An early interest in political economy and a solid Masters from the Delhi School of Economics led Chetan Ghate, Associate Professor at the Indian Statistical Institute’s Planning Unit, Delhi to pursue doctoral studies at Claremont Graduate University.

“The graduate program at Claremont is one of the few places in the world where political economy research is heavily anchored in both politics and economics,” Ghate says. This means that the political aspect of issues is rarely simplified and that both political scientists and economists are able to talk each other’s languages.

Braingain’s Rajyasri Rao spoke to Chetan Ghate in New Delhi. Here are excerpts from the interview.

You pursued your doctoral studies from Claremont Graduate University which claims to be one of the few across the US to house politics and economics in one school. How interdisciplinary was it in your experience? What in your view are the key strengths of being at an institution committed to ‘crossing disciplines’?

“Sometimes what happens in macroeconomics for instance is that the economics is so complicated, that research in political economy tends to simplify the political side of things.”

The department was truly inter-disciplinary, which is what attracted me to it. The graduate program at Claremont is one of the few places in the world where political economy research is heavily anchored in both politics and economics. Sometimes what happens in macroeconomics for instance is that the economics is so complicated, that research in political economy tends to simplify the political side of things. Think of majority voting endogenous growth models in the field of macroeconomics. The median voter theorem is somewhat mechanically invoked to model decisions over taxes in democracies. The assumption is that every individual has one vote. But in the real world we know that this is not true: people manipulate elections, and the elite in a country can significantly determine electoral outcomes, as can other interest groups. So as soon as you depart from the standard assumptions of something like the median voter theorem, things become intractable very quickly. What was nice about the Claremont program is that both political scientists and economists could talk each other’s languages formally. However, Claremont is a small program, and this leads to its own sets of limitations.

What sort of preparation did you undertake before applying to Claremont?

I had a B.A. in Economics from Colorado College in the US. I then came back to India to do a M.A from the Delhi School of Economics.

What in your view helped you get in?

These decisions are somewhat random and school specific. My interest in political economy was the school’s strength (and continues to be). This made us a good fit.

What was your doctoral dissertation about?

“Given the technical nature of economics, it may make sense to do an undergrad in maths, with a minor in economics, if one wants to be competitive in a good grad school in the US, directly after one’s undergrad.”

I wrote three essays in a sub-area of macroeconomics which deals with the politics of fiscal policy. I was basically trying to capture the growth dynamics that would emerge when politicians, in the process of trying to win elections, set fiscal policies (tax and expenditure policies) to win the electoral support of different constituencies. I derived conditions under which some policies would lead to sustained growth, or the economy converged to a poverty trap. The distribution of wealth had a strong bearing on the kind of policies that emerged from these models.

In what ways has that or your time at Claremont influenced your current interests as a macroeconomist?

Heavily — my work is essentially in applied theory: theoretical models motivated by empirical evidence. The goodness of fit between the models’ testable implications and the empirical evidence therefore needs to be tight.

How difficult/easy is it to find suitable employment after a doctoral degree such as yours for an international student studying in the US?

That depends on the job market. In my year (1999), the market was quite good. But I was very keen on coming back to India to join the Indian Statistical Institute (where I am now). I accepted a three year position in Colorado College, where I had done my undergrad, and used the flexibility of the block plan at Colorado College to come back to the ISI regularly and do joint work and teach. I came back as a permanent faculty member to ISI in 2003.

What would you recommend economics students from South Asia keep in mind when applying for a PhD in the US?

Given the technical nature of economics, it may make sense to do an undergrad in maths, with a minor in economics, if one wants to be competitive in a good grad school in the US, directly after one’s undergrad. The standard three year B.A degree is usually not enough in Economics, at least from India, in terms of training. But what really helps our students from India is having a solid M.A. degree in economics to top this, such as from the Indian Statistical Institute, or the Delhi School of Economics. Depending on how well you do in your MA from a top program in India, a whole range of schools become available.