Astha Sen is a Research Consultant at NCAER. She is an applied microeconomist specialising in experimental, public, and tax policy. She has over ten years of experience in teaching (as a tenure-track faculty member) across multiple universities, as well as in academic, public policy, and corporate research.

Prior to joining NCAER, she was a Senior Research Associate at the Public Finance Research Cluster Policy, a think tank housed in the Economics Department at Georgia State University, Atlanta, US. There, she contributed to various research projects and policy reports for local government departments, including those dealing with tax, labour, and education. She also worked on research handbooks and academic studies.

Her research spans tax analysis, policy evaluation, and business strategies, with publications in peer-reviewed journals, including a study on India’s subnational Value Added Tax, published in the National Tax Journal.

Astha has a doctorate in Economics from Georgia State University. In her empirical research, she employed causal inference methods, including laboratory experiments, difference-in-differences analysis, and the synthetic control method. She has also designed and administered survey questionnaires to address public and business policy issues.