Tarun Khanna

Tarun Khanna is Professor at Harvard Business School and Director of the Lakshmi Mittal & Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University. His work bridges academic research with practical policy applications, focusing on entrepreneurship and economic development in emerging economies.

His research centers on entrepreneurship in developing countries, institutional infrastructure, and India's economic transformation. He examines how trust networks, mentorship ecosystems, and policy frameworks enable entrepreneurial activity in institutional voids. His work emphasizes grassroots innovation and the role of collective action in economic development.

• Author of Trust: Creating the Foundation for Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries (2018)
• Regular contributor to policy discussions with NITI Aayog and World Economic Forum
• Focus on private sector universities and higher education reform in India

Khanna actively engages with entrepreneurial ecosystems through ventures like AxilorVentures and maintains a newsletter on Substack exploring India's economic trajectory. His recent work analyzes the global future of higher education with emphasis on emerging market contexts.