This paper surveys the status of food security in the South Asian countries, particularly India. Particular attention has been paid to small landholders (those households owning less than 2 hectares of land). Using NSS data from 1993–94 and 2004–05 the paper shows that small landholders are...

This paper evaluates the case for inflation targeting (IT) in India. It states the objectives of monetary policy in India and argues that, with widespread poverty still present, inflation control cannot be an exclusive concern of monetary policy. The rationale for IT is spelt out and found to be...

This paper investigates the relationship between tariff and growth in the Australian economy over the period from 1871 to 2002. The study is motivated by the debate on the apparent 'tariff-growth paradox', a sign switch in the link between tariff rate and growth between the first and second...

In recent decades economists have turned their attention to data that asks people how happy or satisfied they are with their lives. Much of the early research concluded that the role of income in determining well-being was limited, and that only income relative to others was related to...

The end of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009 generated widespread expectations of a period of sustained economic growth, building on the achievements of the liberalisation reforms sustained over three previous decades. However, recent developments have dampened that optimism, rekindling...

The clearing of forests for agricultural land and other marketable purposes is a well-trodden path of economic development. With these private benefits from deforestation come external costs: emissions from deforestation currently account for 12 per cent of global carbon emissions. A widespread...

While high fertility persists in the poorest countries and fertility declines with per capita income in developing countries, fertility and per capita income are now positively associated across most developed countries. This paper presents a model where a Ushaped relationship between overall...

The paper focuses on establishing causation in regression analysis in observational settings. Simple static regression analysis cannot establish causality in the absence of a priori theory on possible causal mechanisms or controlled and randomized experiments. However, two regression based...