Laveesh Bhandari completed his Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University, USA in 1996. His Ph.D. dissertation was on the success and failure of international alliances. His thesis received the Best Thesis in International Economics award by the EXIM Bank of India in 1996. Prior to that he got his MA in Economics specializing in Finance and Industrial Organization from the same university. He was also awarded the Hite Fellowship for his work on International finance. Dr. Bhandari began his career as a Consultant for Manhattan (now Brookdale) Funds, New York and Boston, USA, where he was working on the valuation methodologies of derivative securities. He joined the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi, as a Senior Economist in 1997. At NCAER he led research teams for various studies in the Industry and Infrastructure division. He was instrumental in conceptualizing research proposals and in executing research projects using quantitative and qualitative tools.