Akhila Kovvuri
Graduate Student Fellowship | 2024–2025 Academic Year
Navigating Spatial and Social Barriers to Female Employment in India
I study how spatial distribution of employment opportunities and ensuing change in norms influence female employment in India. The chapters of my dissertation are interconnected explorations in this space, with the first studying the effect of industrial policy and firm agglomeration on female employment, the second studying the role of safety and public transportation in increasing mobility and demand for female workers, and the third looking into peer effects and social signaling in women’s work decisions.
Akhila Kovvuri, Department of Economics
Akhila Kovvuri is a PhD candidate in economics at Stanford University. Her areas of interest are development economics, labor economics, and political economy. She is particularly interested in how spatial nature of economic activity and public infrastructure influence female employment in India. Prior to coming to Stanford, Kovvuri worked as a research analyst at Northwestern University and in the field in India and Ghana. She holds a BA in economics from Dartmouth College.