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When electoral quotas reduce caste-based discrimination

While affirmative action policies are widely used to tackle the underrepresentation of certain groups, their efficiency is fiercely debated. This article uses novel data from India to explore how quot...

  • Articles

Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme: Assessing impact in Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra

Government of India launched the National Land Records Modernisation Programme in 2008, with the aim of establishing a system of titles to ensure conclusive proof of land ownership. The programme was ...

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Evidence, policy, and politics

Commenting on the concept of evidence-based policy, Jean Drèze argues that the relation between evidence and policy needs further thought. Based on his involvement with social policy in India, he beli...

  • Perspectives

How governance and public expenditure impact human development

The state of Madhya Pradesh displays wide variance in human development outcomes across its districts. This article examines the link between public expenditure, quality of governance, and human devel...

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Do dishonest people gravitate towards the public sector in India?

The corruption level in the public sector may not only depend on punishments and systems put in place to deter corruption, but also on who chooses to enter the sector. This article finds that people w...

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Research, for whom?

In this note, Dr Abhay Bang discusses the importance of research in development. Giving examples from his 30 years of experience of working in the social sector, he contends that the power of knowledg...

  • Notes from the Field

The impact of robotisation on the world economy: A forward-looking review

Robots have long existed in human imagination and only recently in the real world. The baggage of past imagination often intrudes into our understanding of how real robots will affect our economic liv...

  • Explainers

C-section deliveries and the role of the private health sector in India

India, like the rest of the world, is witnessing an upward trend in caesarean-section (C-section) deliveries – with the proportion of C-section deliveries rising even faster in private health faciliti...

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Management and India’s economic growth

India has produced a well-recognised elite of managers, some of whom have demonstrated their capabilities in premier firms outside the country. In this post, Nirvikar Singh discusses existing empirica...

  • Perspectives

The effect of place-based development policies: Evidence from Indian SEZs

Since the introduction of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ), Act in 2005, India has invested roughly 0.5% of its GDP annually into this programme. Using nighttime lights data and firm- and worker-level...

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The strategic logic of money flows in Indian elections

Why do political candidates give voters handouts during election campaigns, even when they are unable to monitor voter behaviour? Based on a qualitative study in Mumbai, this article argues that compe...

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Measuring the equilibrium impacts of credit: Evidence from India’s 2010 microfinance crisis

In October 2010, the government of Andhra Pradesh issued an emergency ordinance, bringing microfinance activities in the state to a complete halt and causing a nationwide shock to the liquidity of len...

  • Articles