India at work: Challenges and the road ahead
While India’s economy experienced steady growth over the last 20 years or so, the growth in employment has not kept pace and key challenges remain to the creation of good-quality jobs. In this post,...
Nalini Gulati
Kanika Mahajan
Anisha Sharma
15 September, 2025
- Perspectives
Election of criminal politicians and public service delivery
Why are politicians with criminal records elected to office, despite voters having the option to weed them out? Based on the hypothesis that criminal politicians strategically deliver targeted benefit...
Abhinav Khemka
18 September, 2025
- Articles
Rethinking India’s export strategy
The recently imposed US tariffs on India are being viewed by some analysts as an opportunity for India to undertake holistic economic reforms. In this post, Sharmila Kantha contends that such reforms ...
Sharmila Kantha
22 September, 2025
- Perspectives
Building State capacity for accelerating development through effective governance
In a new edition of I4I conversations, Maitreesh Ghatak (London School of Economics) is joined by Karthik Muralidharan (University of California, San Diego) to discuss his new book, Accelerating India...
Maitreesh Ghatak
Karthik Muralidharan
05 May, 2025
- Videos
Enhancing the State's implementation capacity: Lessons from Delhi schools
In a new edition of I4I conversations, Yamini Aiyar is joined by Shrayana Bhattacharya to discuss her new book, Lessons in State Capacity from Delhi Schools.
Yamini Aiyar
Shrayana Bhattacharya
24 September, 2025
- Videos
Managing India’s demographic transition
India’s population is expected to peak at about 1.7 billion in 2064, and while the current median age is only 28, the share of Indians aged 65 and above will go from 7% to 20% in the next 40 years o...
Farzana Afridi
Sonalde Desai
03 July, 2024
- Videos
Latest
Policy Roundup: Domestic reform push amidst global turmoil
Recent disruptions to global trade have brought into focus the need for holistic policy reforms in India – aimed at enhancing productivity, innovation, and competitiveness in economic activity. Agai...
Nalini Gulati
01 October, 2025
- Perspectives
Do judges favour defendants like themselves? Evidence from Indian courts
Around the world, research has shown that people in positions of power tend to favour those who share their social identity. To examine whether the same is true in Indian courts, this article analyses...
Elliot Ash
Samuel Asher
Aditi Bhowmick
Sandeep Bhupatiraju
Christoph Goessmann
Daniel Li Chen
Paul Novosad
29 September, 2025
- Articles
Enhancing the State's implementation capacity: Lessons from Delhi schools
In a new edition of I4I conversations, Yamini Aiyar is joined by Shrayana Bhattacharya to discuss her new book, Lessons in State Capacity from Delhi Schools.
Yamini Aiyar
Shrayana Bhattacharya
25 September, 2025
- Podcasts
Enhancing the State's implementation capacity: Lessons from Delhi schools
In a new edition of I4I conversations, Yamini Aiyar is joined by Shrayana Bhattacharya to discuss her new book, Lessons in State Capacity from Delhi Schools.
Yamini Aiyar
Shrayana Bhattacharya
24 September, 2025
- Videos
Rethinking India’s export strategy
The recently imposed US tariffs on India are being viewed by some analysts as an opportunity for India to undertake holistic economic reforms. In this post, Sharmila Kantha contends that such reforms ...
Sharmila Kantha
22 September, 2025
- Perspectives
Most Popular
Hindu-Muslim fertility differentials in India: An update
Building on past research, Saswata Ghosh and Pallabi Das estimate the state- and district-level fertility differentials between Hindus and Muslims using data from the latest round of the NFHS. They sh...
Pallabi Das
Saswata Ghosh
18 April, 2023
- Articles
Unique Health Identification and Aadhaar: A case for mandatory linkage
As part of the Digital India initiative, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) issues a Unique Health Identification (UHID) number to each patient, which documents their entire journey in th...
Mudit Kapoor
23 December, 2016
- Perspectives
Land in India: Market price vs. fundamental value
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015, is focused on protecting the few home buyers who can afford to buy homes but does not address the issue of high land prices, which is a very se...
Gurbachan Singh
29 February, 2016
- Articles
Hindu-Muslim fertility differentials in India: District-level estimates from Census 2011
The 2011 Indian Census data show a higher growth rate of Muslim population compared to the Hindu population. This article provides an in-depth picture of Hindu-Muslim fertility differentials at the di...
Saswata Ghosh
27 March, 2019
- Articles
Land records and titles in India
Land ownership is broadly determined by access to a land title, which protects the rights of the title-holder, and impacts livelihoods, and industrial, economic, and social growth. However, land title...
Prachee Mishra
Roopal Suhag
20 November, 2017
- Perspectives
Symposia
International Women’s Day 2025: Towards equality and empowerment
Throughout this week, I4I has been sharing some of the latest evidence and ideas around women’s empowerment to mark International Women’s Day 2025. Discover the five-part series, and more about I4...
I4I Team
08 March, 2025
Introduction to e-Symposium: Tiger conservation in India
Despite a recent upward trend in tiger populations in India, the tiger remains on the endangered species list. Saving the tiger, therefore, is not a fait accompli but a continuous struggle that must b...
Parikshit Ghosh
31 July, 2024
Ideas@IPF2024 series: Research from NCAER’s India Policy Forum
Every year, National Council of Applied Economic Research hosts the India Policy Forum, a platform where economists and policymakers dissect research ideas for their relevance to public policy. Follo...
Pradip Kumar Bagchi
10 July, 2024
Browse By Topic
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Agriculture Show this topicHide this topic
Protecting agricultural biodiversity to ensure sustainable food systems
While the Green Revolution significantly enhanced food production to meet rising consumption demand, it led to a loss of biodiversity by promoting cultivation of a small set of high-yielding varieties...
Tulsi Lingareddy
A. Amarender Reddy
21 August, 2025
- Perspectives
Why India's plan to sell rice for ethanol undermines food and water security
Akanksha Jain
30 June, 2025
- Perspectives
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Macroeconomics Show this topicHide this topic
India at work: Challenges and the road ahead
While India’s economy experienced steady growth over the last 20 years or so, the growth in employment has not kept pace and key challenges remain to the creation of good-quality jobs. In this post,...
Nalini Gulati
Kanika Mahajan
Anisha Sharma
15 September, 2025
- Perspectives
Do rural roads promote inclusive entrepreneurship?
Ananyo Brahma
Vidhya Soundararajan
22 July, 2025
- Articles
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Human Development Show this topicHide this topic
Teacher development and school performance: Seven lessons from schools that do well
While the centrality of teachers’ role in the learning process at schools is widely recognised, challenges on the ground come in the way of quality outcomes. Based on preliminary insights from a pil...
Amarjeet Sinha
04 September, 2025
- Notes from the Field
Kerala’s silent crisis: Educated youth, but locked out of work
Isha Gupta
28 August, 2025
- Notes from the Field
When fathers migrate: Does It benefit or disrupt left-behind children’s education?
Pintu Paul
04 August, 2025
- Articles
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Social Identity Show this topicHide this topic
Do judges favour defendants like themselves? Evidence from Indian courts
Around the world, research has shown that people in positions of power tend to favour those who share their social identity. To examine whether the same is true in Indian courts, this article analyses...
Elliot Ash
Samuel Asher
Aditi Bhowmick
Sandeep Bhupatiraju
Christoph Goessmann
Daniel Li Chen
Paul Novosad
29 September, 2025
- Articles
Protecting girls at school: How sanitation infrastructure can reduce sexual violence
Pei Gao
Aditi Kothari
Yu-Hsiang Lei
29 July, 2025
- Articles
Raising the value of women’s time for a transition to clean fuels
Farzana Afridi
04 June, 2025
- Articles
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Governance Show this topicHide this topic
Enhancing the State's implementation capacity: Lessons from Delhi schools
In a new edition of I4I conversations, Yamini Aiyar is joined by Shrayana Bhattacharya to discuss her new book, Lessons in State Capacity from Delhi Schools.
Yamini Aiyar
Shrayana Bhattacharya
25 September, 2025
- Podcasts
Enhancing the State's implementation capacity: Lessons from Delhi schools
Yamini Aiyar
Shrayana Bhattacharya
24 September, 2025
- Videos
Election of criminal politicians and public service delivery
Abhinav Khemka
18 September, 2025
- Articles
Boosting Lekhpal performance via data-driven feedback and recognition
Fahad Hasin
Sakshi Ugale
18 August, 2025
- Notes from the Field
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Poverty & Inequality Show this topicHide this topic
Declining PDS leakages: A look at the numbers
Estimates have shown that leakages of foodgrain from the Public Distribution System declined from 42% in 2011-12 to 22-28% in 2022-23. Analysing new data from the Household Consumption and Expenditure...
Prabhu Pingali
Raghav Puri
11 August, 2025
- Perspectives
What broad lessons have we learned from 115 studies on unconditional cash transfers?
Tommaso Crosta
Dean Karlan
Finley Ong
Julius Ruschenpohler
Christopher Udry
20 June, 2025
- Articles
Food deprivation: A thali index reveals what poverty estimates do not
Pulapre Balakrishnan
Aman Raj
06 June, 2025
- Perspectives
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Environment Show this topicHide this topic
Food policy in a warming world
In the face of extreme heat damage to agricultural production, governments intervene to protect domestic consumers from high food prices. Examining the interaction between environmental shocks and foo...
Allan Hsiao
Jacob Moscona
Karthik Sastry
14 August, 2025
- Articles
Clearing the air: Do India’s crop burning bans really work?
Shefali Khanna
Kanika Mahajan
Sudarshan Ramanujam
14 July, 2025
- Articles
Yamuna River pollution: Problem of governance, not infrastructure
Naina Sharma
08 July, 2025
- Perspectives
Climate Change: An unfolding public health crisis
Rakesh Chandra
Abhijit Sen Gupta
Edith Zheng
02 June, 2025
- Articles
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Money & Finance Show this topicHide this topic
Stability at the cost of growth? Rethinking liquidity rules in India’s banking sector
Liquidity regulation – quantity-based requirements mandating banks to maintain enough high-quality assets to meet short-term obligations during periods of stress – is a long-standing policy tool o...
Sameedh Sharma
24 July, 2025
- Articles
How Atal Pension Yojana is helping Indians save for retirement
Debasis Rooj
Reshmi Sengupta
11 July, 2025
- Articles
How financial stress impacts consumer confidence
Anurag Banerjee
Debasis Rooj
Reshmi Sengupta
15 May, 2025
- Articles
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Productivity & Innovation Show this topicHide this topic
India’s data workers: The human labour making machines learn
Technological progress can displace workers from existing work, as well as create new work. Combined with demographic changes and macroeconomic fluctuations, it has also spurred the growth of non-stan...
Neha Arya
11 September, 2025
- Articles
Night shift bans and female employment in Indian manufacturing
Bhanu Gupta
Kanika Mahajan
Anisha Sharma
Daksh Walia
08 September, 2025
- Articles
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Urbanisation Show this topicHide this topic
Street vending: Understanding emotional markups and market interactions
Despite the ubiquity of street vending in urban landscapes and its significance as a livelihood choice among the poor, it is challenging to collect comprehensive data on vendors – especially childre...
Ronak Jain
28 October, 2024
- Articles
What are the effects of India’s rapid urbanisation on women’s empowerment?
Gaurav Dhamija
Punarjit Roychowdhury
Binay Shankar
28 March, 2024
- Articles
Why is land expensive in India, and what can be done about it?
Gurbachan Singh
29 February, 2024
- Perspectives
Evidence of illegal fuel use by auto rickshaws in Kolkata
Satyaki Sensarma
21 February, 2023
- Articles
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Trade Show this topicHide this topic
Rethinking India’s export strategy
The recently imposed US tariffs on India are being viewed by some analysts as an opportunity for India to undertake holistic economic reforms. In this post, Sharmila Kantha contends that such reforms ...
Sharmila Kantha
22 September, 2025
- Perspectives
Trump’s tariffs and India’s strategic response
Ashok Gulati
Sulakshana Rao
Tanay Suntwal
25 August, 2025
- Perspectives
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Miscellany Show this topicHide this topic
Policy Roundup: Domestic reform push amidst global turmoil
Recent disruptions to global trade have brought into focus the need for holistic policy reforms in India – aimed at enhancing productivity, innovation, and competitiveness in economic activity. Agai...
Nalini Gulati
01 October, 2025
- Perspectives
Policy Roundup: Trump tariffs, India’s energy security, broader export strategy
Nalini Gulati
01 September, 2025
- Perspectives
Policy Roundup: Critical minerals, Yamuna cleanup, school consolidation
Nalini Gulati
04 August, 2025
- Perspectives
Policy Roundup: 50 years post Emergency, forest rights, ethanol policy
Nalini Gulati
02 July, 2025
- Perspectives