RONGILI BISWAS


Post-doctoral Fellow in Economics
Department of Public Policy and Public Choice (POLIS)
University of Eastern Piedmont
Italy

And

Senior Lecturer in Economics
West Bengal Education Service
India (on leave)

A. PERSONAL  

NAME

Rongili Biswas
Post-doctoral Fellow in Economics
Department of Public Policy and Public Choice (POLIS)
University of Eastern Piedmont
Via Cavour 84
15000 Alessandria, Italy

TELEPHONE

Phone (office) : 00 39 0131 283 711
phone (mobile): 00 39 3208 707 286

FAX

00 39 0131 283 704

EMAIL

rongili@yahoo.co.in
rongilibiswas@hotmail.com

CURRENT POSITION

Research Fellow in Economics

DATE OF BIRTH

1st March, 1967

PLACE OF BIRTH

Calcutta, India

MARITAL STATUS

Unmarried

NATIONALITY

Indian

 

 

B. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND 

Ph. D (Economics), Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India and Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India December, 2003 (Supervisors: Sugata Marjit, Professor, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta and Ajitava Raychaudhuri, Professor of Economics, Jadavpur University, Calcutta. Title of dissertation:  Power, Democracy and Development: A Study of Inter-regional Disparity in Post-independence India.

M.Phil.(Economics), Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India, 1993 (supervisor: Ajitava Raychaudhuri, Professor of Economics, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India)
Title of dissertation: A Study of the Integrated Rural Development Programme Experience in the State of West Bengal, India.

M.A. (Economics), Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, 1990. Specialization: Econometrics and International Economics.

B.A. (Economics), Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, 1988.

C. AREAS OF RESEARCH INTEREST

Public Economics and Political Economics:

Jurisdiction formation and wealth stratification (general equilibrium framework), state lobbying at the centre within a federal structure and resource distribution, politics of democracy, politics of redistribution, tax evasion and the fear of ruin in a principal-agent framework

Rural Poverty and Development Economics:

Trade openness and poverty at the sub-national level in India, rural agriculture and technology, rural poverty alleviation programmes: implications for India.

D. PUBLICATIONS

Refereed Journals

2009

·         Distributive Manipulations and Political Stability: A Theoretical Analysis, co-authored by Sugata Marjit, International Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier,vol.17(4),618-628.

·         On the Segregative Properties of Endogenous Jurisdiction Formation with a Central Government (with Nicolas Gravel and Remy Oddou) (submitted to Journal of Public Economic Theory).

·         Lobbying and Discretionary Finance:  Evidence from India (with Sugata Marjit and Velayoudom Marimotou) (submitted to Journal of Development Economics    

2002

  • Political Lobbying and Fiscal Federalism: Case of Industrial Licenses and Letters of Intent, co-authored by Sugata Marjit, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. XXXV11, No. 8, February-March.

1996

  • IRDP, Poverty Alleviation and Development: A Comparative Study of West Bengal, India, co-authored by Ajitava Raychaudhuri, Journal of Rural Development, vol.15, No.3, July-September.

Book chapters/ Others

2005

  • Political Lobbying and Discretionary Finance in India: An Aspect of Regional Political Influence in a Representative Democracy, co-authored by Sugata Marjit, in the book ‘Development, Displacement and Disparity: India in the Last Quarter of the Century’ edited by Sugata Marjit and Nirmala Banerjee, Orient Longman Limited, Delhi.

Occasional/Working papers

2009

  • State Lobbying at the Center and Discretionary Finance in India: co-authored by Sugata Marjit and Velayoudom Marimotou, Occasional Paper, Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi.
  • On the Segregative Properties of Endogenous Jurisdiction Formation with a Central Government (with Nicolas Gravel and Remy Oddou), Working Paper no 134, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice (POLIS), University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy.

PAPERS IN PROGRESS

  • Political Lobbying and the Distribution of Resources by Development Financial Institutions in India.
  • Poverty and Trade Openness in the Post-liberalization Era.
  • Politics of Redistribution in the context of developing countries (with Sugata Marjit).
  • Endogenous Jurisdiction Formation and Wealth Seggregation in the presence of a central government and a land market (with Nicolas Gravel).

E. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

  • 2008- : Post-doctoral Researcher, University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy
  • 2007-2008: Post-doctoral Research Fellow, CSH, New Delhi, India.
  • 2006: Post-doctoral Research Fellow, University of Caen, France.
  • 2002-2006: Senior Lecturer in Economics, Bethune College, Calcutta, India.
  • 1997-2002: Lecturer, Bidhannagar College, Calcutta, India.

RESEARCH POSITIONS

  • 2009: Visiting Fellow, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.
  • 1994-1997: Researcher, independent project on Credit, Technology Adoption, Tenurial Relations and Marketing in West Bengal Agriculture, Jadavpur University.
  • 1992: Participant Observer, Beneficiary Assessment Project in Sericulture, sponsored by the World Bank,  conducted by the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.
  • 1991: Research Assistant, Urban Management Programme sponsored by UNDP, UNHCRS and the World Bank, conducted by the University of Birmingham.

TEACHING PORTFOLIO

Bidhannagar College (1997-2002):

  • Microeconomics: Basic Micro Theory, Market Morphology, Uncertainty, Bargaining, Welfare Economics
  • Macroeconomics: Basic Macro Theory, Consumption and Investment Theories, Theories of Economic Growth, Inflation, Unemployment, Adaptive and Rational Expectation
  • Public Finance: Basic theories, Principles of Taxation, Direct and indirect Tax, Public Debt
  • Mathematical Economics: Game Theory, Asymmetric Information, General Equilibrium, Input-output Analysis, Linear Programming

Bethune College (2003-2006)

  • Macroeconomics:  Consumption Theories, Theories of Economic Growth, Inflation, Unemployment, Adaptive and Rational Expectation
  • Microeconomics: Basic Micro Theory, Market Morphology, Uncertainty, Bargaining, Welfare Economics
  • Development Economics : Trade and Development, Alternative Development Models, Development Strategies in Labour-surplus Economies, Failure of the Market and the Government, Planning Models, Human Capital and Development, Poverty and Inequality
  • Political Economy: Political Institutions, Evolution of the International Economy, IMF,UNCTAD, GATT, WTO

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS/ FELLOWSHIPS

  • 2007: Post-doctoral Research Fellowship, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice (POLIS), University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy.
  • 2006: Post-doctoral Research Fellowship, Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi, India.
  • 2005: HERMES Post-doctoral Fellowship, Foundation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH), France.
  • 2001: Teacher Fellowship, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, India
  • 1994: Junior Research Fellowship (NET), University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India. 
  • 1993:Lectureship Eligibility (NET), University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India.

F. OTHER ACADEMIC INFORMATION

  • Worked as referee for the journal Social Choice and Welfare.
  • Participant in the ongoing project titled Competition Among Nation States (2008-2010), funded by ANR(France) and DFG (Germany) and coordinated by Francis Bloch and Kai Conrad.
  • Extensive Field Research Experience in several villages in the Southern and Western West Bengal, India, 1995-1997 for the project Credit, Technology Adoption, Tenurial Relations and Marketing in West Bengal Agriculture, Jadavpur University. Also experience in anthropological field research (as participant observer) in the villages in northern, western and central West Bengal, 1992 for Beneficiary Assessment Project in Sericulture, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.
  • Resource person in the public hearing on starvation in West Bengal, India, 2005.  Field experience regarding food insecurity in the Ayodhya Hills Tracts, Purulia, western West Bengal, 2005.
  • Knowledge of languages: English (speaking /reading /writing), Bengali (speaking/reading/writing), Hindi (speaking/reading). Basic knowledge of French and Italian.

G. CONFERENCE/SEMINAR/WORKSHOP

2009

  • Presented a paper on The Seggregative Properties of Endogenous Jurisdiction Formation, University of East Anglia, UK January 15 and Brunel University, UK, January 21.

2008

  • Presented a paper on The Seggregative Properties of Endogenous Jurisdiction Formation with a Central Government at POLIS, University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy, 24 October, University of Birmingham, UK, 25 November, University of York, UK, 26 November, University of Caen, France, 8 December.

2007

  • Presented a paper on Fiscal Federalism, State Lobbying and Discretionary Finance in India in the conference Journées d'Economie Publique Louis-André Gérard-Varet  # 6, Marseille, France, 14-15 June.
  • Presented a paper on Jurisdiction Formation and Government Intervention in the internal seminar series at Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi, India, 24 May. 
  • Presented a paper on State Lobbying at the Centre in India in the First World Meeting of Public Choice Societies hosted by The Amsterdam School of Economics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 29 March -1April. 

2006

  • Presented a paper on Trade Openness, Poverty and Inequality in India: Literature and Empirics at the sub-national level in the conference ‘Indian Economy in the era of Financial Globalization’, Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris, France, 28-29 September. 
  • Presented a paper on How Redistributive Politics Works in the Context of a Developing Country: A Dynamic Model, European Public Choice Conference in Turku, Finland 20-23 April.
  • Presented a paper on Redistributive Politics: A Static and a Dynamic Model, Centre for Research in Economics and Management, Université de Caen, France, January.

1998-2004

  • Presented a paper on Politics of Redistribution: A Theoretical Model, Jadavpur University Annual Conference, Calcutta, India, December,2004
  • Participated and presented a paper on Human Rights Violation in West Bengal: Development and the Consensus Against Justice in the Eastern India Social Science Conference on Tradition, Development and Justice, organized by Indian Council of Social Science Research, Eastern Regional Centre and Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India, June 23-25,2003
  • Presented a paper on IRDP, Poverty Alleviation and Development: A Study of West Bengal, India, Department of Economics, University of Melbourne, Australia, October,2002
  • Presented a paper on Political Lobbying and Discretionary Finance in India: An Aspect of Regional Political Influence in a Representative Democracy, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia September and Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India, August,2002
  • Presented a paper on The Politics of Redistribution, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India, June,2002
  • Presented a paper on Political Lobbying and Discretionary Finance in India, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India, June,2000 
  • Presented a paper on What Bars Technology Adoption: A Comparative Study of Two villages in West Bengal, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India, November, 1998.

H. REFEREES

  • Nicolas Gravel, Professor of Economics, University of Mediteranean, Marseille and GREQAM, Marseille, France. Tel: +33 (0)4 91.14.07.36, Fax: +33 (0)4 91.90.02.27, Email: nicolas.gravel@univmed.fr
  • Carla Marchese, Professor and head, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice (POLIS), University of Eastern Piedmont, Via Cavour 84, Alessandria, Italy. Phone +39 0131 283718,  Fax +39 0131 283704, E-mail: carla.marchese@sp.unipmn.it
  • Sugata Marjit, Director and Professor of Economics, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, R-1 Patuli Baishnabghata Township, Kolkata-700 094,India. Phone: +91 33 2462 5794, Fax: +91 33 2462 6183, E-mail: smarjit@hotmail.com