Professor Sanjit Dhami
Professor of Economics
Fellow CESifo, LMU, Munich
Fellow Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel
Contact details:
- Tel: +44 (0)116 252 2086
- Email: sd106@le.ac.uk
- Office: Room 0.20, Teaching Centre, Brookfield
- Office hours: Tuesday 12.00 noon - 2.00 pm
Personal details
I hold a Masters and PhD in Economics (1997) from the University of Toronto, Canada and an MPhil from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India.
Before coming to Leicester in 2003, I worked at the University of Essex and Newcastle University for six years. My most recent research is largely in theoretical foundations of Behavioural Economics as well as its applications, jointly with my colleague Professor Ali al-Nowaihi.
My book 'Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis' was published by Oxford University Press in November 2016. This book is currently being published in seven volumes:
Published in 2019:
- Volume 1: Behavioral Decision Theory
- Volume 2: Other Regarding Preferences
- Volume 3: Behavioral Time Discounting
- Volume 4: Behavioral Game Theory
To be published in December 2019:
- Volume 5: Bounded Rationality
- Volume 6: Behavioral Models of Learning
To be published in March 2020:
- Volume 7: Topics in Behavioral Economics
Relative to the 2016 book, the seven volumes correct errors and typos, clarify the material in many places, improve readability, and update the material to bring it up to date in a separate chapter on guide to further reading. Selected endorsements for the book:
"The Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis is a masterpiece. It covers the whole field of behavioral economics. And it is also an easy read, as beautiful examples throughout lead readers to appreciate behavioral decisions from the perspective of their own lifetime experience." George A. Akerlof, Daniel E. Koshland, Sr. Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of California at Berkeley and 2001 Nobel laureate in economics
"The publication of this book is a landmark occasion for the field of behavioural economics. Until now there has been no comprehensive survey of the field suitable for graduate students. Professor Dhami has thoroughly and rigorously filled that gap. The book will be placed in a handy place in my office since I plan to consult it regularly" Richard H. Thaler, Charles R Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Behavioral Science and 2017 Nobel Laureate in Economics, University of Chicago.
"For someone, like myself, who started by being ignorant of the richness of the conversation within behavioral economics on a variety of issues, this magisterial volume is the ideal introduction, at once lucid and sophisticated." Abhijit V. Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, M.I.T., and 2019 Nobel Laureate in Economics
You can view videos from my Book Launch event on YouTube. The Book Errata file can be found here.
Read a full list of my Publications.
Awards and distinctions
- Included in Marquis Who's Who in the World
- Included in Marquis Who's Who in Science and Engineering in the World
- Winner of Commonwealth scholarship for a PhD
- Gold Medallist and distinction in MSc Honours in Economics with new University record
- Gold Medallist and distinction in BSc Honours in Economics
- University of Toronto Open Scholarship and International fee waiver
- University merit scholarship in MSc and BSc honours in economics
- UGC research fellowship, GOI
Recent Invited Seminars
Oxford University, University College London, Zurich, Munich, Tilburg, Cambridge, Nottingham, Kiel, Innsbruck, Cologne, Max Planck Institute, Bergen, St Andrews, University of East Anglia.
Teaching
- EC3089 Behavioural Economics
- EC7094: Behavioural Finance
- PhD Workshops in Behavioural Economics
Research
My main area of research is Behavioural Economics, which is the interface of psychology, economics, sociology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and anthropology. The main focus of my work in the past has mainly been in addressing theoretical questions in several areas in behavioural economics; this includes behavioural decision theory, behavioural game theory, behavioural time discounting, and social preferences. In current work, I use a mix of behavioural economic theory and experiments to address both theoretical and applied issues in behavioural economics.
Publications
Recent publications
(2019) The Behavioral Foundations of New Economic Thinking (with Eric Beinhocker). INET Oxford Working Paper.
(2019) Quantum decision theory, bounded rationality and the Ellsberg paradox. Studies in Microeconomics, special issue on Behavioral and Experimental Economics in Practice. Volume 7, Issue 1: 110-139. (joint with Ali al-Nowaihi and Mengxing Wei).
(2019) Heuristics and Public Policy: Decision Making Under Bounded Rationality. Discussion Paper No. 06/2018, Harvard Law School, John M. Olin Centre for Law, Economics and Business. (with Ali al-Nowaihi and Cass Sunstein) also published in Studies in Microeconomics, special issue on Behavioral and Experimental Economics in Practice.Volume 7, Issue 1: 7-58.
(2019) Public goods games and psychological utility: Theory and evidence. Forthcoming in the special issue on Psychological Game Theory in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. (with Menging Wei and Ali al-Nowaihi).
(2019) Human Ethicality: Evidence and Insights from Behavioral Economics. Handbook of Ethics and Economics. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
(2019) Behavioral economics and rationality. Forthcoming in Handbook of Rationality. MIT Press: Massachusetts.
(2018) Behavioural Economics and the theory of crime, punishment and litigation. In The Research Handbook on Behavioural Law and Economics. Edited by Joshua Teitelbaum and Kathryn Zeiler. Edward Elgar. ISBN: 1849805679 (with Ali al-Nowaihi).
