Rate My Professor Lakshmi Iyer

Lakshmi Iyer is Professor of Economics and Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, holding joint appointments in the Department of Economics and the Keough School of Global Affairs. A prominent scholar in Business & Economics, her primary research fields are development economics and political economy. She examines the impact of historical and current institutions on economic and human development, including colonial legacies, property rights, democratization, decentralization, and women’s political participation, with fieldwork in India, Nepal, Vietnam, China, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Iyer earned her Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003, Master of Statistics (Quantitative Economics specialization) from the Indian Statistical Institute in 1997, and Bachelor of Statistics (Honours) from the same institution in 1995. She joined Notre Dame in 2016 as Associate Professor, advancing to full Professor, and previously served as Assistant and Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School from 2003 to 2016. Additional roles include visiting faculty at Northwestern University, researcher at Boston University’s Institute for Economic Development, visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund, and consultant for the World Bank.

Iyer’s publications appear in leading economics journals. Key works include “History, Institutions and Economic Performance: The Legacy of Colonial Land Tenure Systems in India” (American Economic Review, 2005, with Abhijit Banerjee), recipient of the Michael Wallerstein Award for best political economy article; “Direct versus Indirect Colonial Rule in India: Long-term Consequences” (Review of Economics and Statistics, 2010); “The Power of Political Voice: Women’s Political Representation and Crime in India” (American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2012, with Anandi Mani, Prachi Mishra, and Petia Topalova); “Leader Identity and Coordination” (Review of Economics and Statistics, 2023, with Sonia Bhalotra, Irma Clots-Figueras, and Joseph Vecci); and “The Colonial Legacy in India: How Persistent are the Effects of Historical Institutions?” (Journal of Development Economics, 2025, with Coleson Weir). Recent contributions address property rights and women’s agency in Myanmar (Journal of Politics, 2026) and administrative decentralization (Economic Journal, forthcoming). She directs the Building Inclusive Growth Lab, leads the Representation of Women Lab and Innovating Green Pathways to Prosperity, and holds fellowships at IZA and BREAD. Awards include Notre Dame All-Faculty Team (2025), Excellence in MGA Teaching Award (2025), Dean’s Faculty Recognition Award (2019), and Marvin Bower Fellow at Harvard Business School (2011-2013). Iyer teaches undergraduate, master’s, and Ph.D. courses and serves on the editorial board of Ideas for India.