Dr. Shubhasish Barua is an Associate Professor at the Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He also served as a Research Economist at the Bangladesh Bank and as a Senior Project Economist at the Institute of Microfinance (now known as Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development, InM). He obtained PhD in Economics degree from the University of Warwick, UK in 2016 and MSC in Economics and Econometrics degree (with Distinction) from the University of Essex, UK in 2008. Earlier he had obtained BSS and MSS degree in Economics from the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh.

His research interests centre on understanding the strategic responses of economic agents (e.g., firms, households or individuals) to changes in economic environments. His PhD thesis, “Essays on Trade, Multi-product Plants, Manufacturing Performance and Labor Market,” explores the impact of intensified import competition from China on the evolution of the manufacturing sector in India. His current research spans broadly in the areas of development economics and international trade from understanding how firms (or factories) in developing countries adjust to rising international competition to how households respond to natural disasters and health shocks in rural areas. He is particularly interested in impact evaluation of development interventions using micro level survey data and randomized experiments.

He was also involved in designing appropriate financial protection schemes, in particular microinsurance for low-income households and developing institutional mechanisms and regulatory framework for efficient distribution of financial services.