Dr. Vijayamba R

Education

• PhD, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore.

Profile

Vijayamba is a development economist interested in studying women’s work in the labour markets. She completed her postdoctoral stint at the Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University, and was part of the research team behind the State of Working India (SWI) Report 2023, focusing on the role of social identities on labour market outcomes.

Her PhD research focused on women’s role in the livestock economy, including their ownership of livestock assets, labour contribution, and decision-making in the livestock economy. She was awarded a Non-Resident Post-Doctoral fellowship by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)-National Data Innovation Centre (NDIC) to explore measurement issues of women’s work using secondary data.

Her research interests include women’s work, the utilization of time, decision-making, social norms, and issues of measurement.
Her other interests include reading, travelling, and practising music.

Publications

Book Chapters

• Vijayamba. R (2023), “The Reach of Fiscal Stimulus for Urban Women Informal Sector Workers in Bengaluru during COVID–19,”, in Jon Mulberg, Ariane Agunsoye, and Thoralf Dassler (editors) Heterodox Economics and Global Emergencies: Voices from Around the World, Routledge.
• Vijayamba. R (2022), “Women’s Participation in Livestock Raising—Evidence from NSSO Employment and Unemployment Surveys 1993–94 to 2011–12,” in Vibhuti Patel and Nandita Mondal (editors) Gendered Inequalities in Paid and Unpaid Work of Women in India, Springer Nature.
• Vijayamba. R (2020), “Women in Livestock Rearing,” in Madhura Swaminathan, Shruti Nagbhushan and VK Ramachandran (editors) Women and Work in Rural India, Tulika Books, New Delhi.

Peer reviewed journals

• Vijayamba R. and Madhura Swaminathan (2024), “Women’s Work in Livestock Raising: Evidence from Time Use Surveys in India,” Indian Journal of Labour Economics.
• Vijayamba. R (2024), “Women’s Ownership of Livestock Assets: Evidence from Karnataka,” Review of Agrarian Studies, vol 14, no 1.
• Niyati.S and Vijayamba.R (2021), “Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Food Security and Indebtedness in Rural India,” Review of Agrarian Studies, vol 11, no 1.

Report

• “State of Working India 2023,” with CSE team, Azim Premji University.

Blogs

• Vijayamba. R (2024), “Women’s Time Use between Paid and Unpaid Work in India,” Revaluing Care.
• Smriti Rao and Vijayamba R (2021), “Using the India TUS unit-level data: Some notes on method (and some STATA code!)” Foundation for Agrarian Studies website.

Popular Media 

• Subhasish Ray and Vijayamba R (2023), “LPG subsidies, free bus rides give women what they want. That precious thing called leisure,” The Print.
• Rosa Abraham and Vijayamba R (2023), “The importance of social norms in determining women’s employment,” Hindustan Times.
• Vijayamba R (2023), “Karnataka’s Dairy Farmers Deserve Urgent Relief,” The Deccan Herald.
• Madhura Swaminathan and Vijayamba R (2022), “Do not ignore the role of the woman livestock farmer,” The Hindu.
• Prajwal N and Vijayamba R (2018), “If Mickey comes to Mandya: A Miracle or Mirage,” Deccan Herald.
• Vijayamba R and Prajwal N (2018), “When will they rise? Women in Karnataka Politics,” Deccan Herald.