Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Department of Economics

Sonia Bhalotra

Sonia Bhalotra profile photo

Sonia Bhalotra

Professor

Research Affiliation

Contact details

Phone: +44 (0)24 765 28252
Email: Sonia dot Bhalotra at warwick dot ac dot uk
Room: S0.64
Advice and feedback hours: Please email me to book an appointment

Personal webpage and recent CV:

Personal websiteLink opens in a new window

Prof Sonia Bhalotra - CVLink opens in a new window

About me

I don't update this page often so please refer to my IZA page for papers and updated CV: https://www.iza.org/person/2905/sonia-r-bhalotraLink opens in a new window

I am an applied economist with research interests in the areas of skill creation, early childhood development and health (including mental health) and my work seeks to understand the role of the family and of the legal and political environment. A large fraction of my work has an emphasis on gender.

I have held appointments at the universities of Bristol, Cambridge and Essex. I am Fellow of the International Economics Association, the UK Academy of Social Sciences, CEPR London, IZA Bonn, IEPS Brazil and SFI Copenhagen. I obtained a BSc Honours in Economics at the University of Delhi and an MPhil and DPhil from the University of Oxford.

My current commitments include research under the following awards:

Research Interests

  • Labour and Econometrics
  • Development and History
  • Political Economy
Publications (last 5 years)
  1. Maternal mortality and women’s political participation. With D Clarke, J Gomes, A Venkataramani. Journal of the European Economic Association. Forthcoming.
  2. Leader Identity and Coordination. With I Clots-Figueras, L Iyer, J Vecci. The Review of Economics and Statistics. 6 January 2023, 105 (1): 175–189.
  3. Fertility, health endowments and returns to human capital: Quasi experimental evidence from 20th century America. With A Venkataramani, S Walther. Journal of the European Economic Association. Published online January 2023.
  4. Infant health, cognitive performance and earnings: Evidence from inception of the welfare state in Sweden. With M Karlsson, T Nilsson, N Schwarz. The Review of Economics and Statistics. Vol. 104 (6), 14 November 2022, 1138-1156.
  5. First and Second Generation Impacts of the Biafran War. With R Akresh, M Leone, U Osili. Journal of Human Resources. Forthcoming.
  6. The rise in women's labour force participation in Mexico: Supply vs demand factors. With M Fernandez. Conditionally accepted. World Bank Economic Review.
  7. On the quantity and quality of girls: New evidence on fertility and parental investments. With S Anukriti and HF Tam. The Economic Journal. Volume 132, Issue 641, January 2022.
  8. Urban water disinfection and mortality decline in lower-income countries. With A Díaz-Cayeros, A. Miranda, G Miller, A Venkataramani. American Economic Journal- Economic Policy. Nov 2021.
  9. Religion and abortion: The role of politician identity. With I Clots-Figueras and L Iyer. Journal of Development Economics. 153: 102746, November 2021.
  10. Intimate partner violence: The influence of job opportunities for men and women. With U Kambhampati, S Rawlings, Z Siddique. The World Bank Economic Review. Vol 35(2) 2021.
  11. Maternal depression, women's empowerment, and parental investment: Evidence from a randomized control trial. With V Baranov, P Biroli, J Maselko. American Economic Review, March 2020.
  12. The twin instrument: Fertility and human capital investment. With D Clarke. Journal of the European Economic Association, Issue 18-6, December 2020.
  13. The price of gold: Dowry and death in India. With A Chakravarty and S Gulesci. Journal of Development Economics, Volume 143, March 2020.
  14. Women’s inheritance rights and the preference for sons. With S Roy and R Brule. Journal of Development Economics, Vol 146, Issue C, August 2020, 102275.
  15. Twin births and maternal condition. With D Clarke. Review of Economics and Statistics, 2019.
  16. Property rights and gender bias: Evidence from land reform in West Bengal. With A Chakravarty, D Mookherjee, F Pino. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics; 11(2): 1-34, April 2019.
  17. Pathbreakers: Women’s electoral success and future political participation. With I Clots-Figueras and L Iyer. Economic Journal, Volume 128 (613), August 2018.
  18. Infant health and longevity: Evidence from a historical intervention in Sweden. With M Karlsson and T Nilsson. Journal of the European Economic Association, October 2017

Selected Recent Working Papers:

  1. Analysis of Twins. With D Clarke. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1428Link opens in a new window. September 2022.
  2. Maternal Investments in Children: The Role of Expected Effort and Returns. With A Delavande, P Font-Gilabert and J Maselko. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1423Link opens in a new window, August 2022
  3. The Distribution of the Gender Wage Gap. With M Fernandez-Sierra and F Wang. R&R, Journal of Political Economy. IZA Discussion Paper 11640. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1404Link opens in a new window, April 2022
  4. Dynamic Impacts of Lockdown on Domestic Violence: Evidence from Multiple Policy Shifts in Chile. With E Brito, D Clarke, P Larroulet and F Pino. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1392Link opens in a new window December 2021
  5. Health and Labor Market Impacts of Twin Birth: Evidence from a Swedish IVF Policy Mandate. With D Clarke, H Mühlrad, and M Palme. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1391Link opens in a new window December 2021
  6. Fertility and Labor Market Responses to Reductions in Mortality. With A Venkataramani and S Walther. R&R, Journal of the European Economic Association. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1388Link opens in a new window December 2021
  7. The Right to Health and the Health Effects of Denials. With M Fernandez. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1376Link opens in a new window October 2021
  8. Religion and abortion: The role of politician identity. With I Clots-Figueras and L Iyer. R&R, Journal of Development Economics. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1375Link opens in a new window September 2021
  9. Job Displacement, Unemployment Benefits and Domestic Violence. With D G C Britto, P Pinotti and B Sampaio. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1363Link opens in a new window July 2021
  10. Women Legislators and Economic Performance. With T Baskaran, B Min, Y Uppal. UNU-WIDER Helsinki WP 47/2018, April 2018. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1354Link opens in a new window April 2021
  11. Shadows of the Captain of the Men of Death: Early Life Health, Human Capital Investment and Institutions. Second R&R, Journal of Political Economy. With D Clarke A Venkataramani. Available on SSRN.
  12. Maternal Mortality and Women’s Political Participation. With D Clarke, J Gomes, A Venkataramani. R&R, Journal of Political Economy. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1353Link opens in a new window April 2021
  13. Leader Identity and Coordination. With I Clots-Figueras, L Iyer and J Vecci. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1350Link opens in a new window April 2021
  14. On the Quantity and Quality of Girls: Fertility, Parental Investments, and Mortality. With S Anukriti and E H F Tam. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1346Link opens in a new window April 2021
  15. Infant Health, Cognitive Performance and Earnings: Evidence from Inception of the Welfare State in Sweden. With M Karlsson, T Nilsson and N Schwarz. Warwick Economics Research Paper 1345Link opens in a new window April 2021
  16. Effects of a maternal psychosocial intervention on hair derived biomarkers of HPA axis function in mothers and children in rural Pakistan. With V Baranov, A. Frost et al. R&R, Psychoneuroendocrinology.
  17. Evaluation of Walk-In Centres on Hospital Performance and Population Health Outcomes: Evidence from administrative geocoded data for Rio. With L Nunes, Rudi Rocha. IZA WP 13992, Dec 2020
  18. The Impact of a Personalised Blood Pressure Warning on Health Behaviours. With A Delavande, P Fisher, J James. ISER WP 2020-02, February 2020.