Vivek Ghosal

Department Head of Economics and Virginia and Lloyd W. Rittenhouse Professor
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About

Dr. Ghosal is Professor and Department Head of Economics, and Virginia and Lloyd W. Rittenhouse Chaired Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences. He was the Acting Dean, School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, from January-July 2023. He is an Affiliated Faculty member at Rensselaer's Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS), and at the Institute for Data Exploration and Applications (IDEA).

Professor Ghosal's current research and policy interests include: (1) biopharmaceuticals markets focusing on innovation, pricing and FDA regulations; (2) Antitrust laws and enforcement; (3) big data, artificial intelligence and competition law and economics; (4) firm strategy related to innovation, M&As, and pricing; and (5) firms' decision-making under uncertainty. The courses he currently teaches include: (1) Economics of Biotechnology and Medical Innovations; and (2) Economics of Regulations and Firm Strategy.

Before joining Rensselaer in 2016, he was the Richard and Mary Inman Chaired Professor at the School of Economics at Georgia Institute of Technology. At Georgia Tech., he was the Director of the MS and PhD. programs from 2012-2016. Prior to his position at Georgia Tech., he was a Senior Economist at the Economic Analysis Group, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice (1998-2001). In this position, he worked on mergers and acquisitions, horizontal and vertical market power, tying agreements, joint ventures, regulatory reform, and innovation and efficiency. Some of the markets he investigated include electricity, nuclear fuel, natural gas, coal, information technology, radio broadcasting, oilfield drilling services, and postal.

Professor Ghosal has published two edited books: The Political Economy of Antitrust (Elsevier, 2007); and Reforming Rules and Regulations: Laws, Institutions and Implementation (MIT Press, 2010). He has published in peer-reviewed journals in Economics, Management, and Law & Economics, including: Review of Economics and Statistics; Journal of Law and Economics; Journal of Industrial Economics; International Journal of Industrial Organization; Research Policy; Small Business Economics; Managerial and Decision Economics; Business Strategy and the Environment; Journal of Competition Law & Economics; Review of Industrial Organization; Review of Law & Economics; Journal of Economics and Business; Illinois Law Review; China Economic Review; and Harvard Public Health Review. His research has been published as book chapters by publishers such as: MIT Press; Stanford University Press; Elsevier Science; Edgar Elgar; Routledge; and Springer.

Dr. Ghosal's international appointments have included Visiting Professor (2010-2018) at the European Business School (Wiesbaden, Germany) where he conducted research and lectured on regulations and business strategy, with emphasis on environmental regulations, sustainability, and innovation in the automobile and other manufacturing industries. He was a Visiting Professor (2010-2016) at the joint Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, Paris) and Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management (Seoul, South Korea) international program on regulatory reform and competition policy. In this position he provided executive education lectures and workshops to international public policy professionals. On topics related to antitrust, competition law and enforcement, regulations, and mergers and acquisitions, he has delivered executive education lectures in Taipei, Lima, New Delhi, and Tokyo. He has taught Summer graduate school workshops at the University of Amsterdam, Ludwig Maximilians University (Munich), and Central European University (Budapest).

Professor Ghosal's grants, contacts and research have included industries such as: automobiles; high-speed rail; healthcare; transportation; information technology; telecommunications and media; energy and electricity; and paper products. His externally funded research grants have included issues related to: regional economic and business development; infrastructure investments; public-private partnerships; impact of environmental regulations; regulatory assessments; and innovation and efficiency. The organizations he has received funding from include: U.S. Department of Transportation; Georgia Department of Transportation; Ragnar Soderberg's Foundation (Sweden); Woodruff Foundation; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, Paris); Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies (Georgia Institute of Technology); and Scripps Foundation.

Professor Ghosal has been a consultant for international organizations, governments, consulting firms and companies on issues related to antitrust, regulatory reform, business and economic modeling of markets, industry studies, and statistical and econometric modeling. He has provided project and expert reports, and testimony.

Dr. Ghosal is member of the Editorial Boards of the journals: Business Strategy and the Environment (Wiley); Review of Industrial Organization (Springer); Journal of Industry Competition and Trade (Springer), Southern Economic Journal (Wiley); and Business Strategy and Development (Wiley).

Education & Training

Ph.D. Economics, Warrington College of Business, University of Florida (Gainesville).

M.A. Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, India.

B.A. Economics (Honors), University of Delhi, India.

Research

My current research areas and policy interests include: (1) biopharmaceuticals markets focusing on innovation, pricing and FDA regulations; (2) antitrust laws and enforcement; (3) big data, artificial intelligence and competition law and economics; (4) firm strategy related to innovation, M&As, and pricing; and (5) firms' decision-making under uncertainty.

My CV, downloadable from this website, provides list of publications and scholarly activities.

Publications and related information can be found at.

Repec/IDEAS

https://ideas.repec.org/e/pgh12.html

Google Scholar 

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UGuBP7QAAAAJ&hl=en

Research Gate

https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Vivek-Ghosal-25699096

 

Teaching

My teaching interests have been diverse covering semester courses I have taught at Rensselaer and at Georgia Institute of Technology. At various international institutions, I have taught executive education and graduate management courses.

Regular Semester Courses

At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Economics of Biotechnology & Medical Innovations
  • Economics of Regulations & Business Strategy
  • Health Economics & Policy
  • Microeconomics of Innovation

Graduate Management Course

European Business School (Wiesbaden, 2010 – 2018).

  • Graduate management course on environmental regulations, sustainability and innovation.

Executive Education Courses

Joint Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, Paris) and Korea Development Institute, School of Public Policy and Management (KDI, Seoul, S. Korea) international program. (2010 – 2016.)

  • Executive education course for public policy professionals on regulatory reforms, competition assessments, and competition policy.

Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and Competition Commission of India (New Delhi, 2013).

  • Executive education course for regulatory and policy professionals on “Competition Impact Assessment.”  Lectures on: “Conceptual Background for Developing Assessment Framework”; “Developing the Competition Assessment Toolkit”; “Competition Assessment for Markets for Consumer Goods and Services”; “Competition Assessments: Fitting into Policy Development.”

Development Bank of Japan (Tokyo, 2013).

  • Training course for regulatory professionals on "Assessment of Mergers and Acquisitions."

Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (Taipei, 2008 – 2009).

  • Executive education course for regulatory and policy professionals on “Regulatory Reform and Competition Assessments.”  Lectures on: “Competition and Benefits”; “Competition Assessments and their Implementation”; “Quantitative Analysis of Competition Assessments”; and “Fitting Competition Assessments into Policy Development.”

Maximixe (Lima, 2006).

  • Executive education course for regulatory, business and law professionals on “Competition Policy and Law Enforcement in US and EU: Cartels, Merger Control, and Transnational Mergers.”

International Summer School Courses

University of Amsterdam, Economics Network for Competition and Regulation (Amsterdam, 2006).

  • Graduate Summer School on “Competition Law Enforcement.”

Ludwig Maximilians University, Center for Economic Studies (Munich, 2003).

  • Graduate Summer School on “Industry Dynamics: M&As, Efficiency and Market Power.”

Central European University (Budapest, 2003).

  • Graduate Summer School on “Competition Policy in Transition Economies.”
Current Courses

Economics of Biotechnology and Medical Innovations (Econ 4290).

This course is designed to support students who are enrolled in Rensselaer's B.S. in Biotechnology and Health Economics degree program, as well those pursuing a B.S. in Economics (as a Dual or Single Major in Economics). The course is also useful for our students pursuing degrees in biomedical engineering and other areas of biosciences. This course pairs well with the Economics Department's course in Health Economics and Policy (Econ 4170) currently taught by Professor Jason Huh.

In this course (Econ 4209), students learn about markets related to healthcare, insurance, biopharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Examine economic issues, models and quantitative analysis related to firms’ activities in areas such as innovation, R&D expenditures, patenting, pricing, mergers and acquisitions, and competition in markets. Examine the role played by health insurance systems. Study the economic implications of regulations, such as those by the U.S. FDA. Economic and policy aspects will be examined within the context of the U.S. healthcare sector, along with selected comparisons to European national healthcare systems.

Publications

My CV, downloadable from this website, provides list of publications.

The following is a selection of recent publications in Scopus. Vivek Ghosal has 28 indexed publications in the subjects of Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Business, Management and Accounting, Social Sciences.

View All Scopus Publications

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