Santosh Mehrotra is a development economist known for his research and writings, particularly in the areas of labour. He currently serves as a Research Fellow at the IZA Institute of Labour Economics in Bonn, Germany. He also holds visiting professorships at the CDS, University of Bath, UK, and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, where he is a Lead Senior Fellow.

Previously, Mehrotra was a Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University.