In most developing countries, there is an active debate on the changing role of the government in mediating market outcomes. In grain markets in India, this debate assumes a renewed significance, given the excessive accumulation of food stocks in recent years. For example, the wisdom of...

Many small wholesale grain markets in India are characterized by large numbers of sellers, and a relatively small number of buyers, thereby lending the price formation process open to manipulation through collusion. Government intervention limits the extent of such manipulation by instituting...

This paper uses primary data to analyze the institutions and informal markets that govern groundwater allocation in a sugarcane-cultivating village in North India. We find that, in contrast to earlier literature, the observed water trades result in efficient water allocation across farms. We...

Using a discrete choice experiment, this paper estimates the willingness to pay for biofortified orange maize in rural Zambia. The study design has five treatment arms, which enable an analysis of the impact of nutrition information, comparing the use of simulated radio versus community leaders...

This paper undertakes structural estimation of asymmetric auction models in a market for basmati, and detects the presence of a cartel consisting of a large (in market share) local miller and commission agents purchasing for large distant millers. The contracts between the distant millers and...

This article uses auction theory to analyze wholesale markets for wheat in Northern India. This approach enables us to characterize the market in terms of buyer asymmetries, to detect the existence of collusion, and to quantify its impact on market prices. We show that buyer asymmetries...

This article uses auction theory to analyze wholesale markets for wheat in Northern India. This approach enables us to characterize the market in terms of buyer asymmetries, to detect the existence of collusion, and to quantify its impact on market prices. We show that buyer asymmetries...

Iron deficiency is a widespread nutritional problem in developing countries, causing impaired physical activity and cognitive development, as well as maternal mortality. Although food fortification and supplementation programmes have been effective in some countries, their overall success...

This paper utilises micro data on consumption, family composition and land ownership of nearly 70,000 rural Indian households to analyse poverty. The study combines household level information with State level welfare indicators to examine the impact of household size and composition, caste, sex...