Biography:

 I am a Full Professor in the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate at the College of Business, California State University (CSU), Sacramento. I previously taught at the CSU, Fullerton, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, Kent State, and The Ohio State Universities.

 

I received advanced training in spatial econometrics from the Spatial Econometrics Association (SEA) summer workshop (2021), quantitative methods at the University of Michigan, ICPSR summer program (2017 and 2019). Before that, I received my doctorate from THE Ohio State University in Geography with a concentration in quantitative methods and regional economic analysis. I received my master's degrees in urban planning and economics from the University of Akron (Ohio) and Punjab University (India) respectively. My undergraduate education is in economics (Hons.) and mathematics (Minor) from the University of Delhi (India).

 

I grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo (near Toronto, Canada) in the early 1970s. My father was a Commonwealth scholar at the University of Waterloo. Upon my return to India, I spent my teenage through college years in Delhi (India) where I received a 10+2 education from St. Xavier's High School, Delhi (Business Studies).  I was raised in an academician's home surrounded by books and research papers. The atmosphere in my home revolved around discussion, debate, research, critical thinking, and higher education in social sciences. Visitors at my house were often students and faculty from cognate disciplines.

 

My current research focuses on the economic complexity and regional inequality in developing nations, empirics of new economic geography models, and identification, and measurement of regional economic structure in India and Chile utilizing the fundamental economic structure (FES) approach. My research interests are in the areas of the relationship between public debt and regional inequality, spatial growth, economic complexity, and regional structural change, the regional economic performance of nations, spatial dynamics of income inequality, and national and regional innovation systems. My research utilizes regional science methodologies such as spatial statistics and spatial dynamics, regional input-output analysis, cross-entropy analysis, geographical information systems (GIS), and natural resource accounting. I am also interested in understanding uneven spatial development in developing nations utilizing neoclassical economics and regional political economy approaches. My epistemological foundation is grounded in the quotation:

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[“Space as separation leads to differentiation; differentiation leads to disequilibrium, which can be resolved by spatial interaction”.]

 

I am a member of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI), Western Regional Science Association, and Association of American Geographers (AAG). I have published in the journals: Région et Développement, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Asian Profile, GeoJournal, and Studies in Urban and Regional Planning. I have co-edited books and contributed book chapters that are published by Palgrave-Macmillian, Cambridge University Press, and Springer. Further, I have presented my research at the United Nations University (UNU)-World Institute of Development Economics Research (WIDER) in Helsinki and Regional Science Association meetings in North America and India. Recently, I presented at the World Congress of the Regional Science Association International meetings in Goa (India), Vancouver, and Montreal. I was a Visiting Research Fellow at The Ohio State University during the summer of 2022. Subsequently, I attended the 'Economic Fitness and Complexity' School at the United Nations University (UNU-MERIT) at Maastricht University (Summer 2024).

 

 I was awarded the Distinguished Service Award (2007), and Emerging Scholar Award (2011) by the Regional Development Planning Specialty Group (RDPSG). I was also awarded the Research and Creativity Award by the California State University Sacramento (2015-16).

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I have been influenced by scholars such as Edward Malecki and Randall Jackson (PhD Co-Advisors at The Ohio State), Geoffrey Hewings, the late Ashok Dutt, and my father the late Baleshwar Thakur.

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Areas of Teaching Interests:

Teaching: Data Analysis for Managers (Undergraduate), Managerial Statistical Analysis (Graduate), and Real Estate Analytics (undergraduate).

 

Research Interests:

• Spatial Statistics, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and Geographical Data Science

• Economic, Financial Geography, and Regional Science

• Technological Change and Regional Development

• Theory of Complex Spatial Economic Systems

• Natural Resources and Ecological Systems

• Regional Interests: India and the Asian Economy

 

Consulted:

• United Nations University (UNU)-World Institute of Development Economics Research (WIDER), Helsinki

• Department of Insurance, Sacramento, California