In-kind transfers: Deadweight losses or gains?
Do in-kind transfers for social assistance lead to ‘deadweight losses’ by restricting consumer choice? This article presents findings from an experiment in Maharashtra, which involved offering low...
- Klaus Abbink Gaurav Datt Lata Gangadharan Digvijay S. Negi Bharat Ramaswami
- 16 October, 2024
- Articles
In-kind transfers: Deadweight losses or gains?
Do in-kind transfers for social assistance lead to ‘deadweight losses’ by restricting consumer choice? This article presents findings from an experiment in Maharashtra, which involved offering low...
- Klaus Abbink Gaurav Datt Lata Gangadharan Digvijay S. Negi Bharat Ramaswami
- 16 October, 2024
- Articles
Grain subsidies and junk food purchases among low-income individuals
While governments rely on expensive food subsidy programmes to address malnutrition among low-income communities, their impact is unclear as only self-reported data on food purchase decisions are avai...
- Ali Aouad Kamalini Ramdas Alp Sungu
- 23 September, 2024
- Notes from the Field
Urban exclusion: Rethinking social protection in India in the wake of Covid-19
Economic insecurity caused by lockdowns during the early days of Covid-19 forced many households to rely on government welfare schemes to fulfil their consumption needs. Using data from the June 2020 ...
- Pallavi Choudhuri Sonalde Desai Santanu Pramanik
- 13 June, 2022
- Articles
Using personalised information delivery to improve uptake of emergency government benefits
Although many governments introduced additional benefits as part of existing welfare schemes for Covid-19 relief, there is often a significant gap between the introduction of, and access to these bene...
- Amrit Amirapu Irma Clots-Figueras Bansi Malde Anirban Mitra Debayan Pakrashi Zaki Wahhaj
- 01 June, 2022
- Articles
A microfinance model to enhance borrowers’ lifetime utility
Research has shown that providing credit along with services such as savings instruments, can increase the utility that borrowers obtain from credit. Presenting a theoretical model where microfinance ...
- Dyotona Dasgupta Prabal Roy Chowdhury
- 11 April, 2022
- Articles
Examining Himachal’s urban employment guarantee
Despite proposals by economists on the need for an urban work programme in India, a national-level policy seems some time away from coming to fruition. However, some states have implemented such progr...
- Krishna Priya Choragudi
- 21 March, 2022
- Notes from the Field
Covid-19 and long-term poverty: Evidence from rural Rajasthan
Based on preliminary calculations, it is being reported that 77-220 million have fallen into poverty in India on account of Covid-19, with the poor now accounting for 60% of urban, and 70% of rural re...
- Tushar Agrawal Anirudh Krishna
- 27 January, 2022
- Articles
Fatal oblivion: India's National Family Benefit Scheme
The National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) – which provides financial assistance to families in the event of the death of a breadwinner – has been plagued by low budget allocations, restricted cove...
- Jasmin Naur Hafiz
- 03 January, 2022
- Perspectives
Crime in the village: Does road infrastructure make a difference?
Access to better infrastructure is critical for poverty alleviation and economic development in rural India. Analysing data from the 2004-05 and 2011-12 waves of the India Human Development Survey (IH...
- Shreya Biswas Ritika Jain
- 22 December, 2021
- Articles
MNREGA funds allocation: Honouring the work-on-demand guarantee
The Centre has sought an additional Rs. 25,000 crore as funding for MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). Based on simple calculations using official data, Ashwini Kulkarni ...
- Ashwini Kulkarni
- 15 December, 2021
- Perspectives
Covid-19: Impact on migrant workers in Bihar
The nationwide lockdown – imposed in March 2020 to contain the spread of Covid-19 – left large sections of migrant workers in a precarious position, with livelihoods lost, and no means of public t...
- Gaurav Datt Swati Dutta Sunil Kumar Mishra
- 27 October, 2021
- Notes from the Field
Not by growth alone: The salience of redistribution in poverty eradication
Recent studies posit that per capita incomes of developing countries are finally on track to catch up to those of industrialised countries. In this post, Enevoldsen and Pande contend that this country...
- Nils Enevoldsen Rohini Pande
- 18 October, 2021
- Perspectives
Covid-19: Impact on income inequality in India
Even as global inequality was falling, income inequality in India increased during 1990-2019. With the occurrence of Covid-19, the trend of increasing income inequality in the country is expected to n...
- Mrinalini Jha Rahul Lahoti
- 01 September, 2021
- Articles
Covid-19 and growing food insecurity: Insights from rural Bihar
Emerging research shows that Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on the already undernourished and marginalised populations, by affecting their access to food and nutrition, and consumption patterns...
- Swati Dutta Aditi Madan Sunil Kumar Mishra
- 25 August, 2021
- Notes from the Field
Twitter feed
Tweets by Ideas4IndiaMost Popular Poverty & Inequality Posts
Wealth inequality, class, and caste in India: 1961-2012
The level of wealth inequality in India is close to that of some highly unequal countries in the world. This article assesses the long-term evolution of wealth inequality in the country for the period...
- Nitin Kumar Bharti
- 28 June, 2019
- Articles
Covid-19: What can be done immediately to help vulnerable population
With over 80% of India’s workforce employed in the informal sector and one-third working as casual labour, Covid-19's spread and subsequent unplanned lockdowns, have created economic havoc in the li...
- Reetika Khera
- 25 March, 2020
- Perspectives
EWS reservation in higher education: Affirmative action or vote bank politics?
The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019, provides for 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in higher educational institutions within the general category. In this post, Devi...
- Devika Malhotra Sharma
- 11 September, 2019
- Perspectives