Research
How organizations adapt when the rules of the game are unclear or shifting.
My research integrates institutional and behavioral strategy theory with quantitative methods to understand how firms and organizations develop competitive advantage amid institutional uncertainty and policy complexity. Current work explores how strategic decision-making frameworks explain behavioral outcomes in political organizations and hybrid institutions in emerging markets.
Research themes
Three lines of inquiry.
Institutional Strategy
How firms read and respond to changing rules, norms, and regulation — particularly in emerging market and cross-border contexts where institutional frameworks are contested or rapidly evolving. I'm interested in the strategies organizations deploy to manage institutional distance and ambiguity.
Behavioral Strategy
How bounded rationality, cognitive biases, and incentive structures shape the decisions organizations and their leaders make under genuine uncertainty. The intersection with institutional theory — how cognition and context interact — is where I find the most tractable and interesting questions.
Quantitative Methods
Causal inference, econometric modeling, panel data analysis, and simulation. My applied background — pricing econometrics, credit risk modeling, electoral data analysis — means I bring field-level familiarity to the methodological choices, not just textbook facility.
Works in progress & papers
Current and completed work.
Strategic Behavior and Electoral Competition: Evidence from Field Campaigns
Empirical analysis linking voter-data segmentation with behavioral-strategy theory. Uses booth-level electoral data, Census demographics, and field-survey data to test hypotheses about how organizations adapt strategy under shifting competitive rules.
Innovation and Institutional Adaptation in Agri-Value Chains
Field-based cost-benefit modeling of sustainability strategy in Kerala's agricultural sector. Examines how institutional incentive structures (subsidy mechanisms, priority-sector norms) shape organizational adaptation decisions.
Pricing and Competitive Dynamics in Specialty Carbons
Quantitative study of cost-driver volatility and strategic pricing under uncertainty. Regression-based and game-theoretic analysis of how firms in commodity-adjacent markets maintain margin under input-price shocks.
Economic Vulnerability and Rural Distress: A Study of Farmer Suicides in Vidarbha
UGC National Seminar, St Dominic College. Policy analysis of agrarian distress, institutional failure, and behavioral response.
The Economic Impact of Male Migration on Women Left Behind in Kerala
UGC National Seminar, Alphonsa College Pala. Econometric analysis of remittance-economy household dynamics.
Industrial Competitiveness in the Indian Tyre Sector
MA Research Project, Centre for Development Studies (JNU). Regression models using World Bank and CMIE data to examine productivity and cost structure.
Post-Disaster Economic Recovery and Strategic Resilience
Kerala State Planning Board. Field surveys and econometric models estimating recovery efficiency after the 2018 Kerala floods.
With Prof. Jayaseelan Raj, King's College London.
Competitiveness and Innovation in India's Coffee Sector
Ministry of Commerce / Coffee Board of India. Primary data from 200 growers; competitiveness and market-linkage strategy for smallholder plantations.
With Prof. K.J. Joseph, Gulati Institute of Finance & Taxation.
Methods & training
How I approach empirical work.
Econometrics & Causal Inference
Panel data, regression modeling, impact evaluation design. Training at CDS/JNU and MNNIT Allahabad (GIAN course under MHRD); applied through pricing models, credit risk simulation, and field survey econometrics.
Simulation & Scenario Analysis
Monte Carlo methods, game-theoretic scenario modeling, sensitivity analysis. Built and used in credit risk (Neste), pricing strategy (VAS Carbons), and cold-chain financial feasibility (Agri Nova).
Qualitative & Mixed Methods
Field survey design, qualitative coding (NVivo), policy evaluation. Deployed in Kerala Planning Board recovery study, Coffee Board research, and electoral field research.
Visualization & Data Infrastructure
R, Python, Stata, SPSS, Power BI, Tableau. Built operational dashboards at Neste and analytical frameworks at VAS Carbons; teach these tools at the undergraduate and graduate level.
Certifications & advanced training
Financial Markets (with Honors)
Yale University — Robert J. Shiller, 2024
Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC)
Bloomberg LP, 2024
GIAN — Econometric Techniques for Research
MNNIT Allahabad / MHRD, 2019
Methods for Impact Evaluation
Centre for Development Studies, 2018
Design & Evaluation of Innovation Policy
CDS & UNU-MERIT, 2018
Business Strategy Specialization
University of Virginia — Prof. Michael Lenox
Game Theory
Stanford University
Trading Algorithms
Indian School of Business