In this paper, we make an attempt to understand whether low labour market returns to education in India are responsible for low female work participation. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) Employment Unemployment Survey (EUS) unit level data of India for the year 2011-12 is used to...

Trade facilitation measures improve the trading environment by reducing transaction costs and thereby increasing the gains from trade. Although the use of trade facilitation measures for tackling trade bottlenecks has gained traction in recent times, one aspect which remains largely unexplored...

Farmers in India are exposed to large agriculture risks due to vagaries of nature. One of the most effective mechanisms to mitigate agricultural risks is to have a robust insurance system. Although crop insurance has been in the country since 1972, yet it has been beset with several problems...

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is an integral part of business activities, and various models of e-commerce have emerged with liberalisation and technological developments. Global e-commerce trade has seen fast growth, which is predicted to continue in the future. The sector is now discussed...

The Indian economy entered an ongoing process of trade liberalization, domestic deregulation, and privatization of public sector units in 1991. Since then, per capita output has increased significantly, while the overall unemployment rate has remained low. However, labor force participation...

Within capacity development, the type and quality of the trainer can play a crucial role in promoting farmers' capacity. Hence, the main purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between trainers' qualification and learning success and satisfaction of small-scale farmers during...

In this paper we study the latent demand structure for food diversity in India using data from the 2012 Consumer Expenditure Survey. We assume that consumers who have not yet attained calorie sufficiency favor calories over food diversity and once passing a threshold of subsistence substitute...

This paper proposes a stylised model to derive the effect of a sizeable middle class on average educational outcomes. Under reasonable assumptions, the model predicts that the spending share on education increases if the middle class becomes larger such that the size of the middle class has a...

We present experimental evidence on the impact of delivering double-fortified salt (DFS), salt fortified with iron and iodine, through the Indian school-feeding program called “mid-day meal” on anemia, cognition, and math and reading scores of primary school children. We conducted a field...

We present experimental evidence on the impact of delivering double-fortified salt (DFS), salt fortified with iron and iodine, through the Indian school-feeding program called “mid-day meal” on anemia, cognition, and math and reading outcomes of primary school children. We conducted a field...

This paper investigates gender-based segregation across different fields of study at the postsecondary level of schooling, and how that affects subsequent labour market outcomes of men and women. Using a nationally representative longitudinal data-set from India, we provide evidence that there...

Background: The purpose of the study is to understand the role of cash flow sensitivity to investment as a measure of financial constraints among listed Indian manufacturing firms. It also analyses the role of tangibility in alleviating financial constraints. Further, the role of other financial...

Introduction: There are significant financial barriers to access treatment for multi drug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) in India. To address these challenges, Chhattisgarh state in India has established a MDR-TB financial protection policy by creating MDR-TB benefit packages as part of the...

Background and Objective: The studies measured Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) for hospital births previously suffer from serious data limitations. To overcome such limitations, we designed a hospital-based study for measuring the levels and factors of OOPE on maternity care for hospital births...

On-farm production diversity of smallholder farmers can improve the nutrition security of the household. The objective is to determine the significance and relevance of this relationship by considering the different degrees of separability between both the commercial and consumptive production...

Although one of the primary objectives of microfinance has been the reduction of poverty through the provision of credit for income-generating purposes, evidence of its impact on poverty has been mixed. Even if there is no direct impact of microfinance, there may be an indirect positive impact...

Gender gaps in leadership roles may be reduced by increasing the number of women in career stages that typically precede high-status positions. This can occur by increasing the supply of experienced women, inspiring new female candidates for these positions, and/or changing beliefs about women...

Are political activists preferentially targeted by politicians engaging in clientelistic transfers to bolster political support? We provide the first model to highlight two possible rationales for such transfers: to mobilize support from the activists themselves, or to mobilize support from...

A common argument for quota policies is that they can increase the participation of targeted groups in positions that are not directly subjected to quotas or after quotas are no longer in place. I investigate this hypothesis empirically in the context of India, where one third of local political...

Leveraging close elections to generate quasi-random variation in the religious identity of state legislators in India, we find lower rates of female foeticide in districts with Muslim legislators, which we argue reflects a greater (religious) aversion to abortion among Muslims. These districts...

Research in the field of customer discrimination has received relatively little attention even if the theory of discrimination suggests that customer discrimination may exist in the long run whereas employer and employee discrimination may not. This paper examines customer discrimination...

This paper uses a field experiment to study the effect of perceived gender norms on the motherhood penalty in the Indian labor market. We randomly reported motherhood on fictitious CVs sent to service sector job openings. We generated exogenous variation in gender norms by prominently signaling...

Analysing the Indian labour market poses inherent challenges given the country's size and diversity. Rather than a case of "jobless growth", India has experienced concentrated employment growth, mainly in urban areas and for men. This has been accompanied by a decline in the female labour force...

On-farm production diversity of smallholder farmers can improve the nutrition security of the household. The objective is to determine the significance and relevance of this relationship by considering the different degrees of separability between both the commercial and consumptive production...

This study addresses the issue of sustainability reporting by corporations, and the framework(s) and guidelines used in the preparation of those annual reports. It takes as its starting point the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12: “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”,...

This paper investigates gender-based segregation across different fields of study at the post-secondary level of schooling, and how that affects subsequent labour market outcomes of men and women. Using a nationally representative longitudinal data-set from India, we provide evidence that there...

Despite the relevance of geographical disparities in India, earnings inequality occurs mostly within states, but with a broad range of variability in its levels. We investigate the sources of such variability using RIF decompositions of the inequality gaps between most populous states and India....

Analysing the Indian labour market poses inherent challenges given the country's size and diversity. Rather than a case of "jobless growth", India has experienced concentrated employment growth, mainly in urban areas and for men. This has been accompanied by a decline in the female labour force...

The challenge of employment in the Indian economy, especially after it growth acceleration since the mid-1980s, relates to its quality rather than its quantity. While employment growth has kept pace with the labour force over the long run, what has grown is informal employment. The coexistence...

This paper explores the economic implications of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - Asia's largest trade agreement - on India and Sri Lanka. The findings from existing model-based studies suggest that India, as an insider economy, will potentially gain from the RCEP while...

This paper explores the economic implications of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - Asia's largest trade agreement - on India and Sri Lanka. The findings from existing model-based studies suggest that India, as an insider economy, will potentially gain from the RCEP while...

We examine the role of teachers and students in the formation of test scores at the higher secondary level (grade 12) in public schools in Delhi, India. Using the value added approach, we find substantial variation in teacher and student quality within schools: over the period spanning grades 11...

The enactment of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Act, 2013, has made sweeping changes in the land acquisition laws of India (LARR Act, 2013). By increasing the compensation for acquired land, mandating a social impact...

Realisation that foreign startups have the potential to add new and innovative products and services to the market, bring in investment and create more jobs compared to traditional firms, a number of countries are providing fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, including startup visas, to attract...

There has been a phenomenal global increase in the proportion of women in politics in the last two decades, but there is no evidence of how this influences economic performance. We investigate this using data on competitive elections to India's state assemblies, leveraging close elections to...