Bad management: A constraint on economic development?
Are poor management practices holding back middle-income countries? This column looks at the evidence for private firms and public organisations in manufacturing, retail, healthcare and education in India. The findings suggest that there is a large share of badly managed firms that brings down the a...
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Daniela Scur Renata Lemos 
08 July, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Macroeconomics
Year: 2013
Empowering women for development
In conversation with a Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellow, Bahrin Bhuyinya, a resident of the Khunti district in Jharkhand shares her story. While she feels that the village has significantly benefitted from government schemes in the past decade, it is the increased involvement of women in...
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Belmati Jonko
- 05 July, 2013
- Notes from the Field
Content Type: Notes from the Field
Topic: Poverty & Inequality
Year: 2013
Recession and child labour: The poverty link revisited
While poverty is believed to be the main cause behind child labour, higher poverty is not seen to be associated with higher child work participation rates across Indian states. This column explores the impact of recessionary income shocks on the decision of parents to send their child to work, and f...
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Sahana Roy Chowdhury
- 01 July, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Poverty & Inequality
Year: 2013
Lost in transition
As part of a special three part series, the Prime Minister’s rural development fellows bring us voices from the field about what development means to women in some of the most remote parts of the country. What is the impact of government programmes on the day to day lives of the people they are su...
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Arindam Banerjee
- 28 June, 2013
- Notes from the Field
Content Type: Notes from the Field
Topic: Poverty & Inequality
Year: 2013
The role of Bt cotton in improving food security
The role of genetically modified crops in the fight against hunger remains disputed. The debate primarily focuses on whether or not these crops can contribute to sustainable increases in food production. However, food security is not only a question of production, but also of economic and social acc...
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Matin Qaim Shahzad Kouser
- 24 June, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Agriculture
Year: 2013
A case for including migrants' remittances in inter-state comparisons
Gross State Domestic Product, a widely used measure to compare incomes across states in India, does not include migrants’ remittances. This column argues that remittances have a bearing on drawing valid inter-state comparisons, especially for high-remittance receiving states like Kerala, Punjab an...
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Chinmay Tumbe
- 21 June, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Macroeconomics
Year: 2013
Food Bill: Neither populist nor unaffordable
Criticism of the National Food Security Bill has led to the government dropping the idea of issuing an Ordinance and instead, saying it would try to get the Bill passed in a special session of Parliament. This article addresses some of the key questions raised by critics of the Bill.
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Ashok Kotwal Bharat Ramaswami Milind Murugkar
- 19 June, 2013
- Perspectives
Content Type: Perspectives
Topic: Governance
Year: 2013
The power of women's political voice
With more women in power, can India’s women expect to see a fall in violent crime committed against them? This column looks at the effect of a law to mandate minimum numbers for women in public office – its findings are both surprising and encouraging.
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Anandi Mani Lakshmi Iyer
- 17 June, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Social Identity
Year: 2013
Underperforming even in good times
The late Professor Raj Krishna´s term ‘Hindu growth rate’ was an aptly pejorative description of India´s economic performance in the post-independence period. But how has India performed in the good times, when the country´s growth turned around? This column compares India´s boom years with ...
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Arvind Subramanian
- 14 June, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Macroeconomics
Year: 2013
Lack of aspirations as a poverty trap
Much of the literature on chronic poverty focuses on external constraints as impediments to escaping the poverty trap. A new strand of research suggests psychological factors such as a lack of aspirations and low self-esteem could reinforce these traps. This column presents results from an ongoing s...
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Sayantan Ghosal
- 10 June, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Poverty & Inequality
Year: 2013
A right time for inflation-indexed bonds?
While the introduction of inflation-indexed bonds in India has been hailed by many as a step in the right direction, this column argues that their success will depend on how serious the government is about taming inflation. These bonds will help the government reduce its debt only if they are accomp...
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Gangadhar Darbha Viral Acharya
- 07 June, 2013
- Perspectives
Content Type: Perspectives
Topic: Money & Finance
Year: 2013
Does caste influence access to agricultural loans in rural India?
Increasing access to agricultural credit in rural India is a major policy priority. This column examines whether farmers’ access to formal agricultural loans depends on their caste. It is found that while commercial banks do not discriminate against lower caste farmers in lending, cooperative bank...
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Sunil Mitra Kumar
- 03 June, 2013
- Articles
Content Type: Articles
Topic: Social Identity
Year: 2013