Manasi Bera is an applied development economist working at the intersection of labour economics, gender and caste identity, and technological change in developing economies. Her research investigates how mobility constraints, social identity, human capital, and technology adoption shape labour market outcomes, productivity, and inequality. Her work contributes to broader debates on inclusive growth and the micro-foundations of inequality, with a regional focus on South Asia and India. Methodologically, she employs quasi-experimental approaches using large-scale survey data, including household, firm-level, and time-use datasets.
She received her PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, with fellowship support from the University Grants Commission (Government of India). She holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of Calcutta and an M.Phil. from the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata.
Before joining South Asian University in 2025, she taught at XIM University, Bhubaneswar, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati. She was awarded the Sanjay Thakur Young Labour Economist Award by the Indian Society of Labour Economics.
