Biography

About Prof. Joseph

An Intellectual Life at the Interface of Theory and Practice

Prof. K.J. Joseph is one of India's foremost development economists — a scholar whose career has consistently bridged the gap between rigorous academic inquiry and consequential public policy. From his gold-medal-winning undergraduate years at Calicut University to a Ford Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Yale, guided by the eminent Prof. Robert Evenson, his formation combined the best of Indian and global intellectual traditions.

Over 35 years at India's premier research institutions — Centre for Development Studies (CDS) Trivandrum, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) New Delhi, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) New Delhi, and the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT) — his work has shaped debates in public finance, innovation economics, trade policy, and plantation agriculture.

He has delivered keynote addresses in 38 countries, authored or co-authored 10 books published by Palgrave Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Edward Elgar, Routledge, and Sage, and published over 90 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals including Economic and Political Weekly, Science and Public Policy, and the Seoul Journal of Economics.

Academic Formation

Education

1995–96
Post-Doctoral Fellowship (Ford Foundation)
Economic Growth Center, Yale University · Guided by and published with Prof. Robert Evenson
1991
PhD in Economics
Jawaharlal Nehru University (CDS, Trivandrum) · Thesis revised and published by Sage Publications
1985
MPhil in Applied Economics, First Class
Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum (affiliated to JNU)
1983
MA in Economics — University Topper & Gold Medallist
Calicut University (Dr John Matthai Centre) · First Class, 63.8%
Career

Positions Held

2019 – Present
Director & Professor, GIFT, Government of Kerala
2009 – 2019
Ministry of Commerce Chair Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum
2003 – 2005
Visiting Senior Fellow, RIS New Delhi
2001 – 2003
Professor (on deputation), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
1991 – 2001
Lecturer → Associate Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum