Tewari studies the political economy of local economic development, skill formation and upgrading within regional and global production networks. Her work is comparative, with a regional emphasis on South Asia. She is particularly interested in the implications of global competition for firms, workers, public sector institutions, and local economies, as well as the prospects for upward mobility in regions that are restructuring. Her work also incorportes the impacts of a changing climate on the local economy and on communities. Her current project focuses on institutional reform and urban development in India, specifically in connecting people to water. Her latest publications include two co-edited volumes, Labor in Global Value Chains in Asia (with D. Nathan and S. Sarkar, 2016, Cambridge University Press) and Development with Global Value Chains: Upgrading and Innovation in Asia (with D. Nathan and S. Sarkar, 2019, Cambridge University Press).