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Poverty & Inequality

In-kind transfers: Deadweight losses or gains?

Do in-kind transfers for social assistance lead to ‘deadweight losses’ by restricting consumer choice? This article presents findings from an experiment in Maharashtra, which involved offering low...

  • Articles

In-kind transfers: Deadweight losses or gains?

Do in-kind transfers for social assistance lead to ‘deadweight losses’ by restricting consumer choice? This article presents findings from an experiment in Maharashtra, which involved offering low...

  • Articles

Grain subsidies and junk food purchases among low-income individuals

While governments rely on expensive food subsidy programmes to address malnutrition among low-income communities, their impact is unclear as only self-reported data on food purchase decisions are avai...

  • Notes from the Field
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Why is Maharashtra's average income five times that of Bihar?

Income gaps among Indian states are large, persistent and increasing over time. Differences in technology and efficiency in production processes have been found to be the primary explanation for inco...

  • Articles

A second debate on the Land Acquisition Act

Of all the recently enacted parliamentary legislations, none is more important for industrial investment and growth than the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilita...

  • Perspectives

Muktidhara: A sustainable livelihood project in West Bengal

In this ‘Note from the Field’, two Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellows describe a government funded project in the state of West Bengal that seeks to generate self-employment opportunitie...

  • Notes from the Field

Migrating out of poverty: The role of finance

Financial liberalisation has been controversial as it is not clear whom the expanded credit allocation actually benefits. Using variation across time and states in India, this column finds strong evid...

  • Articles

What explains the steep poverty decline in India from 2004 to 2011?

Ashok Kotwal, Editor-in-Chief, Ideas for India, interviews Pronab Sen on the recent poverty figures that show a steep decline in poverty in India between 2004 and 2011. According to him, the shift in...

  • Perspectives

A success story from Keonjhar

The final narrative in our three part series on what development means to real women comes from Keonjhar in Odisha. In spite of facing deprivation and setbacks early in life, today Basanti Naik succes...

  • Notes from the Field

Empowering women for development

In conversation with a Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellow, Bahrin Bhuyinya, a resident of the Khunti district in Jharkhand shares her story. While she feels that the village has significantl...

  • Notes from the Field

Recession and child labour: The poverty link revisited

While poverty is believed to be the main cause behind child labour, higher poverty is not seen to be associated with higher child work participation rates across Indian states. This column explores th...

  • Articles

Lost in transition

As part of a special three part series, the Prime Minister’s rural development fellows bring us voices from the field about what development means to women in some of the most remote parts of the co...

  • Notes from the Field

Lack of aspirations as a poverty trap

Much of the literature on chronic poverty focuses on external constraints as impediments to escaping the poverty trap. A new strand of research suggests psychological factors such as a lack of aspirat...

  • Articles

Evaluating the Effects of Targeted Transfers to 'Mahadalits' in Bihar

The aim of this project is to examine how the transfer of assets to ultra-poor households under different Mahadalit inititatives influences their sense of well-being and their notions of identity. The...

  • IGC Research on India

Incorporating Public Good Availability into the Measure of Poverty

This project makes an attempt to incorporate benefits from unpaid public services into consumption decisions to arrive at more accurate measures of poverty and inequality. The project considered thre...

  • IGC Research on India

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Technology sector

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Government of India

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Ashoka University

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Monash University

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Monash University

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Ashoka University

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Monash Business School

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Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

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Most Popular Poverty & Inequality Posts

Wealth inequality, class, and caste in India: 1961-2012

The level of wealth inequality in India is close to that of some highly unequal countries in the world. This article assesses the long-term evolution of wealth inequality in the country for the period...

  • Articles

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...

  • Perspectives

EWS reservation in higher education: Affirmative action or vote bank politics?

The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019, provides for 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in higher educational institutions within the general category. In this post, Devi...

  • Perspectives