Dr. Chandan Jha's research focuses on various issues with important social and policy implications. What determines striking differences in gender norms across different societies? Why are women much better off in some countries than others? Chandan’s research delves into the historical factors that shaped gender norms in antiquity and continue to impact women’s wellbeing even today due to the persistence of cultural norms. Some of the factors responsible for this phenomena that he and his co-authors have discovered include the ancestral ecological endowments and the availability of arable land in antiquity. Chandan’s research shows that societies with abundant resources and greater availability of arable land in antiquity developed more equal gender norms that continue to persist and determine women’s wellbeing to date. His research also explores the consequences of women’s empowerment by showing that a greater representation of women in national and local governments is negatively associated with corruption.
The second strain of Chandan’s research focuses on the effects of culture and institutions on economic and democratic outcomes. What are the causes and consequences of corruption and how can we fight it? His research shows a significant association between cultural dimensions of individualism/collectivism and corruption. He and his co-authors show that social media usage is negatively associated with corruption and positively associated with democracy. In other papers, he and co-authors study what factors determine the likelihood that a firm will be asked for a bribe, and what determines an individual’s likelihood of condoning corruption by his/her preferred political party. His research also shows that the prevalence of corruption is associated with greater stock price volatility.
More recently, his research underscores the important link between finance and development outcomes. His works show that financial reforms lower corruption and promote entrepreneurship. His research also documents the consequences of municipal defaults by showing that crimes rates rise after municipalities file for bankruptcy.
About Dr. Chandan Jha:
Chandan is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Madden School of Business, Le Moyne College. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. from Louisiana State University. His research interests lie in the areas of economic growth and development, political economy, and finance and development. His research has received media attention from around the world. Dr. Jha has taught several courses at Le Moyne including Managerial Finance, Investments, Financial Institutions and Capital Markets, Economics for Managers, Global Economic Issues, Economics of Financial Markets, and Principles of Macroeconomics.
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Finance at Le Moyne College
Madden School of Business