Spandan Roy
  Iowa State University 

My job market paper examines how economies shift across agriculture, manufacturing, and services, driven by endogenous growth of high- and low-skill human capital and non-homothetic demand. Using a three-sector model calibrated to China and India (1952–2015), I first build a baseline with constant TFP and then add sector-specific residual TFP growth. Together, the model reproduces about 70% of the observed change in sectoral value-added shares; even without TFP growth, the human-capital channel alone delivers ~80% of that reallocation. A faster rise in low-skill human capital in China—relative to India—emerges as a key driver of the gap in manufacturing peaks and their duration.

My research also focuses on macroeconomic policy in capital-constrained environments, with an emphasis on optimal taxation and debt management. I study how governments can design welfare-improving tax and borrowing strategies under external financing constraints. I am an aspiring macroeconomist with and I aim to bridge theoretical models of structural change with practical insights for policy design in developing economies.

Prior to my Ph.D., I earned a Master’s in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from  Jadavpur University. I have also worked as a Research Analyst at the Institute of Economic Growth, focusing on empirical and policy-relevant economic analysis.