People

“In business economics, we study everything that is covered in the Economics PhD, but with an eye toward business applications.”

While applying for graduate programs, Sagar Saxena (he/him) was unsure about whether he had the right background to pursue a PhD in Business Economics at HBS because he had not taken graduate-level courses in mathematics or economics. However, he had studied Mathematics and Mathematical Economics as an undergraduate at Colgate University, and upon arriving at HBS he was pleased to find that his liberal arts education had prepared him well for doctoral research. “At Colgate, I learned to combine ideas from different disciplines,” he says. “As a doctoral student at HBS, I’ve discovered that my favorite research comes from these intersections of diverse fields, combined with an ability to synthesize what you discover.”

Inspired by his work in the antitrust practice of NERA Economic Consulting in Washington, D.C., Sagar wanted a doctoral program that would enable him to work closely with faculty practitioners while receiving rigorous training in economic methodology. For this reason, he chose to focus on Business Economics, rather than traditional economics programs. “In business economics, we study everything that is covered in an economics PhD, but with an eye towards business applications, especially through the required MBA courses” he explains. “It’s an ideal program for me, as I’m getting disciplinary training while also benefiting from the outstanding resources and faculty advisors at HBS.”

Research

Sagar is pursuing research in industrial organization and finance, focusing in particular on firms and industries in developing countries. “Tools in industrial organization are well-suited for analyzing imperfect markets and their welfare implications, and understanding these could be key to unlocking new channels of growth and development,” he explains. “Developing countries are often plagued with issues like weak property rights, poor contract enforcement, corruption and rent-seeking by certain socio-economic groups which not only exacerbate misallocation in these markets but also make these markets more challenging to study. These research questions span several fields and I am fortunate to be at a place like HBS which is very supportive of research that combines a variety of approaches.”