Labour Economy Development

Jayan Jose Thomas is a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, where he has been employed since July 2010. Jayan was also a Member of the State Planning Board, Government of Kerala, during the period 2016-2021.

Research and teaching interests:

Jayan has tried to address development problems in his research, particularly those related to labour and industrialization, from a macroeconomic perspective. Indian economy, issues in international development, and macroeconomic theory have been among his core research and teaching interests over the years.

Academic background and previous positions:

Jayan holds a PhD in Development Economics, which he completed at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, in 2005, and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Kerala University (1995). His previous academic positions included the National University of Singapore (2004-2008 and 2014), Indian Statistical Institute — Kolkata (2008), Madras School of Economics (2008-2009), and Central University of Kerala (2009-2010).

On teaching:

Jayan has offered 35 courses over the last fifteen years at IIT Delhi, which have been attended by more than 2000 students, including undergraduates and graduates in economics, other social sciences, and engineering. He has taught courses at the National University of Singapore, the Madras School of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) and the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (2021 and 2022), as well as for the International Development Economics Associates (IDEAS) Programme on Research in Political Economy (2023).

Publications:

Jayan’s research papers have appeared in reputed journals including World Development, Development and Change, and Economic and Political Weekly. Two of his research papers have been included as part of the BA Honors Economics course of Delhi University. Jayan contributes regularly to media outlets including the Hindu, Mint, Frontline, Scroll, The India Forum, and BloombergQuint,and his research has been cited in the Government of India’s Economic Survey, Times of India, NDTV, BBC, New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

PhD supervision:

Jayan has been supervising (has supervised) doctoral research carried out by thirteen PhD candidates at IIT Delhi. Five of them have already received their degrees; one candidate is close to defending her thesis; while seven other candidates are at various stages of completing their research.

Research projects and collaborations:

Jayan has completed research or consultancy projects or received fellowships from the following institutions:  United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) (2018-2020), International Labour Organization (2017-2018), Azim Premji University (2017 and 2022-24), Ashoka University (2020-2021), Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) (2013-14)

Current research and teaching:

As part of an ongoing research on inter-state migration of workers in India, Jayan and a few of his colleagues have completed (during May – July 2022) a survey of close to 400 migrant workers in different locations across India: Ludhiana (Punjab), Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), and Kochi and Kozhikode (in Kerala). He has received funding from Azim Premji University for this project. Earlier (2021), Jayan had completed a project titled ‘Labour and Industrialization: Can India and China learn from each other?’. He is currently teaching courses on Macroeconomics, Macro Development Economics, Political Economy of Development and Distribution and Growth.