Professor Bhargava is an expert in management information systems, technology management and the information technology industry. He centers his research on the economics of information systems and the IT industry, focusing on various issues in pricing, product variety, operations and competition.

Bhargava has studied topics such as preferential placement in Internet search engines; information gatekeepers; quality-differentiated product versioning and price discrimination; electronic intermediaries and e-commerce; and joint optimization of pricing and inventory policies in electronic retailing. His research on market strategy for IT products and services shows that contingency pricing is increasingly relevant in many IT settings such as data storage outsourcing, managed hosting, nontraditional software, products from start-up firms, telecommunications services and e-commerce.