Aashish Mehta

Professor & Vice Chair - Global Studies
Faculty Affiliate - Economics

Office Location

SSMS 2111

Specialization

Fields: Development Economics; Labor Economics; Political Economy.

Topics: Structural transformation; Globalization; Employment; Education; Public Services.

Bio

I am a development economist. I trained in economics and energy policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I completed a PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics. Before joining UCSB, I worked at the Asian Development Bank, supporting electricity sector reforms, and examining the implications of structural transformation for employment and education policy across the region.  I study the economics of economic development and change (including globalization and deindustrialization), employment, education and inequality. I also work closely with collaborators in economics, political science and other disciplines on other aspects of economic development and political-economy, including public services provision, corruption, gender-based violence, and commodity price management. 

I received UCSB’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2017.

Academic Vita

Research Associate, Broom Center for Demography

Publications

Journal Articles

Titles link to final journal articles and to non-paywalled working papers.

Economics / Political-Economy

Cognate Disciplines

Books

Working Papers

Book Chapters and Reports for Public Agencies

Invited Online Articles

In the works..

  • What does economic growth do to public services corruption? (with Amit Ahuja).
  • Does studying economics change your political perspective? (with Zachary Bleemer)
  • Trade liberalization and inequality as if businessmen existed (with Andrew Dawson, Miguel Flores Segovia and Asha Sundaram)
  • On the pitfalls of estimating production functions with value data (with Jesus Felipe and John McCombie)

Courses

Global 130: Global Economy and Development [syllabus –Spring 2017]
Global 136: Global Imbalances  [syllabus - Spring 2017]
Global 224: Global Studies Research Methods [syllabus - Fall 2018]
Global 234: Globalization and Markets (a.k.a. Microeconomics for Global Studies) [syllabus – Winter 2013]
Global 236: The Global Economy (a.k.a. Macroeconomics for Global Studies) [syllabus – Spring 2016]