Dr Vidya Mahambare
Professor of Economics & Director (Research and Fellow Program in Management), Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
Vidya is a 2020 and 2022 joint winner of the Emergent Ventures Grant by The Mercatus Centre, George Mason University to study the causes and consequences of low female labour force participation in India. She also received the World Bank South Asia Gender Lab grant in 2022 and the Azim Premji University research grant in 2021 with her colleagues.
In August 2021 she was appointed as a member of the Expert Committee of the State Planning Commission of Tamil Nadu, India, set up to draft the state policy on 'Employability and Skilling in Transitioning Economy'.
She has an MSc in International Trade and Finance, and a doctorate in Economics from Lancaster Management School, UK Vidya's doctoral work was supported by a grant from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (UK), a rare distinction accorded to international students Vidya is a recipient of the Pandurangi Prize for securing the first rank in the masters in economics from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune. She has been invited to speak on television channels such as Bloomberg, BBC, NDTV, and WION to discuss the challenges and prospects for the Indian economy, based on her research related to growth, employment and public policies. She regularly writes opinion articles in popular media including Bloomberg Quint, Mint, Times of India, Economic Times, Hindu Business Line, Hindustan Times, Financial Express, Business Standard, and The Print among others and her articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Asia
Prof. Vidya's core teaching expertise lies across macroeconomics and microeconomics, both of which she has taught in full-time MBA programs at Great Lakes. She also teaches a highly appreciated customised course combining the relevant dimensions of micro and macroeconomics in the executive MBA and corporate programs for mid-and senior-level executives. Her elective course – Applied Behavioural Economics' attracts students from all domains including marketing and finance – where they learn how cognitive biases affect decision making, and implications for businesses and individuals. Vidya has also taught the economics courses to the RBI's newly recruited officers in the Bank's training college at Chennai
Prior to joining GLIM, Vidya was a Director and Principal Economist at CRISIL and earlier, with Cardiff Business School, UK.