Short-term migration and child welfare
While much has been said about the poor working and living conditions of short-term migrants, relatively little is known of the impact of short-term migration on child welfare. This column finds that although short-term migration does not lead to child labour, children of migrants have poorer educat...
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Diane Coffey 
07 October, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Macroeconomics
Year: 2013
Delivering health services through schools in rural India
Given that India has better infrastructure for schooling relative to healthcare, and near universal primary school enrolment rates, many believe that providing basic health services through schools rather than clinics may be more cost effective. This column finds that coverage achieved by health pro...
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Anjini Kochar
- 04 October, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Human Development
Year: 2013
What explains the stagnation of female labour force participation in urban India?
Over the past two decades, urban India has experienced expansion in women’s education, fertility decline and growth in white-collared jobs. Then why is it that female labour force participation has stagnated at around 18% since the 1980s? This column seeks to answer this question by exploring dema...
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Janneke Pieters Stephan Klasen
- 27 September, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Social Identity
Year: 2013
JNNURM and environmental sustainability
Can entrepreneurship be a vehicle for social mobility in India? This column analyses data from micro, small and medium enterprises, and finds clear and persistent caste and gender disparities in virtually all enterprise characteristics in the sector. It makes a case for concerted policy action to co...
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Kavita Wankhade
- 23 September, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Urbanisation
Year: 2013
Entrepreneurship or survival? Caste and gender of small business in India
Can entrepreneurship be a vehicle for social mobility in India? This column analyses data from micro, small and medium enterprises, and finds clear and persistent caste and gender disparities in virtually all enterprise characteristics in the sector. It makes a case for concerted policy action to co...
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Ashwini Deshpande Smriti Sharma
- 23 September, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Social Identity
Year: 2013
Does it pay to speak English in India?
There is a widely held belief that there are sizeable economic returns to English-language skills in India. This column seeks to estimate the wage returns to English skills in India. It is found that being fluent in English increases the hourly wages of men by 34% and of women by 22%. But the effect...
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Aimee Chin Mehtabul Azam Nishith Prakash
- 20 September, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Human Development
Year: 2013
Why do insecure rural property rights persist?
Poorly specified and weakly enforced property rights over land may reduce productivity in the agricultural sector. This column examines why strong private property rights are not adopted more widely, and offers a theory of the determination of rural property rights institutions.
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Leopoldo Fergusson
- 18 September, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Agriculture
Year: 2013
Why did the Indian economy stagnate under the colonial rule?
How did the Indian economy fare under the colonial rule? Is the average Indian significantly better off after Independence? This column examines trends in GDP per capita in order to determine the standard of living in India under the British rule. It also explores the possible causes of stagnation i...
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Aniruddha Bagchi
- 16 September, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Governance
Year: 2013
Migrating out of poverty: The role of finance
Financial liberalisation has been controversial as it is not clear whom the expanded credit allocation actually benefits. Using variation across time and states in India, this column finds strong evidence that financial deepening reduces rural poverty, especially among the self-employed. Financial d...
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Meghana Ayyagiri Mohammad Hoseini Thorsten Beck
- 13 September, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Poverty & Inequality
Year: 2013
Economists on the wrong foot
This article asserts that the Sen-Bhagwati debate misses out two crucial elements – communities as agents of development, and ecological sustainability. It emphasises the importance of community empowerment, and backing community initiatives through state policies.
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Aseem Shrivastava Ashish Kothari
- 11 September, 2013
- Perspectives
Content Type: Perspectives
Topic: Governance
Year: 2013
The unintended child health consequences of the Green Revolution in India
While the Green Revolution in India greatly enhanced agricultural production, the enhanced use of fertilisers led to the contamination of surface and ground water. This column analyses the impact of fertiliser agrichemicals in water on infant and child health. It is found that exposure of mothers to...
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Nidhiya Menon
- 09 September, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Agriculture
Year: 2013
In pursuit of low-carbon electricity
The policy debate on low-carbon energy often tends to focus solely on setting targets. This column argues that the State’s capacity to meet targets and the strategies followed to build the required capacity are equally important. Meeting the targets requires creative manoeuvres such as involving a...
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Ashwini K. Swain
- 06 September, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Environment
Year: 2013