Vijayendra (Biju) Rao, has been a Lead Economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank, working at the intersection of scholarship and practice, since 1999. He will leave the World Bank in 2026 to become an independent scholar and practitioner, and will serve as the Roberta Buffett Scholar-Practitioner in Residence at Northwestern University for the Spring Quarter of 2026. He integrates his training in economics with theories and methods from anthropology, sociology and political science to study the social, cultural, and political context of extreme poverty in developing countries.
———————————
Policy for the People – Farewell Public Lecture at the World Bank
Talk on Localizing Development, Ash Center – Harvard University
Discussion on Oral Democracy – Bangalore Literature Festival
