•  
Main Banner Image
Governance

Like father, like son? The economic impacts of political dynasties in India

  • Articles

Like father, like son? The economic impacts of political dynasties in India

Political dynasties remain ubiquitous in democratic countries even though many societies democratised to end hereditary rule. This article studies how dynastic politics affects economic development in...

  • Articles

(Un)ease of doing business: How congested courts hinder firm productivity

The strength of contract enforcement determines how firms source inputs and organise production, and hence influences productivity. Using microdata on Indian manufacturing, this article quantifies the...

  • Articles

How leader identity impacts group coordination

In principle, leaders can facilitate group coordination towards a common goal but in diverse societies, their effectiveness may depend upon their social identity, and how citizens react to leader iden...

  • Articles
213 posts
Refine list by:
--Please Select--
--Please Select--

Anganwadi: A workforce of women with a near-impossible mandate

With a workforce of 1.4 million women, the Anganwadi system forms the backbone of India’s Integrated Child Development Services Scheme – the world’s largest community-based programme for child d...

  • Notes

How leader identity impacts group coordination

In principle, leaders can facilitate group coordination towards a common goal but in diverse societies, their effectiveness may depend upon their social identity, and how citizens react to leader iden...

  • Articles

Heart of darkness: Misplaced priorities of Jharkhand’s District Mineral Foundation

In 2015, the central government launched District Mineral Foundations in the districts affected by mining, which are mandated to collect royalty from all mining activities and use the funds for the we...

  • Notes

Do Indian voters mind their representatives getting rich in office?

Asset declarations, requiring politicians to disclose their financial information, are becoming increasingly common across the world. In India, financial declarations are part of public affidavits fil...

  • Articles

How governance and public expenditure impact human development

The state of Madhya Pradesh displays wide variance in human development outcomes across its districts. This article examines the link between public expenditure, quality of governance, and human devel...

  • Articles

Do dishonest people gravitate towards the public sector in India?

The corruption level in the public sector may not only depend on punishments and systems put in place to deter corruption, but also on who chooses to enter the sector. This article finds that people w...

  • Articles

The strategic logic of money flows in Indian elections

Why do political candidates give voters handouts during election campaigns, even when they are unable to monitor voter behaviour? Based on a qualitative study in Mumbai, this article argues that compe...

  • Articles

Protecting data privacy: Authorisation and access control

The B.N. Srikrishna Committee, which was constituted in August 2017 to draft India’s data protection laws, is expected to submit its final recommendations this month. In this post, Banerjee and Shar...

  • Perspectives

Sunlight as disinfectant: Disclosure requirements and corruption in India

It is believed that transparency and free access to information can root out corruption and malfeasance in government. This article finds that the introduction of asset disclosure rules for candidates...

  • Articles

Enfranchising your own? Polling officer identity and electoral outcomes

The provision of free and fair elections is a public service critical to maintaining accountability and responsiveness of elected officials. This article examines the administration of polling station...

  • Articles

Election by community consensus: Effects on political selection and governance

Multiple states in India incentivise village communities to elect their political representatives by community consensus, doing away with the need for state governments to organise official secret bal...

  • Articles

New ideas for fighting corruption in India

Even as technological innovations have reduced petty bribery, it is clear that bigger forms of corruption are flourishing in India. In this post, Avinash Dixit and Ritika Mankar propose the formation ...

  • Perspectives

Recent Contributors

Divya

Divya Ravindranath

Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore

Divya

Divya Varma

Aajeevika Bureau (Ahmedabad)

Sandip

Sandip Sukhtankar

University of Virginia

Karthik

Karthik Muralidharan

University of California, San Diego

Paul

Paul Niehaus

University of California, San Diego

Hemant Kumar

Hemant Kumar Pullabhotla

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Ashutosh

Ashutosh Thakur

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Chandan Kumar

Chandan Kumar Jha

Le Moyne College

View all Contributors

Most Popular Governance Posts

Caste dominance in rural India: Cause and effect

Rural India remains a caste-based society. This column explores why caste continues to play such an important role and what the effects are. It argues that trade and agricultural productivity suffer, ...

  • Articles

Rural development programmes: Implementation challenges and solutions

With a majority of the population living in rural areas in India, rural development is key to the development of the country. Based on his experience of working closely with the district administratio...

  • Perspectives

Charting a course for the Indian economy

Karthik Muralidharan (Associate Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego) speaks with Arvind Subramanian (Chief Economic Adviser, Government of India) on a broad set of issues rang...

  • Videos