Swarna is an empirical development economist with interests in household consumption behaviour, poverty, local governance, education, and health. Her research focuses on the micro and macro aspects of development economics and its policy implications. In the field of applied micro development, she has examined questions related to the welfare effects of a) workfare programs and b) village-level local governance measures on rural households. She also studies the effects of technology adoption on female entrepreneurship in India. Her research in macro development economics emphasizes analyzing the long-run relationship between health, education, and economic growth at the state level. She uses large cross-sectional and panel data obtained from nationally representative surveys and employs a wide range of modern empirical methodologies to conduct her research. She has consistently received acceptances for her work at prestigious international and national conferences, including the Econometric Society, Midwest Econometrics Group (MEG), East Asian Economic Association (EAEA), Society for the Study of Economic Inequality (ECINEQ), Asian Development Bank (ADB), University of Michigan, Delhi School of Economics, IIM Bangalore, and IIM Lucknow.