Vidhya Soundararajan is an Assistant Professor in Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB). Prior to joining the IITB faculty in 2021, she was an assistant professor in Economics in the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.

Vidhya's research interests fall under labor economics, international trade, and economic development, with particular emphasis on firm behavior, regulations and enforcement, and monopsony power. Recent research focuses on the impact of Chinese import competition in the labor allocation between the informal and formal sectors in India, incentive-based approaches to foster labor standards in industries, and the impact of minimum wage laws under imperfect enforcement in India. She has published her work in various journals including the Journal of Development Economics, European Economic Review, and the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.

Vidhya has been a consultant with the World Bank and the erstwhile Planning commission of India. She holds a PhD in applied economics from Cornell University.

Vidhya Soundararajan joined IZA as a Research Fellow in September 2022.