Sharon Barnhardt is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai where she teaches development economics. Sharon’s primary fields of interest are development, labor and social economics, with a regional focus on India. Her current research examines the link between housing location and neighbors on economic mobility, inter-religious attitudes and social networks in cities. Earlier, she studied urban microfinance and school-level cash incentives. Sharon is also an affiliate of the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, an MPA from Princeton University, and a BS from New York University.