Kaushik Basu is Professor of Economics and Carl Marks Professor at Cornell University. He was the Chief Economist of the World Bank, 2012-16, and Chief Economic Adviser to the Indian Government, 2009-2012.

Basu received his PhD and M.Sc (Econ) from the London School of Economics and BA (Hons) from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society and received honorary doctorates from several institutes and universities, including IIT Bombay and the University of Bath, U.K. He is recipient of the Humboldt Research Award 2021.

He has published widely in development economics, industrial organization and game theory. He has authored several books, including The Republic of Beliefs: A New Approach to Law and Economics (Princeton University Press, 2018). His works have been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Polish and French. Professor Basu has contributed popular articles to magazines and newspapers, such as The New York Times, Scientific American, and BBC News Online.
In 2008 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, by the President of India. Kaushik Basu has held visiting positions at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, Harvard University, Princeton University and M.I.T..