Samir Kumer Das

Samir Kumer Das specializes in International Trade, Development Economics, Agricultural Economics, and Public Finance. In his doctoral dissertation, he focused on ‘Falsified Trade Statistics and Hidden Capital Movement’. His research on trade misinvoicing as a conduit for illegal money transfers and laundering is an excellent example of applied research on trade issues. Samir received his Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. (Hons.) from Visva-Bharati (Central) University in India. He is interested in music, films, and travelling.

Prior to joining UPES, Samir carried a post for five years as a Research Associate for a highly competitive and prestigious Research Group Linkage Programme-Project by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in association with the University of Bonn, sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Research, Government of Germany.

International Economics I Economics of Corruption I Development Economics I Quantitative Studies I Health, Education and Family.

Due to his upbringing in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and his education in Santiniketan, West Bengal, India, Dr. Das has a unique view of life. Specifically, he emphasises the importance of a liberal education. He favours classroom dialogues over homework assignments; on occasion, he even reverses roles and becomes the learner. He believes that teaching should have at least five main objectives: 

(i) Communicating understanding as opposed to memorization
(ii) Evaluating the diversity of the students
(iii) Ensuring thought leadership as well as approachability 
(iv) Personally benefiting from the experience
(v) Creating human capital as a whole. 

Development Economics I & II; Indian Economy since 1947; Introduction to Programming: Data Analysis in Python. 

His research, titled ‘Trade Misreporting and Capital Flight: A Study of Bangladesh with Major OECD Export Partner Countries’ has been awarded the best paper by the IIFT Kolkata at the "7th International Conference on Empirical Issues in International Trade and Finance (EIITF-2021)" out of 294 national & international papers. He is an ICCR Scholar (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) from Bangladesh through the High Commission of India, Dhaka.

Dr. Das collaborates with a diverse faculty that includes economists and other social scientists. He is currently writing a book with Dr. Sugata Marjit (First Distinguished Professor, IIFT, Kolkata) on “Misreporting Trade Statistics and Unrecorded Capital Flows: Estimates, Causes and Remedies." Simultaneously he is doing his own research on Trade Misreporting between India and its major partner countries; and on the educational sector.

samirk.das@ddn.upes.ac.in