Dr. Debasis Bandyopadhyay

Debasis joined the Department in August 1993 from the University of Minnesota where he completed his PhD in the field of Macroeconomics. Previously he graduated MA in Economterics from University of Florida (1985) after a B.Sc (Hons.) Economics from Presidency College, University of Calcutta (1984). His PhD Dissertation Title was “Distribution of Human Capital, Income Inequality and the Rate of Growth” adjudicated by Professors Timothy J. Kehoe (Adviser), Edward C. Prescott (Chair), Richard Rogerson, Mahmood Zaidi (External), and Vernon Ruttan (External).*

*His PhD research was cited by Nobel Laureate Professor Robert M. Solow in a 1992 Distinguished Lecture. You can find the citation on page 16 of the Lecture by following this link: Solow Minnesota 1992 Lecture

He won the Walter W. Heller ‘Outstanding Teaching Award’ for teaching undergraduate macroeconomics at the University of Minnesota. In 1997 he received the Marsden Research Grant in Economics from the Royal Society of New Zealand. His main research interest focuses on the relationship between the distribution of human capital and economic growth. His recent research output include models of macroeconomic productivity, migration and social security in dynamic general equilibrium framework and analyses of economic policies in those models, which are calibrated to the New Zealand economy.

• Academic CV

Current Research Interests

• Gender Sensitive Macroeconomics Project
• Tracing the evolution of women’s rights and gender inequality within the Unified Growth Theoretical Framework.
• Emigration of skilled labour, tax and education policy, and income inequality.
• The missing market link between early childhood education and old age pension, and growing inequality.
• Inflation expectations when monetary policies target house prices.

Honours, Awards and Research Grants

• National Talent Search Award and Scholarship, National Council of Education, Research and Training, India, (1977-83).
• Mathematical Talent Search Award, Association for the Improvement of Mathematics Teaching in India, (1978-79).
• Editor, Presidency College Staff-Student Magazine, Calcutta University, India (1981-82)
• Recognised as a Distinguished Instructor of the Department of Economics, University of Minnesota (1987-88, 1990-91).
• Won the Walter W. Heller Outstanding Teaching Award at the University of the Minnesota, (1990-1991)
• OSFA International Student Grant supporting the Dissertation Work, (1990-91)
• Minnesota International Student Association Scholarship, (1991-92)
• Received Citation by Robert M. Solow, MIT, a Nobel Laureate in the George Seltzer Distinguished Lecture, titled “Growth with Equity Through Human Capital Investment,” Industrial Relations Center, University of Minnesota Publication, see page 16 for citation (1992)
• University of Auckland Research Committee(1994-96) $9,500
• Teaching Improvement Grant (HERO) (1994-95) $1,000
• University of Auckland Research Committee(1995-97) $6,500
• Academic Committee of the University of Auckland (1995-96) $1,500
• Auckland Business School Research Committee Research Scholar Fund (1995-96) $2,500
• University of Auckland Research Committee (1996-97) $8,000
• Auckland Business School Research Committee (1996) $4000
• Royal Society of New Zealand, Marsden Fund (1996-99) $70,000 [see under Social Sciences]
• Auckland Business School Research Committee (1996-98) $4000
• Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Treasury and Department of Labour (1998-99) $15,000
• Auckland Business School Postgraduate Research Committee (2000) $2500
• Auckland Business School Research Committee (2000-01) $3000
• University of Auckland Research Committee (2002-2005) $5000
• Auckland Business School Postgraduate Research Committee (2004) $2500
• Auckland Business School Summer Research Assistance (2004-2005) $4000
• Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman Award 19 September (2013)
• Invited as a Guest Speaker with monetary remuneration to present a paper at the 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THE CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS held at the JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY, KOLKATA on the 6th and 7th January, 2014, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India (2014).
• Received a Certificate of Recognition for my service to the New Zealand India Research Institute (NZIRI) for making a distinguished contribution through the presentation of a research paper to promote the objectives of the NZIRI agenda for research (2014).
• Awarded a Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Academic Refereeing of Journal Articles by Economic Modelling (2018).
• Invited with partial funding to participate and to present a paper at the NBER Summer Institute held between 15-18 July in Cambridge, MA, USA (2019).
• Invited participation at the Foundation Day Public Service Debate on the motion “Free Market Is an Antidote for Corruption”, organised by the Alumni Association of Calcutta University Economics Department (AACUED), Calcutta, India, 6 December 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da-jkm3RyP0 (2020).
• 2022 The internationally renowned institution RePEc (Research Papers in Economics, http://repec.org/), which ranks academic economists among their peers, ranked me in August 2021 among the top 6% of economists worldwide in terms of the “Record of Graduates,” whom I mentored through my research supervision, and among the top 17% worldwide in terms of “Number of Journal Pages, Weighted by Number of Authors and Recursive Impact Factors”: https://ideas.repec.org/cgi-bin/rank.cgi?pba862&QoHC and earned 291 Google Scholar Citations of my research output, and 89 of those citations came since 2017, causing both my h-index and i10-index to equal 10. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qHLPTSoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao.
• 2022 Invited panel discussant with two other distinguished guests at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day Celebration 2022, 8 March 2022, Kolkata, India: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA_kzpoA0ZE.
               

Research Publications

Journal Articles and Refereed Working Papers:

1. Bandyopadhyay, D. AND TANG, X.5 (2021). “Children’s Learning Environment and Growth-Promoting Income Redistribution,” Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, 1–45: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1365100521000225 [ABDC Rank: A].

2. Bandyopadhyay, D. AND La Pere, A.5 (2020). “Raising Productivity with Pension Premium,” Economic Modelling, 92, 295-308 [ABDC Rank: A].

3. BANDYOPADHYAY, D. KING, I. AND TANG. X. (2019). Human capital misallocation, redistributive policies, and TFP. Journal of Macroeconomics, 60, June 2019, 309-324 [ABDC Rank: A].

4. BANDYOPADHYAY, D. (2017). Gender Biased Institutions and the Wealth of Nations. Women & Work, 52 pages. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2960781 [Refereed, not ranked].

5. BANDYOPADHYAY, D., BARRO, R., COUCHMAN, J., GEMMELL, N., LIAO, G., and MCALISTER, F (2012). “Average Marginal Income Tax Rates in New Zealand, 1907-2009,” Working Papers in Public Finance, 01/July 2012, Victoria University in Wellington, 36 pages: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2199205. [Refereed, not ranked; earlier version published by the New Zealand Treasury Ref. No: WP 12/04: http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/research-policy/wp/2012.

6. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Tang, X. (2011). “Parental Nurturing and Adverse Effects of Redistribution,” Journal of Economic Growth, 16 (1), 71 – 98 [ABDC Rank: A*].

7. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Tang, X. (2011). “Understanding the Economic Dynamics Behind Growth-Inequality Relationships,” Journal of Macroeconomics, 32 (1), 14-32 [ABDC Rank: A].

8. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Basu P. (2005). ‘What Determines the Cross-Country Growth and Inequality Correlation?,’ Canadian Journal of Economics, 38, ( 4 ), p1272-1297, 2005 [ABDC Rank: A].

9. Bandyopadhyay, D. (2004). ‘Why Haven’t Economic Reforms Increased Productivity Growth in New Zealand?,’ New Zealand Economic Papers, 38, pages 219-240. 5.

10. Bandyopadhyay, D. (2003). ‘On the Characterization of Human Capital Distribution: An Empirical Study,’ Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference, 112, pages 213-220. [ABDC Rank: A*]

11. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Basu P. (2001). ‘Optimal Capital Tax in a Growth Model with Discrete Occupational Choice,’ Australian Economic Papers, 40, pages 111-132.

12. Bandyopadhyay, D. (2001). ‘Industry Premium: What We Know and What the New Zealand Data Say,’ New Zealand Economic Papers, 35, pages 53-76.

Books:

13. MANKIW, N. G., BANDYOPADHYAY, D. and P. Wooding. (2009).  ‘PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS IN ZEALAND,’ (2nd edition), ISBN 9780170182089, Melbourne, Australia, Cengage Learning Australia, p1-387.

14. MANKIW, N. G., BANDYOPADHYAY, D. and P. Wooding. (2006). ‘PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS IN ZEALAND,’ ISBN 0170130061, Melbourne, Australia, Thomson Learning, p1-536.

Sections in books:

15. Bandyopadhyay, D. (2005) “Financial Development and Economic Growth: The APEC Experience,’ in Chatterjee, M. and Gangopadhyay, P. (eds) Globalisation and Economic Reform, Hampshire, Ashgate Publishing House.

Papers in Refereed Conference Proceedings:

16. Bandyopadhyay, D. (2000). “Accounting for Cross-Country Disparities of Per Capita Income: A Surprising Finding,” paper presented paper presented upon receiving invitation from the prestigious International Conference on Economic Growth held between 17-19 December 2000, at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan.

17. Bandyopadhyay, D. (1998). Tracing the Productivity Potential of New Zealand in Its Underlying Distribution of Human Capital, Draft Report prepared for the Department of Labour, Treasury and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 70 pages.

18. Bandyopadhyay, D. (1997). “Distribution of Human Capital and Economic Growth,” in Bardsley Peter and Martin, Vance, L. edited Refereed Conference Proceedings of the Econometric Society’s Australasian Meeting, held in Melbourne between 2nd and 4th July 1997, Volume 1, pages 29-62.

19. Bandyopadhyay, D. (1996). “Popularity Contest in Macroeconomics: Some Findings from the Econ-Lit,” in Schworm, McLeer and Miller edited Refereed Conference Proceedings of the Econometric Society’s Australasian Meeting, held in Perth, Australia 10-12th July 1996, Volume 3, pages 355-367.

Reviews and comments:

20. Bandyopadhyay, D. (1998). “Economic Puzzles,” Brian Easton, In Stormy Seas: Post-War New Zealand Economy Review in the Listener Magazine of New Zealand, March 7 issue, page 48.

Technical reports:

21. Bandyopadhyay, D. (2004). “How Financial Development with FDI Caused Economic Growth in the APEC?,” Working Paper No. 257, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland, 24 pages.

22. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Basu, P. (2002). “What Drives the Cross-Country Growth and Inequality Correlation?,” Working Paper No. 243, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland, 33 pages.

23. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Basu P. (2000). “The Growth-Inequality Relationship in a Model with Discrete Occupational Choice and Redistributive Tax,” Working Paper No. 203, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland, 37 pages, paper presented at the 8th World Congress of the Econometric Society held between 11 and 16 August 2000 in Seattle, WA, USA.

24. Bandyopadhyay, D. (2000). “Network Capital and A Competitive Theory of Industry Premium As Returns to Human Capital Distribution,” paper presented at the Economics Department of the University of Waikato, 10 May 2000.

25. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Yu, J. (1999). “Do Topics Diffuse from Core to Periphery Journals,” Working Paper No. 197, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland, 11 pages.

26. Bandyopadhyay, D., Lahiri, P,4. and Yu (1999). “On a New Measure of Human Capital and Its Impact on the Gross Domestic Product,” Working Paper No. 196, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland, 22 pages.

27. Bandyopadhyay, D. (1998). “Financial Development and Growth: Can The APEC Experience Offer A Lesson For East Asia?” Working Paper No. 174, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland, 21 pages.

Other Works:

28. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Hunter, G. (1998). “Examining the Optimality of the Targeted Inflation Rate in New Zealand in a Growth Model with Valued Fiat Currency,”  mimeo, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland, 17 pages.

29. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Chung, M. C. (1997). “Role of Social Security in Explaining the Rate of Saving Disparity: A Study of New Zealand versus Singapore,” mimeo, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland, 36 pages.

Current Topics for PhD Supervision

1.

Research Based Teaching Materials

1. 2000. Bandyopadhyay, D. “616.211SC Intermediate Macroeconomics Coursebook,” Lectures on Alternative Models of Macroeconomics with Special Reference to Australasia. Economics Department, University of Auckland, Archive No: 2124, 144 pages.
2. 2000. Bandyopadhyay, D. “Coursebook for 616.311SC Macroeconomic Theories & Policy,” Lectures on Advanced Macroeconomic Theories and their Applications to the Recent Macroeconomic Policy Debates in New Zealand. Economics Department, University of Auckland, Archive No: 2116, 117 pages.
3. 1998. Bandyopadhyay, D. and Razjigaev, I1. “MACROEconomics,” A Computer Software Package Illustrating Numerical Simulation Exercises to Link Macroeconomic Theories and Data, Economics Department, University of Auckland, contains 8 Problem Sets.

Postgraduate Supervision and Placement Record (1997 – 2004)

• Binning, Andrew: Endogenous Growth without Patents, MCom(Diss), 2004, (Placement: Reserve Bank of New Zealand).
• Leung, Christina: Relative Contribution of Trade and Migration to the Recent Increase in Wage Inequality in New Zealand, BCom(Hons), 2004, (Placement: Reserve Bank of New Zealand).
• Wang, Alice Yue: Equity-Efficiency Trade-Off: Options for the New Zealand Pension Scheme, BCom(Hons), 2004, (Placement: New Zealand Institute of Economic Research).
• Miao, Guannan: International Transmission of Productivity Shocks and the Dynamics of Trade Balances, BCom(Hons), 2004.
• Ng, Jeremy: Estimating TFP Growth in New Zealand, BCom(Hons), 2004.
• Kamiryo, Hide: Furthering the Role of Corporate Finance in Economic Growth, PhD (jointly with Prof. Bryce Hool), 2004 (Placement: Business School, Hiroshima Shudo University, Japan).
• Yupawan Sotthikunrat: “Feldstein-Horioka puzzle and capital mobility in ASEAN economies,” MCom(Diss), 2003 (Placement: United Nations, Bangkok, Thailand).
• Raddich, Matthew: “Mitigating the Brain-Drain from New Zealand with Education Policy,” BCom(Diss), 2003.
• Binning, Andrew: “Migration and the Exchange Rate in a General Equilibrium Model: New Zealand’s Experience,” BCom(Diss), 2003.
• Roberts, Sol: How Inequality Affects Growth, BCom(Hons), 2000, (Placement: Ministry of Economic Development, NZ Govt.).
• Chung, Shiu-Kar: A Small Open Economy Model of New Zealand’s Current Account, MCom, 2000, (jointly with A/Prof. Ian King).
• Elwela, C.Darshana: What do we know about why some countries are rich and others are poor?, Bcom(Hons), 1999, (Placement: Inland Revenue, NZ Govt.).
• Yeung, Mable: How Monetary Policy Affects Growth In New Zealand, Bcom(Hons), 1999 (jointly with Prof. Bryce Hool).
• Lee, Jane: Borrowing Constraint, Distribution of Human Capital and Economic Growth, BCom(Hons), 1998, (Placement: Graduate Study in U of Chicago, Business School).
• Hunter, Gaylene: Economic Growth with A Neoclassical Phillips Curve, MCom(Thesis), 1998, (Placement: Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Economics Department).
• Cheung, Joyce: Financial Development and Economic Growth, MCom (Thesis), 1997.
• Ho Ka Wai Vivian: Distribution of Human Capital: A Cross-country Analysis, MCom (Thesis), 1997.
• Downing, Richard: Intra-Industry Wage Structure in NZ Bcom (Hons), 1996, (Ministry of Labour, NZ Govt.).
• Grant, Damien: Rational Expectation Hypothesis and the Macroeconomic Policy Debates, BCom(Hons), 1995.
• Chung, M. Vera: Sources of Rate of Saving Disparity among Countries: Public Institutions and Private Incentives, MCom (Thesis), 1997.

Conference Participation (2000-2003)

• The North American Winter Meetings of the Econometric Society, Washington, D.C., (Jan 2-4, 2003).
• Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, Atlanta, GA, (Jan 4-6, 2002).
• Minnesota Macro Workshop, Minneapolis, MN, (July 31-Aug 4, 2001; July 31-Aug 4, 2000).
• NBER Summer Institute on Income Distribution and Macroeconomics, Boston, MA (July 23-27, 2001; July 24-28, 2000).
• Econometric Society’s Australasian Meeting, Auckland, NZ (July 5-8, 2001).
• Young Scholar’s Workshop on Economic Growth, Hamilton, NZ (July 8-10, 2001).
• Society for Economic Dynamics and Control Annual Meeting, Stockholm, Sweden, (June 27-30, 2001).
• World Congress of the Econometric Society, Seattle, WA, (August 11-16, 2000).
• Macroeconomic Study Group of Australasia Annual Meeting, Brisbane, AUS (April 28-30, 2000).
• Midwest Macro Conference, University of Iowa, Iowa City, (April 14-15, 2000).
• Taipei International Conference on Economic Growth, Academia Sincinia, Taipe, Taiwan, (December 17-19, 1999).

Other contributions to University, Profession, Community

• Founding Organiser of the Southern Workshop In Macroeconomics (SWIM) : 2004 –
• Refereed for Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Macroeconomics, Journal of Economic Surveys, New Zealand Economic Papers, PGSF, Longman Paul.
• External Moderator for Macroeconomics, Waikato Polytech.
• Served as an External Examiner for a number of Masters and PhD Theses from various universities in New Zealand.
• Member of the International Economics Group, the Centre for Asian Studies of the University of Auckland and ECSA-NZ.

He is also listed in the Alumni Directory from the Department of Economics at University of Minnesota.