Research
Jai’s research interests are in political economy, international development, neoliberalism and financialisation with a focus on South Asia. Her current research takes a South-South co-operation perspective to examine how the growing internationalisation of finance in the Indian economy has enabled greater international trade and investment. More specifically, it explores the confluence of development finance and (mainstream/commercial) finance in India and how it has shaped the financial practices of large Indian multinational companies, the financial instruments employed, the relationships among financial institutions, highlighting the critical role of public sector banks, private banks, the stock markets and how the political and institutional structures and regulatory processes influence and are influenced by South-South development partnerships. Her doctoral research demonstrated the India-specific modalities of financialisation through the lens of the Indian telecommunication sector.
Biography
Jai has a doctorate degree in international development from SOAS, University of London. She also has an MSc in South Asian Studies and an MBA with distinction from the University of Oxford. She is professionally qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). She has worked in business and finance in the UK and in India. Her expertise lies in corporate finance and financial risk management. She has taught at SOAS, University of London as a Teaching Fellow and the University of Oxford as a Departmental Lecturer in South Asian Studies.
Publications
Bhatia, Jai. (2019) “How India’s Telecom Companies Engage in Predatory Pricing Wars.” Madras Courier, March 26, 2019. https://madrascourier.com/opinion/how-indias-telecom-companies-engage-in-predatory-price-wars/
Bhatia, Jai (2019) “Crime in the Air: Spectrum Markets and the Telecommunications Sector in India”: The Wild East? Criminal Political Economies across South Asia. Edited by Barbara Harriss-White & Lucia Michelutti. London: University College Press.
Bhatia, Jai and Palepu, Advait Rao (2017), ‘Circumventing Institutions: Did Chidambaram Subvert the Foreign Investment Promotion Board?’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol 52, Issue number 24, 7 June 2017 and reprinted on The Wire, 23 June 2017, https://thewire.in/150876/aircel-maxis-did-chidambaram-subvert-the-foreign-investment-promotion-board/
Bhatia, Jai and Palepu, Advait Rao (2016), ‘Predatory Pricing or Predatory Behaviour? Reliance Jio’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol 51, Issue number 41, 8 October 2016