A game of love and hate is one in which a player's payoff is a function of her own action and the payoffs of other players. For each action profile, the associated payoff profile solves an interdependent utility system, and if that solution is bounded and unique for every profile we call the...

We develop a measure of upward mobility that distills central features of the relative and absolute approaches to measuring mobility. The former is embodied in the Growth Progressivity axiom: transfers of instantaneous growth rates from relatively rich to poor individuals increases upward...

India's case fatality rate (CFR) under covid-19 is strikingly low, trending from 3% or more, to a current level of around 2.2%. The world average rate is far higher, at around 4%. Several observers have noted that this difference is at least partly due to India's younger age distribution. In...

We investigate vertical linkages between formal and informal financial institutions. Specifically, we study a policy that expands formal credit to informal lenders, in the hope that this will improve loan terms for borrowers who are shut out of the formal sector. We pay special attention to the...

In a credit market with enforcement constraints, we study the effects of a change in the outside options of a potential defaulter on the terms of the credit contract, as well as on borrower payoffs. The results crucially depend on the allocation of quot;bargaining powerquot; between the borrower...

We provide an interim report on the Indian lockdown provoked by the covid-19 pandemic. The main topics -- ranging from the philosophy of lockdown to the provision of relief measures -- transcend the Indian case. A recurrent theme is the enormous visibility of covid-19 deaths worldwide, with...