Using nationally representative data on employment and earnings, this paper documents a fall in wage inequality in India over the last two decades. It then examines the role played by increasing minimum wages for the lowest skilled workers in India in contributing to the observed decline....

Using nationally representative data on employment and earnings, this paper documents a fall in wage inequality in India over the last two decades. It then examines the role played by increasing minimum wages for the lowest skilled workers in India in contributing to the observed decline....

We examine data for urban workers in the non-agricultural sector across three decades, 1983-2017, and find that earnings inequality increased during 1983-2004, was largely stable during 2004-11, and decreased during 2011-17. We explore whether decline in routine jobs and change in demand for...

Exploring the politics of inclusive development : towards a new conceptual approach / Sam Hickey, Kunal Sen, and Badru Bukenya -- The political determinants of economic growth : an analytical review / Kunal Sen -- The politics of what works for the poor in public expenditure and taxation / Paul...

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the potential of social protection programs in mitigating labor market shocks. We examine the role of one of the world’s largest employment guarantee schemes, India’s MG-NREGA, in cushioning job losses in one of the worst affected economies due to the...

Using two novel administrative datasets containing monthly sales and input-sourcing information for plants and products with regional heterogeneity within India, we find that the inter- to intra-region trade ratio declines sharply after the COVID-19 induced lockdown in March 2020. The ratio...