Do value-added taxes benefit firms? Evidence from the adoption of state-specific value-added taxes
Value-added tax (VAT) systems have grown popular in the last 30 years, especially among developing countries looking for ways to raise tax revenue efficiently. Using 2000-2012 data on product, state-s...
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David Agrawal
Laura Zimmermann
25 May, 2022
- Articles
Does going cashless make you tax-rich? Evidence from India’s demonetisation
During 2014-2017, the share of adults using electronic payments in the developing world increased by over a third, and policymakers have expressed optimism regarding the role of this trend in promotin...
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Lucie Gadenne
Tushar Nandi
Ross Warwick
28 March, 2022
- Articles
Fixing incentives for power plants to reduce outages
Consumers in India face frequent power outages despite relatively high-quality infrastructure and ample supply of power plants. This article identifies a novel explanation for India’s blackouts: whe...
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Fiona Burlig
Akshaya Jha
Louis Preonas
08 April, 2022
- Articles
An economist's view on the new government's initiatives
In this article, Pranab Bardhan, Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, provides his perspective on some of the initiatives of the new Indian government at the centre in their fi...
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Pranab Bardhan
19 December, 2014
- Perspectives
Response to the Bhagwati-Panagariya rejoinder on MNREGA
In a recent article, Abreu et al. refuted the Bhagwati-Panagariya argument for phasing out MNREGA in favour of cash transfers. In this article, Abreu et al. respond to claims in a rejoinder by Bhagwa...
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Dilip Abreu
Pranab Bardhan
Maitreesh Ghatak
Ashok Kotwal
Dilip Mookherjee
Debraj Ray
14 December, 2014
- Perspectives
Assessing the quality and usefulness of MNREGA assets in Maharashtra
Questions have been raised regarding the quality and usefulness of assets created under MNREGA. To examine the validity of the scepticism, this column reports results from a study of MNREGA assets in...
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Upasak Das
Ashwini Kulkarni
Sudha Narayanan
Krushna Ranavare
05 December, 2014
- Articles
Building state capacity for better programme implementation: Lessons from the Andhra Pradesh Smartcard Programme
Biometric payment systems are posited to reduce leakages in public welfare programmes but there is limited evidence on their effectiveness. This column presents evidence on the impact of the Andhra P...
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Karthik Muralidharan
Paul Niehaus
Sandip Sukhtankar
03 December, 2014
- Articles
What's the plan for MNREGA?
The new government’s plans to scale back MNREGA have elicited a mixed response. In this article, Abhijit Banerjee contends that both supporters and critics, and indeed the entire nation, deserve to ...
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Abhijit Banerjee
02 December, 2014
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Impact of Elite Capture on the Provision of Public Services
This project studies the effectiveness of major Government programmes in JEEViKA (Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project) villages versus others to see whether the presence of self-help groups leads to impro...
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Lata Gangadharan
Tarun Jain
Pushkar Maitra
Joseph Vecci
01 December, 2014
- IGC Research on India
The Bihar story: Resurrection of the state
In the not so distant past, the Indian state of Bihar was a byword for corruption, lawlessness, poverty, and absence of governance. Over the last decade or so, the state has demonstrated a remarkable ...
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Jitan Manjhi
26 November, 2014
- Perspectives
Politics and MNREGA: A limited Link in Andhra Pradesh
The Ministry of Rural Development claims that MNREGA needs to be changed in order to reduce politics and corruption in the scheme. One of the studies cited by the Ministry is an analysis of the exten...
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Christopher B. Barrett
Yanyan Liu
Sudha Narayanan
Megan Sheahan
19 November, 2014
- Articles
Slow and steady: Lessons from MNREGA
As the new government in India is considering changes to MNREGA, it is timely to reflect on its implementation trajectory so far. In this note, Adhikari and Sabhikhi discuss five aspects of programme...
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Anindita Adhikari
Inayat Sabhikhi
10 November, 2014
- Notes from the Field
A conversation on Bihar
I4I Guest Editor Karthik Muralidharan (Associate Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego) speaks with Anjani Kumar Singh (Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar) during the IGC Grow...
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Karthik Muralidharan
Anjani Singh
03 November, 2014
- Perspectives
Impact of direct benefit transfer on leakage in cooking fuel subsidy
In many developing countries, pervasive corruption and evasion often undermine the provision of public programmes. This project focusses on India where a large universal programme provides US$ 8 billi...
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Prabhat Barnwal
31 October, 2014
- IGC Research on India
Connecting the Red Corridor: Infrastructure Provision in Conflict Zones
This project introduces a unique, integrated dataset on Maoist activity, three flagship programmes for rural infrastructure development (PMGSY, RGGVY, and USOF), and a dedicated programme targeted at ...
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Oliver Eynde
Jacob Shapiro
31 October, 2014
- IGC Research on India
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Tweets by Ideas4IndiaMost Popular Governance Posts
Unique Health Identification and Aadhaar: A case for mandatory linkage
As part of the Digital India initiative, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) issues a Unique Health Identification (UHID) number to each patient, which documents their entire journey in th...
Mudit Kapoor
23 December, 2016
- Perspectives
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, ...
Siwan Anderson
16 August, 2012
- Articles
Rethinking cadre allocation procedures in civil services
The allocation procedure of All-India Services’ officers to states is an important aspect of personnel administration in the public sector. This article shows that a change in allocation policy in 2...
Ashutosh Thakur
18 March, 2019
- Articles