Kaushik Basu is the Einaudi Center's Carl Marks Professor of International Studies and professor of economics in the College of Arts and Sciences. Basu is president of the International Economic Association. From 2012 to 2016 he served as senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank. He was chief economic advisor to the Indian government from 2009 to 2012.

• Video: Bringing India and Cornell Together (March 2024)

Basu is cofounder of Cornell Research Academy of Development, Law, and Economics (CRADLE), one of Einaudi's interdisciplinary research teams.

Geographic Research Area: India

Teaching/Research Interests: Development economics, industrial organization, game theory and welfare economics

Basu received his PhD and M.Sc from the London School of Economics and his BA Econ (Hons) from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He was a professor of economics at the Delhi School of Economics, where in 1992 he founded the Centre for Development Economics and was its first Executive Director. He is also a founding member of the Madras School of Economics.          

A fellow of the Econometric Society, Basu has published widely in the areas of development economics, industrial organization, game theory, and welfare economics. His two most recent books are An Economist in the Real World: The Art of Policymaking in India (MIT Press and Penguin Random House) and Beyond the Invisible Hand (Princeton University Press). In May 2008, he was awarded one of India’s highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan, by the president of India.