India at the Crossroads of Global Trade

In partnership with Penn Department of Economics, Wharton Department of Business Economics and Public Policy, and Perry World House

Amit Khandelwal
Dong-Soo Hahn Professor of Global Affairs and Economics, Yale University

In discussion with:
Vishal Mahadevia
Managing Director, Head of Asia Private Equity, and Global Co-Head of Financial Services, Warburg Pincus; Co-Chair, CASI IAB

Regina Abrami
Chang Sun Term Professor and Faculty Director of the Global Program and Strategic Initiatives, Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies, University of Pennsylvania

AN IN-PERSON ONLY EVENT

About the Lecture:
In 1991, India broke from decades of protectionism by reducing import tariffs and enacting sweeping market-oriented reforms. A quarter-century later, the very trading system that made that opening possible has begun to fracture. Rising geopolitical rivalry and anti-trade sentiment across advanced economies are redrawing who they trade with, and on what terms. This talk examines how India's early liberalization transformed its trade and the performance of its corporate sector, and what this new era of rising protectionism means for India at this turning point. Can Indian companies capitalize on the U.S.-China rupture? The evidence suggests India has so far only partly seized the moment, a sign that further domestic reforms are needed to capitalize on global disruption into durable growth at home. Drawing on recent research, the talk develops a framework for understanding which kinds of reforms could improve the competitiveness of Indian firms in export markets.

About the Speaker:
Amit Khandelwal is Dong-Soo Hahn Professor of Global Affairs and Economics at Yale University. He holds affiliations at the National Bureau of Economic Research and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. He was previously the Jerome Chazen Professor of Global Business and Chair of the Economics Division at Columbia Business School. From 2011-16, he was an Editor of The Review of Economics and Statistics. Khandelwal’s research examines the link between international trade and economic development, particularly focusing on firms. He has studied how trade reforms in China and India affected firms’ participation in global markets and their underlying productivity. He has implemented randomized trials that explore the causal impacts of trade, foreign investment, and technology adoption in Egypt, Myanmar, and Pakistan. In recent work, Khandelwal has analyzed the impacts of the US-China trade war. Khandelwal has a separate interest that explores using satellite imagery to measure economic activity. He teaches the core Global Economics course at the Jackson School of Global Affairs at Yale University. At Columbia, he taught courses in microeconomics, emerging markets, and seminars on the Indian, Chinese, and Myanmar economies.

to be followed by a discussion with

Regina Abrami is Chang Sun Term Professor and Faculty Director of the Global Program and Strategic Initiatives at the Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies, University of Pennsylvania. At Wharton, she teaches an award-winning course on the origins and geoeconomic impact of China’s rise and the globalization of Chinese business. At the Lauder Institute, her curriculum spans foresight strategy, the geopolitics of economic security, and political economy. Prof. Abrami previously served as the Faculty Director of Perry World House’s Graduate Associates Program (2022-2025) and head of The Lauder Institute’s International Studies faculty (2015-2021). Before Penn, she spent over a decade on the faculty of Harvard Business School, focused on China, government-business relations, and international economic topics. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Vishal Mahadevia is a Managing Director, Head of Asia Private Equity and Co-Head of Global Financial Services, and a member of the Executive Committee and Executive Management Group at Warburg Pincus. Vishal is also a Director of PVR INOX Limited, Apollo Tyres Limited and Topcast. He serves as Co-Chair of CASI's International Advisory Board, the Board of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, and the India Regional Board of Room to Read. He received a BS in Economics with a concentration in Finance and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.