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Sunil MItra Kumar

Dr Sunil Mitra Kumar

Acting Director of the India Institute

  • Senior Lecturer in Economics

Research interests

  • Economics

Contact details

Biography

Sunil's research focuses on questions related to inequality and discrimination, particularly in the context of development. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Development Studies and Economia Politica, and he is currently leading an ESRC-funded project on the role of small firms in UK-India trade. Sunil received his PhD in Economics from the University of East Anglia, his MA in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, and his BA (Hons) in Mathematics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. During 2005-2008 he worked for the Social Initiatives Group of ICICI Bank, an erstwhile major funder of non-profit activities in India. You can view Sunil's website here.

Research

  • Inequality
  • Discrimination
  • Causal inference
  • Microeconometrics
  • Caste
  • India's economic development

Sunil's current research pertains to caste inequalities and discrimination in India's economic development, access to credit for households and small firms, inequalities in education in Latin America, and methodological approaches to causal inference in the context of these questions.

Teaching

Postgraduate

PhD supervision

Sunil welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students in areas that overlap with one or more of the following:

  • Inequality and discrimination
  • India's economic development
  • The role of caste
  • Microeconometrics and causal inference using observational data

Further details

See Sunil's research profile

    Research

    Mind the gap
    Poverty, Inequality & Inclusive Growth research group

    Exploring the causes of poverty in emerging economies and the factors that prevent people from escaping it, including who remains vulnerable to economic slow-downs.

    india-globe
    Enablers and Obstacles to UK-India Trade

    Enablers and Obstacles to UK-India Trade aims to understand key enablers and obstacles to UK-India bilateral trade.

    Project status: Ongoing

    twitter - data driven tracking research profile logo
    Social Media Networks and (Dis)information research group

    We analyse social media discourse in the Global South through collection and analysis of large-scale data pertaining to digital social networks and their impact.

    News

    King's India Institute and Business School win new grant on the future of UK-India trade

    Dr Sunil Mitra Kumar and Dr Kamini Gupta have been awarded a major new research grant to study the future enablers and obstacles for UK-India trade.

    Dr Sunil Mitra Kumar and Dr Kamini Gupta

    Examining the economic and social impact of COVID-19 on India

    A new website from the King's India Institute presents a real-time picture of COVID-19's impact on individual states across India.

    Two men wear face coverings while on emergency transport in India

    Events

    20SepIndia_Street

    Racialised urban spaces and environmental injustice in an Indian city

    A talk by Dr Deepak Malghan on urban environmental inequalities in India and the nature of their association with a racialised social order.

    Please note: this event has passed.

    10MaySocial_Media_and_Hate

    Social Media and Hate

    A virtual roundtable with the authors of the book.

    Please note: this event has passed.

      Research

      Mind the gap
      Poverty, Inequality & Inclusive Growth research group

      Exploring the causes of poverty in emerging economies and the factors that prevent people from escaping it, including who remains vulnerable to economic slow-downs.

      india-globe
      Enablers and Obstacles to UK-India Trade

      Enablers and Obstacles to UK-India Trade aims to understand key enablers and obstacles to UK-India bilateral trade.

      Project status: Ongoing

      twitter - data driven tracking research profile logo
      Social Media Networks and (Dis)information research group

      We analyse social media discourse in the Global South through collection and analysis of large-scale data pertaining to digital social networks and their impact.

      News

      King's India Institute and Business School win new grant on the future of UK-India trade

      Dr Sunil Mitra Kumar and Dr Kamini Gupta have been awarded a major new research grant to study the future enablers and obstacles for UK-India trade.

      Dr Sunil Mitra Kumar and Dr Kamini Gupta

      Examining the economic and social impact of COVID-19 on India

      A new website from the King's India Institute presents a real-time picture of COVID-19's impact on individual states across India.

      Two men wear face coverings while on emergency transport in India

      Events

      20SepIndia_Street

      Racialised urban spaces and environmental injustice in an Indian city

      A talk by Dr Deepak Malghan on urban environmental inequalities in India and the nature of their association with a racialised social order.

      Please note: this event has passed.

      10MaySocial_Media_and_Hate

      Social Media and Hate

      A virtual roundtable with the authors of the book.

      Please note: this event has passed.