Biography

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

She is an applied economist working on issues pertaining to both economics and finance. Her primary research interests relate to analysing the impact of law, institutions and public policy on various economic agents (individual/household, firms/banks, community etc.) using large data-sets and natural experimental framework for identification. Her current and recent research in Finance explores the role of networking on firm financing in corrupt host environment, role of various corporate governance reforms including transparency and disclosure laws on firm financing, firm performance and industrial accidents, effects of land reforms on corporate investment. Her current research in Economics includes work on public and private schools, regulation and moonlighting of dual health practitioners, women friendly hospital environment and child mortality, effects of social and religious norms on public good provision, effects of old age pensions on elderly co-residency arrangements, effects of fiscal decentralisation on political transition and local development. Her research has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK), Leverhulme Trust, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation and the University Global Partnership Network (UGPN).

She is an IZA (University of Bonn, Germany) Research Fellow and also an external research affiliate at CSAE, University of Oxford.

She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Development Studies (ABS 3*).

She is an external examiner for the UG Microeconomics modules for the Economics Department at the City University London.

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 (Home Office, Department of Foreign and International Development (DFID), Department of Business, Innovations and Skills, UK) and international (World Institute of Development Economics Research (WIDER), World Bank (WB), UNESCO and the International Finance Corporation (IFC)) organisations. Currently she is acting as a consultant for a DFID funded project based in the Cambridge University.

Research interests

Public Economics; Public Finance; Emerging Markets Finance; Institutions and Political Economy.

Recent Research Grants

UGPN grant (US$20000) 1st August 2016-31 July 2017: Whither youth crime? Impact assessment of the recent public policy interventions in Brazil - Principal Applicant

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 Representation and Public Policy: Evidence from Local Governments in the UK' (joint with Justin Fisher (Politics) & Sugata Ghosh (E&F))

Research collaborations

I currently have collaborations with researchers at the City University London (UK), University of Durham (UK), University of Kent (UK), Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina), Paris School of Economics (France), Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Spain), Monash University (Australia), University of New South Wales (Australia), Indian Statistical Institute Delhi, Kolkata (India), University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Stevens Institute of Technology (USA) and the World Bank (USA).

Teaching

MSc Quantitative Method (MANM280)

Departmental duties

Head of Recruitment (Finance)

Affiliations

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

Member American Economic Association

Member Royal Economic Society

Organisation of conferences/symposia

I organised ESRC funded (grant RES-000-22-0200) workshop on "Corporate Governance, Corporate Restructuring and Corporate Finance in Transition Economies" on 9-10 September 2005, Brunel University.

I organised Leverhulme Trust funded symposium on "School Privatisation and Universal Education in Asia" for the Oxford Conference on Education and Development, September 2009.

I organised ESRC funded special session on Globalisation and FDI at the Royal Economic Society Annual Conference March 2010.

I organised a symyposium on Institutions and Globalisation for the Association of the the Comparative Economic Studies as part of the ASSA meeting in Chicago, January 2012.

I organised the Surrey-IFABS 2016 conference on 'Firm Value Maximisation and Corporate Social Responsibility: Implications for Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance' on 15-16 September 2016

I organised the Surrey-UGPN conference on 'Youth Crime and Public Policy' between 6-7 July 2017

Policy Articles/Media Briefings

'Whither female disadvantage? An analysis of private school enrolment in India' October 2016 (forthcoming) Ideas for India Column, International Growth Centre LSE & Oxford.

Why demonetisation?Ideas for India Perspective December 1 2016

Why demonetisation?Business Standard December 1 2016

Dear PM Modi, Save Informal Sector from a Post Note Ban Recession (jointly with Kaushik Bhattacharya, Siddhartha Mitra and Bibhas Saha)The Quint, February 10 2017

Reviving the informal sector from the throes of demonetisation (jointly with Kaushik Bhattacharya, Siddhartha Mitra and Bibhas Saha)Ideas for India Perspective 13 February 2017

Land acquisition and corporate investment: Legacy of historical land ceiling legislations? (jointly with Tiago Pinheiro and Zoya Saher)Ideas for India Column April 23 2017

Why land ceilings hurt corporate investment? (jointly with Tiago Pinheiro and Zoya Saher)Business Standard April 23 2017

India's Cashless Society Participation in BBC World Service programme

Demonetisation and GST: Reckless Decisions that Cost the Economy? The Quint 28 November 2017

My research on Private schools in developing countries funded by the Leverhulme Research Fellowship 2008-09 has received a lot of attention since the publication of the DFID Rigorous Review and a follow-up article on the Guardian 16 March 2015. Find out more.