Ishita Chatterjee

Ishita Chatterjee is a Senior Lecturer in the Economics Program at the UWA Business School, University of Western Australia (UWA), since 2010. She holds a PhD from Monash University and has expertise in applied microeconomics, focusing on industrial organization, development economics, and gender issues. She serves on key committees including the UWA Coursework Scholarships Committee (2023–2025), and previously on the UWA Business School Research Committee (2014–2018). Her research addresses topics like human capital development, corruption, public school policies, and wellbeing of women and children. She has supervised numerous PhD, Honours, and Masters students and has received grants including the UWA Futures Fund and UWA Research Collaboration Award.

Education:

• PhD, Competition, Commercial Piracy and Innovation, Monash University (2010)
• MPhil, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (2006)
• MA, Jawaharlal Nehru University (2002)
• BSc, Presidency University, Kolkata (2000)

Research Interests: Her work spans applied microeconomics, industrial organization, development economics, and gender-focused issues. Current projects include studies on crime/corruption, public school investments in India, and the impact of air pollution on altruistic behavior in China/India. She collaborates internationally with institutions like Saint Mary’s University (Canada) and the Central University of Finance and Economics (China).

Recent Research Trends: Her publications analyze policy impacts on education, gender dynamics in family decision-making, and environmental influences on social behavior. Recent work highlights the role of institutions in addressing corruption and the effects of public policy on educational access and outcomes.

Awards:

• UWA Business School & BHP Billiton Distinguished Research Awards (2017)
• Ahern Early Career Researcher Application Incentive Award (2015)
• Multiple UWA Research Development Awards (2014, 2011)

Supervision & Grants: Supervised 5 PhD completions and numerous Honours/Masters students. Secured grants including UWA Futures Fund Small Grants (2022, 2021) and the UWA Research Collaboration Award (2022). Her work contributes to UN SDGs related to quality education and gender equality.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with the Australia-India Institute as an Honorary Fellow and co-leads projects with global partners on corruption, education, and demographic economics.