Contributor : Profile
Dilip Mookherjee teaches economics at Boston University, where he has been serving as Director of the Institute for Economic Development since 1998. He is currently President of BREAD. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and has been recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Mahalanobis Memorial Medal of the Indian Econometric Society. His current research interests are development economics, contract and organisation theory, and the Indian economy. Current projects include effectiveness of new forms of microfinance and provision of price information to farmers; land acquisition for industrialisation and compensation of displaced farmers; effects of reforms in bankruptcy and contract enforcement laws on credit markets; land reforms; deforestation; government accountability; decentralisation; trade middlemen and effects of globalisation; and theories of education, inequality and development.
Posts by Dilip Mookherjee
Middleman margins and market structure in West Bengal potato supply chains
Potato farmers in West Bengal sell to local middlemen because they lack direct access to wholesale markets. Middleman margins are large and there is negligible pass-through from wholesale to farm-gat...
- Sandip Mitra Dilip Mookherjee Sujata Visaria
- 22 September, 2017
- Articles
Community origins of industrial entrepreneurship: Theory and historical evidence from India
The transition from agriculture to trade and the subsequent transition from trade to manufacturing are key stages in the development process. In countries where a substantial manufacturing sector exis...
- Bishnupriya Gupta Dilip Mookherjee Kaivan Munshi
- 31 March, 2017
- IGC Research on India
An economist’s view on recent domestic and world events
Dilip Mookherjee spoke to Hindu Business Line at length on a variety of issues including demonetisation, the upcoming Budget, and the Trump Presidency’s impact on the world economy.
- Dilip Mookherjee
- 31 January, 2017
- Perspectives
Moving past the mandis: A revolution waiting to happen
A revolution in agricultural marketing organisation in Gansu province in China led to a 50% increase in potato yields within the past 15 years. In this article, Dilip Mookherjee, Professor of Economi...
- Dilip Mookherjee
- 20 January, 2016
- Perspectives
Transforming Indian agriculture: The role of credit policy
Despite various policy attempts at priority sector lending to poor farmers, very little progress has been made on the ground, suggesting problems in the design and implementation of these policies. I...
- Amartya Lahiri Dilip Mookherjee
- 14 December, 2015
- Perspectives
Response to the Bhagwati-Panagariya rejoinder on MNREGA
In a recent article, Abreu et al. refuted the Bhagwati-Panagariya argument for phasing out MNREGA in favour of cash transfers. In this article, Abreu et al. respond to claims in a rejoinder by Bhagwa...
- Dilip Abreu Pranab Bardhan Maitreesh Ghatak Ashok Kotwal Dilip Mookherjee Debraj Ray
- 14 December, 2014
- Perspectives
Financial inclusion for agricultural growth: An alternative approach
Traditional, group-based microcredit has had limited success at enabling farmers to expand the cultivation of risky but profitable cash crops. Evidence suggests that this is mainly because of its mech...
- Pushkar Maitra Sandip Mitra Dilip Mookherjee Alberto Motta Sujata Visaria
- 08 December, 2014
- Articles
(Mis)Leading attack on MNREGA
Bhagwati and Panagariya have argued for phasing out MNREGA in favour of cash transfers. In this article, Abreu et al. contend that the argument is based on inflating the costs of the programme and de...
- Dilip Abreu Pranab Bardhan Maitreesh Ghatak Ashok Kotwal Dilip Mookherjee Debraj Ray
- 12 November, 2014
- Perspectives
MNREGA: Populist leaky bucket or successful anti-poverty programme?
MNREGA – the world’s largest workfare programme - formed the backbone of the UPA government’s anti-poverty programme, and may well represent its most important legacy in the long run. This colu...
- Dilip Mookherjee
- 28 May, 2014
- Articles
Deforestation in the Himalayas: Myths and reality
It is widely believed that the extent of deforestation in developing countries is large and growing over time, and that this has significant adverse effects on local livelihoods. This column presents...
- Jean-Marie Baland Dilip Mookherjee
- 10 March, 2014
- Articles
A 'new' land reform policy in India?
The Ministry of Rural Development has recently issued a draft of a new National Land Reform Policy. In this article, Dilip Mookherjee discusses the key features, and presents his views on the pros an...
- Dilip Mookherjee
- 11 October, 2013
- Perspectives
Turn Right or Left? Or is there a middle way?
Dilip Mookherjee shares his perspective on the recent Bhagwati versus Sen debate. While Sen represents the pro-state-led assistance stand and Bhagwati is seen as pro-market, what India requires is th...
- Dilip Mookherjee
- 25 July, 2013
- Perspectives