Vidya Atal

Biography

Vidya Atal is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Montclair State University. She holds a Master's and a Ph.D. degree in economics from Cornell University. Earlier, she received a Master's degree in quantitative economics from the Indian Statistical Institute.

Her specialization is in applied microeconomics, with research spanning industrial organization, development economics, and policy analysis. Her work focuses on how institutional frameworks and public policies influence economic outcomes and distributional patterns. She studies key issues in development economics, including women’s empowerment, intra-household bargaining, inequality, and gender gaps, alongside topics in industrial organization such as U.S. patent policy, open-source software licensing, firm behavior in patent races, and R&D investment decisions.

Dr. Atal’s research articles have been published in some of the top-tier peer-reviewed journals in economics. To name a few, they are: Games and Economic Behavior, The Journal of Industrial Economics, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Review of Economics of the Household, Economics Letters, Economics Bulletin, and B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy. She has presented her research in several national and international conferences, like the International Industrial Organization Conference and the Royal Economic Society Annual Conference.

Education

• BS, St. Xavier's College (India)
• MS, Indian Statistical Institute (India)
• MA, Cornell University
• PhD, Cornell University

Research

Fields: Development Economics, Industrial Organization, Game Theory

Topics: Women's empowerment, Gender inequality, Economics of R&D, Economics of open source resources, Patent system

Publications

• Book Chapter: V. Atal, L. San Vicente Portes (2012). Women’s Empowerment and Households’ Consumption-Savings Decisions. Economic Empowerment for Women: A Global Perspective (M. Lownes-Jackson and R. Guy ed.), Informing Science Press
• Journal Article: V. Atal, T. Bar (2010). Prior Art- To Search or Not to Search. International Journal of Industrial Organization
• Journal Article: V. Atal (2010). Do Journals Accept Too Many Papers?. Economics Letters
• Journal Article: V. Atal, K. Basu, J. Gray, T. Lee (2010). Literacy Traps: Society-wide Education and Individual Skill Premia. International Journal of Economic Theory
• Journal Article: V. Atal, R. Dubey (2014). Affirmative Action and Empowerment: Friends or Foes?. Economics Bulletin
• Journal Article: V. Atal, K. Shankar (2014). Open Source Software: Competition with A Public Good. Atlantic Economic Journal
• Journal Article: V. Atal, T. Bar (2014). Patent Quality and A Two-Tiered Patent System. Journal of Industrial Economics
• Journal Article: V. Atal (2014). The Big Mac Index and Real-Income Disparity. Journal of Business and Economics Research
• Journal Article: L. San Vicente Portes, V. Atal (2014). The Big Mac Index: A Shortcut To Inflation And Exchange Rate Dynamics? Price Tracking And Predictive Properties. International Business and Economics Research Journal
• Conference Proceedings: V. Atal, K. Shankar (2013). Developers’ Incentives and Open Source Software Licensing: GPL vs. BSD. Academy of Business Research
• Book Chapter: V. Atal (2012). Tax Policies, Female Labor Force Participation and Women’s Empowerment. Economic Empowerment for Women: A Global Perspective (M. Lownes-Jackson and R. Guy ed.), Informing Science Press
• Journal Article: V. Atal, T. Bar, S. Gordon (2016). Project Selection: Commitment and Competition. Games and Economic Behavior
• Journal Article: V. Atal, K. Shankar (2015). Developers’ Incentives and Open Source Software Licensing: GPL vs. BSD. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy
• Journal Article: V. Atal, K. Shankar (2016). Open Questions in Open Source: Exploring Incentives, Licenses and Competition. Economics Bulletin
• Journal Article: O. Gharehgozli, V. Atal (2020). Revisiting the Gender Wage Gap in the United States. Economic Analysis and Policy
• Journal Article: L. San Vicente Portes, V. Atal, M. Juarez Torres (2019). Women's Empowerment: Aggregate Effects on Savings and Wealth. Banco de México Documentos de Investigación
• Journal Article: L. San Vicente Portes, V. Atal, M. Juarez Torres (2019). From Households to National Statistics: Macroeconomic Effects of Women's Empowerment. Economic Modelling
• Journal Article: V. Atal (2017). Say at Home, or Stay at Home? Policy Implications on Female Labor Supply and Power. Review of Economics of The Household
• Journal Article: O. Gharehgozli, V. Atal (2020). "Big Mac Affordability" and Real Income Inequality Across Countries. Applied Economics Letters
• Journal Article: O. Gharehgozli, V. Atal (2021). A Simple Measure to Study Multinational Income Inequality. Review of Economic Perspectives
• Journal Article: O. Gharehgozli, V. Atal (2021). Gender Wage Gap: Within and Across Borders. Studies in Business and Economics
• Journal Article: V. Atal, O. Gharehgozli, L. San Vicente Portes (2022). Higher Labour Market Bargaining Power, Higher Unemployment in Recessions. Applied Economics Letters
• Journal Article: M. Akarsu, O. Gharehgozli, V. Atal (2023). An Investigation of Income and Wage Inequality in Turkey Using Burgernomics. Eastern European Economics
• Journal Article: V. Atal, K. Shankar (2023). Open Source Software Licensing and Developer Participation. New York Economic Review
• Journal Article: V. Atal, O. Gharehgozli, L. San Vicente Portes (). Sticky Employment: A Business Cycle Approach to Labor Market Decisions and Industry Segregation by Gender. Economic Inquiry
• Journal Article: M. Akarsu, O. Gharehgozli, V. Atal (2025). Big Mac Affordability in European Union Countries. Journal of Economic Studies

Honors & Awards

• Sage Fellowship, ( 2005)
• Faculty Honoree, Beta Gamma Sigma ( 2012)
• Excellence in Research Award, Clute Institute (March 2016)
• Engaged Teaching Fellowship, Research Academy for University Learning, Montclair State University ( 2014)