Hello!

I'm an Assistant Professor in Economics at the School of Economics, University of Sydney.

My research is on the broad areas of political economy, network empirics, institutions, conflict and development.
I'm passionate about using innovative data and tools to explore the world around us.

Research

Publications

- Key Players in Economic Development (Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization 223, 40--56)
(with Roland Hodler, Paul Raschky and Yves Zenou) WP Version Online Appendix

- Public Sentiment in Times of Terror (Journal of Development Economics 162, Article No. 103058) WP Version

- Diverting Domestic Turmoil (Journal of Public Economics 208, Article No. 104608) WP Version

Working papers

- Conflicts in Networks
(with Paul Raschky, Yves Zenou and Junjie Zhou)

- Competing for Attention – The Effect of Talk Radio on US Politics
(with Paul Raschky)

- Partisan Alignment, Insurgency and Public Safety: Evidence from the Indian Red-corridor
(with Pushkar Maitra and Yuchen Zhong)

News

Dec 2024 David Ubilava, Justin Hastings, Andery Vasnev and I just received the award for Excellence in Research Collaboration from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney.

Dec 2024 David Ubilava, Justin Hastings, Andery Vasnev and I are organizing the 2nd Social Conflict and Political Economy Workshop at the University of Sydney on 3rd and 4th June 2025. Checkout the call for papers here .

Nov 2024 Andrew Wait and I co-hosted the Australian Political Economy Network Workshop at the School of Economics, University of Sydney.

Oct 2024 I received a commendation for Teaching Excellence from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney.

Oct 2024 I presented my co-authored work with Kathryn Baragwanath at QUT.

July 2024 David Ubilava and I have an open PhD position to work on exciting projects related to conflicts, markets and food security. Check it out here .

July 2024 I joined Australian Economic Papers as an Associate Editor.

July 2024 I presented my co-authored work with Pushkar Maitra and Yuchen Zhong at the Crawford School, ANU.

July 2024 I presented my co-authored work with Kathryn Baragwanath at the Australian Conference of Economists at the University of Adelaide.

June 2024 I presented my co-authored work with Kathryn Baragwanath at the Australian Development Economics Workshop at the University of Melbourne.

May 2024 Checkout my latest publication, now accepted at the Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization; "Key Players in Economic Development" (with Roland Hodler, Paul Raschky and Yves Zenou)

March 2024 I co-organized the 1st Social Conflict and Political Economy (SCoPE) Workshop at the University of Sydney

Feb 2024 I presented my co-authored work with Pushkar Maitra and Yuchen Zhong at the Farsiders Development Seminar.

Dec 2023 Checkout the revised version of my work "Key Players in Economic Development" (joint with Paul Raschky, Roland Hodler and Yves Zenou)

Dec 2023 Checkout the revised version of my work on "Conflicts in Networks" (joint with Paul Raschky, Yves Zenou and Junjie Zhou)

Dec 2023 I presented my co-authored work with Paul Raschky at the Organizational Economics Symposium at the University of Sydney.

Dec 2023 I co-organized the Semi-Periodic Agricultural & Development Economics Research Symposium (SPADERS) at the University of Sydney.

Oct 2023 Just received ARC Discovery Project (DP24) funding for my project on Political Conflict, Inefficient Markets, and Food Crises” (AUD 190,000), with David Ubilava, Justin Hastings and Andrey Vasnev!

Sep 2023 Just released: New working paper on "Partisan Alignment, Insurgency and Public Safety: Evidence from the Indian Red-Corridor" (joint with Pushkar Maitra and Yucheng Zhong).

Workshops

Applied Young Economist Webinar (AYEW)

I am the founder and co-organizer of the Applied Young Economist Webinar series, which provides a virtual platform for PhD students and PostDocs to share their work, receive feedback and connect with peers. This event is funded by the Monash-Warwick Alliance.

Social Conflict and Political Economy (SCoPE) Workshop

I co-organize the Social Conflict and Political Economy (SCoPE) Workshop, at the University of Sydney, which brings together international and local researchers working on conflict and other interesting aspects of political economy. This event is funded by the Australian research Council.

Australian Political Economy Network (APEN) Workshop

I co-organize the 2024 edition of the Australian Political Economy Network (APEN) Workshop, to be held at the University of Sydney on 8th November 2024. This event is funded by the School of Economics, University of Sydney and the Resilient Democracy Lab, UNSW.

Contact me on

Email: ashani.amarasinghe@sydney.edu.au

Office: 562 Social Sciences Building, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia