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Professor Sarmistha Pal

Professor in Finance

Qualifications: BSc, MSc (Calcutta, India) MPhil (Cambridge), PhD (London School of Economics)

Email:
Phone: Work: 01483 68 6354

Office hours

Monday 10-11 am
Thursday 10.30-111.30 am

Tel. 01483 683995
Office 57 MS 02

Further information

Biography

Sarmistha Pal holds the Chair in Financial Economics at the University of Surrey, Guildford (UK). Previously, she had taught at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth and Cardiff and subsequently at Brunel University in London.

She is an applied economist working on issues pertaining to both economics and finance primarily in emerging market economies. Her current and recent  research in Finance focuses on role of institutions and networking on capital structure dynamics, corporate finance as well as corporate governance reforms (using quasi-experimental approach),  Technology Transfer and  Foreign Direct Investment (for financial and non-financial firms). Within economics, her recent research focuses on institutions and public policy with special reference to public-private trade-off in public goods provision. Her research has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and also International Finance Corporation. 

She is an IZA Research Fellow and also a research affiliate at CSAE, University of Oxford; she also serves as the editorial board member for the Journal of Development Studies.

She is a member of ESRC peer review college and as such regularly referees grant and fellowship applications submitted to ESRC. She has also reviewed applications submitted to Nuffield Foundation, Leverhulme Trust and National Science Foundation (US).

She regularly does research consultancy for various national and International organisations including the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Research Interests

Emerging Markets Banking and Finance; Corporate Governance; Public Economics; Institutions and Political Economy.

Recent Research Grants

ESRC small grant RES-000-22-0200 (£43804.00), October 2003- September 2005: ‘CORPORATE CAPITAL STRUCTURE IN EAST ASIA BEFORE AND AFTER THE CRISIS’- Principal applicant.

ESRC standard grant RES-062-23-0986 (April 2008- March 2010): "FDI, Ownership and Corporate Governance in Europe" (joint with Nigel Driffield, Aston and Tomasz Mickiewicz, UCL)

Leverhulme Research Fellowship: September 2008-August 2009. "Rise of Private Schools and Universal Education"
ESRC small grant RES-000-22-0200, October 2003- September 2005: "Corporate Capital Structure in East Asia Before and After the Crisis"

Brunel SSS research grant June 2010: 'Multiculturalism, Minority Representaton and Public Policy: Evidence from Local Governments in the UK' (joint with Justin Fisher (Politics) & Sugata Ghosh (E&F))

Research Collaborations

Current research collaborators: 

Parimal Bag (National University of Singapore)

Suman Banerjee (Nanyang Business School, Singapore)

Sonia Bhalotra (University of Bristol and Oxford)

Guilhem Cassan (London School of Economics)

Irma Clots-Figueras (Carlos IIID Madrid)

Fabrizio Coricelli (Paris School of Economics)

Justin Fisher (Brunel)

Sugata Ghosh (Brunel)

Paul Glewwe (University of Minnesota)

Pushkar Maitra (Monash University)

Menno Pradhan (VU Amsterdam) 

Anurag Sharma (Monash University)

Zaki Wahhaj (University of Kent)

Publications

Journal articles

  • Owolabi O, Pal S. (2013) 'Does business networking boost firms' external financing opportunities? Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe'. Applied Financial Economics, 23 (5), pp. 415-432.
    doi: 10.1080/09603107.2012.725930
  • Coricelli F, Driffield N, Pal S, Roland I. (2012) 'When does leverage hurt productivity growth? A firm-level analysis'. Journal of International Money and Finance, 31 (6), pp. 1674-1694.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2012.03.006
  • Coricelli F, Driffield N, Pal S, Roland I. (2012) 'When does leverage hurt productivity growth? A firm-level analysis'. ELSEVIER SCI LTD JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL MONEY AND FINANCE, 31 (6), pp. 1674-1694.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2012.03.006
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/590049/
  • Pal S, Ghosh S. (2011) 'Poverty, Elite Heterogeneity, And The Allocation Of Public Spending: Panel Evidence From The Indian States'. Review of Income and Wealth,
    doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4991.2011.00479.x
  • Pal S, Palacios R. (2011) 'Understanding poverty among the elderly in India: Implications for social pension policy'. Journal of Development Studies, 47 (7), pp. 1017-1037.
    doi: 10.1080/00220388.2010.509783
  • Bhaumik S, Driffield N, Pal S. (2010) 'Does Ownership Structure of Emerging Market Firms Affect their Outward FDI? The Case of Indian Automotive and Pharmaceutical Sectors'. Palgrave Macmillan Journal of International Business Studies, 41 (3), pp. 437-450.
    doi: 10.1057/jibs.2009.52
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/590059/

    Abstract

    This article examines the impact of ownership structures of emerging market firms, which are shaped by local institutions, on the decision of these firms to undertake outward FDI. Our results suggest that family firms and firms with concentrated ownerships, both ubiquitous in emerging markets, are less likely to invest overseas, and that strategic equity holding by foreign investors facilitates outward FDI. We conclude that organisational forms such as family firms, that are optimal outcomes of institutions prevailing in emerging markets, may be sub-optimal in a changing business environment in which outward FDI is necessary for access to resources and markets.

  • Pal S, Driffield N. (2010) 'Evolution of capital structure in east Asia—corporate inertia or endeavours?'. Royal Statistical Society Journal of Royal Statistical Society Series A, 173
    doi: 10.1111/j.1467-985X.2009.00603.x
  • Pal S. (2010) 'Public infrastructure, location of private schools and primary school attainment in an emerging economy'. Economics of Education Review, 29 (5), pp. 783-794.
    doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2010.02.002
  • Makepeace G, Pal S. (2008) 'Understanding the effects of siblings on child mortality: Evidence from India'. Journal of Population Economics, 21 (4), pp. 877-902.
    doi: 10.1007/s00148-006-0123-6
  • Maitra P, Pal S. (2008) 'Birth spacing, fertility selection and child survival: Analysis using a correlated hazard model'. Journal of Health Economics, 27 (3), pp. 690-705.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2007.09.005
  • Driffield N, Mahambare V, Pal S. (2007) 'How does ownership structure affect capital structure and firm value?: Recent evidence from East Asia'. Economics of Transition, 15 (3), pp. 535-573.
    doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0351.2007.00291.x
  • Pal S, Berglof E. (2007) 'Symposium on Corporate Governance'. The Economics of Transition, 15 (3), pp. 429-432.
    doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0351.2007.00297.x
  • Berglöf E, Pal S. (2007) 'Symposium on: Corporate governance'. Economics of Transition, 15 (3), pp. 429-432.
    doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0351.2007.00297.x
  • Pal S, Driffield N, Mahambare V. (2007) 'How does ownership structure affect capital structure and firm value?'. The Economics of Transition,
  • Makepeace G, Pal S. (2006) 'Effects of birth interval on child mortality: evidence from a sequential analysis.'. World Health Popul, Canada: 8 (2), pp. 69-82.
  • Driffield N, Pal S. (2006) 'Do external funds yield lower returns? Recent evidence from East Asian economies'. Journal of Asian Economics, 17 (1), pp. 171-188.
    doi: 10.1016/j.asieco.2006.01.011
  • Pal S. (2004) 'Child schooling in Peru: Evidence from a sequential analysis of school progression'. Journal of Population Economics, 17 (4), pp. 657-680.
    doi: 10.1007/s00148-004-0196-z
  • Ghosh S, Pal S. (2004) 'The effect of inequality on growth: Theory and evidence from the Indian states'. Review of Development Economics, 8 (1), pp. 164-177.
    doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9361.2004.00226.x
  • McKay A, Pal S. (2004) 'Relationships between household consumption and inequality in the Indian States'. Journal of Development Studies, 40 (5), pp. 65-90.
    doi: 10.1080/0022038042000218143
  • Pal S. (2004) 'How much of the gender difference in child school enrolment can be explained? Evidence from rural India'. Bulletin of Economic Research, 56 (2), pp. 133-158.
    doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8586.2004.00193.x
  • Pal S, Makepeace G. (2003) 'Current contraceptive use in India: Has the role of women's education been overemphasised?'. European Journal of Development Research, 15 (1), pp. 149-169.
  • Pal S. (2002) 'Segmentation of rural labour contracts: Some further evidence'. Bulletin of Economic Research, 54 (2), pp. 151-180.
  • Pal S. (2002) 'Household sectoral choice and effective demand for rural credit in India'. Applied Economics, 34 (14), pp. 1743-1755.
    doi: 10.1080/00036840210121228
  • McNabb R, Pal S, Sloane P. (2002) 'Gender differences in educational attainment: The case of university students in England and Wales'. Wiley Economica, 69 (275), pp. 481-503.
    doi: 10.1111/1468-0335.00295
  • Driffield N, Pal S, Driffield N, Pal S. (2001) 'The East Asian crisis and financing corporate investment: Is there a cause for concern?'. Journal of Asian Economics, 12 (4), pp. 507-527.
    doi: 10.1016/S1049-0078(01)00099-9
  • Kambhampati US, Pal S. (2001) 'Role of parental literacy in explaining gender difference: Evidence from child schooling in India'. European Journal of Development Research, 13 (2), pp. 97-119.
  • Pal S, Kynch J. (2000) 'Determinants of occupational change and mobility in rural India'. Applied Economics, 32 (12), pp. 1559-1573.
  • Pal S, Pal S. (2000) 'Economic reform and household welfare in rural China: Evidence from household survey data'. Journal of International Development, 12 (2), pp. 187-206.
    doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1328(200003)12:2<187::AID-JID628>3.0.CO;2-P

Conference papers

  • Ghosh S, Mourmouras IA, Pal S, Paya I. (2003) 'On public investment, the real exchange rate and growth: Some empirical evidence from the UK and the USA'. BLACKWELL PUBL LTD MANCHESTER SCHOOL, LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND: Econometric-Society European Meeting 71 (3), pp. 242-264.
    doi: 10.1111/1467-9957.00345

Other publications

  • Pal S, Wahaaj Z. (2012) Fiscal Decentralisation, Local Institutions and Public Goods Provision: Evidence from Indonesia. IZA Discussion Paper No 7076,
    Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/734312/

    Abstract

    Access to public infrastructure is understood to be central to economic growth. Good governments that invest in essential public goods and services (e.g., transport/ communications) realise high rates of return (e.g., Easterly, 2001). Decentralization is identi…ed by many as an important policy reform to improve the delivery of public goods and services in developing countries. Since …scal decentralisa- tion provides greater decision-making power to local governments, its impact on public goods provision should, arguably, depend on the quality and nature of local institutions. The relevant local institutions should include not only the processes through which communities make collective decisions regarding public spending, but also the informal institutions which facilitate economic exchange and maintain law and order within the community. We develop a theoretical model of inter- and intra-community trade to argue that communities that have higher levels of mutual cooperation should have a stronger preference for spending on social goods, e.g. schools and health centres, as opposed to physical infrastructure. Using the Indonesian Family Life Survey community-level data from 1997 and 2007, we …nd evidence of heterogeneity in public goods spending across communities in the period prior to …scal decentralisation, with greater spending on social goods in communities which observe traditional (adat) norms, and less spending on physical infrastructure in communities with a democratic electoral system. Fiscal decentral- isation led to an increase in investments in physical infrastructure, as well as a convergence in spending across communities with di¤erent types of local institutions.

  • Pal S, Kuznecovs M. (2012) Does corporate governance reform necessarily boost firm performance? Recent evidence from Russia. IZA Discussion Paper,
  • Pal S, Fisher J, Ghosh S. (2012) Can Multiculturalism improve public policy? Recent evidence from local governments in the UK. Discussion Paper,

Scholarly editions

  • Maitra P, Pal S, Sharma A. (2011) Reforms, Growth and Persistence of Gender Gap: Recent Evidence from Private School Enrolment in India.
  • Pal S, Roy J. (2010) Fiscal Decentralization and Development: How Crucial is Local Politics?.

 Working Papers

"Private School Growth and Rising Gender Gap: Recent Evidence from Post-Reform India" (with Pushkar Maitra and Anurag Sharma), November 2011, IZA Discussion Paper, Bonn Germany

"Does Corporate Governance Reform Necessarily Boost Firm Performance? Recent Evidence from Russia" (with Mihails Kuznecovs), April 2011 CEDI Discussion Paper.

"Can Private Sector Promote Universal Literacy? Panel Evidence from Indian Districts" December 2011(with G. Kingdon). IZA Discussion paper January 2011

"Fiscal Decentralisation, Institutions and Provision of Public Goods in Indonesia", (with Zaki Wahhaj) August 2012.

"Does Corruption Necessarily Deter Foreign Investment? Evidence from transition economies" October 2012

 

Teaching

MSc Quantitative Method

Departmental Duties

Organiser of research seminars

Head of PhD programme for Finance Group

Affiliations

Research Fellow, IZA, University of Bonn, Germany;
Research affiliate, CSAE, University of Oxford

Member American Economic Association

Member Royal Economic Society

PhD supervision

I am interested to supervise students aiming to work on public finance and management of education and health issues, political economy of public goods provision, institutions and globalisation (with special reference to FDI), institutions and corporate finance in emerging markets

PhD examination

In addition to internal examiners to various PhD students at Cardiff and Brunel, I have examined  PhD theses submitted to Aston, Bristol, Exeter, Monash, Nottingham, Southampton, and Warwick.