The Infosys Prize 2024 in Economics is awarded to Prof. Arun Chandrasekhar for his contribution to the study of social and economic networks, using innovative data sets and drawing on theoretical methods from machine learning and computer science. His collection and mapping of networks data, from multiple Karnataka villages, provides a testbed for studying important questions in development economics.
Scope and Impact of Work
In developing countries, where formal institutions often do not work well, networks play a critical role by facilitating exchange that otherwise would not occur. Prof. Arun Chandrasekhar’s research centers around the impact of networks on economic interactions in developing economies, with a focus on key areas like social learning, cooperation and informal institutions. His research investigates how information diffuses and aggregates through networks, examining the role of individual network positions in shaping outcomes. He also studies how networks promote cooperation and how the entry of formal markets affects network structures. His research is guided by theory and utilizes a variety of methodologies, including observational data collection, field and laboratory experiments, and structural and reduced-form modeling, to investigate these issues and produce policy insights.
Prof. Chandrasekhar’s research has substantial implications for policy design – informing effective strategies for information dissemination, promoting financial inclusion, and tackling poverty. He has also made significant methodological contributions to developing innovative and cost-effective methods for network analysis, enabling wider application of network science in social science research. He has published in leading journals, including Econometrica, American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Science. Arun Chandrasekhar has received major research grants, such as from the National Science Foundation and Russell Sage Foundation. His works have been widely cited, and is especially so for the paper, “The Diffusion of Microfinance”, in Science, 2013. These are outstanding performance indicators for someone below age 40, and augurs well for what lies ahead.
Bio
Arun Gautham Chandrasekhar is Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He became Associate Professor at Stanford University in 2020 and was promoted to full professor earlier this year. To be full professor, at a top university like Stanford, before one’s 40th birthday is a notable achievement. He obtained his Ph.D. from MIT in Economics. Prof. Chandrasekhar did his B.A., majoring in mathematics as well as economics, from Columbia University and was summa cum laude. He has published in top journals, including Econometrica, American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Science. He has received major research grants, from organizations like the National Science Foundation and Russell Sage Foundation. Chandrasekhar has been an Associate Editor of American Economic Review, and the Journal of the European Economic Association.
Timeline
Jury Citation
Prof. Arun Chandrasekhar is one of the world’s most accomplished researchers on social networks. Networks are interaction structures among individuals that shape human activity and can substitute and complement markets. Prof. Chandrasekhar uses different approaches from theoretical modeling to randomized control trials, drawing on techniques from computer science and statistics to answer questions pertaining to economic development. He has made seminal contributions to understanding how information diffuses through society and how individuals aggregate information received from others. This helps identify individuals who play a key role in the diffusion of ideas and technology through society. Another area of his research is how social learning occurs, and the role played by network geometry in the learning process. Arun Chandrasekhar’s research has important implications for the design of institutions in a world where communication via social networks has become a part of everyday life.
Arun G. Chandrasekhar
I would like to express my congratulations to Arun Chandrasekhar, the winner of the Infosys Prize 2024 in Economics. All jury members were taken in by the range of his research, from the meticulous gathering of data to the use of innovative methods for analyzing them. Arun’s work sheds light on the role of networks in the functioning of a modern economy, and provides critical ingredients for better policy making, and hope for a better world.
