Karthik Muralidharan is the Tata Chancellor's Professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego.
Born and raised in India, he earned an A.B. in economics (summa cum laude) from Harvard,
an M.Phil. in economics from Cambridge (UK), and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.
He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER),
a Fellow and Board Member of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD),
a current affiliate and former Board member and co-chair of the Education program at the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL),
and an affiliate of several global research organizations and networks.
Prof. Muralidharan's primary research interests include development, public, and labor economics. Specific topics of interest include education, health, and social protection. His recent work has focused on state capacity and scaling evidence-based programs to improve human development.
He is a global TED speaker and the author of the book
Accelerating India’s Development: A State-Led Roadmap for Effective Governance
, which won the Crossword Book Award 2024 and the Gaja Capital Book Prize 2025.
He is also the Founder and Scientific Director of the
Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS),
a non-profit organization working with state governments in India to support governance reforms
to accelerate development.
