Prakhar Misra

Prakhar Misra is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in International Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University, where his research centers on the political economy of state capacity, bureaucracy, and public sector labor markets in India. With a background spanning public policy, economics, and hands-on experience in both research and policy implementation, Prakhar brings a multidisciplinary perspective to questions of governance and institutional effectiveness. 

Prakhar’s doctoral research investigates a central paradox in Indian governance: despite high demand and strong political incentives, the Indian bureaucracy remains persistently understaffed. His work explores how recruitment institutions, political patronage, and procedural constraints interact to shape staffing outcomes and, ultimately, state capacity. 

A key component of his research is a large-scale conjoint survey experiment with public sector job candidates in Maharashtra. This experiment uses a choice-based design to systematically examine how candidates evaluate trade-offs between job security, contract type (permanent vs. contractual), recruitment timelines, salary, and other job attributes. By presenting candidates with realistic, randomized job scenarios, the study uncovers the factors that most influence their willingness to wait for permanent positions or accept contractual roles. The experiment is complemented by a parallel survey of bureaucratic managers, allowing for a unique dual-sided analysis of both labor supply and demand in the public sector. 

By combining conceptual work on state capacity with empirical evidence from survey experiments and fieldwork, Prakhar’s research aims to inform the design of more effective recruitment institutions and policies. His broader goal is to help bridge the gap between academic theory and practical solutions for building stronger, more responsive states in India and beyond. 

You can know more about his work at: https://prakharmisra.com.