Professor Sanjit Dhami

I did my MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Toronto, Canada and an MPhil from the Delhi School of Economics, India. Before coming to Leicester in 2003, I worked at the University of Essex and Newcastle University for six years.

I have authored the following books.

1. The Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis published by Oxford University Press in 2016. This 1800 page book was then split into 7 volumes, edited and updated to include new material, before being published by Oxford University Press in 2019/20. Here are some book endorsements from the back cover of the book:

"The Foundations of Behavioral Economic Analysis is a masterpiece. It covers the whole field of behavioral economics. And it is also an easy read, as beautiful examples throughout lead readers to appreciate behavioral decisions from the perspective of their own lifetime experience." George A. Akerlof, Daniel E. Koshland, Sr. Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of California at Berkeley and 2001 Nobel laureate in economics.

“The publication of this book is a landmark occasion for the field of behavioural economics.  Until now there has been no comprehensive survey of the field suitable for graduate students.  Professor Dhami has thoroughly and rigorously filled that gap.  The book will be placed in a handy place in my office since I plan to consult it regularly.” Richard H. Thaler, Charles R Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Behavioral Science, University of Chicago and 2017 Nobel laureate in economics.

"For someone, like myself, who started by being ignorant of the richness of the conversation within behavioral economics on a variety of issues, this magisterial volume is the ideal introduction, at once lucid and sophisticated." Abhijit V. Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, M.I.T, and 2019 Nobel laureate in economics.

2. My new book joint with Professor Cass R. Sunstein titled Bounded Rationality: Heuristics Judgement and Public Policy is to be published by MIT Press in July 2022. It is a research monograph on bounded rationality and economic policy for an interdisciplinary audience that examines open problems, challenges, and the way forward for the social and the behavioural sciences. Here are two book endorsements from the back cover of the book:

"Bounded Rationality is simply the best book on this topic. Encompassing, empirically grounded, analytically sophisticated, and intuitively compelling."- Ernst Fehr University of Zurich

“This is a wonderful introduction to both classic and more recent behavioral economics. The mixture of theory and empirical evidence is very useful and healthy. The applications to public policy are particularly interesting. I highly recommend it to all entrants to the field.” Xavier Gabaix, Pershing Square Professor of Economics and Finance, Harvard University.

3. I am currently writing an approximately 900 page book on behavioural economics at the undergraduate level. It is an ambitious project that does not shy away from challenging frontier material. It is comprehensive yet comprehensible to undergraduate students in economics, and hopefully an interdisciplinary audience as well. It is likely to be published by CUP in 2023.

Research Interests

My research spans most areas in behavioural economics such as decision theory, social preferences, time discounting, game theory, emotions, and bounded rationality. My main interest is in examining the theoretical and empirical foundations in these areas. 

My research spans most areas in behavioural economics.

My early research was on exploring the decision theoretic foundations of prospect theory such as the axiomatic foundations of the utility function and the probability weighting functions under prospect theory; and to applications of prospect theory. We have also explored the foundations of quantum decision theory with an application to resolving the Ellsberg paradox (ambiguity seeking for low probabilities and ambiguity aversion for higher probabilities).

We did some foundational research on behavioural political economy, exploring the implications for societal redistribution when there is a mixture of self-regarding and other-regarding individuals; and showed the conditions under which a Condorcet winner exists under other-regarding preference.

We have also worked on providing the foundations of the generalised hyperbolic discount function and more recently on the axiomatic foundations of a wide range of time discount functions. In game theory, we have proposed evidential equilibria as an alternative to Nash equilibrium and written several papers in applications of psychological game theory such as to public goods games and microfinance contracts.

My current research is on social norms, emotions, social identity, climate change, foundations of human punishment, mental accounting and several other areas. 

I am currently an external examiner for the Cambridge Tripos in Economics and at Nottingham University. In the past I have been an external examiner at the Universities of Manchester and Lancaster.

In the past I have undertaken a range of administrative responsibilities in University of Leicester. These include senior tutor for the Business school, Head of the Learning and Teaching Committee, Degree Program Director, and Admissions Tutor.

Refereeing for Journals: American Economic Review, American Journal of Political Science, Economic Journal, Journal of Public Economics, European Economic Review, International Tax and Public Finance, Journal of Public Economic Theory, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, European Journal of Political Economy, Economics Bulletin, Economics of Governance, Fiscal Studies, Review of Education Economics, Southern Economic Journal.

Fellow Kiel Insitute for the World Economy Kiel Germany

CESifo Research Associate Ludwig Maximilians University Munich.

Fellow Higher Education Council UK

Invited Seminars: 

(2022) Keynote addresses at the University of Nottingham and the Reading University; (2019) Oxford, Birmingham, Cardiff, ISI Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad; (2018) Cambridge, University College London; (2016-17) Zurich, Munich, Tilburg, Nottingham, Kiel, Innsbruck, Cologne, Max Planck Institute, St Andrews, University of East Anglia. Keynote Address Centenary celebrations of the Indian Economic Association.

National Audit Office (2014) Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (2012) Punjabi University (2012) Chandigarh University (2012) Durham University (2011) Surrey University (2010) Delhi School of Economics University of Delhi (2008) Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research Mumbai (2008) Pune University (2008) Newcastle University (2006) Birmingham University (2005) University of Cambridge (2005) Warwick University (2004) Keele University (2004) Exeter (2001). 

2022: Keynote Address CRIBS conference Nottingham; Keynote Address at the Reading Experimental and Behavioural Economics Workshop.

Plenary address to the 100th Indian Economic Association Meeting (2018) Invited talk to the Cambridge Students Union (2017) ESA Meetings Bergen (2016) XIV FUR Meetings Newcastle (2010) Royal Economic Society Conference Nottingham (2006) Public Economics Weekend at Warwick (2004) Public Economic Theory Conference Paris (2002) and the European Economic Association Meetings Venice (2002).