Indian American Professor Saumitra Jha Named Falling Walls Finalist

Jha's project, 'Breaking through the Ethnic Growth Trap,' shows how shared financial markets and business collaborations can foster peace in diverse, impoverished societies. The Falling Walls Foundation will recognize all finalists and winners at its Science Summit from 6 to 9 November 2026 in Berlin.

Jha, who teaches political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, said the research addresses a central policy question: how to build prosperous and peaceful societies amid increasing ethnic diversity. He noted that richer countries face polarized debates over immigration and openness, while poorer countries struggle to manage both existing and emerging ethnic differences.

He described the 'ethnic growth trap' as a cycle where poor, ethnically divided societies remain poor because they cannot overcome political challenges worsened by their divisions. The project examines historical cases and contemporary experiments to find ways societies have successfully broken out of this trap and harnessed the benefits of diversity.

Jha is also a senior fellow at the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Affairs and leads the Stanford Conflict and Polarization Lab. His broader research explores economic, financial, and organizational approaches to reducing political polarization and violent conflict, drawing on history and field experiments to develop new strategies.