Ram Singh (Director, Delhi School of Economics)
Ph.D.Field(s):Law and Economics, Public Economics, Contract Theory
Contacts: Email: ramsingh@econdse.org; Phone +91-11-27008145; Fax +91-11-27667159
RAM SINGH
Department of Economics
Delhi School of Economics
University Enclave, Delhi, 110007
Phone: +91(011)27008145
Email: ramsingh@econdse.org
www.econdse.org/ramsingh
Education
- 2003 Ph.D., Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Post-Doctorate (Economics), Harvard University
Academic Positions
- 2011-Present Professor, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics
- 2021-Present Adjunct Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal
- 2018 Visiting Research Professor, Bucerius Law School
- 2017 Visiting Professor, Heidelberg University
- 2016 Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, Brown University
- 2012 Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Brown University
- 2011-2012 Commonwealth Fellow, London School of Economics
- 2011 Visiting Associate Professor, Hamburg University
- 2010 Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Business and Economics, Catholic University Leuven
- 2006 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Economics, Harvard University
- 2005-2011 Associate Professor, Delhi School of Economics
- 2005 Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- 2003-2005 Assistant Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Professional Associations
- Managing Director, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, April 2020-present
- Member, Board of Governors, the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India
- Member, 7th Pay Review Panel, UGC, MoE, Government of India, to review Pay structure and Rules of Appointments in colleges and universities in India.
- Member, Expert Panel, Empowered Expert Committee on Institute of Eminence, UGC, MoE, Government of India
- Member, Appeal Committee, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), MoE, Government of India, for assessment of higher educational institutions
- Member, American Law and Economics Association
- Member, Academic Council, Central University of Haryana, 2019-present
- Member, Academic Council, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, 2019-present
- Member, Academic Council, Madras Institute of Development Studies, 2018-present
- Associate Editor, Indian Economic Review, October 2012- December 2018
- Chair Sub-domain for the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC), Government of India, 2018-2019
- Member, Standing Committee for Notification on Journals, UGC, MoE, Government of India, 2017-2018.
- Member, National Transport Development Policy Committee Working Group on Railways, July 2010 – January 2012.
Research Interests
- Public Economics, Law and Economics, Contract Theory, Banking and Financial Regulation
Awards and Honors
- Fulbright Fellowship in Economics
- Commonwealth Fellowship in Economics
- Erasmus Mundus Scholarship in Economics
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Economics, Harvard University
- Ronald Coase Fellowship in Institutional Economics
- Cambridge Advanced Programme in Rethinking Development Economics Fellowship
Selected Papers
- Settlements and Resolutions under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (with Hitesh Thakkar, GNLU), The Indian Economic Journal, 69 (1), 2021, (in print).
- Equilibria under Negligence Liability: How the Standard Claims Fall Apart (with Allan M Feldman, Brown University), Review of Law and Economics, 17 (1), 2021, pp. 1-26.
- Covid-19 and Contractual Disputes in India: A Law and Economics Perspective, (with Utkarsh Leo, NALSAR University), Economic and Political Weekly, Special Article, Vol. 56(16), 2021, pp. 37-43.
- Public-private Partnerships Vs. Traditional Contracts for Highways: Comparison of cost and quality of roads, Indian Economic Review, 2019, Vl. 53(1), pp 29-63.
- Takings of Land by Self-interested Governments: Economic Analysis of Eminent Domain, (with H-B Schäfer, Bucerious Law School, Germany), Journal of Law and Economics, 61(3), 2018, pp. 427-459.
- Existence and Efficiency of Equilibria: When care is multidimensional, Themes in Economic Analysis, Routledge, New Delhi 2015, pp 1-23.
- Infrastructure: Source of growth or bottleneck?, (with Paramjit, Delhi School of Economics), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Economy, 2014, Oxford University Press, Delhi
- Inefficiency and Abuse of Compulsory Land Acquisition, Economic and Political Weekly, Special Article 47(19), 2012, pp. 46-53
- A Simple Guide to Comparative Vigilance (with Allan Feldman, Brown University), Asian Journal of Law and Economics, 2011, Vol. 2 (3), pp. 1-24.
- Determinants of Cost Overruns, Public Procurement of Infrastructure: Roads and Railways, India Policy Forum, 7(1), 2011, pp. 97-158
- The Efficiency of Comparative Causation (with Francesco Parisi, University of Minnesota), Review of Law and Economics, 6(2), 2010, pp. 219-245
- Delays and Cost Overruns, Infrastructure Projects, India: Extents, Causes and Remedies, Economic and Political Weekly, Special Article, 45 (21), 2010, pp. 43-54
- Comparative Vigilance, (with Allan Feldman, Brown University), American Law and Economics Review, 11(1), 2009, pp. 134-161
- Risk, Informational Asymmetry and Product Liability: An enquiry into conflicting objectives, Pacific Economic Review, 14, 2009, pp. 89-112
- Comparative Causation and Economic Efficiency: When activity level are constant, Review of Law and Economics, 3(2), 2007, pp. 383-406
- Causation-consistent Liability, Economic Efficiency and the Law of Torts, International Review of Law and Economics, 27(2), 2007, pp. 179-203
- Efficiency Characterization of Liability Rules when Liability Payments Differ from the Actual Harm, Journal of Quantitative Economics, 3, 2005, pp. 137-157
- Full Compensation Criteria: An Enquiry into Relative Merits, European Journal of Law and Economics, 18, 2004, pp. 223-237
- Economics of Judicial Decision Making, Indian Tort Law: Motor Accident Cases, Economic and Political Weekly, 39(25), 2004, pp. 2603-2616
- Efficiency of ‘simple’ liability rules when courts make erroneous estimation of the damage, European Journal of Law and Economics, 16, 2003, pp. 39-58
- Efficient liability rules: Complete characterization, (with Satish K. Jain, Jawaharlal Nehru University), Journal of Economics, 75, 2002, pp. 105-124
- Implementation of TRIPS-compatible Intellectual Property Rights regime: The Justification Question, Social Scientist, 2002, Vol. 30 (1), pp. 61-82
Other Publications
- Do Public Private Partnerships Deliver Better Outcomes?, NICE Journal of Business 15 (1) (In print)
- The Law and Economics of ‘Force Majeure’ Litigation, GNLU Journal of Law and Economics, III (1), March 2021, pp. 7-27.
- The Many Interpretations of Law and Economics, Economic and Political Weekly, 2020, Vol. 55 (17), pp 26-28
- Dealing with Economic Consequences of Covid 19, Ideas for India, March 25, 2020.
- Review of Republic of Beliefs: A new approach to law and economics, Indian Economic Review, 54(2), 2019, pp 371-380.
- Does choice of contract affect cost and quality of highways?, Ideas for India, November 05, 2018.
- Does choice of procurement contract matter for cost and quality of infrastructure?, International Growth Centre, London School of Economics, 2018, Paper No. S-89209-INC-2
- Is Land a Bottleneck for Economic Development in India? in Economic Theory and Policy, edited by Ananya Ghosh Dastidar, Rajeev Malhotra and Vivek Suneja, Taylor & Francis, New Delhi, 2017
- Existence and Efficiency of Equilibria: When care is multidimensional, Themes in Economic Analysis, Routledge, edited by Subrata Guha, Rajendra Kundu, and S. Subramanian, New Delhi 2015, pp 1-23. ISBN 9781315684994 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315684994
- The new land law: Are the states up to the challenge?, Ideas for India, October, 2013
- Agricultural Land: The Compulsory Acquisition Law, its Abuses and Remedies Farmers’ Forum, Volume 12; No. 06; November-December 2012, pp. 7-21
- A High-handed Approach to National Highways in the Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 45 No. 08 , 2010
- Evolution of the Strict Liability and Absolute Liability in India in Strict Liability: Expanding Horizons by Rajitha Tadikonda (editor), Amicus Books, Hyderabad, India, 2008
- Review of “Markets and Governments” by Kaushik Basu, Pulin B. Nayak and Ranjan Ray, Indian Economic Review, 2007, Vol. 42 (2), pp. 270-272
Contributions to Encyclopedia and Handbooks
- “Economic Efficiency” In: Marciano A., Ramello G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY, (2018), pp 1-4. ISBN : 978-1-4614-7883-6
- “Infrastructure” in A Concise Handbook of the Indian Economy in the 21st Century, (with Paramjit), Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2016.
- “Liability Rules in India” in the Oxford Companion to Economics, Kaushik Basu (editor), Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2007
Working Papers
- Covid-19 and Contractual Disputes in India: A law and economics analysis, Working Paper, SSRN:http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3720741
- Equilibria under Liability Rules: How the Standard Claims Fall Apart, Centre for Development Economics, Working Paper No. 300
- Public Private Partnerships Vs. Traditional Contracts, Centre for Development Economics, Working Paper No.290
- On Existence and Properties of Pure-strategy Equilibria under Contests, Centre for Development Economics, Working Paper No.288
- On the Existence and Efficiency of Equilibria under Liability Rules, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Working Paper no. 12625
- Litigation over Compensation under Eminent Domain, International Growth Centre, London School of Economics, Working paper No. 2014/09, 2013
- Distribution of Highways Public Private Partnerships in India: Key Legal and Economic Determinants (with TCA Anant, Delhi School of Economics) CDDRL Stanford University, Working Paper, 2009
- Relationship between Liability Regimes and Economic Development: A Study of Motor Vehicle Accidents in India, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Working Paper No. CSLG/WP/09/03
Op-Eds and Policy Writings
- Budget 2021 Budget to revive the economy, but fiscal math is shaky , The Economic Times, February 01, 2021.
- Budget 2021’s date with Big Data , The Economic Times, January 18, 2021.
- Making it to $ 5 Trillion , The Economic Times, January 07, 2021.
- The Asian Drama retold , Biblio, December, 2020.
- Of gods and governments, The Hindu, June 16, 2020.
- Is there a case for a Covid budget?, The Economic Times, May 6, 2020.
- Covid-19: Dealing with the economic consequences, Ideas for India, March 25, 2020.
- Govt’s relief measure will help the worst affected, The Economic Times, March 27, 2020.
- Talk Business, Gentlemen, The Economic Times, February 24, 2020.
- Falling short of aspirations, The Hindu, February 3, 2020.
- Why tax cut won’t fix India’s bruised economy, The Economics Times, January 25, 2020.
- Budgeting for jobs, skilling and economic revival, The Hindu, January 24, 2020.
- India needs $1 trillion exports to become a $5 trillion economy, The Economic Times, November 1, 2019.
- Budget announcements on infrastructure must be backed by policy reforms, The Economic Times,
July 7, 2019. - Tax reforms: Spread the net wider, deeper, The Economic Times, June 24, 2019.
- Ensure a minimum income for all, The Hindu, March 2, 2019.
- Centre, RBI can agree to disagree, The Tribune, December 3, 2018.
- Can the Ayushman Bharat dream come true?, The Tribune, November 9, 2018.
- Who pays taxes and who doesn’t, The Hindu, October 30, 2018.
- Acres of contention, The Hindu, June 18, 2018.
- Empower the Farm-her: Make sure women farmers don’t get the short end of the stick, The Economic Times, January 29, 2018.
- Budget 2018: Don’t do away with income tax, Mr Jaitley, The Economic Times, January 26, 2018.
- The Problem of land hoarding, The Hindu, January 7, 2018.
- Good behaviour, better policy, The Economic Times, October 14, 2017.
- The Great Indian Crop Trick, The Economic Times.
- Of Contractual Obligations, The Economic Times, October 12, 2016.
For complete list of my policy writing see www.econdse.org/ramsingh
Research Grants
- “Government Litigation,” funded by the Institution of Eminence, University of Delhi
- “Public vs Private Provision of Public Goods,” funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Government of India
- “Does privatization lead to better quality of roads?,” funded by Harvard University
- “Does choice of procurement contract matter for cost and quality of infrastructure?” funded by IGC at London School of Economics.
- “Litigation over Eminent Domain Compensation” funded by IGC at London School of Economics.
- University of Delhi Research Grant for years 2008-2009, 2012-2013, and 2014-2015
- “Implementation of Urban Water Supply and Wastewater projects in India,” (Co-PI), funded by the Asian Development Bank
Teaching
Delhi School of Economics Public Economics, Microeconomic Theory,Law and Economics,
Economics of Uncertainty, and Contract Theory
Heidelberg University Law and Economics, Lectures on Development
Brown University Economic Theory of the Firm, Law and Economics
Hamburg University Law and Economics
Jawaharlal Nehru University Mathematical Economics, Law and Economics
Referring Services
- Land Economics
- Quarterly Journal of Economics
- Journal of Public Economics Theory
- Economics Letters
- European Journal of Law and Economics
- Review of Law and Economics
- Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations
- Journal of Legal Studies
- International Review of Law and Economics
- Oxford University Press
Invited Lectures/Seminars
- ‘Law & Economics of Big Data and Social Media Platforms, International Conference on Law and Economics, at Gujarat National Law University, March 21, 2021
- ‘Round table on Budget 2021’, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, February 12, 2021
- ‘MIDS National Seminar on Union Budget 2021’, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, February 11, 2021
- ‘Property of Social Media Data’, Workshop of International Economic Association and IEG,
January 21, 2021 - ‘Covid and Contractual Disputes’, at GNLU Academy on Law and Economics, August 25, 2020
- ‘Covid-19 and the future of the Indian economy’ at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, August 28, 2020.
- ‘Covid-19 and the future of the Indian economy’ at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, August 28, 2020.
- ‘Current Challenges for the Indian Economy’ at Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, March 2020
- ‘Compensation under Land Acquisition: Executive versus Judiciary’ at CDS Conference on the Indian, 7-8, February 2020
- ‘Economics of Big Data,’ at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal. January 2020
- ‘Are PPPs a better choice for procurement of Public Goods?’, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, March 2019
- ‘Unemployment in India’, at Delhi Public Library, Delhi, January 2019.
- ‘Land Acquisition: The past, present and the future’, Central University of Jammu, August 2018
- ‘Compensation under Land Acquisition: Executive versus Judiciary’ Indian Institute for Science Education and Research, Bhopal, August 2017
- ‘Economic Reasoning in Judicial Decision-making’ at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, November 2017
- ‘Acquisition of Land by Self-interested Governments’, London School of Economics, September 2017.
- ‘Litigation over Compensation under Land Acquisition: Actors and Outcomes’, Heidelberg University, Germany, July 2017
- ‘Public Private Partnerships for Infrastructure Development’ at Hamburg University, Germany, May 2017.
- ‘Public Private Partnerships for Public Goods’ at South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, Germany, May 2017.
- ‘Litigation over Compensation under Land Acquisition: Actors and Outcomes’, World Bank, June 2016
- ‘Interdependent Investments and Contracts’, Brown University, April 2016.
- ‘Interdependent Investments and (Un)bundling Contracts’, Harvard University, April 2016.
- ‘Eminent Domain to Acquire Private Properties: A U.S.-India Comparison’, University of Wisconsin, Madison, April 2016.
- ‘Using Eminent Domain to Acquire Private Properties: The Actors and the Outcomes’, Brown University, February 2016.