Economists have long recognized that a household's well-being depends not just on its average income or expenditure, but also on the risks it faces. Hence vulnerability is a more satisfactory measure of (inadequate) welfare than poverty. We measure vulnerability as expected poverty and establish...

The policy of allocation of food grains under rationing has been very ad hoc in India with allocation being fixed on a 'historical basis'. This paper uses four sets of pooled equations for predicting stable levels of per capita consumption of rice and wheat in physical terms in rural and urban...

As China becomes more industrial and urbanized, it is likely to become more dependent over time on imports of (especially land-intensive) farm products, most notably livestock feedstuffs. If farmers are slow to adjust to their declining competitiveness, for example by obtaining off-farm...

What are the root causes of Africa's current state of under-development? Is it the long history of slave trade, or the legacy of extractive colonial institutions, or the fallout of malaria? We investigate the relative contributions of these factors using an instrumental variable approach. The...

Food security is an important social objective and relying on international food markets to meet the needs of Indonesia's growing population is precarious. The policy of restricting food imports through tariffs or quantitative restrictions promotes the goal of food self-sufficiency, but does so...

The Australia South Asia Research Centre (ASARC) was established in 1994 in one of the premier universities of the world - The Australian National University (ANU). Apart from its research and doctoral training activities, ASARC also needed a public forum with a global reach to involve the best...

This paper focuses on the Indian experience with dietary changes, their nutritional implications, and policy response to alleviate nutritional deprivation. We review the evidence on nutrient intake and dietary changes, particularly the downward shift in calorie, protein and other nutrient intake...