Kadambari Shah was a Senior Associate at IDFC Institute. Her research focused on ease of doing business in India, special governance zones, and urban governance. Kadambari has a postgraduate degree in Economics and Finance from the Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics (MDAE), affiliated to the University of Mumbai, where her dissertation was titled, ‘Analysing Total Factor Productivity Growth as an Exit Strategy for the Middle-Income Trap’. Her research interests include macroeconomics, urbanisation, and interdisciplinary economics.

Kadambari graduated from St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Mumbai with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.), majoring in Economics and English Literature, with a minor in Anthropology. She was on the editorial board of several scholarly journals and has presented research papers on development issues ranging from economic growth versus development in Cuba to the role of race and gender in electoral politics. She has participated in international academic conferences at Harvard University, USA and the University of Stuttgart, Germany. She was awarded the St. Xavier’s College Golden Jubilee Scholarship for excellence in academics, extra-, and co-curricular activities, and was the top ranker in English Literature in the B.A. programme.