28 April, 2022Do 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
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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
Saving people's livelihoods
The new government is seeking to alter the essence of MNREGA based on the premise that it is not useful in its current form. In this article, Sudha Narayanan criticises the move and argues that despi...
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Sudha Narayanan
- 28 October, 2014
- Perspectives
To decentralise or not to decentralise? The dilemma of MNREGA in Andhra Pradesh
Employment generated under MNREGA has been on the decline in recent years across India. This column analyses whether political dynamics influence the implementation of MNREGA by contrasting the imple...
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Diego Maiorano
- 14 October, 2014
- Articles
Can social media and internet help reduce corruption?
The extensive use of social media was a key factor in the success of the anti-corruption movement in India in 2011. This column uses cross-country data to explore the role of social media and interne...
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Chandan Kumar Jha
- 07 October, 2014
- Articles
Estimating kerosene leakages from the Public Distribution System
Kerosene – the primary fuel used by the poor in India for cooking and lighting – is made available at subsidised rates by the government through the Public Distribution System. This column seeks ...
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Prankur Gupta
- 24 September, 2014
- Articles
Can MNREGA buffer negative shocks in early childhood?
Exposure to negative shocks such as drought during early childhood is known to have lasting, detrimental effects on human development outcomes. This column examines whether a household’s access to ...
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Aparajita Dasgupta
- 29 August, 2014
- Articles
Left, right, and toilets
Eliminating open defecation in India is a policy priority. This column contends that successful strategies for reducing open defecation may not fit policy stereotypes of the left or the right. While ...
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Dean Spears
- 19 August, 2014
- Articles
What the Muslim mortality paradox reveals about importance of sanitation for all children in India
It has long been noted that in India, Hindu children face substantially higher mortality rates than Muslim children, despite being relatively richer on average. This column shows that differences in ...
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Michael Geruso
- 18 August, 2014
- Articles
Culture, religion and open defecation in rural north India
Open defecation in rural India is a human development emergency that is causing infant deaths, child stunting, and widespread infectious diseases. This column presents surprising qualitative and quan...
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Diane Coffey
- 14 August, 2014
- Articles
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...
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Anand Swamy
- 31 July, 2014
- IGC Research on India
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 gove...
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Ashok Kotwal
- 15 July, 2014
- Perspectives
Andhra Pradesh's youth training and employment scheme: Did it work?
To promote youth employment, the state government of Andhra Pradesh launched an innovative public-private partnership programme for skill development, training and job placement for the youth. This n...
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Rajendra Kondepati
- 07 July, 2014
- Notes from the Field
Political clientelism in MNREGA: Evidence from West Bengal
The problem of political clientelism becomes imminent in decentralised systems where certain individuals or groups associated with the political party locally in power, get preferential access to sca...
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Upasak Das
- 25 June, 2014
- Articles
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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