Evidence is presented to show that shared codes, religious beliefs, ethnicity - cultural proximity - between lenders and borrowers improves the efficiency of credit allocation. In-group preferential treatment is identified using dyadic data on the religion and caste of bank officers and...

It is widely believed that the decline in agricultural productivity in the Dhemaji district of Assam, India, is due to flood-induced sand depositions in paddy fields. Increased sand content reduces the water retaining capacity of soils and reduces crop productivity. Soil tests in 346...

Panel studies based on the same set of sample households or individuals at two points of time 5 or 10 years apart are time consuming and are relatively rare in social science research. Such a method, however, was used in the South Asia Migration study (SMS) conducted by the Centre for...

Supply response to price changes is likely to increase with the increasing liberalization of the agricultural sector. Past studies revealed weak supply response for Indian agriculture. There are no recent reliable estimates to see if the response has improved after the economic reforms...

Recruiting female teachers is frequently suggested as a policy option for improving girls' education outcomes in developing countries, but there is surprisingly little evidence on the effectiveness of such a policy. The gender gaps in learning outcomes are studied, and the effectiveness of...

If banks solve an inter-temporal problem under adverse selection and moral hazard, then bank specific factors, regulatory and supervisory features, market structure, and macroeconomic factors affect banks loan interest rates and their spread over deposit interest rates. To examine post...

The effects of rainfall forecasts and realized rainfall on equilibrium agricultural wages are analysed over the course of the agricultural production cycle. It is shown theoretically that a forecast of good weather can lower wages in the planting stage, by lowering ex ante out-migration, and can...