1B clampdown: Report,”
“Work visa program benefits the U.S., India,
“Study: H-1B Immigrants a 'Net Gain' for
“The Value of The H-1B Visa,” Fortune, Aug. 8, 2017
“New Research Says H-1B Visas Created A $431 Million Net Gain For U.S. Workers,” Fortune, Aug. 7, 2017.
“Work Visa Program Benefits the U.S., India, New Study Says,” Bloomberg, Aug. 7, 2017.
Recent Indian Media Mentions (including Indian papers in the U.S.)
"Can the Indian IT sector overcome the H-1B hurdles?" India Global Business, October 2017.
“H-1B visas called ‘net positive’ for U.S economy,” India Abroad, Aug. 11, 2017.
“H-1B visas, a much-maligned engine of growth,” India Abroad, Aug. 11, 2017.
“US may lose its competitive edge due to H-1B clampdown: Report,” The Economic Times, Aug. 9, 2017.
“US and India Benefit From H1B Visa, New Study Reveals,” Little India, Aug. 9, 2017.
“US may lose Indian talent, competitive edge due to H-1B clampdown: report,” The Hans India, Aug. 8, 2017.
“H-1B visa restriction may affect US IT production: Report,” The Indian Express, Aug. 8, 2017.
“H-1B visa clampdown to hurt US’s competitive edge: Report,” Live Mint, Aug. 8, 2017.
“H1B visa program benefits both
“US May Lose Its Competitive Edge Due To H-1B Clampdown: Report,” NDTV, Aug. 8, 2017.
“US may lose its competitive edge due to H-1B clampdown: Report,” The Times of India, Aug. 8, 2017.
“U.S. Better Off With H-1B Program, Says Indian American Economist in Report,” India West, Aug. 8, 2017.
“Stop blaming the H-1B visa for India’s brain drain—it actually achieved the opposite,” Quartz India, June 2, 2017.
Additional Media Mentions
TV and Radio Interviews: Bloomberg (TV), CNBC (TV), AirTalk (Radio: NPR affiliate), Al Jazeera
Articles (U.S. media): Wall Street Journal, NBER Digest, HKS (Shorenstein), Atlantic, Quartz, BuzzFeed, Morning Star, CIO Dive, Silicon Beat, Market Watch, Michigan News, NextGov, Vice, American Bazaar
Articles (Indian media): Scroll, NewsIndia, Live Mint, The Economic Times, The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Outlook India, The New Indian Express, Business Standard, NDTV, Financial Express, Deccan Herald, DNA, Telegu 360, Post, India Today
