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Governance

Decentralisation and spatial (mis)allocation of irrigation water

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The influence of local politicians in the private education market

Private schooling has experienced rapid expansion in India – both in terms of number of schools and student enrolment. Analysing data from 2005-2017, this article shows that constituencies represent...

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How immigration policy uncertainty affects labour markets

President Trump’s re-election has reignited debate over H-1B visa policies, a temporary high-skill work visa programme wherein 70% of visas are held by Indians. Analysing jobs data from India from t...

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Is it better to be governed by an elected leader or appointed bureaucrat?

The division of governance functions and responsibilities between politicians and bureaucrats varies, both across and within political regimes. Based on an experiment in Karnataka, this article examin...

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The politics of post-retirement appointments: Corruption in the Supreme Court?

The Indian judiciary bats for judicial independence. Wary of executive interference, judges ferociously protect their institutional turf. But does India’s judicial system suffer from an underhanded ...

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Court congestion, caste identity, and business performance

Effective contract enforcement is the key for the formation and expansion of business enterprises. But how does improvement in court performance matter differently to different caste groups? This arti...

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Kerala’s management of Covid-19: Key learnings

Kerala was the first Indian state to be affected by Covid-19 with the highest number of cases at one point in time, but today it has a flat infection curve and one of the highest recovery rates in Ind...

  • Perspectives

How district courts influence firm growth

The Economic Survey 2018-19 highlights that the single biggest constraint to ease of doing business in India is contract enforcement and dispute resolution, and increasing capacity in lower judiciary ...

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Electoral cycles and incomplete public works projects: An analysis of the MPLAD scheme

The successful execution of public works programmes undertaken by governments often hinges on the completion of a vast array of local-level projects intended to create tangible amenities to improve th...

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There are none so blind as they who will not see

Based on Government of India’s own data, the government and the community of economists in India have come up with different narratives about the position of Indian economy. In this post, Pronab Sen...

  • Perspectives

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: Issues and gaps in service delivery and access

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a much-needed and purposeful scheme, given the health hazards faced by women inside households as 79% of rural Indian households still depend on traditional unclea...

  • Perspectives

Do politicians receive special treatment in courts?

Do Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) facing pending criminal cases receive favourable treatment in the Indian legal system? This article uncovers opposite effects of winning office, depending o...

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Consent to nothing: Aadhaar-based payment systems in welfare

The process of seeding Aadhaar with bank accounts in order to link welfare schemes and cash transfers with Aadhaar payment systems, created chaos on the ground. In this note, Niklas Wagner and Sakina ...

  • Notes from the Field

How democratic are the states of India?

India is often credited for its success as the world’s largest democracy – but does the degree of democracy vary across Indian states? This article develops an index to map the development of subn...

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Political alignment and economic outcomes: Evidence from legislative assembly elections in India

Theory suggests better economic outcomes prevail when providers at different levels of government are politically aligned. While politicians are jointly responsible for several policies, other policie...

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Ujjwala 2.0: What should be done next?

Stopping the use of wood and other solid fuels for cooking and other household uses is crucial to mitigating air pollution and its staggeringly high health impacts in India. In 2016, the government an...

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Jean Drèze

Ranchi University; Delhi School of Economics

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Amartya Sen

Harvard University

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Sabyasachi Das

Ahmedabad University

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Souvik Dutta

Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology

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Soham Sahoo

Loughborough University and Indian Institute of Ma

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Muneer Kalliylil

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

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Kanika Mahajan

Ashoka University

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Ritam Chaurey

Johns Hopkins SAIS

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Most 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...

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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, ...

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The digital dream: Upskilling India for the future

While the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace at which technology is becoming commonplace in our lives, it has also exposed a stark digital divide, leaving a large proportion of India’s popul...

  • Perspectives