Lee Branstetter, Associate Professor, H. John Heinz II College, Carnegie Mellon University

Title and Abstract:

From Underdogs to Tigers: The rise of the software industry in India and emerging countries 

In 1980, the Indian software industry was practically non-existent. By the 1990s, the industry was one of the largest employers in manufacturing. Similar patterns of growth can be found in other emerging economies. In this talk, I analyze the reasons, and explore the lessons the rise of these newcomers hold about industrial development and economic growth, and the role of human capital and firm capabilities in that process.

Biographical sketch:

Lee Branstetter received his B.A. from Northwestern University in 1991 and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1996. He has taught at Dartmouth College, the University of California, Davis, and Columbia Business School, where he served as the Director of the International Business Program at Columbia Business School.  Professor Branstetter joined the faculty of Carnegie Mellon in 2006, and currently holds a joint appointment as a tenured associate professor in the Heinz College and the Social and Decision Sciences Department.    

Professor Branstetter conducts research in the fields of international economics and industrial organization, with a regional emphasis on Asia. In addition to his academic pursuits, Professor Branstetter has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the OECD Science and Technology Directorate, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the World Bank.