science

Shanta Devarajan

Shanta Devarajan is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shanta Devarajan rather than just read about it. In short: Shanta Devarajan is Professor of the Practice of International Development at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Key takeaways

Shanta Devarajan belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shanta Devarajan to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shanta Devarajan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Shanta Devarajan is Professor of the Practice of International Development at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Prior to that, he was Senior Director for Development Economics (DEC) and a former Acting Chief Economist of the World Bank Group. He previously served as Chief Economist of the World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa Region, Principal Economist and Research Manager for Public Economics in the Development Research Group, and the Chief Economist of the Human Development Network, the South Asia Region and Africa Region. He co-directed the World Development Report 2004. Before 1991, he was a faculty member at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. His research covers public economics, natural resources and the environment, and general equilibrium modeling of developing countries, and he is the author or co-author of more than 150 publications.

Selected works Ames, Brian, Ward Brown, Shanta Devarajan, and Alejandro Izquierdo. "Macroeconomic policy and poverty reduction." (2001). Devarajan, Shanta, Stuti Khemani, and Shekhar Shah. "The politics of partial decentralization." Does decentralization enhance service delivery and poverty reduction (2009): 102-121. Devarajan, Shanta, Jeffrey D. Lewis, and Sherman Robinson. "Getting the model right: The general equilibrium approach to adjustment policy." World Bank and International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC Photocopy (1994).

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shanta Devarajan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shanta Devarajan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shanta Devarajan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shanta Devarajan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shanta Devarajan

In research: Shanta Devarajan appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shanta Devarajan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shanta Devarajan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 20th-century Indian economists, 21st-century Indian economists, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shanta Devarajan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shanta Devarajan in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shanta Devarajan means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shanta Devarajan out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shanta Devarajan in simple terms?

Shanta Devarajan is Professor of the Practice of International Development at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Why does Shanta Devarajan matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shanta Devarajan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shanta Devarajan.