Books
Wolbrecht, Christina, Mirya Holman, Lakshmi Iyer, Samantha Chapa, Fiona Rodger, and Emma Schroder. Forthcoming. Gender and Local Political Ambition. Cambridge University Press (Elements in Gender and Politics).
Violence without Borders : The Internationalization of Crime and Conflict, (with Muhammad Faisal Ali Baig, Quy-Toan Do, Daniel Garrote-Sanchez, Chau Le, and Andrei Levchenko), Policy Research Report, Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020.
Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance in Emerging Markets, World Scientific Publishing, 2016.
Journal articles
- Chaudhary, Latika, and Lakshmi Iyer. “The Importance of Being Local? Administrative Decentralization and Human Development.” Economic Journal, forthcoming. https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueaf100
- Fertig, Alexander, Alexandra Hartman, Lakshmi Iyer, and Edmund Malesky. “A Field of Her Own: Property Rights and Women’s Agency in Myanmar.” Journal of Politics, 88(1): 192-204, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1086/734236.
- Iyer, Lakshmi, and Coleson Weir. “The Colonial Legacy in India: How Persistent are the Effects of Historical Institutions?” Journal of Development Economics, 177: 103576, 2025. doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103576
- Holman, Mirya, Lakshmi Iyer and Christina Wolbrecht. “Governing the Gilded Age City: Local Institution Building in the United States.” Journal of Historical Political Economy, 5 (2): 215-237. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/115.00000094.
- Cassan, Guilhem, Lakshmi Iyer, and Rinchan Ali Mirza. “Enfranchisement, Political Participation and Political Competition: Evidence from Colonial and Independent India.” Journal of Economic History, 85 (1): 33-71, 2025. doi.org/10.1017/S0022050725000038
- Bhalotra, Sonia, Irma Clots-Figueras, Lakshmi Iyer, and Joseph Vecci. “Leader Identity and Coordination.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 105 (1): 175–189, 2023.
- Bhalotra, Sonia, Irma Clots-Figueras, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Religion and Abortion: The Role of Politician Identity.” Journal of Development Economics, 153: 102746, 2021.
- Iyer, Lakshmi, Xin Meng, Nancy Qian, and Xiaoxue Zhao. “Economic Transition and Private-Sector Labor: Evidence from Urban China.” Journal of Comparative Economics, 47(3): 579-600, 2019.
- Iyer, Lakshmi, and Anandi Mani. “The Road Not Taken: Gender Gaps along Paths to Political Power.” World Development, 119: 68-80, 2019.
- Bhalotra, Sonia, Irma Clots-Figueras, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Pathbreakers? Women’s Electoral Success and Future Political Participation.” Economic Journal, 128 (613): 1844-1878, 2018.
- Bhalotra, Sonia, Guilhem Cassan, Irma Clots-Figueras, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Religion, Politician Identity and Development Outcomes: Evidence from India.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 104:4-17, 2014.
- Iyer, Lakshmi, Tarun Khanna, and Ashutosh Varshney. “Caste and Entrepreneurship in India.” Economic and Political Weekly, 48 (6): 52-60, February 9, 2013.
- Iyer, Lakshmi, Anandi Mani, Prachi Mishra, and Petia Topalova. “The Power of Political Voice: Women’s Political Representation and Crime in India.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 4(4): 165-193, 2012.
- Online appendix, Replication data
- Pre-publication version, Non-technical summary
- Media: HBS Working Knowledge, Tehelka.com, Ei Samay, The Globe and Mail, Wall Street Journal, The Statesman, Deccan Herald, Livemint, Business Standard, Apolitical.
- Secretary Clinton at the Women in Public Service Project and Colloquium (minutes 35:00-37:00)
- Iyer, Lakshmi and Anandi Mani. “Traveling Agents: Political Change and Bureaucratic Turnover in India.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 94(3): 723-739, 2012.
- Iyer, Lakshmi. “Direct versus Indirect Colonial Rule in India: Long-term Consequences.” Review of Economics and Statistics 92(4): 693-713, 2010. Lead article.
- Do, Quy-Toan, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Geography, Poverty and Conflict in Nepal.” (with Quy-Toan Do) Journal of Peace Research 47(6): 735-748, 2010.
- Do, Quy-Toan, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Land Titling and Rural Transition in Vietnam.” (with Quy-Toan Do) Economic Development and Cultural Change 56(3): 531-579, 2008.
- Banerjee, Abhijit, and Lakshmi Iyer. “History, Institutions and Economic Performance: the Legacy of Colonial Land Tenure Systems in India.” (with Abhijit Banerjee) American Economic Review 95(4): 1190-1213, 2005.
- Winner of the inaugural Michael Wallerstein Award by the Political Economy Section of the American Political Science Association.
- Online appendix, Replication data
Book chapters
- Bhalotra, Sonia, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Women and the Economy.” In The Cambridge Economic History of Modern South Asia, edited by Latika Chaudhary, Tirthankar Roy, and Anand Swamy. Cambridge University Press, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009769464
- Clots-Figueras, Irma, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Gender and Natural Experiments in Developing Countries.” In Handbook of Experimental Development Economics, edited by Utteeyo Dasgupta and Pushkar Maitra. Edward Elgar, 2025. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800885370.
- Iyer, Lakshmi. “Direct versus Indirect Colonial Rule in India.” in The Long Economic and Political Shadow of History Volume 2 edited by Stelios Michalopoulos and Elias Papaioannou, CEPR VoxEU E-book, 2017.
- Iyer, Lakshmi. “The Long Run Consequences of Colonial Institutions.” In A New Economic History of Colonial India edited by Latika Chaudhary, Bishnupriya Gupta, Tirthankar Roy and Anand Swamy, Routledge, 2015.
- Do, Quy-Toan, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Mental Health in the Aftermath of Conflict.” in Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Peace and Conflict edited by Michelle Garfinkel and Stergios Skaperdas, Oxford University Press, 2012.
- Iyer, Lakshmi. “Managing Conflict.” in Reshaping Tomorrow: Is South Asia Ready for the Big Leap? edited by Ejaz Ghani,Oxford University Press, 2011.
- Non-technical summaries: VoxEU, Economic Premise No. 31 (September 2010).
- Banerjee, Abhijit, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Colonial Land Tenure, Electoral Competition, and Public Goods in India.” In Natural Experiments of History, edited by Jared Diamond and James Robinson. Harvard University Press, 2010.
- Ghani, Ejaz, Lakshmi Iyer, and Saurabh Mishra. “Is Decentralization Helping the Lagging Regions?” In The Poor Half Billion in South Asia edited by Ejaz Ghani, Oxford University Press, 2010.
- Non-technical summaries: VoxEU, Economic Premise.
- Media: Huffington Post.
- Ghani, Ejaz, Lakshmi Iyer, and Saurabh Mishra. “Are Lagging Regions Catching Up with Leading Regions?” In The Poor Half Billion in South Asia edited by Ejaz Ghani, Oxford University Press, 2010.
- Non-technical summaries: VoxEU, Ideas for India.
- Banerjee, Abhijit, Lakshmi Iyer, and Rohini Somanathan. “Public Action for Public Goods: Theory and Evidence.” In Handbook of Development Economics Vol. 4, edited by T. Paul Schultz and John Strauss. Elsevier Science & Technology Books, 2008. NBER Working Paper 12911.
Book reviews and other publications
- Adriana Molina-Garzon, Valena McEwen, Aemro Worku, Sacha Siani, Lakshmi Iyer, Ellis Adams, Krister Andersson, Daniel C. Miller. 2025. “Can interventions reduce extreme poverty and conserve the environment in rural areas? Evidence from RCTs: a Systematic Review Protocol.” PROCEED-24-00309. https://doi.org/10.57808/proceed.2025.2
- Iyer, Lakshmi. “Memo on ‘Economic Determinants’ by Carl Henrik Knutsen and Sirianne Dahlum,” Democracy and Autocracy 21(1), June 2023.
- Review of Law and the Economy in a Young Democracy by Tirthankar Roy and Anand Swamy, EH.net, September 2022.
- Iyer, Lakshmi, and Susan Ostermann. “The Faith Factor: Reflections from a Recent Conference on Religion, Public Policy and Development in South Asia,” Maydan, May 28, 2019.
- Iyer, Lakshmi. “The Electoral Participation of Women.” Yojana Magazine, July 14, 2014.
- Banerjee, Abhijit, and Lakshmi Iyer. “Response to `A Re-examination of Banerjee and Iyer’ by Iversen, Palmer-Jones and Sen.” Journal of Development Studies 49(12): 1647-1650, 2013.
- Iyer, Lakshmi, and Indhira Santos. “Creating Jobs in South Asia’s Conflict Zones.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 6104, June 2012.
- Non-technical summary: World Bank Let’s Talk Development Blog.
- Iyer, Lakshmi. “The Political Economy of Public Service Provision in South Asia.” in People, Politics and Globalization: Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics — Global 2009 edited by Justin Yifu Lin and Boris Pleskovic, The World Bank, 2010.
- Iyer, Lakshmi. Review of Economic Cooperation between Singapore and India: An alliance in the Making? by Faizal bin Yahya, South Asian Review, December 2008
- Iyer, Lakshmi. Review of Understanding Civil War: Volumes 1 and 2 by Paul Collier and Nicholas Sambanis, Journal of Economic Literature, March 2007.
- Banerjee, Abhijit, Lakshmi Iyer, and Rohini Somanathan. “History, Social Divisions and Public Goods in Rural India.” Journal of the European Economic Association 3(2-3): 639-647, 2005.