Finance and growth in China and India: Have firms benefited from capital-market expansion?
Financial sectors in India and China are fast expanding. This column presents a new dataset on the capital-raising activity and performance of publicly listed firms in the two countries. It suggests that at least a part of the fast growth in India and China seems to come from firms that are able to...
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Sergio Schmukler Tatiana Didier 
08 August, 2014
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Money & Finance
Year: 2014
How well does DBT work on the ground?
PM Modi has emphasised fast-tracking roll-out of the Adhaar-based Direct Benefits Transfer programme. In this note, Sweta Trayambak – who has worked with the district administration of Ramgarh in Jharkhand on the roll-out of DBT - highlights the key strengths of the programme, and problems faced ...
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Sweta Trayambak
- 04 August, 2014
- Notes from the Field
Content Type: Notes from the Field
Topic: Money & Finance
Year: 2014
India's WTO problem: A proposal
India is threatening to block the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement unless its agricultural policies are exempted from multilateral scrutiny. This article contends that while India’s objectives on agriculture are valid, its tactics in withholding support for TFA are perhaps less so. India should wi...
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Arvind Subramanian
- 31 July, 2014
- Perspectives
Content Type: Perspectives
Topic: Trade
Year: 2014
Colonial Origins of Restrictions on Land Transfer in India
Lack of access to credit is often argued to be an important determinant of poverty. This lack is often traced back to the poor not having collateral. This absence of collateral in turn has been linked to the fact that the poor don’t have titles to their land.
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Anand Swamy
- 31 July, 2014
- IGC Research on India
Content Type: IGC Research on India
Topic: Governance
Year: 2014
Social Identity and Aspirations
The project is a field experiment in India that investigates whether the norms associated with one’s social identity affect one’s aspirations, beliefs, and eventual outcomes. Project exploits cues within the subjects’ existing environment to 'prime' either caste or gender identity, thereby int...
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Priya Mukherjee
- 31 July, 2014
- IGC Research on India
Content Type: IGC Research on India
Topic: Social Identity
Year: 2014
Squaring the poverty circle
An expert group headed by C Rangarajan has recommended a poverty measurement methodology for India. In this article, Deaton and Drèze argue that the method proposed by the expert group to set poverty lines is both theoretically and empirically implausible. A simple and transparent benchmark, amena...
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Angus Deaton Jean Drèze
- 30 July, 2014
- Perspectives
Content Type: Perspectives
Topic: Poverty & Inequality
Year: 2014
Creating the climate for India's low-carbon growth story
The ‘Expert Group on Low Carbon Strategies for Inclusive Growth’ recently laid out a detailed roadmap for India to take on climate change mitigation proactively. In this note, Varad Pande – a member of the Expert Group – outlines the key strengths of the roadmap, and contends that India mus...
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Varad Pande
- 28 July, 2014
- Notes from the Field
Content Type: Notes from the Field
Topic: Environment
Year: 2014
Impact of trade reforms on labour’s share of firm revenues
The decline in labour’s share of national income in recent decades – a potential cause of rising inequality – has coincided with an increase in world trade. This column analyses the impact of trade reforms in India on labour’s share of total revenue at the firm level. It finds that the share...
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Devashish Mitra Reshad N Ahsan
- 25 July, 2014
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Trade
Year: 2014
Turning to the pharmaceutical sector for enhancing India-Pakistan trade
Various efforts have been made to normalise trade relations between India and Pakistan in the past few years; yet, several barriers remain. This column examines the trade potential in pharmaceuticals – a fast growing sector in world trade – between the two countries. It finds that there is huge,...
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Devyani Pande Manoj Pant
- 23 July, 2014
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Trade
Year: 2014
Investment in Pakistan: Prospects and challenges for India
With the growing importance of India as a leading source of FDI in South Asia, and Pakistan’s liberal investment policies, there is great potential for Pakistan to attract FDI from India. This column examines prospects and challenges for Indian investment in Pakistan, and recommends policies that...
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Samridhi Bimal
- 21 July, 2014
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Macroeconomics
Year: 2014
Tell us what you really think: Measuring gender attitudes in Haryana
Changing basic gender attitudes may be crucial for alleviating discrimination against women and improving gender outcomes. This column describes a unique measurement tool developed by social psychologists, which was adapted to measure gender attitudes of school children in the state of Haryana. It ...
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Diva Dhar Seema Jayachandran Tarun Jain
- 18 July, 2014
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Social Identity
Year: 2014
The challenge of fulfilling aspirations
This year’s election is a watershed in Indian history. This editorial discusses possible reasons for the stunning defeat of the previous government. While there is no denying that the previous government could be faulted for many things including creating a leadership vacuum and letting corruptio...
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Ashok Kotwal
- 15 July, 2014
- Perspectives
Content Type: Perspectives
Topic: Governance
Year: 2014