Karna Basu

Dr. Karna Basu is an associate professor of economics at Hunter College and CUNY’s Graduate Center. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago from 2006 to 2009.

Dr. Basu’s research centers on the intersection of behavioral economics and development, with a particular focus on informal banking. His research has been published in journals such as the Oxford Economic Papers, Journal of Public Economic Theory, Journal of Development Economics and The New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Basu holds a BA from Yale University and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
• Yale University (BA)

• Basu, Karna. 2016. “A Behavioral Model of Simultaneous Borrowing and Saving.” Oxford Economic Papers, 68(4): 1166-1174.
• Basu, Karna, Kaushik Basu, and Tito Cordella. 2016. “Asymmetric Punishment as an Instrument of Corruption Control.” Journal of Public Economic Theory, 18(6): 831-856.
• Basu, Karna and Maisy Wong. 2015. “Evaluating Seasonal Food Storage and Credit Programs in East Indonesia.” Journal of Development Economics, 115: 200-216.
• Khullar, Dhruv, Dave Chokshi, Robert Kocher, Ashok Reddy, Karna Basu, Patrick Conway, and Rahul Rajkumar. 2015. “Behavioral Economics and Physician Compensation –Promise and Challenges.” The New England Journal of Medicine, 372: 2281-2283.
• Basu, Karna. 2014. “Commitment Savings in Informal Banking Markets.” Journal of Development Economics, 107: 97-111.
• Basu, Karna. 2011. “Hyperbolic Discounting and the Sustainability of Rotational Savings Arrangements.” American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 3(4): 143–71.