Dr. Saravana Ravindran is an applied microeconomist with research interests in the economics of developing countries. His research focuses on the formation and movement of human capital. He has a keen interest in early childhood development programs, their direct and indirect impacts, and aggregate welfare consequences. He also studies challenges and potential policy solutions relating to migration, including mobile banking and digital financial services. His work has been published in journals including the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics and Journal of Public Economics.

His recent research on COVID-19 studies the effectiveness of government policies, such as lockdowns in South Asia, and their consequences on outcomes including violence against women. His work has received press coverage in media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, World Bank Development Impact Blog, The Hindu, The Indian Express (Front Page), India Today, Quartz India, Deccan Herald, and Livemint. Dr. Ravindran’s research has been funded by organisations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia.

Dr. Ravindran was born and raised in Singapore. He received his PhD in Economics from New York University in 2019 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles from 2019 - 2020. He also holds MSc Economics and BSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science.