Shailaja Fennell is a University Lecturer in Development Studies attached to the Department of Land Economy and a Fellow of Jesus College. She was awarded her degrees of BA, MA and MPhil in Economics from the University of Delhi, and then went on to read for her MPhil and PhD at the Faculty of Economics and Politics, University of Cambridge. Her doctoral research work has examined the long term trends in cereal production in China and India and she has a longstanding interest in institutional reform. She has recently completed a five year research project on public private partnerships in education as part of a DFID funded research consortium on educational outcomes and poverty (RECOUP). Shailaja's research focuses on examining the sub-fields of institutional reform, agricultural transformation, gender and ethnicity, and comparative economic development. Her recent publications include Rules, rubrics and riches: the relationship between legal reform, institutional change and international development (2009), Gender Education and Development: conceptual frameworks, engagements and agendas (2007) edited with M. Arnot.