06 June, 2019Lockdown, life, and livelihood in the times of Corona
After around 36 hours of the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in India, the Finance Minister announced a slew of welfare measures amounting to Rs. 1.7 trillion to support the vulnerable popu...
-
Arjun Kumar Balwant Singh Mehta Simi Mehta 
07 April, 2020
- Perspectives
Balancing corruption and exclusion: Incorporating Aadhaar into PDS
How should recipients of publicly provided goods and services prove their identity in order to access these benefits? This article reports findings from a large-scale experiment across 15 million bene...
-
Karthik Muralidharan Paul Niehaus Sandip Sukhtankar
- 17 April, 2020
- Articles
How has Covid-19 crisis affected urban poor? Findings from a phone survey - II
While several commentators have highlighted the plight of migrants due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, less is known about how low-income families living in urban shanty towns are faring. Afridi et al...
-
Farzana Afridi Amrita Dhillon Sanchari Roy
- 11 May, 2020
- Notes
NYAY e-Symposium: Four concerns around cash transfer policies
Bharat Ramswami (Professor of Economics, Ashoka University) discusses four sets of caveats in implementing NYAY as an add-on cash transfer. He contends that the emergence of cash transfers as a sustai...
-
Bharat Ramaswami
- 01 May, 2019
- Perspectives
NYAY e-Symposium: Doing justice to NYAY
Jean Drèze (Visiting Professor, Ranchi University) discusses the role of NYAY in the larger context of social security in India, and proposes some tentative principles for the scheme
-
Jean Drèze
- 01 May, 2019
- Perspectives
NYAY e-Symposium: The case for a universal basic income supplement
Pranab Bardhan (Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley) argues in favour of an income supplement, albeit one that is universal.
-
Pranab Bardhan
- 01 May, 2019
- Perspectives
Can Rahul Gandhi’s minimum income guarantee proposal work?
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has promised a minimum income guarantee scheme for the poor if the party is voted to power in the upcoming elections. Discussing the proposal and associated concerns, P...
-
Maitreesh Ghatak
- 07 February, 2019
- Perspectives
Cash transfers and adult labour outcomes in developing countries
The basic economic model of labour supply predicts that when an adult receives an unexpected cash windfall they should work less and earn less. This underlies concerns that cash transfers will undermi...
-
Sarah Baird David McKenzie Berk Özler
- 07 December, 2018
- Articles
In which countries do children have the best chances to surpass their parents' education?
Intergenerational mobility contributes to social stability and cohesion, and is associated with higher, more inclusive economic growth in the long-term. This article presents global trends in absolute...
-
Ambar Narayan Roy Van der Weide
- 28 November, 2018
- Articles
Intergenerational mobility across the world: Where socioeconomic status of parents matters the most (and least)
Intergenerational mobility is important for fairness and economic efficiency in a society. This article uses data from a new global study spanning five decades to show that average relative mobility i...
-
Ambar Narayan Roy Van der Weide
- 28 September, 2018
- Articles
How income gains from globalisation are distributed
Globalisation stirs a diverse range of sentiments and views: some credit globalisation for boosting economic well-being while others blame it for worsening inequality. This article examines the effect...
-
Valentin Lang Marina Mendes Tavares
- 08 June, 2018
- Articles
Enhancing nutrition among the poor: UBI vs. welfare programmes
Some proponents of universal basic income (UBI) for India believe that the unconditional cash transfer should replace existing welfare programmes. Based on analysis of National Sample Survey data, thi...
-
Ranjan Ray Kompal Sinha
- 28 May, 2018
- Articles
Who does not get caught by social safety nets?
While implementation failure is an oft-cited reason for low coverage rates of welfare programmes, even relatively well-implemented programmes can fail to reach intended recipients. Based on an experim...
-
Sarika Gupta
- 14 May, 2018
- Articles
Can India make a universal basic income work?
According to the Economic Survey 2016-17, universal basic income may prove to be a more effective antipoverty intervention than India’s largest welfare schemes. Discussing the Survey’s proposal, S...
-
Saksham Khosla
- 16 April, 2018
- Perspectives
Aadhaar that doesn’t exclude
Aadhaar is in the news today partly because of security concerns and partly because of reports that the poor are unable to receive PDS rations because of failures in Aadhaar authentication. In this ar...
-
Ashok Kotwal Bharat Ramaswami
- 11 April, 2018
- Perspectives
Twitter feed
Tweets by Ideas4IndiaMost Popular Poverty & Inequality Posts
Covid-19: What can be done immediately to help vulnerable population
With over 80% of India’s workforce employed in the informal sector and one-third working as casual labour, Covid-19's spread and subsequent unplanned lockdowns, have created economic havoc in the li...
- Reetika Khera
- 25 March, 2020
- Perspectives
Aadhaar, biometrics, and the PDS in Jharkhand
Aadhaar-based biometric authentication was made mandatory for obtaining rations under the Public Distribution System in Ranchi district in Jharkhand in August 2016. In this article, Nazar Khalid demon...
- Nazar Khalid
- 10 January, 2018
- Perspectives
Lockdown, life, and livelihood in the times of Corona
After around 36 hours of the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in India, the Finance Minister announced a slew of welfare measures amounting to Rs. 1.7 trillion to support the vulnerable popu...
- Arjun Kumar Balwant Singh Mehta Simi Mehta
- 07 April, 2020
- Perspectives