Ann Arbor · Bogotá · Bangalore · Bangkok — Est. 2012

Anant &
Nyshadham

I'm an economist at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, where I study how firms, managers, and workers make decisions — and how those decisions aggregate into the productivity and well-being we see across labor markets in the developing world. My recent work lives at the intersection of personnel economics, organizational behavior, and AI in hiring. I co-founded Good Business Lab to translate this research into practice.

Anant Nyshadham, professor of economics at Michigan Ross
Ann Arbor, 2024
Appointment
Assoc. Professor (tenured), Michigan Ross
Affiliations
NBER · BREAD · IGC · J-PAL · MPHRM
Co-founder
Good Business Lab (CSO)
Doctorate
Yale University, 2012

A short biography.

§ 01 / About

My research asks what happens inside firms — not as a black box, but as a setting where contracts, training, management, and voice shape the lives of hundreds of millions of workers. I run long-running field experiments with large employers in Mexico, Kenya, Tanzania, India, Colombia, Argentina, and the United States, and combine them with administrative and algorithmic data to identify what actually moves productivity, retention, and welfare.

I'm particularly interested in how AI-based screening and training tools are reshaping the match between workers and firms, and in the conditions under which those tools serve workers rather than replacing judgment we should protect. My earlier work — still ongoing — traces how early-life shocks, health, and sectoral choice compound across the life cycle in low- and middle-income economies.

When I'm not on a factory floor, a coffee farm, or in a classroom, I'm probably in the studio. I've been writing, arranging, and recording music for twenty-five years.

Practice & Impact.

§ 02 / Partners · 39firms & organizations

Every field experiment in the papers below runs inside a real firm. These are our active partners — companies, industry associations, multilaterals, and sustainability orgs — whose operations host the research, adopt the tools we build (STITCH · Inache · CAF), and whose data makes causal inference possible. Work spans USA, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, China, India, and Thailand. Filter by industry, region, or practice area.

500K+
Workers directly impacted
2M+
Reached via ripple effects
8
Global geographies
39
Active partners
Industry
Region
Practice
39 of 39 partners showing
Sort

Abilities India

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & womenWorker voiceClimate & decarbonization

Tier-2 auto supplier. Women in Auto project, Inache deployment, and decarbonization collaboration.

India · Private firmActive

ACMA

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & women

Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India. Founding partner for the Women in the Auto Sector project.

India · Industry associationActive

Argentine Auto Manufacturer

2019 → ongoing
AutoLatin AmericaManagementPerformance monitoring

Host plant for field studies on product cycles, frontline worker wellbeing, and line-level productivity during new-model introductions.

Argentina · Private firmActive

Arvind Mills

2015 → ongoing
GarmentsSouth AsiaWorker voiceManagementPerformance monitoring

Integrated textile and apparel group. Long-running partner on performance monitoring, line matching, and worker-voice research; Inache deployment.

India · Private firmActive

Asahi India Glass (AIS)

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & womenClimate & decarbonization

Women in Auto rapid diagnosis across multiple themes; active on decarbonization work.

India · Private firmActive

Ashok Leyland

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & womenManagement

Train-the-Trainer manager module from the Women in Auto project scaled to 1,000+ managers.

India · Private firmActive

Bhaane (Nike stores)

2024 → ongoing
RetailSouth AsiaSoft skillsManagementWorker voice

Operator of Nike stores in India. Research on employee experience and attrition; STITCH training for Mumbai stores; data partnership under discussion.

India · Private firmActive

Davivienda

2024 → ongoing
ServicesLatin AmericaAI & hiringManagement

Major Colombian bank. Research on technology adaptation and reorganizing work, funded via Harvard.

Colombia · Private firmActive

DLF Group

2024 → ongoing
Real EstateSouth AsiaGender & women

Engagement with DLF Foundation and Group construction business; field visits to DLF sites planned.

India · Private firmActive

Eastman Exports

2024 → ongoing
GarmentsSouth AsiaClimate & decarbonizationHealth & SRHGender & womenWorker voice

Textile exporter and active partner on the Decarbonization in Automotive & Textiles project; proposal development on health, grievance, and gender.

India · Private firmActive

Éxito Group

2020 → ongoing
RetailLatin AmericaAI & hiringManagementSoft skills

Colombia's largest retailer. Harvard Business School-funded research on algorithmic screening, psychometric contracts, and frontline manager selection.

Colombia · Private firmActive

FICCI

2024 → ongoing
Cross-sectorSouth AsiaGender & womenClimate & decarbonizationManagement

Apex cross-sector industry association. Leadership-level engagement on DEI, women empowerment, sustainability; co-hosted national events.

India · Industry associationActive

Forum for the Future

2024 → ongoing
Cross-sectorGlobalClimate & decarbonization

MoU-based joint proposal on workforce resilience in the critical minerals transition.

Global · Academic / sustainabilityActive

Godrej Properties

2024 → ongoing
Real EstateSouth AsiaGender & women

Diagnostics exercise on women's participation in the real estate industry.

India · Private firmActive

Iriedaily / Dibella (SCC)

2024 → ongoing
GarmentsEuropeSoft skills

European brand and textile distributor. Implementation of GBL's STITCH soft-skills training inside their supplier network.

Germany · Private firmActive

Kalaa

2024 → ongoing
GarmentsSouth AsiaGender & womenSoft skills

D2C social sustainability brand and implementation partner on the Women's Livelihoods at Scale (WLS) project.

India · Academic / sustainabilityActive

Laguna Clothing

2024 → ongoing
GarmentsSouth AsiaWorker voice

Garment manufacturer. Partner in the Inache rollout — the worker-voice platform now deployed across 68 factories.

India · Private firmActive

Mahindra & Mahindra

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & womenManagement

Active partnership under MoU across workstreams of the Women in the Auto Sector project.

India · Private firmActive

MAS Holdings

2024 → ongoing
GarmentsSouth AsiaHealth & SRHGender & women

South Asian apparel manufacturer. UNFPA case study on women's health and nutrition programs; expansion into India underway.

Sri Lanka · Private firmActive

Office of the Chief Economic Advisor

2024 → ongoing
GovernmentSouth AsiaManagementGender & women

Department of Economic Affairs, Govt of India. GBL research referenced in India's Economic Survey 2025–26.

India · Multilateral / governmentActive

Pearl Global

2024 → ongoing
GarmentsSouth AsiaWorker voice

Tier-1 apparel manufacturer. Implementation of Inache, GBL's worker-voice and grievance-resolution platform.

India · Private firmActive

PT Hoplun

2024 → ongoing
GarmentsSoutheast AsiaHealth & SRHGender & women

Major Indonesian garment manufacturer supplying Lululemon. UNFPA case study on implementation of sexual-and-reproductive-health programming inside factories.

Indonesia · Private firmActive

RAI

2024 → ongoing
RetailSouth AsiaGender & womenManagement

Retailers Association of India. DEI roadmap and workforce-transformation partnership; engagements with Reliance Retail and Titan.

India · Industry associationActive

RISE

2024 → ongoing
Cross-sectorGlobalSoft skillsGender & women

Reimagining Industry to Support Equality. Network-wide STITCH scale-up and joint proposal development on horizontal advancement for women.

Global · Academic / sustainabilityActive

Samsung Vietnam

2024 → ongoing
ElectronicsSoutheast AsiaHealth & SRHGender & women

Over 100,000 workers employed in Vietnam. UNFPA / MSI collaboration on sexual-and-reproductive-health programming inside factories.

Vietnam · Private firmActive

Sansera

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & women

Women in Auto project — diagnosis, solutioning, and recruitment pilot on the shop floor.

India · Private firmActive

Seguros Bolivar

2024 → ongoing
ServicesLatin AmericaSoft skills

Colombian insurance firm. Research on soft-skills training in the introduction of a new product.

Colombia · Private firmActive

Shahi Exports

2013 → ongoing
GarmentsSouth AsiaManagementSoft skillsWorker voiceGender & womenClimate & decarbonization

South Asia's largest garment exporter. GBL was incubated here in 2013 evaluating Gap Inc.'s P.A.C.E. program. Continuing site for RCTs on soft-skills training, supervision, worker voice, and decarbonization.

India · Private firmActive · flagship

SIAM

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & women

Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (OEMs). Founding partner for the Women in the Auto Sector project.

India · Industry associationActive

SLCP

2024 → ongoing
Cross-sectorGlobalWorker voiceManagement

Social & Labor Convergence Program. MoU on data partnership and possible Inache-CAF integration.

Global · Academic / sustainabilityActive

Sona Comstar

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & women

Women in Auto project — diagnosis and solution design.

India · Private firmActive

Subros

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & women

Women in Auto project — pilot on recruitment and placement of women on the shop floor.

India · Private firmActive

Sulochana Mills

2024 → ongoing
GarmentsSouth AsiaWorker voice

Textile mill. Inache implementation partner.

India · Private firmActive

Tata AutoComp

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & women

Women in Auto project — diagnosis and solution design.

India · Private firmActive

Tata Motors

2024 → ongoing
AutoSouth AsiaGender & women

Women in Auto project — diagnosis, solutioning, and field pilots.

India · Private firmActive

Udaiti Foundation

2024 → ongoing
Cross-sectorSouth AsiaGender & women

Ecosystem partner focused on women's workforce participation.

India · Academic / sustainabilityActive

UNFPA

2024 → ongoing
MultilateralGlobalHealth & SRHGender & women

Partnership across India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and USA offices on sexual-reproductive-health and mental-health projects.

Global · Multilateral / governmentActive

United Nations Foundation

2024 → ongoing
MultilateralGlobalClimate & decarbonization

Good Business Forum collaborator; member of heat-stress consortium with ClimateWorks grant support.

Global · Multilateral / governmentActive

Victus Group

2024 → ongoing
GarmentsSouth AsiaWorker voice

Garment manufacturer. Inache implementation partner.

India · Private firmActive
No partners match that combination. Try broadening the selection.

The papers.

§ 03 / Research · 38 titles
Status
Topic
38 of 38 papers showing
Sort
  1. AI-Directed Job Search among Frontline Service Workers: Experimental Evidence
    In Progress · 2025
  2. AI-Based Screening and Targeted Training to Alleviate Barriers to Female Advancement in the Workplace
    In Progress · 2025
  3. How Do You Identify a Good Manager?
    R&R · 2024Quarterly Journal of Economics
  4. Spatial Mobility, Economic Opportunity, and Crime
    R&R · 2024American Economic Review
  5. An Anatomy of Performance Monitoring
    R&R · 2024Journal of Political Economy
  6. Sotto Voce: The Impacts of Technology to Enhance Worker Voice
    R&R · 2024Economic Journal
  7. Rapport in Organizations: Evidence from Fast Food
    Under Review · 2024
  8. Learning and Selection in the Sorting of Households Across Sectors
    Under Review · 2024
  9. Absenteeism, Productivity, and Relational Contracts Inside the Firm
    Forthcoming · 2024Journal of the European Economic Association
  10. Dust and Death: Evidence from the West African Harmattan [PDF]
    Published · 2024Economic Journal, 134(659): 885-912
  11. Fetal Origins of Mental Health: Evidence from Africa
    Published · 2024Economic Development and Cultural Change, 72(2): 493-515
  12. Organizational Responses to Product Cycles: Evidence from Auto Manufacturing [PDF]
    R&R · 2023Journal of Political Economy
  13. On the Allocation and Impacts of Managerial Training [PDF]
    Under Review · 2023
  14. Helping Children Catch Up: Early Life Shocks and the Progresa Experiment [PDF]
    Published · 2023Economic Journal, 134(657): 1-22
  15. Hostel Takeover: Living Conditions, Reference Dependence, and the Well-being of Migrant Workers
    Published · 2023Journal of Public Economics, 226
  16. The Health Costs of Dirty Energy: Evidence from the Capacity Market in Colombia
    Published · 2023Journal of Development Economics, 164: 103116
  17. Formal Employment and Organized Crime: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Colombia [PDF]
    Published · 2023Economic Journal, 133(654): 2427-2448
  18. Returns to On-the-Job Soft Skills Training [PDF]
    Published · 2023Journal of Political Economy, 131(8): 2165-2208
  19. Managerial Quality and Productivity Dynamics [PDF]
    Published · 2023Review of Economic Studies, 90(4): 1569-1607
  20. Expectations, Wage Hikes, and Worker Voice: Evidence from a Field Experiment [PDF]
    Published · 2022Economic Journal, 132(645): 1978-1993
  21. Management and Shocks to Worker Productivity [PDF]
    Published · 2022Journal of Political Economy, 130(1): 1-47 (lead article)
  22. (Mis)information and Anxiety: Evidence from a Randomized Covid-19 Information Campaign
    Published · 2021Journal of Development Economics, 152: 102699
  23. Job Loss, Credit and Crime in Colombia [PDF]
    Published · 2021American Economic Review: Insights, 3(1): 97-114
  24. Resources, Conflict, and Economic Development in Africa [PDF]
    Published · 2021Journal of Development Economics, 149: 102598
  25. No Line Left Behind: Assortative Matching Inside the Firm [PDF]
    Forthcoming · 2020Review of Economics and Statistics
  26. The Light and the Heat: Productivity Co-benefits of Energy-saving Technology [PDF]
    Published · 2020Review of Economics and Statistics, 102(4): 779-792
  27. When It Rains It Pours: The Long-run Economic Impacts of Salt Iodization in the United States [PDF]
    Published · 2020Review of Economics and Statistics, 102(2): 395-407
  28. Booms, Busts, and Household Enterprise: Evidence from Coffee Farmers in Tanzania
    Published · 2019World Bank Economic Review
  29. Early Life Circumstance and Adult Mental Health
    Published · 2019Journal of Political Economy, 127(4): 1516-1549
  30. Health, Enterprise, and Labor Complementarity in the Household
    Published · 2017Journal of Development Economics, 126(3): 91-111
  31. Endowments at Birth and Parents' Investments in Children
    Published · 2016Economic Journal, 126(593): 781-820
  32. Returns to Treatment in the Formal Health Care Sector
    Published · 2015American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 7(3): 29-57
  33. Schooling, Child Labor and the Returns to Healthcare in Tanzania
    Published · 2012Journal of Human Resources, 47(2): 364-396
  34. Optimal Employment Contracts with Psychometric Screening and AI Prediction
    Working Paper
  35. Model Selection for Optimal Screening with AI in Hiring
    Working Paper
  36. Diagnosing Quality: Learning, Amenities, and the Demand for Health Care
    Working Paper
  37. Learning about Comparative Advantage in Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Thailand
    Working Paper
  38. Describing the Marginal Student: Merit-Based Tuition Subsidies Revisited
    Working Paper
No papers match that combination. Try broadening the selection.

Good Business Lab.

§ 04 / From research to practice

A non-profit I co-founded to turn rigorous labor-economics research into tools, training, and policy that firms will actually adopt — and that measurably improve worker welfare.

In the studio.

§ 05 / Music

I have been active in music production for over twenty years. jugalBand is a collaboration with Ach Adhvaryu.

Stream jugalBand on Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal.

Get in touch.

§ 06 / Contact

University of Michigan

Ross School of Business

701 Tappan Street

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

nyshadha@umich.edu