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PhD in Economics (Southern Methodist University)
Hi there! I'm an Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. I got my Ph.D. in Economics from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. My academic journey started in 2006 as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Louisiana Tech University. In 2010, I made the move to Australia and joined QUT.
My research covers a wide range of topics, from economic growth and inequality to health, education, financial choices, and the economics of epidemiology. I've had the privilege of publishing in top journals like Health Economics and Economic Inquiry.
I love exploring how behavioral economics intersects with health and human capital. My work looks at how individual behaviours and economic incentives impact health and education outcomes. I use a mix of econometric analysis, theoretical modeling, and experimental approaches to tackle issues like time allocation for education, health, labour, and fertility, as well as the economics of vaccines and epidemiology.
Lately, I've been using experimental methods to explore how behaviour influences health decisions and test-taking behaviours, with insights that inform health and education policies. During pandemics, I've focused on how behavioural and social incentives shape health decisions, creating frameworks to understand vaccine and testing demand dynamics.
I've also taken on several academic leadership roles at the School of Economics & Finance and the Faculty of Business and Law at QUT. On top of that, I'm an Academic Editor (Economics) at PLOS One and a regular contributor to Australian TV and news media.
Additional information
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology, School of Economics and Finance, 2022 – .
Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology, School of Economics and Finance, 2010 – 2022.
Assistant Professor, Louisiana Tech University, Department of Economics and Finance, Fall 2006 – Spring 2010.
Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Economics, Southern Methodist University, Fall 2004 – Spring 2006.
Economic Intern and Consultant, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Summer 2002 – Winter 2002.
Lecturer, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Fall 1998 – Fall 1999.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- The paper titled "What does attending early childhood program mean for child health in India?", co-authored with Dipanwita Sarkar and published in Health Economics (2017) has received the Best Paper Prize conferred by the Australian Health Economics Society in 2019. The paper was selected by an international team of reviewers from among all papers published in health economics during 2017-2018 by an Australasian author.
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Invited speaker at the 18th Annual North Eastern Economic Association (NEEA) Conference, University of Gauhati, India, Dec.15-17, 2016. The title of my talk was "Emerging Issues of Research in Economics".
- Type
- Other
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- The paper "What does attending early childhood program mean for child health in India?", published in Health Economics (2017) is included as a recommended reading in the PhD course "Microeconometrics" at Southern Methodist University, USA.
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Program Chair & Steering Committee Member, Workshop of the Australasian Macroeconomics Society (WAMS), joint with Laboratory for Aggregate Economics and Finance (LAEF), University of California Santa Barbara.I organised and hosted this annual event in Brisbane jointly with colleagues from University of Queensland and Griffith University.
- Type
- Assessor, Examiner or Supervisor Role
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Invited to be the external examiner for Masters in Research thesis, 2019.
- Sarkar, J., (2020). Occupational variation in the relationship between child health and family size. Health Economics, 29(1), 98–103.
- Nath, H. & Sarkar, J. (2019). Inflation and relative price variability: new evidence from survey-based measures of inflation expectations in Australia. Empirical Economics, 56(6), 2001–2024. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122864
- Schaffner, M., Sarkar, J., Torgler, B. & Dulleck, U. (2018). The implications of daylight saving time: A quasi-natural experiment on cognitive performance and risk taking behaviour. Economic Modelling, 70, 390–400. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/223251
- Sarkar, D. & Sarkar, J. (2017). What does attending early childhood program mean for child health in India? Health Economics (United Kingdom), 26(11), 1366–1379. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/109066
- Sarkar, J. & Sarkar, D. (2016). Why does child labour persist with declining poverty? Economic Inquiry, 54(1), 139–158. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/84967
- Park, J., Sarkar, D., Sarkar, J. & Yost, K. (2013). Business in troubled waters: Does adverse attitude affect firm value? Journal of Corporate Finance, 22, 221–235. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/61205
- Nath, H. & Sarkar, J. (2009). Unbiased estimation of the half-life to price index convergence among U.S. cities. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 41(5), 1041–1046. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/44483
- Osang, T. & Sarkar, J. (2008). Endogenous mortality, human capital and economic growth. Journal of Macroeconomics, 30(4), 1423–1445. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/44288
- Sarkar, J., (2008). Mortality, fertility, and persistent income inequality. Southern Economic Journal, 75(2), 332–350. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/45360
- Sarkar, J., (2007). Growth dynamics in a model of endogenous time preference. International Review of Economics and Finance, 16(4), 528–542. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/44568
- The Effects of Unconventional Monetary Policy on Inequality and Bank Lending
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Pedro Gomis-Porqueras, Dr Ruchith Dissanayake