Hello and welcome! My name is Vikas PD Gawai. I received my Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) in June 2024. Currently, I am a Steven M. Teutsch Prevention Effectiveness (PE) Fellow at the US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

I am an Applied Economist focusing on policy evaluations related to health, aging, and human capital in the US and India. My research has three broad areas of focus. The first explores the impact of technologies like high-speed internet (Broadband) and the Green Revolution on health, welfare, human capital, and social security access. Secondly, I study the lasting effects of early life shocks on later health and intergenerational well-being. My third research agenda evaluates the effects of different educational policies on human capital.

I employ advanced quantitative methods, including recent developments in difference-in-differences (DID) and multiple regression discontinuity design (MRDD), along with novel data, to address critical policy questions. My research have been funded by the Social Security Administration Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (SSA RDRC) and I have been served as the Co-PI with Prof. Lauren Schmitz on research funded by the Center for Demography, Health, and Aging (CDHA) which is one of the aging centers funded by the National Institute of Aging (NIA).

My reseach has been published in reputed journals and highlighted in popular media.

Please find my CV and the latest version of my Job Market Paper here.

• Graduate Student, Agricultural and Applied Economics, UW-Madison
• Graduate Fellow, Center for Demography, Health, and Aging (CDHA), Center for Demography and Ecology (CDE), UW-Madison
• Research Fellow, Retirement and Disability Research Center (RDRC), UW-Madison
• Diversity Fellow, School of Public Affairs, American University
• Graduate Fellow, Institute of Research on Poverty (IRP), UW-Madison