16th Finance Commission: Towards vertical and horizontal balance
The recommendations of the recently constituted Sixteenth Finance Commission (FC16) will govern the sharing of revenues between the Union and states during 2026-2031. In this post, Ganguli and Sinha l...
- Barna Ganguli Bakshi Amit Kumar Sinha
- 13 February, 2024
- Perspectives
Synchronised elections, voter behaviour, and governance outcomes
An active policy proposal of the Government of India is to hold national elections at the same time as the assembly elections of all the states. This article examines whether holding national and stat...
- Vimal Balasubramaniam Sabyasachi Das Apurav Yash Bhatiya
- 28 August, 2020
- Articles
A proposal for public funding of elections and political parties in India
The Finance Minister of India recently introduced measures aimed at cleaning up political party funding in the country. In this article, Gowda and Santhosh highlight the limitations of these measures,...
- M.V. Rajeev Gowda Varun Santhosh
- 21 April, 2017
- Perspectives
The growing wave of decentralisation: Comparative evidence from developing countries
Over the last few decades, decentralisation has been rapidly spreading in developing countries across the world, with around 35 countries announcing new or deepening decentralisation reforms in recent...
- Jean-Paul Faguet Lakshmi Iyer Sarmistha Pal
- 16 November, 2023
- Videos
Second Ashok Kotwal Memorial Lecture: Inequality, Labour and Social Democracy
The Ashok Kotwal Memorial Lecture was instituted in 2022, in memory of our founding Editor-in-Chief, as an annual lecture on key issues of development. For its second edition, I4I hosted Professor Pra...
- Pranab Bardhan I4I Team
- 20 December, 2023
- Videos
Tracking learning outcomes: ASER’s work through the pandemic
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns, schools quickly pivoted to online learning. However, there was limited information about whether children had access to learning m...
- Rukmini Banerji Wilima Wadhwa
- 31 October, 2022
- Videos
Latest
Irrationality in financial decisions: A policy proposal
The high valuations of small- and mid-cap stocks in the Indian market seem indicative of irrational exuberance. In this context, Gurbachan Singh discusses the prevailing policy framework to deal with ...
- Gurbachan Singh
- 18 March, 2024
- Perspectives
How social norms hold women back: A look at recent evidence
In light of India’s low female labour force participation rate, as a follow up to International Women’s Day, I4I Deputy Managing Editor Nikita Mujumdar highlights a selection of economic research ...
- Nikita Mujumdar
- 15 March, 2024
- Perspectives
Should girls be ‘controlled’? Opinions among young boys and parents in Bihar
The practice of child marriage among girls continues to be common in Bihar. In this note, Priyadarshini, Joshi and Bhattacharya present findings from their survey of boys and parents, wherein they con...
- Shubha Bhattacharya Madhu Joshi Anamika Priyadarshini
- 13 March, 2024
- Notes from the Field
Mahila Samakhya: Women’s education through empowerment
While girls are now at par with boys in school enrolment, they continue to lag behind in terms of the number of years spent in formal education. In this context, this article assesses the impact of th...
- Pragya Bhuwania Arnab Mukherji Hema Swaminathan
- 11 March, 2024
- Articles
Women and health in India
This International Women’s Day, I4I Editorial Advisor Nalini Gulati presents a curation of economic research on women’s health in India, encompassing aspects of maternal and child health, gendered...
- Nalini Gulati
- 08 March, 2024
- Perspectives
Most Popular
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
Land in India: Market price vs. fundamental value
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015, is focused on protecting the few home buyers who can afford to buy homes but does not address the issue of high land prices, which is a very se...
- Gurbachan Singh
- 29 February, 2016
- Articles
Land records and titles in India
Land ownership is broadly determined by access to a land title, which protects the rights of the title-holder, and impacts livelihoods, and industrial, economic, and social growth. However, land title...
- Prachee Mishra Roopal Suhag
- 20 November, 2017
- Perspectives
Hindu-Muslim fertility differentials in India: District-level estimates from Census 2011
The 2011 Indian Census data show a higher growth rate of Muslim population compared to the Hindu population. This article provides an in-depth picture of Hindu-Muslim fertility differentials at the di...
- Saswata Ghosh
- 27 March, 2019
- Articles
A division of labourers: Caste identity and efficiency in India
Castes in India are closely associated with certain occupations and determine the jobs done by millions. This study uses a new dataset to show that a large proportion of workers still work in their ca...
- Guilhem Cassan Daniel Keniston Tatjana Kleineberg
- 18 November, 2022
- Articles
Symposium
Introduction to e-Symposium: Carrying forward the promise of International Year of Millets
Although millets were a staple food in many Indian diets, their consumption has declined over the last few decades. Taking into account their resilience to climate change and potential to contribute t...
- Bharat Ramaswami
- 16 October, 2023
Ideas@IPF2023 series: NCAER’s India Policy Forum– where research meets policy
Every year, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) hosts the India Policy Forum (IPF), a platform where economists and policymakers dissect five research ideas for their utility to ...
- Anupma Mehta
- 10 July, 2023
Women’s Month 2023: An International Women’s Day series
Throughout the month of March, I4I will be hosting the latest evidence and perspectives to mark International Women’s Day 2023. Follow this campaign across platforms and join the conversation using ...
- Nikita Mujumdar Ishita Trivedi
- 08 March, 2023
Browse By Topic
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Agriculture Show this topicHide this topic
Exploring urban perceptions around freshness of vegetables
With urban Indians increasingly seeking healthy lifestyles, the demand for fresh produce has escalated. In this note, Raj, Purushothaman and Sadashiva discuss findings from their survey in Bengaluru, ...
- Anjali V. Raj, Seema Purushothaman, Vidya Puttur Sadashiva
- 27 February, 2024
- Notes from the Field
Watering the seeds of the rural economy: Evidence from groundwater irrigation in India
- Camille Boudot-Reddy André Butler
- 12 January, 2024
- Articles
The role of caste in agricultural technology diffusion
- Alain de Janvry Manaswini Rao Elisabeth Sadoulet
- 14 November, 2023
- Articles
Odisha Millets Mission: An update at the end of IYM 2023
- Pritha Banerjee Shomita Kundu
- 23 October, 2023
- Notes from the Field
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Macroeconomics Show this topicHide this topic
Forecasting long-run Indian GDP using high-dimensional big data
This article describes an attempt to forecast of India's long-run GDP, which uses using quarterly data on macroeconomic variables from 1996-2021, and a dynamic factor model to establish long-run trend...
- Debajit Jha Naveen Kumar Dibyendu Maiti
- 06 September, 2023
- Articles
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Human Development Show this topicHide this topic
What ASER 2023 reveals about the gender gap in confidence
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 finds that although gender gaps in school enrolment have fallen over the years, girls still lag behind in terms of access to and use of digital techno...
- Suman Bhattacharjea
- 06 March, 2024
- Notes from the Field
Can safe drinking water improve children’s educational outcomes?
- Narbadeshwar Mishra Jyoti Prasad Mukhopadhyay
- 20 February, 2024
- Articles
The tribal communities of central India: Challenges and way forward
- Dibyendu Chaudhuri Parijat Ghosh
- 16 February, 2024
- Notes from the Field
Improving healthcare access to address the rise in non-communicable diseases among Indian women
- Nandita Bhan Prajakta Pradip Shukla
- 22 December, 2023
- Perspectives
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Social Identity Show this topicHide this topic
How social norms hold women back: A look at recent evidence
In light of India’s low female labour force participation rate, as a follow up to International Women’s Day, I4I Deputy Managing Editor Nikita Mujumdar highlights a selection of economic research ...
- Nikita Mujumdar
- 15 March, 2024
- Perspectives
Should girls be ‘controlled’? Opinions among young boys and parents in Bihar
- Shubha Bhattacharya Madhu Joshi Anamika Priyadarshini
- 13 March, 2024
- Notes from the Field
Mahila Samakhya: Women’s education through empowerment
- Pragya Bhuwania Arnab Mukherji Hema Swaminathan
- 11 March, 2024
- Articles
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Governance Show this topicHide this topic
What explains policy change? Understanding the historical political economy of India
Drawing on insights from his new book, ‘History of Economic Policy in India’, Rahul De frames policy change as precipitating through three circumstances: crisis, coalitions, and contingency. He us...
- Rahul De
- 05 January, 2024
- Perspectives
Political determinants of newspaper markets in India
- Julia Cagé Guilhem Cassan Francesca R. Jensenius
- 23 November, 2023
- Articles
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Poverty & Inequality Show this topicHide this topic
How reforming India’s workfare programme raised private sector earnings
By randomising the rollout of improved, biometric payment infrastructure used to issue National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme payments in Andhra Pradesh, this study found that this reform raised i...
- Karthik Muralidharan Paul Niehaus Sandip Sukhtankar
- 25 January, 2024
- Articles
Could job creation be a driver of poverty reduction in India?
- Ejaz Ghani
- 03 November, 2023
- Perspectives
Persistent problems with PDS: An assessment of the Covid-19 ration scheme
- Students of Humanities and Social Sciences Department
- 13 September, 2023
- Notes from the Field
India’s rising ruralisation defies claims of declining poverty
- Purvi Mundhra Dhananjay Sinha
- 21 July, 2023
- Perspectives
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Environment Show this topicHide this topic
Do women leaders improve environmental outcomes? Evidence from crop fires in India
This study looks at how women leadership improves environmental outcomes. Using satellite data from India, it compares incidence of crop fires between constituencies where women narrowly won or lost e...
- Maulik Jagnani Meera Mahadevan
- 03 October, 2023
- Articles
Does India’s air pollution impact more than just health?
- Sandra Aguilar-Gomez Holt Dwyer Joshua Graff Zivin Matthew Neidell
- 11 September, 2023
- Perspectives
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Money & Finance Show this topicHide this topic
Irrationality in financial decisions: A policy proposal
The high valuations of small- and mid-cap stocks in the Indian market seem indicative of irrational exuberance. In this context, Gurbachan Singh discusses the prevailing policy framework to deal with ...
- Gurbachan Singh
- 18 March, 2024
- Perspectives
16th Finance Commission: Towards vertical and horizontal balance
- Barna Ganguli Bakshi Amit Kumar Sinha
- 13 February, 2024
- Perspectives
Emergence of a private credit market in India
- Pratik Datta Rajeswari Sengupta
- 30 January, 2024
- Perspectives
A more focused RBI: Creating capacity to tackle ‘true’ market failure
- Gurbachan Singh
- 10 January, 2024
- Perspectives
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Productivity & Innovation Show this topicHide this topic
A brighter future: Harnessing solar energy in a Jharkhand village
Simdega district in Jharkhand – one of NITI Aayog’s ‘Aspirational Districts’ – comprises small habitations that are not yet connected to grid-based electricity. In this note, Goswami and co-...
- Sharmistha Baig Animesh Ghosh Anandjit Goswami Rakesh Kacker
- 23 February, 2024
- Notes from the Field
How R&D tax credits can drive price competition in Indian industries
- Tanya Jain Rahul Singh
- 05 February, 2024
- Articles
Weaving through generations: Productivity gains in family-owned businesses in rural India
- Shreya Banerjee Aastha Dang Jane Hammaker Tarun Jain Chandan Jain Divya Pandey Fatema Patel
- 01 February, 2024
- Articles
Insights from the rollout of LAKSHYAM – an integrated performance management system
- Sarthak Agrawal
- 07 November, 2023
- Notes from the Field
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Urbanisation Show this topicHide this topic
Why is land expensive in India, and what can be done about it?
The price of land in India is high relative to its fundamental value, impacting economic development in the country. In this post, Gurbachan Singh explains why this is so, in terms of two broad factor...
- Gurbachan Singh
- 29 February, 2024
- Perspectives
Evidence of illegal fuel use by auto rickshaws in Kolkata
- Satyaki Sensarma
- 21 February, 2023
- Articles
Are cities holding India back from reaching its ambitious net zero targets?
- Sam Downes Jagan Shah
- 10 August, 2022
- Perspectives
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Trade Show this topicHide this topic
Implications of shifting trends and patterns in India’s oil exports
Sharmila Kantha outlines why the high share of petroleum products in India's exports is a concern – particularly considering the declining trend in India's oil and gas production and fluctuating glo...
- Sharmila Kantha
- 22 January, 2024
- Perspectives
Making the most of Indian millets: Lessons from the International Year of Quinoa
- Pallavi Agrawal
- 20 October, 2023
- Perspectives
India’s millets consumption and trade over the last three decades
- Manan Bhan
- 17 October, 2023
- Perspectives
Growing threats to global trade
- Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg Tristan Reed
- 29 August, 2023
- Perspectives
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Miscellany Show this topicHide this topic
Robert Solow and the ‘Wealth of Nations’
In a tribute to Robert Solow, I4I’s Editor-in-Chief Parikshit Ghosh outlines some of the late Nobel Laureate’s contributions to macroeconomics, and uses examples and metaphors for the economy to e...
- Parikshit Ghosh
- 03 January, 2024
- Perspectives
Ashok Kotwal Memorial Lecture: Pranab Bardhan on 'Inequality, Labour & Social Democracy'
- I4I Team
- 02 November, 2023
- Editors Corner
Ideas@IPF2023 series: NCAER’s India Policy Forum– where research meets policy
- Anupma Mehta
- 10 July, 2023
- Symposium