Lokesh Posti

Areas of Interest & Expertise

  • Productivity analysis
  • MSME
  • Informal sector
  • Environmental economics
  • Competition economics

Biography

Lokesh is an engineer turned banker turned economist, thus considers himself an ​‘Unintentional Economist’. He spent a significant time in the industry before switching to academia to pursue his PhD (Economics) from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kashipur. 

He holds a postgraduate degree in Economics from the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi, as well as a graduation degree in Information Technology Engineering from Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal. 

His doctoral dissertation – Essays on Informal Firm Productivity — focussed on productivity analyses among Indian informal firms. His current research lies at the intersection of climate change and business economics. 

He serves as a reviewer for reputed journals such as the International Journal of Social Economics (ABS‑1, Scopus) and Management of Environmental Quality (ABS‑1, Scopus). His prior work experience includes positions at OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat, and at Indian Overseas Bank (a Government of India Undertaking).

Publications:

Journal Articles-

Posti, L., & Maiti, A. (2025). Firm level evidence on diffusion and returns on ICT: a study on Indian informal MSMEs. Information Technology for Development, 31(3), 509 – 539.

Posti, L., Maiti, A., & Patra, S. (2025). An empirical study of firm characteristics, degree of informality, and productivity heterogeneity in the Indian informal sector. Applied Economics, 57(23), 3046 – 3060.

Posti, L., & Maiti, A. (2025). Firm size and productivity in the informal sector: Evidence from India. The Indian Economic Journal, 73(3), 379 – 396.

Posti, L., Kholiya, M., & Posti, A. K. (2025). Returns on Informal and Formal finance for Indian Informal firms: A Pseudo panel data analysis. Empirica, 1 – 21.

Posti, L., Bhamoriya, V., Kumar, R., & Khare, R. (2024). How productive is liquid waste management practices in Indian informal micro, small and medium enterprises?. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 35(2), 314 – 340.

Posti, L., Khare, R., & Kumar, R. (2023). Workplace sanitation and female labour force participation in the informal sector. Economics Bulletin, 43(3), 1411 – 1420.

Conference Articles-

Posti, L. (2024, December). Enablers and Barriers to Solid Waste Management Practices among Indian Informal MSMEs. In 2024 1st International Conference on Sustainability and Technological Advancements in Engineering Domain (SUSTAINED) (pp. 684 – 687). IEEE.

Posti, L. (2024). Returns on solid waste management: Evidence from Indian informal MSMEs. Procedia Computer Science, 232, 554 – 563.