Kaivan Munshi is currently a Professor of Economics at Yale University, a Faculty Affiliate of the Yale Economic Growth Center, and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The central theme of his research is social institutions and their interaction with economic activity. Specifically, his research has increased our understanding of diverse roles played by informal community institutions – social norms and community networks – in the process of economic development. His research has appeared in journals such as American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Review of Economic Studies. In recognition of his influential research, he was awarded the Infosys Prize in the Social Sciences in 2016.

He received his PhD from MIT in 1995, after receiving M.S. from University of California, Berkeley in 1989, and B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1986.