Siddharth Kothari

Papers

Total Citations

101

H-Index

About

Siddharth Kothari is a development economist whose research sits at the critical intersection of technological change, labor markets, and global inequality. His work primarily examines how emerging technologies — particularly artificial intelligence and automation — reshape economic prospects for developing nations, with a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Kothari's most influential contribution, "Will the AI Revolution Cause a Great Divergence?" — which has accumulated over 70 citations across multiple versions — offers a rigorous theoretical framework for understanding how AI-driven capital substitution could widen the gap between rich and poor nations. By modeling AI as a highly productive labor-substituting capital, he challenges optimistic narratives about technology as a universal equalizer, raising urgent questions about whether developing economies risk being bypassed rather than uplifted. His complementary work, "The Future of Work in Sub-Saharan Africa" (30 citations), extends these concerns to one of the world's most economically vulnerable regions, exploring how the converging forces of automation, climate change, and global integration simultaneously threaten and reshape livelihoods. Together, these contributions have made Kothari an important voice in policy-relevant debates about technological disruption and international development strategy.