#  Gautam Rao 

Affiliate

Associate Professor of Business and Economics, UC Berkeley

 

 

 



   ![RAO](/sites/g/files/omnuum5006/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/2025-02/RAO.png?h=14a349b5&itok=aVV5HMFF) 

 



 

 email <grao@fas.harvard.edu> 

 



 

I work at the economics department at Harvard. My research is at the intersection of economics, psychology and sometimes medicine. I mostly study low and middle-income countries. Recent projects include studying how mixing rich and poor students in schools in India affects social preferences and behaviors, how citizens are motivated to vote by social image concerns, how improving sleep among the urban poor in India changes economic and behavioral outcomes, and how providing mayors in Brazil with research findings affects their beliefs and policy choices. Some fun facts about me: Each of my degrees is in an entirely different field (engineering, environmental science, and economics). I was nearly crushed to death by a falling blackboard the first time I taught a class. I sometimes dream of giving up the exciting life of a Harvard professor to play cricket for India.



 

 

 





 

 

- ## Interests
    
     [Business](/interests/business) [Economics](/interests/economics)
- ## Role
    
     [Senior Common Room](/role/senior-common-room) [Faculty](/role/faculty)