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Weekend Ruminations: The meaning of 'partly free'

How far the govt will go towards establishing its control depends on the effectiveness of domestic institutional resistance and on how much it wants to risk international censure.

by T.N. Ninan | On 08 Mar 2021

The Sunday Edit: How Will Latin America Weather the Covid-19 Storm?

With most of their fiscal firepower spent and with their political capital draining away, Latin American governments are grappling with the challenge of gradually opening up their economies even befor...

by | On 21 Jun 2020

The COVID-19, Migration and Livelihood in India

Sudden eruption of migration crisis resulting from the out-break of COVID-19 again reminds us the urgency of the matter. This policy paper presents how our understanding of migration and livelihood...

by R. B. Bhagat | On 08 May 2020

The Political Economy of Gender Budgeting: Empirical Evidence from India

Gender budgeting is a public policy innovation to transform the gender commitments into budgetary commitments. The political economy process of gender budgeting in India has encompassed four distinct...

by Lekha Chakraborty | On 02 Apr 2019

Outward FDI and Crossborder M&As by Indian Firms: A Host Country-Level Analysis

This paper tries to understand the trends and the pattern of Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) by Indian firms and the factors that determine OFDI from India through Cross-Border Mergers and Ac...

by P.L. Beena | On 31 Jan 2019

Globalization and the Re-Articulations of the Local: A Case Study from Kerala’s Midlands

This paper is a preliminary attempt to understand globalisation and social transformation in the rural Kerala. It addresses the socioeconomic changes in a village in the mid-land region of Kerala name...

by Mijo Luke | On 31 Jan 2019

What do we Know about Changing Economic Activity of Firms?

Identification of primary economic activity of ¬firms is a prerequisite for compiling several macro aggregates. This paper takes a statistical approach to understand the extent of changes in primary e...

by Radhika Pandey | On 23 Jan 2019

Governing the Commons? Water and Power in Pakistan’s Indus Basin

Surface irrigation is a common pool resource characterized by asymmetric appropriation opportunities across upstream and downstream water users. Large canal systems are also predominantly state-manage...

by Hanan G. Jacoby | On 04 Oct 2018

An Assessment of the Fiscal Features of the PDP Laban Model of Philippine Federalism 1.0 and the Gonzales-De Vera Federal Model

The paper highlights the importance of the design of the fiscal features of the federal system of government in ensuring that the potential benefits from its adoption are realized. The economic litera...

by Rosario G. Manasan | On 03 Oct 2018

Fiscal Challenges to Financing Social Protection to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: A Case of Three Countries

This working paper summarizes the findings from three of the countries chosen by the study—Mongolia, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste—to represent the range of challenges countries face and need to contend wi...

by Sri Wening Handayani | On 27 Sep 2018

Traditional Procurement versus Public–Private Partnership: A Comparison of Procurement Modalities Focusing on Bundling Contract Effects

This paper studies the optimal structure of procurement contracts between public and private sectors by mainly comparing two typical procurement types: traditional procurement and public–private partn...

by Hojun Lee | On 27 Sep 2018

The Spread of Deposit Insurance and the Global Rise in Bank Asset Risk since the 1970s

The paper constructs a new measure of the changing generosity of deposit insurance for many countries, empirically model the international influences on the adoption and generosity of deposit insuranc...

by Charles W. Calomiris | On 03 Sep 2018

Assessment of Implementation Issues and Livelihood Success on the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the DSWD

The study aims to assess the sustainable livelihood program (SLP) implementation processes based on recent policy enhancements and indicators of program success. The analysis is based on focus group d...

by Marife M. Ballesteros | On 05 Jul 2018

Designing the Fiscal Features of a Federal Form of Government: Autonomy, Accountability, and Equity Considerations

The paper provides estimates of the cost of shifting to a federal form of government under different scenarios in terms of the number of regions. Finally, it concludes with the discussion of why adopt...

by Rosario G. Manasan | On 03 Jul 2018

Decentralization and Health in the Philippines: A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidences

This study provides a systematic review and summary of the extant knowledge on the impacts of decentralization on health in the Philippines. Despite the country’s twenty-five years of experience in de...

by Michael R.M. Abrigo | On 03 Jul 2018

Analyzing Decisiveness of Migration Intentions: Social Kinship that Matters

This paper therefore argues that using aggregate measures like migration incidence in an area wherein homogeneity is assumed and obtaining a significant and positive effect may erroneously amplify the...

by Aubrey D. Tabuga | On 28 Jun 2018

Measuring Transboundary Water Cooperation: Learning from the Past to Inform the Sustainable Development Goals

This paper mines relevant past work to generate guidance for monitoring the proposed SDG target related to transboundary water cooperation. Potential measures of water cooperation were identified, fil...

by Davison Saruchera | On 27 Jun 2018

The Rise of Government-Funded Health Insurance in India

India has experienced a remarkable proliferation of 48 Government Funded Health Insurance Schemes (GFHIS) from 1997 to 2018. The paper places the rise of this policy pathway in historical perspective....

by Ila Patnaik | On 15 Jun 2018

Gender and Intersecting Inequalities in Local Government in South Asia

This paper is an evidence review of how intersecting forms of inequalities influence women’s political participation and representation at the local level in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The r...

by | On 11 May 2018

Forward Guidance

The paper assesses the power of forward guidance—promises about future interest rates—as a monetary tool in a liquidity trap using a quantitative incomplete-markets model. The results suggest the effe...

by Marcus Hagedorn | On 24 Apr 2018

MGNREGS: POLITICAL ECONOMY, LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ASSET CREATION IN SOUTH INDIA

MGNREGS, the premier centrally-sponsored national rural livelihood scheme, is one of the most elaborately designed and implemented public workfare programmes in India. While a large number of studi...

by Vinoj Abraham | On 05 Apr 2018

Education and Earnings In Pakistan

The conventional theory of human capital developed by Becker (1962) and Mincer (1974) views education and training as the major sources of human capital accumulation that, in turn, have direct and pos...

by Zafar Mueen Nasir | On 29 Mar 2018

The Underground Economy and Tax Evasion in Pakistan: A Fresh Assessment

Recently, not only economists but also sociologists, political leaders, policy-makers, non-governmental organizations, and the press are taking a lively interest in the size of the under ground econom...

by Zafar Iqbal | On 28 Mar 2018

Understanding Gendered Empowerment Through a Government-run Microfinance Programme: The case of Stree Shakti in Karnataka

The report indicated a widespread stagnation of women’s work participation in poorer districts, a narrowing of their work, income, prospects and opportunities, growing wage differentials between men a...

by Centre for Budget and Policy Studies CBPS | On 23 Mar 2018

The Water Gap – The State of the World’s Water 2018

In a startling reminder that our world’s most precious resource is becoming increasingly scarce for too much of the population, reminding us of the need for better and fairer management of Earth’s...

by Water Aid NGO | On 22 Mar 2018

Stories of Empowerment – Case Studies of Empowerment of Rural Workers

With a population nearing 60 million, half of which occupies the two major cities of Karachi and Hyderabad, Sindh is the only province with a rural population in the minority. Research conducted by PI...

by Salman Rashid | On 21 Mar 2018

Status of Labour Rights in Pakistan 2015

The PILER 2015 Report on the Status of Labour Rights, fifth in the series, based on secondary research, aims to present an overview of the status of labour and the issues in the year impacting labour...

by Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research (PILER) | On 21 Mar 2018

Fiscal Policy Effectiveness and Inequality: Efficacy of Gender Budgeting in Asia Pacific

Gender budgeting is a fiscal approach that seeks to use a country’s national and/or local budget(s) to reduce inequality and promote economic growth and equitable development. While literature has exp...

by Lekha Chakraborty | On 16 Mar 2018

The Growth Slowdown and the Working of Inflation Targeting in India

The paper presents a variety of indicators to show that demand constrained output during the period of growth slowdown 2011-17. It also draws on research to show the macroeconomic structure of the eco...

by Ashima Goyal | On 22 Feb 2018

A Study on Illegal Immigration into North-East India: The Case of Nagaland

Migration is a global phenomenon; and it will continue to do so in the near future. All through human history, it has been a significant factor influencing population change. Migration involves the...

by | On 20 Feb 2018

Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: A Cross-National Comparison of Circumstances Related to State Forces’ Use of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts

This study aims to explore and identify circumstances related to the use of sexual violence by armed groups, and by state forces in particular. The overall purpose is to contribute to an understandi...

by Matilda Carlsson | On 20 Feb 2018

On Some Currently-Fashionable Propositions In Public Finance

The paper says that putting the matter differently, the price-system plays multiple roles: it acts as a signal for the use of available resources for producing at any particular point on the Productio...

by Prabhat Patnaik | On 19 Feb 2018

Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in North East India

The report says that the ISI has been equally thorough and ruthless in repressing political opponents to the military regimes that have ruled over Pakistan for more than half of its fiftyseven years o...

by Harinder Sekhon | On 12 Feb 2018

A Shift from Crime to Terrorism: Assessing D-Company

This paper offers an analysis of the causes behind the changing philosophy and practices of one of the well-known crime organizations from India to move closer towards terrorism to support its crimina...

by Ajey Lele | On 09 Feb 2018

In the Long Run We are Dead, says Keynes Amen, says the Government!

This is a dreamy and populist Budget talking high numbers while missing out on empirical realities. The irony is that, looked at closely, it has neither pleased the free market theorists nor has it do...

by K.R. Shyam Sundar | On 09 Feb 2018

Proceedings of the Workshop: State of the Art of Local Governance - Challenges for the Next Decade

The discussions in the workshop ranged from scrutinizing overall models of governance via technical and administrative applications to philosophical debates about the core values of democracy

by Bent Jörgensen | On 07 Feb 2018

Citizen Engagement, Deliberative Spaces and the Consolidation of a Post-Authoritarian Democracy: The Case of Indonesia

This paper argues that support for citizen participation and accountability among civil society actors can consolidate local deliberative spaces and improve the performance of local government.

by Hans Antlöv | On 07 Feb 2018

Of Hits and Misses: An Analysis of Union Budget 2018-19

The report presents a comprehensive analysis of the budgetary provisions for important social sectors and the vulnerable sections of the population. It also presents an overview of the fiscal indicat...

by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability CBGA | On 05 Feb 2018

Economic Survey 2017: Volume II, Chapter 9: Services Sector

The report says that as per the UN National Accounts Statistics data, India’s ranking improved from 14th position in 2006 to 7th position in 2016, among the world’s 15 largest economies in terms of ov...

by Arun Jaitley | On 31 Jan 2018

Anatomy of the Trade Collapse, Recovery, and Slowdown: Evidence from Korea

The paper says that the bilateral trade barriers between Korea and its important trading partners are universally tightening.

by Lee Sooyoung | On 29 Jan 2018

Arctic Council and Asian Initiatives

The paper also examines the Indian narrative on the Arctic and argues that it is important to monitor the evolving developments in the Arctic region.

by Vijay Sakhuja | On 24 Jan 2018

China's Arctic Calculus and Iceland

The brief says that China has been proactive in intelligence gathering and has even installed signal and intelligence equipment in other countries.

by Vijay Sakhuja | On 23 Jan 2018

Federalism and Foreign Direct Investment: How Political Affiliation Determines the Spatial Distribution of FDI – Evidence from India

This paper links the foreign economic engagement of India’s states with the literature on federalism, thereby contributing to an understanding of the political economy of FDI in- flows in a parliame...

by Chanchal Kumar Sharma | On 22 Jan 2018

Can We Measure the Power of the Grabbing Hand?: A Comparative Analysis of Different Indicators of Corruption

This paper critically reviews the strengths and weaknesses of various objective and subjective indicators of corruption.

by Alexander Hamilton | On 15 Jan 2018

Military Courts in Pakistan: Will they return? What are the implications?

This paper narrates that during the first week of January 2017, many in Pakistan were surprised, when the government allowed the earlier Parliamentary legislation on the military courts to elapse.

by D. Chandran | On 09 Jan 2018

Perspectives on Decentralization

This paper seeks to explain what happens within elected bodies at or near the local level in less developed countries, the interactions of elected representatives and bureaucrats at both local and hig...

by James Manor | On 08 Jan 2018

Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Barriers to Trade and its Impact on the Environment

This study has shown that while most shrimp farmers are aware of the risks in business, they are not actively adopting the standards.

by A. Enamul Haque | On 29 Dec 2017

Appraisal of Informal Political Associations and Institutions: Implications for Democratic Decentralisation in Punjab

This study by using mixed research strategy disentangled the process by which local governments are formed in Punjab.

by Asad Rehman | On 24 Nov 2017

The Determinants of Virtue: Modelling Changes in the CSR Ratings of Chinese Firms

Most empirical studies on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) use cross-sectional data or case studies, making causality hard to establish. The paper overcomes this limitation by using panel data on...

by Shuangqi Wu | On 23 Nov 2017

Urban Transport Focus - Small and Medium Sized Cities

The briefs says that the urban population in India is growing and so are motorisation rates.

by Sujaya Rathi | On 13 Oct 2017

Bolder Disinvestment or Better Performance Contracts? Which Way Forward for India’s State-Owned Enterprises

This paper analyses the performance of India’s Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) using measures of labour and overall efficiency and productivity indicators as opposed to financial returns. Using meth...

by Ajay Chhibber | On 03 Oct 2017

Women in Politics and the Subject of Reservations

This paper, however, demonstrates that the effective history of thinking about political representation in the form of reservations for women is as old as the women’s movement itself. Feminist enga...

by Mary E. John | On 28 Sep 2017

East Asian Financial and Economic Development

Japan, an isolated, backward country in the 1860s, industrialized rapidly to become a major industrial power by the 1930s. South Korea, among the world’s poorest countries in the 1960s,joined the rank...

by Randall Morck | On 25 Sep 2017

An Analysis of Revisions in Indian GDP Data

This paper studies the revisions in the annual estimates of India's GDP data. The objective of the analysis is to understand the revision policy adopted by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) a...

by Amey Sapre | On 15 Sep 2017

Federalism and the Formation of States in India

In recent days, the process of federalization within the Indian Union has become more debatable due to the unequal federal development at various levels. In this context, the issues of state formation...

by Susant Kumar Naik | On 14 Sep 2017

The Political Historiography of Modern Gujarat

The focus of this paper is on the political history of modern Gujarat, which has been an intriguing one. The paper identifies and discusses in the broad landscape of Gujarat’s politics three notable d...

by Tannen Neil Lincoln | On 14 Sep 2017

Growth Effects of Economic Globalization: A Cross-Country Analysis

This paper analyses the effect of economic globalization indicators on economic growth through the channels of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) by using panel data approach and conducting policy simula...

by Sovna Mohanty | On 13 Sep 2017

Assessment of the 2017 Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion

This paper aims to assess the implications of these bills on the distribution of tax burden across income groups, economic incentives in affected sectors, national government revenues, and likely impa...

by Rosario G. Manasan | On 01 Sep 2017

Economic Integration and Development Partnerships: Southern Perspectives

Regional integration (RI) is a process by which countries enter into an agreement to upgrade cooperation through common institutions and rules. The objectives of the agreement could range from economi...

by Research and Information System for Developing Countries | On 24 Aug 2017

Local government in South Africa: Can the objectives of the developmental state be achieved through the current model of decentralised governance?

This study examines the notions of decentralisation and developmentalism, and shows how they have become two of the most significant defining features of South African local government.

by Andrew Siddle | On 11 Aug 2017

Devolution, Democracy and Development in Kenya

The report says that the practice of local democracy has so far mirrored the problems at the national level, with vote-buying, compromised primaries and allegations of vote-rigging in many gubernatori...

by Agnes Cornell | On 10 Aug 2017

A Political Economy Analysis of the Southeast Asian Haze and Some Solutions

This paper studies the political economy of the Southeast Asian haze and discusses the obstacles that, unless overcome, could prevent a permanent and effective solution to this transboundary pollution...

by Parkash Chander | On 08 Aug 2017

Global Peace Index 2017

This is the eleventh edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness.

by Institute for Economics and Peace | On 04 Aug 2017

Comments of the Reserve Bank of India on A New Capital Adequacy Framework

The report narrates that the Accord provided a framework for a fair and reasonable degree of consistency in the application of capital standards in different countries, on a shared definition of capit...

by Reserve Bank of India RBI | On 03 Aug 2017

What is Causing Radicalism in the MENA?

The emergence of Al-Qaeda as a global terrorist organization carrying out devastating strikes across the USA, Europe, Middle East and Africa shed a spotlight on terrorism, and by extension on radicali...

by Fadi Farasin | On 03 Aug 2017

Can Bihar Break the Clientelist Trap? The Political Effects of Programmatic Development Policy

It is widely recognized that politics affects policy-making, but there is little knowledge about how politics can be made more conducive to effective governance. This study reverses the relationship...

by Jonathan Phillips | On 02 Aug 2017

SG 50 and Beyond: Protecting the Public Space in the New Era of Singaporean Pluralism

Over the last ten years or so it have begun to see public lobbying over moral and cultural issues such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) rights, Sanctity of Life issues including aborti...

by Johannis Bin Abdul Aziz | On 02 Aug 2017

The NCAER State Investment Potential Index (N-SIPI 2017)

The NCAER State Investment Potential Index 2017 (N-SIPI 2017) is the second edition in the annual series of rankings of states on their growth and investment potential. It is a systematic and evidence...

by Research National Council of Applied Economic | On 31 Jul 2017

Village Transportation Infrastructure and Women’s Non-agricultural Employment in India: The Conditioning Role of Community Gender Context

Previous studies have examined how demographic characteristics, education, culture, and labor policy suppress Indian women’s labor supply. However, not enough attention has been paid to the role of po...

by Lei Lei | On 27 Jul 2017

Rethinking the Development of Post-War Sri Lanka Based on the Singapore Model

This study explores three major points, namely, Singapore's development process,Singapore's model of economic development, and the economic challenges of post-war Sri Lanka. This study explores pages...

by Sanika Sulochani Ramanayake | On 25 Jul 2017

Asia Bond Monitor - June 2015

The report narrates that the local currency bond market in emerging East Asia continued to expand in 1Q15 to reach US$8.3 trillion at end-March.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 24 Jul 2017

Energy Efficiency Developments and Potential Energy Savings in the Greater Mekong Subregion

Greater gains in energy savings are possible from improved energy efficiency and conservation measures, both as a smart business investment, and an imperative for the global community.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 18 Jul 2017

Renewable Energy Developments and Potential in the Greater Mekong Subregion

Renewable energy is a challenge, but also an opportunity for new industries, employment, and new ways to reduce dependency on fuel imports, provide electricity to poor remote areas, reduce air polluti...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 18 Jul 2017

Financial Soundness Indicators for Financial Sector Stability: A Tale of Three Asian Countries

This report presents country-case studies for Bangladesh, Georgia, and Viet Nam focusing on growing evidences in the development of financial soundness indicators to effectively monitor the financial...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 06 Jul 2017

Transitions to K–12 Education Systems: Experiences from Five Case Countries

The paper says that preparing and implementing a K–12 transition absorbs considerable financial and human resources. It follows that the reasons for restructuring must be compelling.

by Jouko Sarvi | On 21 Jun 2017

Book Review : Other Women, Other Lives

Book Review of We Are All Revolutionaries Here: Militarism, Political Islam and Gender in Pakistan, By Aneela Zeb Babar; Sage Yoda Press, Pp.196, Rs 695.

by Meena Menon | On 12 Jun 2017

Asia Bond Monitor - June 2016

The report says that the global economic environment also affects the region’s bond yields, emphasizing the importance of domestic macroeconomic stability and bond market resilience in the face of glo...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 06 Jun 2017

Myanmar Transport Sector Policy Note: River Transport

Myanmar has an extensive river network that is well positioned to serve the country’s main transport corridors, including the link between Yangon and Mandalay. However, main rivers are difficult to na...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 31 May 2017

A Comparative Analysis of Tax Administration in Asia and the Pacific: 2016

The analysis and practical guidance provided in this report are based on surveys of revenue bodies conducted in 2014 and 2015, along with accompanying research of revenue bodies’ corporate documents,...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 22 May 2017

Analysis of Simultaneous Elections : The "What", "Why" and "How"

This paper narrates that elections impact everyone in the entire country – citizens, businesses, administrative machinery, constitutional institutions, political parties, leaders and so on. Eventual i...

by Bibek Debroy | On 18 May 2017

Monitoring Universal Health Coverage in the Western Pacific: Framework, Indicators, and Dashboard

The report narrates that the SDGs are integrated and indivisible with a clear focus on equity, including equity focused monitoring and evaluation (M&E), to ensure not only that the targets are being m...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 May 2017

Mongolia: Development Effectiveness Brief

The paper mentions that over the 25 years that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has partnered with Mongolia, the country continues to be defined to a certain extent by its transition to free market re...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 10 May 2017

Structural Change and Moderating Growth in the People’s Republic of China: Implications for Developing Asia and Beyond

The paper states that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is currently undergoing a number of important changes, which have wide-ranging implications for activity in the PRC, the rest of developing A...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 09 May 2017

Accelerating Financial Inclusion in South-East Asia with Digital Finance

The research focuses on financial exclusion in three segments: base of pyramid (BoP); women; and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). From our research, we estimate that addressing this oppor...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 09 May 2017

Asian Water Development Outlook 2016: Description of Methodology and Data

This paper provides background information on the applied methodology and the underlying data of the Asian Water Development Outlook 2016 (AWDO 2016). The purpose is to document the methodology and th...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 09 May 2017

Assessment of Microinsurance as Emerging Microfinance for the Poor: The Case of the Philippines

The report says that the Government of the Philippines was engaged in delivery of subsidized credit programs. Since these programs were largely unsuccessful in meeting the objective of providing sus...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 08 May 2017

Asia Bond Monitor - March 2017

This issue of the Asia Bond Monitor includes three special discussion boxes. Box 1 discusses the risk of Federal Reserve rate hikes to emerging Asia’s financial stability. Box 2 analyzes the risks to...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 05 May 2017

Budget 2017-18: Business as Usual

Budget 2017-18 was presented at the time when the global situation is inhospitable, marked with protectionism and domestic environment is constrained by the twin balance sheet crisis. The investment ...

by M Govinda Rao | On 10 Mar 2017

The Influence of Gender Budgeting in Indian States on Gender Inequality and Fiscal Spending

This study investigates the effect of gender budgeting in India on gender inequality and fiscal spending. Gender budgeting is an approach to budgeting in which governments use fiscal policies and ad...

by Janet G Stotsky | On 23 Jan 2017

Local Institutional Structure and Clientelistic Access to Employment: The Case of MGNREGS in Three States of India

This work is a contribution, first, toward measuring and characterizing some features of rural clientelistic institutions and then toward exploring its impact on household access to an employment sc...

by Anindya Bhattacharya | On 30 Dec 2016

Endogenous Leadership in a Federal Transfer Game

Conventional wisdom suggests that, to negate fiscal externalities imposed by provinces which spend too much and raise lower local resources, central authority should always be a first mover in the t...

by Bodhisattva Sengupta | On 14 Nov 2016

Nonviolent Resistance in 1916-1947

The speech talks about the nationalist struggle against the British rule led by Gandhi, as well as a range of other contemporary protest campaigns. In particular, this movement is examined in the ligh...

by David Hardiman | On 28 Oct 2016

Men, Masculinities & Climate Change: A Discussion Paper

“Men, Masculinities and Climate Change: A Discussion Paper” aims to establish a rationale for understanding boys’ and men’s multiple roles in climate change by conducting an analysis of masculinities...

by | On 13 Oct 2016

MGNREGS: Political Economy, Local Governance and Asset Creation in South India

MGNREGS, the premier centrally-sponsored national rural livelihood scheme, is one of the most elaborately designed and implemented public workfare programmes in India. While a large number of studi...

by Vinoj Abraham | On 10 Oct 2016

Book Review: ‘Native places’ and Journeys Beyond

Review of Almost Home: Finding a Place in the World from Kashmir to New York by Githa Hariharan; Restless Books (Originally published by Fourth Estate, 2014), New York; 2016, 304 pages, $16.99.

by Dhanwanti Nayak | On 07 Oct 2016

Growth and Distribution: Understanding Developmental Regimes in Indian States

Economic and political processes differ widely across states in India. Some states have seen rapid economic growth and development while others are facing economic stagnation. The differences in outco...

by | On 07 Oct 2016

Campaign for Release of Political Prisoners

A large number of people are being imprisoned largely under ordinary laws, just because they happen to live in regions where conflict/movement is going on. People are randomly picked up and booked und...

by Coordination for Democratic Rights Organisations CDRO | On 03 Oct 2016

Problems Pertaining Migration of Female Tribal Population: A Demographic Perspective on Their Migratory Patterns and Struggle

Migration is a complex issue which has been a subject of keen interest for many years to sociologists, anthropologists, demographers, economists and political scientists. The migrants who work out of...

by | On 29 Sep 2016

World Social Science Report

Economic inequalities in income and wealth, social inequalities in health, education and access to welfare services, gender and racial inequalities, cultural and religious discrimination, barriers to...

by | On 22 Sep 2016

The Indian Steel Sector: Development and Potential

The Indian steel industry has made a rapid progress on strong fundamentals over the recent few years. The industry is getting all essential ingredients required for dynamic growth. The government is b...

by | On 19 Sep 2016

Does Government Spending on Social Sector Impacts Growth? An Analysis Across Indian States for the Last Two Decades

This paper attempts to examine the impact of government expenditure in social sector on economic growth at the state level for 15 major states. The study reveals that the share of social sector expend...

by | On 07 Sep 2016

Should Countries Be More Like Shopping Malls? A Proposal for Service Performance Guarantees

Many developing countries have made progress in political openness and economic management but still struggle to attract private sector investments, at least outside of narrow, resource-based enclaves...

by Alan Gelb | On 01 Sep 2016

Does Development Aid Undermine Political Accountability? Leader and Constituent Responses to a Large-Scale Intervention

Comprehensive program evaluation requires capturing indirect effects of an intervention, such as changes in leaders’ efforts and constituents’ attitudes towards leaders. We study political economy r...

by | On 30 Aug 2016

The Externalities of Civil Strife: Refugees as a Source of International Conflict

Domestic strife and civil war frequently produce large population dislocations and refugee flows across national boundaries. Mass refugee flows often entail negative consequences for receiving states,...

by | On 23 Aug 2016

Migration and Refugee Issue Between India and Bangladesh

In the era of globalisation, where opening of borders is being advocated all over the world, there is one issue over which no nation-state is ready to compromise with its territorial borders. The issu...

by | On 22 Aug 2016

Brain Drain Versus Brain Gain: The Study of Remittances in Southeast Asia and Promoting Knowledge Exchange Through Diasporas

The study attempts to identify the macroeconomic determinants of remittance inflows in South Asian countries. It uses additively separable utility function as theoretical framework and the Arellano-Bo...

by | On 16 Aug 2016

Does Rosie Like Riveting? Male and Female Occupational Choices

This paper explores the possibility that women and men have different tastes for the content of the work they do. It runs regressions of job satisfaction on the share of males in an occupation. Overal...

by Grace Lordan | On 11 Aug 2016

Union Army Veterans, All Grown Up

This paper overviews the research opportunities made possible by a NIA-funded program project, Early Indicators, Intergenerational Processes, and Aging. Data collection began almost three decades ago...

by Dora Costa | On 09 Aug 2016

Anatomy of Input Demand Functions for Indian Farmers across Regions

This study models the optimum use of production inputs and analyse the behaviour of input demand functions of agricultural production through restricted transcendental logarithm profit function for...

by Shrabani Mukherjee | On 04 Aug 2016

Contemporary India and the Discourse of Social Justice: Examining the Colonial Legacy

Contemporary Indian society has witnessed a pervasiveness of claims for and debates about social justice with two enduring aspects to it: on the one hand, injustice and discrimination has become an ov...

by | On 28 Jul 2016

Empowering India with Gender Equality

Achieving gender equality has become a development challenge for India. Women are entitled to live with dignity in society and enjoy freedom from humiliation, fear, exploitation and every type of viol...

by Sanghamitra Deobhanj | On 28 Jul 2016

Labour Migration, Employment, and Poverty Alleviation in South Asia

Labor migration presents both challenges and opportunities in today’s global world. As the scale, scope, and complexity of the phenomenon have grown, states and other stakeholders have become aware of...

by Sridhar K. Khatri | On 27 Jul 2016

Economic Reform and Social Sector Expenditures: A Study of Fifteen Indian States

This paper examines social sector expenditures in fifteen Indian states between 1980/81 and 1999/2000 to find out whether the far-reaching economic reforms that began in 1991 had any significant impac...

by | On 19 Jul 2016

Understanding the BRICS Evolving Influence and Role in Global Governance and Development

The BRICS Summit process was inaugurated in 2009 as a signal that the global governance system of the future would need to be constituted to reflect a politically diverse, multipolar world. At this...

by | On 15 Jul 2016

The Case for Cyber and Cyber-Physical Weapons: India’s Grand Strategy and Diplomatic Goals

This briefing document articulates a grand strategy for India to pursue the development of cyber and cyber-physical weapons, with a view to manage conflicts and the future balance of power in Asia.Ind...

by | On 07 Jul 2016

The Effect of Pollution on Worker Productivity: Evidence from Call-Center Workers in China

The paper investigates the effect of pollution on worker productivity in the service sector by focusing on two call centers in China. Using precise measures of each worker’s daily output linked to dai...

by Tom Chang | On 30 Jun 2016

Global Economic Prospects at 25

Although global growth is projected to accelerate gradually, a wide range of risks threaten to derail the recovery, including a sharper-than-expected slowdown in major emerging markets, sudden escalat...

by World Bank [WB] | On 29 Jun 2016

Capabilities and Skills

This paper discusses the relevance of recent research on the economics of human development to the work of the Human Development and Capability Association. The recent economics of human development b...

by James J. Heckman | On 28 Jun 2016

Peace, Terrorism, or Civil Conflict? Understanding the Decision of an Opposition Group

This paper models an opposition group’s choice between peace, terrorism, and open conflict. Terrorism emerges if executive constraints are intermediate and rents are sizeable. Open conflict is predict...

by Michael Jetter | On 27 Jun 2016

Can War Foster Cooperation?

In the past decade, nearly 20 studies have found a strong, persistent pattern in surveys and behavioral experiments from over 40 countries: individual exposure to war violence tends to increase social...

by Michal Bauer | On 24 Jun 2016

The Drought and Humanitarian Crisis in Central and Southwest Asia: A Climate Perspective

A persistent multi-year drought in Central and Southwest Asia has affected close to 60 million people as of November 2001. Chronic political instability in many parts of this region and the recent mil...

by | On 24 Jun 2016

The Challenges for India’s Education System

India’s education system turns out millions of graduates each year, many skilled in IT and engineering. This manpower advantage underpins India’s recent economic advances, but masks deepseated problem...

by | On 22 Jun 2016

India and Afghanistan: A Development Partnership

India’s expanding partnership with Afghanistan has grown into multi-sectoral activities in all parts of Afghanistan. India’s reconstruction and developmental programmes in Afghanistan follow prioritie...

by Ministry of External Affairs, GoI MEA | On 21 Jun 2016

Situation of Women in South Asia: Some Dimensions

South Asian women and their status is being assessed here to highlight the similarities in the conditions faced by women despite the diversities stemming from class, religion, culture and locality. Th...

by Preeti Rustagi | On 20 Jun 2016

The Revival of the Silk Roads (Land Connectivity) in Asia

This paper argues that contrary to popular belief, in the bygone era, there was not one but two Silk Roads in Asia – the Northern and the less well-known South-western Silk Road (SSR). The SSR connect...

by | On 10 Jun 2016

The Effect of Political and Labour Unrest on Productivity: Evidence from Bangladeshi Garments

The paper examines the effects of political strikes and labour unrest on production in 33 large ready-made garment factories in Bangladesh. We find that the political strikes (hartals) lasting one or...

by | On 08 Jun 2016

Campaigns, Digital Media and Mobilization in India

Early research in western contexts finds evidence of online participation leading to political engagement. The paper tests this hypothesis in a non-western campaign context, and discusses India’s comp...

by | On 07 Jun 2016

Education Through the Lens of Sustainable Human Development

If human development is defined as a comprehensive economic, social, cultural and political process aiming to improve the well-being of populations and individuals, then the one element that can serve...

by Gianna Alessandra Sanchez Moretti | On 06 Jun 2016

Seeking Judicial Power: With a Special Focus on Burma's Judiciary

This paper discusses the underlying common concept of the rule of law as it bolsters courts, giving them their institutional status and enabling them to move toward a redesigned judiciary from diverse...

by Aung Htoo | On 31 May 2016

Climate Change in Madhya Pradesh: Indicators, Impacts and Adaptation

Climate variability and climate change pose an enormous pressure on population, infrastructure, livelihood, and socio-economic conditions. Evidences of climate change are already visible on many secto...

by Vimal Mishra | On 30 May 2016

Aid and Conflict in Afghanistan

This report examines the international community’s assistance to Afghanistan, with particular focus on U.S. efforts. It assesses the impact of the U.S.-devised counter-insurgency strategy on Afghans’...

by International Crisis Group | On 26 May 2016

Political Conflict, Extremism and Criminal Justice in Bangladesh

Political repression is reaching new highs in Bangladesh. The government’s abuse of rule of law institutions for political ends has created an atmosphere of injustice that is increasingly exploited by...

by International Crisis Group | On 26 May 2016

Game Theoretical Approach to Regulate the Public-Owned River Water Utilities: A Case Study of Cauvery River

Management of regulated water systems has become increasingly complex due to rapid socio-economic growth and environmental changes in river basins over recent decades. This paper focusses on the publ...

by Zareena Begum Irfan | On 17 May 2016

Educational Attainment of Young Adults in India: Measures, Trends & Determinants

Given the fact that education of young adults plays crucial role from both economic and social point of view, the objective of the study is to analyse the pattern of improvements in their education an...

by Runu Bhakta | On 02 May 2016

Evaluating Reliability of Some Symmetric and Asymmetric Univariate Filters

This paper examines statistical reliability of univariate filters for estimation of trend in leading indicators of cyclical changes.

by Anusha . | On 02 May 2016

Spatial Convergence in Public Expenditure across Indian States: Implication of Federal Transfers

Using the spatial econometrics approach, this study analyses such spill- over effect in public expenditure. Econometric estimates suggest significant spatial spill- ove...

by | On 02 May 2016

Sustainable Energy Security for India: An Assessment of Energy Demand Sub-System

This paper presents a quantitative assessment of Sustainable Energy Security (SES) of the energy demand sub-system for India by calculating a SES index. The demand sub-system has been evaluated for fo...

by | On 02 May 2016

Political Intolerance in Bengal

Political intolerance is a bigger problem than religious intolerance in West Bengal. How will this affect the 2016 Assembly elections in West Bengal?

by | On 29 Apr 2016

Kerala: Economic Review 2015

The latest edition of the Economic Review is brought out with the objective of providing valuable and comprehensive information about Kerala’s economic performance in the last year of the 12th Five...

by Government of Kerala Govt | On 29 Apr 2016

Tamil Nadu: Monitorable Indicators and Performance

This study aims to provide a mid term appraisal of the Tamil Nadu of the Eleventh Five Year Plan. For this purpose, it reviews the trends in the following state specific monitorable indicators since...

by | On 27 Apr 2016

Gender and Land Statistics

The Gender and Land Rights Database (GLRD) is an on-line platform that was launched by FAO in February 2010 with the objective of highlighting the major political, legal and cultural factors that infl...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 12 Apr 2016

Multidimensional Measurement of Household Water Poverty in a Mumbai Slum: Looking Beyond Water Quality

In addition to negatively affecting health, the qualitative findings reveal that water service delivery failures have a constellation of other adverse life impacts—on household economy, employment,...

by Ramnath Subbaraman | On 12 Apr 2016

New Expression Meets Old Repression: Ending the Cycle of Political Arrests and Imprisonment in Myanmar

Despite five decades of agonizing slog, from an authoritarian military rule towards a more open political system, activists continue to face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment for their peaceful act...

by Amnesty International AI, | On 11 Apr 2016

Human Development in Telangana State: District Profiles

Telangana emerged as the 29th state of the Indian Union from undivided Andhra Pradesh after a prolonged struggle for statehood for nearly six decades. The social structure in Telangana is uniquely sk...

by Center for Economic and Social Studies CESS | On 31 Mar 2016

Outcome and Impact Level Outcome and Impact Level Indicators Indicators Agriculture and Agriculture and Rural Development

This working paper outlines a set of indicators at the outcome and impact level for the agriculture and rural development sector. It does not focus on implementation (e.g. output level indicators such...

by European union | On 20 Mar 2016

Dynamics of Political Budget Cycle

Using the method of optimal control, when an incumbent politician derives utility from voting support and dis-utility from budgetary deficit, the equilibrium time paths of both voting support and budg...

by Ganesh Manjhi | On 17 Mar 2016

The Enigma of the ‘Indian Model’ of Development

The paper is an attempt to unveil the enigma of the ‘Indian model’ of development. After discussing the evolution of India’s development policies over the last six decades, the paper attempts to unfol...

by Amit S. Ray | On 16 Mar 2016

Environmental Policy in a Federation with Special Interest Politics and Inter-governmental Grants

The paper explores the potential effect of intergovernmental grants (IGG) on sub-national (local) environmental policy in a federal structure. In the model, a politically-inclined local government rec...

by Divya Datt | On 15 Mar 2016

The Role of Services in Enhancing Indian Manufacturing Exports: A Firm Level Analysis, 2000-01 to 2011-12

This paper tries to examine and assess the contribution of services towards India’s manufacturing exports at the firm level. The findings confirm that services have contributed to enhanced export comp...

by Sonia Mukherjee | On 15 Mar 2016

Can the Organised and Unorganised Sectors Coexist: A Theoretical Study

In the past debates around protection are usual couched in terms of protection of the manufacturing sector from imports and are centered around the so called “infant industry” argument. This paper has...

by Manoj Pant | On 15 Mar 2016

Financial Soundness Indicators for Financial Sector Stability in Vietnam

This report is the outcome of the regional technical assistance on Strengthening Institutional Capacity to Compile and Analyze Financial Soundness Indicators for Investment Climate Assessment (RETA 77...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Financial Soundness Indicators for Financial Sector Stability - A Tale of Three Asian Countries

The 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial and economic crisis further demonstrated the importance of financial stability. Both crises showed how balance sheets of financial institu...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Financial Soundness Indicators for Financial Sector Stability in Bangladesh

This report describes the development of financial soundness indicators for Bangladesh and analyzes how these can help identify key challenges to support financial sector stability in the country.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

A New Divide in the South China Sea

Nazery Khalid evaluates the prospect of peace in the South China Sea based on how the recent spat between China and Philippines is panning out.

by | On 14 Mar 2016

The Methodology of Polanyi's Great Transformation

The goal in this article is to articulate the methodology used in this book to bring out the several dimensions on which it differs from current approaches to social science. Among the key differences...

by Asad Zaman | On 14 Mar 2016

Chief Minister Sayeed’s Death could upset Jammu and Kashmir’s Stability

The death of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has thrown into doubt the stability of the government in this strategically located Indian State. Sayeed’s death has brought into sh...

by Ronojoy Sen | On 14 Mar 2016

Striking a Balance: Myanmar and the Issue of Intellectual Property Rights

Strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights in Myanmar has the potential to act as a catalyst for economic growth, spurring foreign direct investment and in the long run helping the c...

by | On 12 Mar 2016

Careful Stewardship: Managing Myanmar's Bumpy Road Ahead

Myanmar’s transition process has proceeded apace with significant results already achieved. However, bumps are to be expected on the road ahead which may temporarily throw Myanmar off track. Thus ther...

by | On 12 Mar 2016

Mergers and Acquisitions in the Indian Pharmaceutical Sector

Mergers and acquisitions (M and A) are common strategies of firms to increase its performance. Although, the motives of M and A are different however, the determinants are discreet. This study tries t...

by Nikita Agarwal | On 11 Mar 2016

Remorse and Reform: Abe's Stormy Spring

From apologizing for Japan’s wartime past to collective defense and FTA negotiations with the United States, Japan faces a number of contentious issues in the coming months that call into question Pri...

by | On 10 Mar 2016

Politicking and the Philippine Peace Process

Three months after a deadly clash in Mamasapano, the Philippine peace process is in danger. The hard-won gains of negotiations over the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)—the implementing piece of le...

by | On 10 Mar 2016

Inflation and the Dispersion of Component Price Indices: A Case for Four Percent Solution

Unlike earlier literature that documented positive association between inflation and the dispersion of relative prices over time, the empirical evidence from this study suggests that the relative pric...

by Sartaj Rather | On 10 Mar 2016

Epistemic Communities and Social Movements Transnational Dynamics in the Case of Creative Commons

While the existence of transnational communities is increasingly recognized in globalization studies, very little is yet known about their impact on global governance. Studies investigating the role o...

by Sigrid Quack | On 09 Mar 2016

Institutions in History: Bringing Capitalism Back In

The paper explores possible frontiers of historical-institutionalist analysis. It argues three points: that progress will require a return from a static to a dynamic perspective in which change is no...

by Wolfgang Streeck | On 09 Mar 2016

Neoliberal Restructuring in Turkey: From State to Oligarchic Capitalism

How have neoliberal reform policies changed Turkey’s political economy? The aim of this paper is to counter claims of convergence towards a liberal capitalist order. Given the historical dynamics of t...

by | On 09 Mar 2016

Taking Capitalism Seriously: Toward an Institutionalist Approach to Contemporary Political Economy

This paper outlines an institutionalist political economy approach to capitalism as a specific type of social order. Social science institutionalism considers social systems to be structured by sancti...

by Wolfgang Streeck | On 09 Mar 2016

German Employers and the Origins of Unemployment Insurance: Skills Interest or Strategic Accommodation?

This paper analyzes the attitudes of industrial employers during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic towards the adoption of public unemployment insurance. While employers initially opposed unem...

by | On 09 Mar 2016

German Varieties of Capitalism and Varieties of Macroeconomic Policy: Are Some Economies More Procyclical Than Others?

The role of macroeconomic policy in the different varieties of capitalism has been largely ignored. Recent contributions to the literature have argued that nonliberal economies should be expected to h...

by | On 09 Mar 2016

In the Shadow: Illegal Markets and Economic Sociology

Illegal markets differ from legal markets in many respects. Although illegal markets have economic significance and are of theoretical importance, they have been largely ignored by economic sociology....

by | On 09 Mar 2016

Top Incomes and Human Well-Being Around the World

The share of income held by the top 1 percent in many countries around the world has been rising persistently over the last 30 years. But we continue to know little about how the rising top income sha...

by Richard V. Burkhauser | On 09 Mar 2016

Transboundary Pollution as an Issue in Northeast Asian Regional Politics

The paper investigates the political aspects of the coorperation between China, South Korea and Japan to address transboundary pollution in Northeast Asia. Investigating the motivations, modalities an...

by Reinhard Drifte | On 09 Mar 2016

Towards a Comprehensive Welfare State in South Korea: Institutional Features, A New Socio-Economic and Political Pressures, and the Possibility of the Welfare State

The paper analyse the institutional designs for welfare system in Korea and their possible effects on the establishment of a welfare state. The paper also discusses some possible effects of the recent...

by Yeon-Myung KIM | On 09 Mar 2016

India's Policy on Genetically Modified Crops

Agricultural biotechnology is highly contested site in India, encompassing debates on impact of technology on society, economic development, and India’s future agricultural Strategy. Proponents of b...

by Anitha Ramanna | On 09 Mar 2016

Capitalism as a System of Contingent Expectations Toward a Sociological Microfoundation of Political Economy

Political economy and economic sociology have developed in relative isolation from each other. While political economy focuses largely on macrophenomena, economic sociology focuses on the level of soc...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

Economic Nationalism, Network-based Coordination, and the Market for Corporate Control Motives for Political Resistance to Foreign Takeovers

Why does political resistance to foreign takeovers vary across countries and over time? Rational choice accounts of economic nationalism fail to provide an answer. The present article proposes an inst...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

Who Cares about Financialization? Explaining the Decline in Political Salience of Active Markets for Corporate Control

Why is unprecedented financialization failing to provoke a strong political backlash? The role of financial markets, motives, actors, and institutions has expanded continuously in recent decades, but...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

The Politics of Public Debt: Neoliberalism, Capitalist Development, and the Restructuring of the State

Rising public debt has been widespread in democratic-capitalist political economies since the 1970s, generally accompanied among other things by weak economic growth, rising unemployment, increasing i...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

Bringing Power Back In: A Review of the Literature on the Role of Business in Welfare State Politics

What is the impact of business interest groups on the formulation of public social policies? This paper reviews the literature in political science, history, and sociology on this question. It identif...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

Are We Still Modern? Inheritance Law and the Broken Promise of the Enlightenment

The regulation of the transfer of property mortis causa has been a major concern of social reformers since the Enlightenment. Today, by contrast, the issue of the bequest of wealth from generation to...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

Transnational Organised Crime In Southeast Asia: Threat Assessment

Transnational organised crime is considered one of the major threats to human security, impeding the social, economic, political and cultural development of societies. Much attention has been given...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 04 Mar 2016

Growing Optimism Marks Cancún Climate Change Talks

The recent UN Climate Change Conference (COP16) in Cancun, Mexico concluded on a generally positive note as growing optimism replaced the disappointment that defined the 2009 talks in Copenhagen.While...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 03 Mar 2016

New Institutional Developments In ASEAN: Towards A More Effective (Genuine) Security Architecture?

The recent establishment of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) as an integral part of the ADMM, a forum created in 2006 as a means of fostering defence and security dialogue and coo...

by | On 02 Mar 2016

Myanmar’s National Reconciliation Process: A Positive for the Region?

Since taking office in March 2011, Myanmar’s new government has implemented a host of reforms. These include the release of some political prisoners,a lifting of restrictions on media freedoms, the...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 02 Mar 2016

Enterprise Among Farm Women in India and Understanding their Constraints: An Exploration of NSSOs 55th Round Household Data

Diversification of rural women from traditional crop based agriculture to high valued agricultural, allied and processing activities with emerging prospect merit considerable attention in context of w...

by Nilabja Ghosh | On 02 Mar 2016

Japanese-Chinese Territorial Disputes in the East China Sea – Between Military Confrontation and Economic Cooperation.

This paper analyses the various legal, political, military and economic circumstances of the two territorial disputes in the ECS, and it evaluates the approaches by both sides to turn the ECS from a `...

by Reinhard Drifte | On 01 Mar 2016

Effective Carbon Taxes and Public Policy Options: Insights from India and Pakistan

In this paper, we take as given the need for public action on climate change (see Stern, 2007), and that carbon taxation is one of the key instruments for influencing both behaviour of consumers and p...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 01 Mar 2016

The Political-economy of Tax Reforms in Pakistan: The Ongoing Saga of the GST

Should tax reforms be guided by rules of thumb suggested by the IMF, or directions or reform based on analytical approaches, such as optimal tax theory? In many cases, the applications of the directio...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 01 Mar 2016

Contesting Identities in Bangladesh: A Study of Secular and Religious Frontiers

The birth of Bangladesh in 1971 was an epoch-making event within the post-colonial order of South Asia. Led by the middle classes, a bitter and bloody war of Liberation from Pakistan was fought, based...

by Sanjay Bhardwaj | On 01 Mar 2016

Comparative Analysis of Indonesian and Korean Governance

This paper overviews governance issues in Indonesia and Korea from a comparative perspective. To do so, the WGI (World Governance Index) developed by the World Bank is employed for a more objective an...

by Prof. Yunwon Hwang | On 01 Mar 2016

Environment And The Aging Experience Among South Indian Hunter-Gatherers

There has been much discussion on aging and peoples’ concerns for old age. However, few studies have been done on the aging experience from an emic perspective. This geroanthropological paper makes an...

by Seetha Kakkoth | On 01 Mar 2016

Developments in education in Palanpur, a village in Uttar Pradesh

This paper examines developments in literacy and education in Palanpur. We consider schooling facilities and other related services available in this village and its neighbourhood. Schooling levels ar...

by Ruth Kattumuri | On 01 Mar 2016

Challenges and Developments in the Financial Systems of the Southeast Asian Economies

This paper discusses the economies and financial systems of Southeast Asia (SEA) and focuses on challenges and developments in the region. Despite the diversity of SEA economies and some important exc...

by Toshiyuki Shimada | On 29 Feb 2016

Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: An Effective Tool for Poverty Alleviation?

The paper highlights a number of issues that countries need to explore in assessing the feasibility of a CCT program: a country needs to assess the current level of specific human capital outcomes and...

by Hyun H. Son | On 29 Feb 2016

Highlights of the Draft Budget of Japan for FY2016

Highlights of the budget of Japan for the year 2016.

by Ministry of Finance, Japan MOF, Japan | On 29 Feb 2016

Narendra Modi, Mark II

Has Narendra Modi re-set his political sights? What's there in the Budget?

by T.N. Ninan | On 29 Feb 2016

The New Economic Case for Migration Restrictions: An Assessment

In this paper, a review of the literature on the global efficiency consequences of migration and assess a new strand of that literature. This is the new economic case for migration restrictions, which...

by Michael Clemens | On 27 Feb 2016

Post¬Arab Spring: Political transitions in retreat?

A recent cover of the Economist magazine asked: ‘Has the Arab Spring failed?’ More questions along this line will certainly come as the international community follows closely the political developm...

by Mely Caballero-Anthony | On 27 Feb 2016

20 Years of Human Security: A Special Focus on Political Security

Security used to be defined in military terms with the state as the referent of security. From this state-centric lens, political security means the stability of the state’s political regime and socia...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 27 Feb 2016

Energy Security in the 21st Century: A Human Security Perspective

Energy security is no longer just about the security of supply; it is multifaceted and inextricably linked to public health and environmental issues. Amidst political instability in oil-producing regi...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 27 Feb 2016

Climate Change and the Muslim World: The OIC Can do with ‘Captain Planet’

WHILE the media incessantly highlights the Muslim world’s battle with Islamophobia and the political crises in Iraq, Gaza and Iran, another set of issues that is just as pertinent — but often overlook...

by Sofiah Jamil | On 26 Feb 2016

Governance and Institutions: The role of multilevel fiscal institutions in generating sustainable and inclusive growth

Differences in political ideology might lead to different views about the role of the state in the provision of public services across countries, or even in the same country over time.2 At the same ti...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 26 Feb 2016

Measuring HDI – The Old, the New and the Elegant: Implications for multidimensional development and social inclusiveness

The Human Development Index (HDI) is calculated using normalized indicators from three dimensions- health, education, and standard of living (or income). This paper evaluates three aggregation methods...

by Srijit Mishra | On 26 Feb 2016

Local Property Taxation and Benefits in Developing Countries - Overcoming political resistance?

While property taxation has existed since ancient times, and the taxation of land has been a mainstay of public finances through the Middle Ages, in both Europe and Asia, it has all but ceased to be a...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 26 Feb 2016

Mapping the Discipline of the Olympic Games An AuthorCocitation Analysis

An established method for identifying the different components of a discipline is author cocitation analysis (ACA). ACA is a bibiometric technique that enables a map of the discipline, over a finite t...

by Peter Warning | On 25 Feb 2016

Food Aid and Food Security: A Necessary Evil?

Is Food Aid effective or does it actually lead to other food-related insecurities? This paper examines whether Food Aid in Bangladesh merely addresses the challenge of food supply disruptions induced...

by | On 25 Feb 2016

Protest Culture in Thailand

As the current anti-government demonstrations in Thailand enter a critical stage, the trend in Thai protests against the establishment, set since 1932, has been reinforced. The protesters are seeking...

by | On 25 Feb 2016

The Economic Crisis and Labour Migrants: A Test for Human Security?

As the current global economic crisis deepens, labour migrants have begun to experience the consequences of both political and economic insecurity. How effective are legal frameworks in protecting the...

by | On 25 Feb 2016

National Action Plan and Monitoring Framework for Prevention and Control of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in India

In India, NCDs have surpassed communicable diseases as the most common causes of morbidity and premature mortality in the country. The indicators and targets are used to track progress of actions desi...

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 25 Feb 2016

Development Policies and Democratic Disruptions: Predicaments of the Marxist Left

This paper argues that development policies operate in Indian democracy at the interstices of two largely different yet interconnected worlds – of technical formulation and political formations. The I...

by | On 25 Feb 2016

Power and Piety: Religion, State and Society in Muslim Countries

There is the logical possibility of the creation of a Muslim society that is characterised by high levels of trust in and esteem for the State, and in which there is also a high level of trust in reli...

by Riaz Hassan | On 25 Feb 2016

Prospects of Wheat and Sugar Trade between India and Pakistan: A Simple Welfare Analysis

Due to a long history of strained political relations between India and Pakistan, trade possibilities between the two neighbouring countries have rarely been studied [Nabi and Nasim (2001), Mukherji (...

by Abid Burki | On 24 Feb 2016

The AICHR Framework for Action

On 23 October 2009, ASEAN formally launched the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights at the 15th ASEAN Summit in Thailand. The ASEAN leaders also announced the ‘Cha-am Hua Hin Declaratio...

by | On 24 Feb 2016

Workshop Report on “Starving Tigers?: Impact of Climate Change in South East Asia”

The Copenhagen Summit in December 2009 failed to yield a concrete, politically-binding agreement among states to reduce carbon emissions in order to mitigate climate change. This is so despite the wid...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 24 Feb 2016

The Puzzle of Small Farming in Japan

Japan’s small farming represents a puzzle. Currently nearly three-quarters of farmland is operated by farmers whose farm size is well under optimal size. Being too small is the main reason for the hig...

by Yoshihisa Godo | On 24 Feb 2016

Australia and Climate Change: The Changing Weather in Climate Politics

The rise of Julia Gillard as Australia’s prime minister has given Kevin Rudd the dubious honour of being probably the first political leader to fall victim to climate change. What does this mean for A...

by | On 23 Feb 2016

Indonesia’s National Defence Forces: Recent Strategic Changes and Implications

Following President SusiloBambangYudhoyono’s re-election in November 2009, the Indonesian National Defence Forces (TNI) have been undergoing several significant structural changes. What are the implic...

by | On 23 Feb 2016

Rising Food Prices and Food Security: Impact of the 2008 Food Crisis on Asia

The trend of rising food prices has made this basic human need inaccessible to an increasing number of people. The impact on vulnerable groups, especially the poor, is immense. Food price rise has imp...

by | On 23 Feb 2016

Arsenic Poisoning of Water in Bangladesh

Arsenic poisoning of water is a serious problem in Bangladesh. It has significantly negative physical and social impact. There is an urgent need for the government to take effective steps to salvage t...

by | On 23 Feb 2016

Water Regime Resilience and Community Rights to Resource Access in the Face of Climate Change

This paper begins by arguing that an analysis of social vulnerability seeking to enhance social resilience must take into account the social construction of vulnerability, namely, the economic, instit...

by | On 23 Feb 2016

Non-Traditional Security Challenges, Regional Governance, and the ASEAN Political-Security Community

Much of the attention on institutional development within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has focused on the progress in establishing the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC)....

by | On 23 Feb 2016

Policy Reforms and Institutional Weaknesses: Closing the Gap

The World Bank (2005) reported that from 1985 to 2003, per capita gross domestic product increased only by about 0.7% per year, well below the 3.7% average of neighboring countries (Indonesia, Malaysi...

by Eduardo Gonzalez | On 23 Feb 2016

Securitising Food Futures in the Asia-Pacific: Human Securitising Regional Frameworks

The global food crisis of 2007 to 2008 – which was characterised by both volatility in food prices and shortages of food – and the uneven but almost certainly largely negative impacts of climate chang...

by Lorraine Elliot | On 22 Feb 2016

Preferential Trading In South Asia

This paper examines the economic case for the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement signed on January 6 th, 2004 by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. It s...

by Tercan Baysan | On 21 Feb 2016

Financial Safety Nets in Asia: Genesis, Evolution, Adequacy, and Way Forward

Financial safety nets in Asia have come a long way since the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) of 1997–98. Not wanting to rely solely on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) again, the Chiang Mai Initiati...

by Hal Hill | On 21 Feb 2016

Thailand’s Floods: Political and Security Impact

The devastating floods in Thailand add another dimension to the range of security threats to the country. What are the political and security implications of the floods on Thailand?

by | On 20 Feb 2016

From Kyoto to Durban: The Fits and Starts of Global Climate Change Negotiations

The 2011 outcomes from the UN’s annual climate change meetings have again been met with both cautious optimism and charges that the process shows few signs of effectively addressing global climate cha...

by | On 20 Feb 2016

Burmese Refugee Women and the Gendered Politics of Exile, Reconstruction and Human Rights

This research paper examines the predicament of Burmese women refugees in India and explores the complexities of the female refugee experience. Combining theoretical perspectives with personal narrati...

by | On 20 Feb 2016

The Military along the Security-Development Frontier: Implications for Non-traditional Security in the Philippines and Thailand

The militaries of developing countries have often gone beyond the mission of external defence, to perform unconventional roles ranging from disaster relief and economic management to law enforcement a...

by | On 20 Feb 2016

Rio+20 Incorporated? Assessing Diplomatic Outcomes and Private Sector Actions on Sustainable Development

The May 2012 NTS Alert entitled ‘Back to the future: Is Rio+20 a 1992 redux or is there cause for optimism?’ explored the prospects for the June 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20),...

by | On 19 Feb 2016

The Goods & Services Tax Debate in India: Concepts and Issues

The chequered but ongoing political efforts to introduce a uniform Goods & Services Tax (GST) throughout India should actually be seen through a larger economic prism. The current sense of urgency, re...

by | On 19 Feb 2016

Impact Of Trade Liberalisation On Employment In Bangladesh

The present study has examined the changes in the employment scenario of Bangladesh following the pursuance of the trade liberalisation strategy and the possible effects of further trade liberalisatio...

by Wasel Shadat | On 19 Feb 2016

A Strategic Analysis of The Australian Foreign Investment Regime and The Prospect of Reform

This paper uses a strategic framework developed by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to assess whether Australia’s foreign investment regime is sufficiently delivering on its four main objectives...

by Alan Fels | On 19 Feb 2016

Bureaucracy and Pro-poor Change

This paper takes a political economy perspective in analysing the nature and causes on the decline in bureaucratic conduct.

by Ali Cheema | On 18 Feb 2016

Integrated Farming Systems And Resilient Agricultural Landscapes

Asia’s rapid change across socio-economic and political spheres, amid population growth and rising demand for food, feed and energy supplies, is unprecedented. To strike a balance between economic gro...

by Research Consultative Group on International Agricultural | On 18 Feb 2016

A New Paradigm for Food Security: Robustness as an End Goal

Food security at the national level is now recognised to be dependent on a complex set of factors which interact and collectively influence the availability of food, its supply chains, its affordabili...

by | On 17 Feb 2016

Will Rapid Development in Johor Impact Water Access, Quality or Price in Singapore?

Johor’s growth has been both rapid and encompassing, and includes evolving trends in demographic, industrial, transportation and social spheres. Such growth raises significant questions for Singapore,...

by | On 17 Feb 2016

The Relationship between Corporate Governance Indicators and Firm Value: A Case Study of Karachi Stock Exchange

It is investigated whether differences in quality of firm-level corporate governance can explain the firm-level performance in a cross-section of companies listed at Karachi Stock Exchange. Therefore,...

by Attiya Y. Javid | On 17 Feb 2016

Can Parental Migration Reduce Petty Corruption in Education?

Educational outcomes of children are highly dependent on household and school-level inputs. In poor countries remittances from migrants can provide additional funds for the education of the left behin...

by Lisa Höckel | On 17 Feb 2016

Implications for Investment in ASEAN Agriculture

Successful implementation of the AEC2015 should have a positive impact on ASEAN’s agri-food sector, leading to improved food availability for the region and increased exports. Sadly, early signs are n...

by | On 16 Feb 2016

UN Development Goals: Sustaining the Southeast Asian Fisherman

The UN Sustainable Development Goals highlight the need to protect the oceans, coastlines and small-scale fishermen. However, this may be in conflict with ASEAN’s bid to reach the targets set out in t...

by | On 16 Feb 2016

Thailand’s Economic Integration with Neighboring Countries and Possible Connectivity with South Asia

Thailand’s increasing importance as a regional co-production base and as an intra-regional trade and border trade hub is due mainly to recent changes in its economic structure, namely, the lack of ope...

by Suthiphand Chirathivat | On 16 Feb 2016

Financial Inclusion, Financial Education, and Financial Regulation: A Story from Indonesia

Many reforms have taken place in Indonesia following the Asian financial crisis of 1997– 1998. The government has embarked upon institutional transformation, making the country one of the region’s mos...

by Georg Inderst | On 16 Feb 2016

Well-being and Public Attitudes in Afghanistan: Some Insights from the Economics of Happiness

Afghanistan is a context where individuals have to cope with the most adverse of circumstances. In this paper, we use the tools provided by a new approach in economics, which relies on surveys of happ...

by Soumya Chattopadhyay | On 16 Feb 2016

Towards a Measure of Core Inflation in Bangladesh: Conceptual Issues

Identifying core inflation has become a very important issue for the Central Banks of the world for last few years. It has also become a practice to monitor the core inflation along side the headline...

by Md. Shahiduzzaman | On 15 Feb 2016

Recent Experiences in the Foreign Exchange and Money Markets

This paper attempts to analyze the underlying causes and impact of the recent developments in the foreign exchange and money markets.

by Md. Habibur Rahman | On 15 Feb 2016

Accountability and Transparency in Political Finance

When money corrupts campaigns and candidates, political finance can undermine the same democratic values and good governance that it also supports. To prevent and address the problem, transparency and...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Judicial Accountability and Discipline

The judiciary needs to be independent of outside influence, particularly of political and economic entities such as government agencies or industry associations. But judicial independence does not mea...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Promoting Fairness in Judicial Appointments

Where political power plays a significant role in the appointment, promotion and conditions of service of judges there is a risk that judicial candidates, as well as sitting judges, will feel compelle...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Toward Reconciliation in Afghanistan

How can we make sense of where the United States is in Afghanistan today? A poor country, wracked by 30 years of civil war, finds itself at the mercy of insurgents, terrorists, and narco-traffickers....

by Michael O'Hanlon | On 14 Feb 2016

Maximizing Chances for Success in Afghanistan and Pakistan

The following is a Campaign 2012 policy brief by Bruce Riedel and Michael O’Hanlon proposing ideas for the next president on America’s foreign policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. Vanda Felbab-Brow...

by Bruce Riedel | On 14 Feb 2016

The Afghanistan–Pakistan Challenge: Meeting Humanitarian Needs

For Campaign 2012, Bruce Riedel and Michael O’Hanlon wrote a policy brief proposing ideas for the next president on America’s foreign policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. The following paper is a r...

by Elizabeth Ferris | On 14 Feb 2016

Standards on Political Funding and Favours

When corruption distorts political party and campaign financing, candidate competition is warped, elections are undermined and the quality of government is compromised. This paper sets forth standards...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Political Finance Regulations: Bridging the Enforcement Gap

Political finance regulations have been introduced in a majority of democracies to promote fair political competition, but all too often political party and campaign finance laws are breached with imp...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Fragile States: A Donor-Serving Concept? Issues with Interpretations of Fragile Statehood in Afghanistan

Current conceptions and models of fragile statehood in conflict-affected contexts can serve the purposes of international donor governments over and above reconstruction and statebuilding. First, desp...

by Sultan Barakat | On 14 Feb 2016

The Political Games in the Taliban Negotiations

That the Taliban has agreed to negotiations is not surprising. It has much to gain from participating in negotiations – yet almost no incentives to agree to any sort of a deal before 2015. Nor should...

by Vanda Felbab-Brown | On 14 Feb 2016

Afghanistan’s Deep Challenges and Transition Opportunities

The continued withdrawal of ISAF forces and the handover of responsibilities to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) along with a strong Taliban military push dominated the security realm. The ANSF...

by Vanda Felbab-Brown | On 14 Feb 2016

Security and Political Developments in Afghanistan in 2014 and After : Endgame or New

The excerpt below introduces a book chapter written by Vanda Felbab-Brown for the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior anthology, Afghanistan 2014, published in March 2014. In this chapter, Dr. F...

by Vanda Felbab-Brown | On 14 Feb 2016

Calibrating Law Enforcement and Its Purpose

In “Calibrating Law Enforcement and Its Purpose,” published by Addiction on November 10, 2014, Vanda Felbab-Brown comments on Harold Pollack and Peter Reuter’s article “Does tougher enforcement make d...

by Vanda Felbab-Brown | On 14 Feb 2016

Blood and Hope in Afghanistan : A June 2015 Update

As the United States tries to wind down its military participation in Afghanistan’s counterinsurgency after more than a decade of struggles against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, Afghanistan’s future remai...

by Vanda Felbab-Brown | On 14 Feb 2016

Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation into Ecosystem Management of Coastal and Marine Areas in South Asia

The Toolkit o#ers a step-by-step guide for integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation into the coastal and marine ecosystem management that will be quite useful for the "eld pra...

by Sriyanie Miththapala | On 14 Feb 2016

Monetary Policy Transparency in Pakistan: An Independent Analysis

This paper analyses monetary policy transparency of the central bank (SBP) using the Eijffinger and Geraats (2006) index. The results show that the SBP scores 4.5 out of 15, which is lower than any of...

by Wasim Shahid Malik | On 14 Feb 2016

Can Conditional Cash Transfers Improve Education and Nutrition Outcomes for Poor Children in Bangladesh?

This paper uses panel data from a pilot project and evaluates the impact of conditional cash transfers on consumption, education, and nutrition outcomes among poor rural families in Bangladesh. Given...

by Céline Ferré | On 12 Feb 2016

Making Anti-Corruption Regulation Effective for the Private Sector

A comprehensive regulatory framework for the private sector is a prerequisite for a transparent, honest and just society: where regulation is weak, corruption risks grow strong. As the primary rule ma...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

Corporate Responsibility and Anti-Corruption: The Missing Link

At their best, corporate responsibility initiatives are an attempt to address the great environmental, social and ethical challenges of our times. As these programmes continue to evolve, the challenge...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

Corruption and Gender in Service Delivery: The Unequal Impacts

Corruption in the provision of basic services can have disproportionate and negative consequences for women and girls, compromising their own empowerment as well as the gender equality and development...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

2015 and Beyond: The Governance Solution for Development

There are fewer than 1000 days remaining until the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Based on current progress, many will not be achieved. For Transparency Internati...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

India and Central Asia: Trade Routes and Trade Potential

In an environment of increasing importance of South–South bilateral trade partnerships, we assess the potential for improving bilateral trade between India and five Central Asian countries in this pap...

by Pradeep Agrawal | On 11 Feb 2016

North Korea’s Third Hereditary Succession: Determining Factors and Hidden Meanings

North Korea appointed Kim Jong Un, the youngest son of Kim Jong Il, to the position of vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) at the third Party Conventi...

by | On 09 Feb 2016

Bangladesh: Bangladesh: The Adolescence of an Ancient Land Ancient Land

On January 11, 2007, a state of emergency was declared in Bangladesh. A new caretaker government which condoned greater military involvement in the governing of Bangladesh was installed. This is the t...

by | On 09 Feb 2016

Indonesia: Development Scenarios 2020–2030

This report provides a background and analysis of trends of some of the most pressing issues facing Indonesia and outlines scenarios for 2020–2030. In thus doing, the report’s focus is thematically or...

by | On 09 Feb 2016

China’s Rising Military Power & Its Implications

China’s rising military power and its implications is of significant concern that has been widely discussed in the international community and among political elites across the globe. This paper explo...

by | On 08 Feb 2016

Rivalry and Cooperation: A New "Great Game" in Myanmar

Myanmar since its reform and opening up has become the locus for a new "Great Game" between the world's major powers. This brings with it new challenges for China which has hitherto been the preeminen...

by | On 08 Feb 2016

Legitimacy and Compliance in Transnational Governance

Power, rule, and legitimacy have always been core concerns of political science. In the 1970s, when governability appeared to be problematic, legitimacy was discussed both in the context of policy res...

by | On 08 Feb 2016

Trade, Finance & Development: Overview of Challenges and Opportunities

Although there is an extremely robust positive correlation between various measures of trade and financial development on the one hand, and economic growth, on the other, the evidence concerning the d...

by | On 08 Feb 2016

Progress of the World's Women 2000

Launched in June of 2000, "Progress of the World's Women" is UNIFEM's biennial investigation of progress made towards a world where women live free from violence, poverty and inequality. The first iss...

by UN Women | On 08 Feb 2016

Does Joining the EU Make You Happy? Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania

We examine the effect of joining the European Union on individual life satisfaction in Bulgaria and Romania in the context of the 2007 EU enlargement. Although EU membership is among the most importan...

by Milena Nikolova | On 07 Feb 2016

Whistleblower Protection And The Un convention Against Corruption

This study proposes ways of enhancing whistleblower protection through the review process for the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). It is intended as a contribution to discussions in the UNCAC...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Analysing the Terms of Trade Effect for Pakistan

The study investigates the impact of changes in terms of trade in Pakistan on its income and consumption potentials, by employing two measures of terms of trade, namely, barter terms of trade and inco...

by Nishat Fatima | On 06 Feb 2016

Determinants of Urban Poverty: The Case of Medium Sized City in Pakistan

Urban poverty, which is distinct from rural poverty due to demographic, economic and political aspects remain hitherto unexplored, at the city level in Pakistan. The determinants of urban poverty in S...

by Masood Sarwar Awan | On 06 Feb 2016

Fiscal Federalism in Pakistan: The 7th National Finance Commission Award and Its Implications

Pakistan is a federal country. Distribution of resources has a profound impact on income, development, backwardness, and poverty. The paper briefly discusses the federation, its needs and importance i...

by Usman Mustafa | On 06 Feb 2016

Transparency in Corporate Reporting: Assessing Emerging Market Multinationals

Transparency International conducted research into the public reporting practices of 100 emerging markets companies comprising a list of Global Challengers 2011. Based on the methodology of previous T...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Fighting Corruption in South Asia: Building Accountability

Hardly a speech is delivered in South Asia without mention of the need to fight corruption in the region. Yet despite the lofty promises, corruption is on the rise. This report shows how a serious lac...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Nepal National Integrity System Assessment 2014

Transparency International Nepal’s (TIN) National Integrity System Assessment Nepal 2014 describes the latest status of 11 pillars of NIS in terms of their capacity, governance and role besides pointi...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Palestine National Integrity System Assessment 2013

During the period covered by this study, Palestine faced a number of positive and negative developments. The most significant was the continued political divide, resulting in an ongoing disruption to...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Together Against Corruption: Transparency International Strategy 2020

Together against Corruption provides the strategic framework for Transparency International’s collective ambition and actions for the years 2016-2020. Our movement’s fourth strategy, it builds on the...

by Transparency International | On 03 Feb 2016

Israeli Interference in Sudan

As part of its initial publications, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies will soon issue a book in Arabic, titled The Secession of Southern Sudan: Risks and Opportunities. The book is the...

by | On 03 Feb 2016

Truth, Power and the Rehabilitation of the Facts

This paper is an attempt to analyze the age-old phenomenon of leaks - the deliberate disclosure of secret information - and its relationship with the principle of transparency in a democracy. Secrets...

by | On 03 Feb 2016

The Process of National Security Decision-Making in Israel and the Influence of the Military Establishment

This study researches the decision-making process in national security matters in Israel; and examines the influence and role of the military establishment in this process. To achieve this purpose, th...

by | On 03 Feb 2016

The Tribe and Democracy: The Case of Monarchist Iraq (1921-1958)

This study attempts to examine the perpetual political usage of the tribe, and is concerned with the ways in which the tribe has been politically exploited in the processes of political change in the...

by | On 03 Feb 2016

Iraq, From Security to Political Management

This study begins with an assessment of the years of US occupation in Iraq, focusing on its repercussions, explicating its outcomes, and exploring the horizons of political evolution in this country a...

by | On 03 Feb 2016

Trade Integration and Labour Market Trends in India: an Unresolved Unemployment Problem

This paper focuses on the Indian pre-crisis strategy of liberalization and integration into the world economy and its impact on labour market trends. It then examines the specific ways in which the cr...

by International Centre for Sustainable Trade and Development | On 03 Feb 2016

Apostasy and the Freedom of Belief: A New Islamic Perspective

This paper offers a novel perspective on the concept of freedom of conscience in Islam and the rules of apostasy in which the author, YehyaJad revises the notion of the death penalty for the apostate....

by | On 02 Feb 2016

Syria and Turkey: A Turning Point or a Historical Bet

Syrian-Turkish relations represent a regional and international phenomenon that has attracted a considerable amount of political and media attention; however, research on the dynamics and wagers invol...

by Aqil Mahfoudh | On 02 Feb 2016

Re-reading the Myth of Fayyadism: A Critical Analysis of the Palestinian Authority’s Reform and State-building Agenda, 2008-2011

ayyadism is a term coined by New York Times columnist Tom Friedman that has gained widespread usage in the media and the quasi-academic literature emanating from various high-profile English-language...

by | On 02 Feb 2016

Patents and Clean Energy: Bridging the Gap between Evidence and Policy

Climate change is the most pressing challenge of our time. Addressing it requires an unprecedented mobilisation of human and financial resources to alter our patterns of production, consumption and en...

by International Centre and Sustainable Development | On 02 Feb 2016

Corruption Perceptions Index 2015

Based on expert opinion from around the world, the Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide. Not one of the 168 countries assessed in the 2015 i...

by | On 02 Feb 2016

Faith-based NGOs in Multi-Confessional Society: Evidence from Lebanon

This paper combines data from a unique NGO survey in Lebanon with local indicators of religious and income polarization to assess which factors contribute to the emergence of faith-based or confession...

by | On 02 Feb 2016

Children Affected by Armed Conflict in South Asia: A Review of Trends and Issues Identified Through Secondary Research

‘Armed conflict’ is defined in this report as the use of armed violence to resolve local, national and/or international disputes between individuals and groups that have a political, economic, cultura...

by | On 02 Feb 2016

The Political Economy of Undernutrition National Report: Pakistan

In this report, we use political economy analysis to demonstrate that nutrition in Pakistan has remained off the policy agenda because of large disconnects between key sectors, a lack of integrated cr...

by Shehla Zaidi | On 02 Feb 2016

The Contribution of Palestinian Civil Society Organisations toward Achieving National Reconciliation in Palestine, 2007-2010

This study is an attempt to comprehensively examine the contribution of Palestinian Civil Society organizations toward ending Palestinian division and achieving national reconciliation. To this end, a...

by | On 01 Feb 2016

Palestinian Refugees and the Syrian Revolution

Relying on statistics collected in the field, this study examines the involvement of Palestinians in the Syrian Revolution. Politically, this issue has generated heated debates among observers due to...

by | On 01 Feb 2016

Sudan and Iran: The Journey of Rapprochement in light of the Current Arab Landscape

This study examines Sudan's relationship with Iran in light of the numerous Israeli air raids being launched against it, and explores whether the Sudanese regime has a preference for Iranian or Arab a...

by | On 01 Feb 2016

The Ottoman Tanzimats and the Constitution

This study is rooted in the various contexts in which the Ottomans adopted the Tanzimat, a series of reforms in the 19th century, which later gave rise to a constitution. The philosophy behind the Ott...

by | On 01 Feb 2016

The Armed Syrian Opposition: Common Aim but No Vision

In response to the dearth of academic studies written on the Syrian opposition, this study reviews the various Syrian military organizations that are currently active against the Syrian regime, and di...

by | On 01 Feb 2016

Foreign Labor and Questions of Identity in the Arabian Gulf

Numerous studies have concluded that the large presence of foreign labor in the Gulf could eventually lead to a loss of national identity. Large concentrations of foreigners, composed of numerous ethn...

by | On 01 Feb 2016

India’s Role in East Asia: Lessons from Cultural and Historical Linkages

India’s presence in the East Asia Summit signals not only a victory for New Delhi’s “Look East” policy but also an implicit “Look West” policy on the part of India’s neighbors to the east. This conver...

by Ellen L. Frost | On 31 Jan 2016

The Politics Of What Works In Service Delivery: An Evidence-Based Review

This paper examines the evidence on the forms of politics likely to promote inclusive social provisioning and enable, as opposed to constrain, improvements in service outcomes. It focuses on eight rel...

by Claire Mcloughlin | On 30 Jan 2016

State Capacity and Inclusive Development: New Challenges and Directions.

This paper takes stock of recent advancements in the literature on state capacity and connects them tothe study of inclusive development. Specifically, four particular lines of argument are presented....

by Matthias Hau | On 30 Jan 2016

Food Reserves in Developing Countries: Trade Policy Options for Improved Food Security

Agricultural prices, along with the prices of primary commodities in general, have been both high and volatile over 2006-11. These developments impact the poor and other vulnerable non-farm households...

by | On 30 Jan 2016

Situational Analysis of Women's Representation in National Politics

The paper reviews the party declarations, election manifestos, party structures and level of women's presence within five different political parties as mentioned above. The election manifestos and co...

by . BRAC | On 30 Jan 2016

National Discourses on Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh: Continuities and Change

This paper explores how these perceptions and narratives around women’s empowerment have evolved in Bangladesh from 2000 to date. It studies the concepts of women’s empowerment in public discourse and...

by Sohela Nazneen | On 30 Jan 2016

Expansion and Evaluation of Social Science Disciplines in Public Sector Universities of Pakistan from 1947 to 2013

The purpose of this research study was to examine the expansion and to evaluate the social sciences in Pakistan. The sample consisted of 60 departments of social sciences from five disciplines (Econom...

by Muhammad Arslan Haider | On 30 Jan 2016

Cyber Attacks: The Electronic Battlefield

The phenomenon of cyberattacks has produced a host of challenges. This analysis attempts to comprehensively describe the “operational” element of cyberattacks and deal with the notion of cyberspace. I...

by | On 29 Jan 2016

Palestinian Public Opinion: Attitudes towards Peace Negotiations and National Reconciliation

This report presents selected results of the 2014 Arab Opinion Index from Palestine (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). The Arab Opinion Index is the largest opinion poll of its kind in the Arab regio...

by | On 29 Jan 2016

A Political History of Relations between Russia and the Gulf States

Russia’s contemporary development of political relations with a number of players in the Gulf – namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the UAE – is taking place as though a continuation of relations...

by | On 29 Jan 2016

Elite Politics and Dissent in Sri Lanka

The year 2015 has been dramatic for politics in Sri Lanka. A Presidential, as well as a General, Election within the first eight months of the year saw the country having a new President and a new gov...

by | On 29 Jan 2016

To Fuse or Not To Fuse? Assessing the Case for Convergent Disciplines on Goods and Services Trade

With the rise of global value chains (GVCs) and the growing prominence of services as both facilitators or very objects of supply chain dynamics, it has become commonplace for goods and services to be...

by | On 28 Jan 2016

Climate Variability and Change in the Himalayas: Community Perceptions and Responses

Mountain communities in the developing world are often marginalised from political influence and economic opportunities and generally face high levels of poverty. The ecosystems they dwell in are amon...

by Mirjam Macchi | On 28 Jan 2016

Vulnerability Indicators for Aid Allocation

Any donor has a model for allocating assistance to developing countries. The model is implicit, most often so for bilateral donors, or explicit, most often so for international institutions. Why this...

by Patrick Guillaumont | On 28 Jan 2016

Services Trade Agreement in South Asia Contours and Modalities

Available literature on regional trade integration in South Asia points to a variety of economic and non-economic factors that have slowed the integration process. The major non-economic factors inclu...

by South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics & Environment SAWTEE | On 28 Jan 2016

China and its Peripheries: Limited Objectives in Bhutan

Of all the nations that border China, its comparison with Bhutan would appear to be a paradox. In comprehensive power terms, Bhutan is almost a nonentity to China. Bhutan’s biggest disadvantage is its...

by Tilak Jha | On 28 Jan 2016

Youth Unemployment

This paper looks at recent trends in youth unemployment and joblessness and seeks to clarify some issues related to the nature of the youth labour market ‘problem’. During the recession, the prevalenc...

by Niall O’Higgins | On 28 Jan 2016

The Parameters of a National Minimum Hourly Wage

Both academic and political debates over the minimum wage generally focus on the minimum wage rate. However, the minimum wage is a complex institution composed of a wide variety of parameters. In t...

by Vinish Kathuria | On 28 Jan 2016

Uneven Development and Regionalism: A Critique of Received Theories

This paper attempts at critically examining various theoretical approaches concerning uneven development and regionalism. Major theories propounded by the neo-classical regional school, institutionali...

by Sudarshan Iyengar | On 28 Jan 2016

Can Mandated Political Representation Increase Policy Influence for Disadvantaged Minorities? Theory and Evidence from India

A basic premise of representative democracy is that all those subject to policy should have a voice in its making. However, policies enacted by electorally accountable governments often fail to refle...

by Rohini Pande | On 28 Jan 2016

Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India

This paper uses political reservations for women in India to study the impact of women’s leadership on policy decisions. Since the mid-1990’s, one third of Village Council head positions in India hav...

by | On 28 Jan 2016

Competition Law/Policy and the Multilateral Trading System: A Possible Agenda for the Future

Important synergies or complementarities exist between trade liberalization initiatives and the application of measures to suppress anti-competitive practices or arrangements. In fact, both anti-compe...

by | On 27 Jan 2016

Unravelling Commitment? An Empirical Assessment of Political Commitment to Reduce Hunger and Undernutrition in Five High Burden Countries

In recent years, the global hunger and nutrition community has increasingly come to view political commitment as an essential ingredient for pushing food and nutrition security higher up public policy...

by | On 26 Jan 2016

Nutritional Deprivation Among Indian Pre-school Children: Does Rural-Urban Disparity Matter?

This paper focuses on a particular aspect of such rural-urban difference, namely nutritional status of children. Over the years it is found that under nutrition among children in India; have declining...

by Rudra Narayan Mishra | On 26 Jan 2016

Addressing the Unequal Burden of Malnutrition

The poor are not uniformly disadvantaged. For the most health indicators, the status of ‘excluded groups’ such as scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, and Muslims is significantly worse than that of...

by Sukhade Thorat | On 26 Jan 2016

The Telangana Turmoil: Apprehensions and Hope

The paper addresses the apprehensions relating to state bifurcation among people of different regions in the state and the country. The paper argues that a new state can not be a threat either to the...

by Madhusudan Bandi | On 26 Jan 2016

Ageing in Emerging Markets

This report describes the outcomes of a 2015 symposium on Ageing in Emerging Markets convened by the Emerging Markets Symposium at Green Templeton College, Oxford. It focusses on the causes and conseq...

by | On 25 Jan 2016

Near-Term Inflation Outlook and BB’s Policy Stance

This paper uses three alternative forecasting techniques, namely, Box-Jenkins’s Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model, unrestricted Vector Autoregression (UVAR) model and Hsiao’s Fina...

by Md. Habibur Rahman | On 23 Jan 2016

Political Risks in India-North Korea Ties

North Korea’s latest expression of interest in humanitarian help from India has brought into new focus the whole issue of economic engagement between the two countries. India may well have to weigh th...

by | On 23 Jan 2016

Sri Lanka’s Transformational Election

Maithripala Sirisena’s unexpected victory against his former boss and the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka’s presidential election held on 8 January 2015 signifies a major political...

by | On 23 Jan 2016

Sri Lanka: Towards a ‘National Purpose’

After the heat and dust of the recent parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, the accord between the country’s two main political parties for a ‘national unity government’ seems to offer the best chance...

by | On 23 Jan 2016

Impact of Water and Sanitation Interventions on Childhood Diarrhea: Evidence from Bangladesh

This paper analyses the possible relevance of water and sanitation improvements for diarrhoea reduction in the context of Bangladesh. Much of the public policy thinking in the past was guided by publi...

by Binayak Sen | On 23 Jan 2016

Trend and Characteristics of Recent Inflation in Bangladesh

In the backdrop of recent global developments, this note examines some of the characteristics of inflation in Bangladesh including the contribution of major commodity groups to overall inflation in ru...

by Bangladesh Bank | On 23 Jan 2016

Building Mutual Understanding for Effective Development

In recent years a number of countries, referred to collectively as the rising powers, have achieved rapid economic growth and increased political influence. In many cases their experience challenges r...

by Institute of Development Studies IDS | On 23 Jan 2016

What are the Factors Enabling and Constraining Effective Leaders in Nutrition? A Four Country Study

This study of individuals identified as influential within nutrition in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya and India examines why particular individuals champion nutrition policy, and how they operate in the...

by Nicholas Nisbett | On 23 Jan 2016

Scenarios of Waste and Resource Management: for Cities in India and Elsewhere

The report identifies four future scenarios of this complex waste/resource management landscape using tools from Foresight methods and political economy analysis. We also identify the dynamics within...

by Ashish Chaturvedi | On 23 Jan 2016

Pakistan: In the Cusp of Changes, Meeting Challenges

While the Pakistani military and civilian leaders, so often the opposing forces, now seem inclined for cohabitation at the highest echelons of power, the country’s latest move towards a ‘comprehensive...

by | On 23 Jan 2016

Financial Crises and Poverty in Emerging Market Economies

This study examines the impact of the principal financial crises in emerging markets in recent years on the incidence of poverty in the countries in question. The growth impact is first identified by...

by | On 22 Jan 2016

India and APEC An Appraisal

This Study surveys the progress that APEC has made towards promoting regional economic cooperation and integration. It examines the desirability of India joining APEC and looks at possible benefits an...

by V. S. Seshadri | On 21 Jan 2016

Political Commitment In India’s Social Policy Implementation: Shaping The Performance of MGNREGA

This paper contributes to the empirical understanding of the concept of commitment and the role it plays in shaping India’s social policy implementation. Taking the case of the landmark policy, the Ma...

by Deepta Chopra | On 21 Jan 2016

Climate Change and Cities

This paper is a study of climate change discourse in urban India. It suggests that the policies being articulated to deal with climate issues are premised on incremental changes rather than radical re...

by Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay | On 21 Jan 2016

China’s Dams & Regional Security Implications An Indian Perspective

This brief provides a historical-cum-ongoing account as well as an assessment of the future of China’s dam-building exercise, its rationale and consequences at all levels – geographically, environment...

by Dhanasree Jayaram | On 21 Jan 2016

Accelerating Reductions in Undernutrition: What can nutrition governance tell us?

In order to accelerate progress on undernutrition reduction we need to understand how the governance of nutrition programmes leads to successful outcomes. Based on evidence from six countries: Banglad...

by Institute of Development Studies IDS | On 21 Jan 2016

India 2050: Can We Celebrate the Centenary of the Republic as a Developed Country?

The paper argues that there is great disparity of incomes between developed and developing countries. Relative income gap of the developing countries which was 10.8 per cent in 2000 was 15.1 per cent...

by | On 21 Jan 2016

People Matter Civic Engagement in Public Governance

The World Public Sector Report 2008, People Matter, Civic Engagement in Public Governance presents a picture of the evolution of current governance challenges, especially from the point of view of the...

by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs UNDESA | On 20 Jan 2016

Disability and the Millennium Development Goals

Over one billion people around the world live with a disability. However, disability issues are not included in any of the Millennium Development Goals, targets or indicators, thereby representing a l...

by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs UNDESA | On 20 Jan 2016

Statistics and Indicators for the Post-2015 Development Agenda

This report highlights the experience from the Millennium Development Goals has shown that well-defined, objectively measurable indicators can help to maintain focus on internationally agreed developm...

by United Nations (UN) | On 20 Jan 2016

Report on World Social Situation 2013: Inequality Matters

Published by the Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD) of UN DESA, the report places special focus on policy and disadvantaged social groups, in addition to examining the consequences of h...

by United Nations (UN) | On 19 Jan 2016

Examining the Catalytic Effect of Aid on Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Transfers in Low-Income Countries

Social transfers, a non-contributory form of social protection, present a great potential to tackle poverty and inequality, and support inclusive socioeconomic development. Yet, they also represent a...

by | On 19 Jan 2016

Profile of the Protestors

This report presents the findings of a short survey of pro- and anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok conducted on November 30, 2013. The aim of the survey is two-fold: 1) to learn about the demogr...

by The Asia Foundation | On 19 Jan 2016

Myanmar 2014: Civic Knowledge and Values in a Changing Society

This is an Asia Foundation survey to document public knowledge and awareness of new government institutions and processes, and to gauge the political, social, and economic values held by people from d...

by The Asia Foundation | On 19 Jan 2016

Nepal: Finding a Way Forward

Nepal is no stranger to Constitution drafting, having gone through six such rounds since 1948, with the seventh culminating in September 2015. This recent exercise, however, was unique as it was condu...

by Rakesh Sood | On 19 Jan 2016

Does Clientelism Work? A Test Of Guessability In India

Research on clientelism broadly assumes that local political agents, or brokers, possess fine-grained information on voters’ political preferences, and often can directly or indirectly monitor their v...

by Mark Schneider | On 18 Jan 2016

Whose Side Are You On? Identifying The Distributive Preferences of Local Politicians in India

The literature on decentralized public programs suggests that errors in the targeting of anti-poverty programs are rooted in the capture of these programs by local elites or local politicians. Consist...

by Mark Schneider | On 18 Jan 2016

A Tale Of Two Villages: Kinship Networks And Political Preference Change In Rural India

This paper develops a theory on how voters form and change political preferences in democratic developing world contexts. In the developing world, where state institutions are often weak, voters tend...

by Neelanjan Sircar | On 18 Jan 2016

From Congress-System to Non-hegemonic Multi-party Competition: Politics in Maharashtra

The paper reviews the changing nature of politics in the state of Maharashtra – an important subnational state in India. Politics in the state underwent a shift in 1978 and later again in 1990s. The p...

by | On 18 Jan 2016

Educational Attainment of Young Adults in India: Measures, Trends and Determinants

Given the fact that education of young adults plays crucial role from both economic and social point of view, the objective of the study is to analyse the pattern of improvements in their education a...

by Runu Bhatka | On 18 Jan 2016

The Global Risks Report 2016

The Global Risks Report 2016 features perspectives from nearly 750 experts on the perceived impact and likelihood of 29 prevalent global risks over a 10-year timeframe. The risks are divided into five...

by World Economic Forum [WEF] | On 18 Jan 2016

Women Migrants and their Mental Health: A Study of Working Women Hostellers in Mumbai

Mental health is an important component of the total positive health and is interwoven closelywith the physical and physiological dynamics of the human body. Migrant population, being a non-native pop...

by Reshmi R S | On 13 Jan 2016

The Contexts of Social Inclusion

In light of the emphasis on “inclusion” in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this paper contends that social exclusion and inclusion are context-dependent concepts in at least three senses. Fi...

by | On 11 Jan 2016

Malaise in Maldives: A Pristine Paradise or a Painful Purgatory?

The implications of recent events in Maldives go far beyond the pristine shores of that enchanting archipelago. The paper discusses the larger geopolitical implications of the suspension of democracy,...

by Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury | On 09 Jan 2016

Competitive Diplomacy of India and China

India and China, viewing themselves as key players within the BRICS which they see in a worldwide perspective, had in fact made two different global commitments on the eve of this Brisbane G20 summit....

by P S Suryanarayana | On 09 Jan 2016

New ‘Oil Shock’ – Impact on South Asia

In the 1970s, the oil-producing and exporting countries of the Middle East delivered a shock to the global economic system that had many unexpected consequences. The then-quadrupling of the price of o...

by Shahid Javed Burki | On 09 Jan 2016

South Asia’s Economic Changes and Diaspora Groups

The paper looks at the flow of ideas from the South Asian Diaspora groups to their original homelands. This is occurring in the areas of economic management and political change. As a result of the in...

by Shahid Javed Burki | On 09 Jan 2016

The Afghanistan Conflict in its Historical Context

Afghanistan has long been used as a battleground for strategic wars by larger external powers. This is in part due to its geographic position between the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. Acco...

by Riaz Hassan | On 09 Jan 2016

Modi’s Foreign Policy: Focus on the Diaspora

The paper reviews the evolution of India’s diaspora policy and examines the possibilities and pitfalls that could arise from Delhi’s new political enthusiasm for overseas Indian communities. Engagemen...

by C. Raja Mohan | On 09 Jan 2016

A Tortured History : Federalism and Democracy in Pakistan

The Pakistan Army’s ideological hegemony, especially in the country’s Punjabi-speaking heartland, the continuing focus on the state’s narrative of a religion-based unitary identity which is under a co...

by Aasim Akhtar | On 08 Jan 2016

Natural Resources Contested in Autonomous Councils: Assessing the Causes of Ethnic Conflict in North-East India

Constitutional arrangements for peripheral areas in India reflect the national government’s instrumentalist attempts at decentralising bureaucratic and administrative control in far-flung (essentially...

by Sanjay Barbora | On 08 Jan 2016

Conflict through a Gender Lens

This brief suggests that those seeking an in-depth understanding of the social and political world need to apply a feminist curiosity – that is, a curiosity about the roles gender plays at all levels...

by | On 07 Jan 2016

New Measures of the Trilemma Hypothesis: Implications for Asia

The authors develop a new set of indexes of exchange rate stability, monetary policy independence, and financial market openness as the metrics for the trilemma hypothesis. In their exploration, they...

by Masahiro Kawai | On 07 Jan 2016

Public Health and International Partnerships in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Published reports on public health in DPRK are uncommon, but recent planning and financial sustainability exercises, population-based surveys, and other reports, all available online, indicate recover...

by John Grundy | On 07 Jan 2016

The Impact of Household Health Shocks on Female Time Allocation and Agricultural Labor Participation in Rural Pakistan

There have been few empirical studies in the developing world and the agricultural sector, on the impact of negative health shocks on household well-being. Does the pervasive effect of a negative hous...

by | On 07 Jan 2016

Indian Higher Education Reform: From Half-Baked Socialism to Half-Baked Capitalism

This paper examines the political economy of Indian higher (tertiary) education. We first provide an empirical mapping of Indian higher education and demonstrate that higher education in India is bein...

by | On 05 Jan 2016

Stories of Change in Nutrition: A Tool Pool

This paper—which draws on inputs to, and discussions at, a methods development workshop—highlights the various concepts, methods, and tools that SoC researchers are considering to measure nutrition-re...

by | On 04 Jan 2016

The Cost of Moving Goods

Road Transportation, Regulations and Charges in Indonesia. To assess the size and nature of domestic road transportation costs, The Asia Foundation, in partnership with the University of Indonesia's I...

by The Asia Foundation | On 02 Jan 2016

Democracy in Indonesia A Survey of the Indonesian Electorate 2003

This report presents the findings of The Asia Foundation’s third national survey of the ndonesian electorate. The aim of the research was to assess voter knowledge and opinion, and to identify key iss...

by The Asia Foundation | On 02 Jan 2016

Summary of Indonesia's Gender Analysis

Indonesia has made significant progress in promoting gender equality. Gender gaps in the youth literacy rate have been eliminated. Near parity in enrollment rates in elementary up to tertiary levels h...

by Uzma Hoque | On 01 Jan 2016

Local Funds and Political Competition: Evidence from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India

This paper examines how local politics affects public fund allocations. It uses the context of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India which was introduced by the Indian National Congr...

by Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay | On 01 Jan 2016

Developing Myanmar’s Information and Communication Technology Sector toward Inclusive Growth

Myanmar is expected to grow at least 6.8% per year in the coming years. Accompanying this growth will be an increase in demand for infrastructure services, including ICT-related services, both for co...

by Kee-Yung Nam | On 01 Jan 2016

Minimum Wage Effects On Employment And Working Time Of Chinese Workers—Evidence Based On CHNS

This paper examines the impact of minimum wage policies on employment, income, and working time of Chinese workers. Using data from China Health and Nutrition Survey, we focus on identifying the effec...

by Xiaoxi Zhang | On 01 Jan 2016

The Asian Currency Unit, Deviation Indicators, and Exchange Rate Coordination in East Asia: A Panel-Based Convergence Approach

Employing the panel convergence method of Phillips and Sul (2007) to the nominal deviation indicators of two recent unofficial constructions of the Asian Currency Unit (ACU) index, this paper examines...

by Kefei You | On 29 Dec 2015

ASEAN 2030: Challenges of Building a Mature Political and Security Community

The paper examines ASEAN’s political and security challenges and prospects in the coming two decades. The challenges facing ASEAN could be classified into six broad categories: (1) the shifting balanc...

by Amitav Acharya | On 29 Dec 2015

The India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement and the Proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement: A Closer Look

The India–Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement has been in operation for more than a decade. The paper provides the Sri Lankan perspective of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) highlighting both the positive ou...

by Saman Kelegama | On 29 Dec 2015

Connecting South and Southeast Asia: Implementation Challenges and Coordination

With closer regional integration there is increasing interest within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and on the part of ASEAN's dialogue partners in the potential gains of closer co...

by Termsak Chalermpalanupap | On 29 Dec 2015

Migration from North-East to Urban Centres: A Study of Delhi Region

It is only very recently that out-migration of natives of the North East Region to other localities in India became a problem of apprehension. Though the natives of the North East Region are tradition...

by Babu Remesh | On 26 Dec 2015

Youth and Employment among the BRICS

This report is dedicated to the analysis of the usage of social programmes to promote youth employment in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries. In light of the 2014 BRIC...

by | On 24 Dec 2015

Compensation and Valuation in Resettlement: Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, and India

Development-caused forced displacement and resettlement (DFDR) is frequently characterized by the resulting impoverishment of those displaced. The lack of appropriate valuation of and compensation for...

by | On 23 Dec 2015

The Political Economy of Transitions: Governance Assessments and Measurements

This discussion paper examines existing methods for measuring aspects of political transitions. The paper canvasses and examines existing measurement tools that focus on some, but not all, relevant di...

by United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] | On 23 Dec 2015

Enhancing Youth Political Participation throughout the Electoral Cycle

This guide identifies key entry points for the inclusion of young people in political and electoral processes and compiles good practice examples of mechanisms for youth political empowerment around t...

by United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] | On 23 Dec 2015

Oil and State Capitalism: Government-Firm Coopetition in China and India

This paper examines the domestic sources of the internationalization of national oil companies (NOCs) in China and India. It argues that – counter to notions of state-led internationalization – the go...

by Jonas Mecklinga | On 23 Dec 2015

The Iran-Pakistan-India Pipeline - The Intersection of Energy Politics

This paper seeks to identify the strategic and economic variables involved in India’s decision about whether or not to pursue a proposed natural gas pipeline from Iran. There is a lot of misinformatio...

by | On 22 Dec 2015

Cricket and Indian National Consciousness

It is recognized that there are close links between sport and politics, and in particular between sport and national consciousness. The Olympic Games and the football, rugby and cricket World Cups hav...

by | On 22 Dec 2015

Shia and Iranian Ascendance: Sunni and American Perceptions

The primary aim of this paper, however, is not to account for the historical/political rise of Shiaism or of Iran, or even debate the existence of the so-called ‘Shia Crescent,’ but to examine instead...

by | On 22 Dec 2015

National Refugee Law for India: Benefits and Roadblocks

This paper intends to ascertain whether a uniform national law would be beneficial to the interests of the three main parties involved with refugee policy in India, namely the Government of India, the...

by Arjun Nair | On 22 Dec 2015

The Sikh Diaspora and the Quest for Khalistan: A Search for Statehood or for Self-preservation?

This paper will reexamine the role of the Sikh Diaspora in the Sikh separatist movement, commencing in the 1980s, that loomed over the political, security, social, and humanitarian makeup of the Indi...

by | On 22 Dec 2015

Transitions to K-12 Education Systems Experiences from Five Case Countries

Preparing and implementing a K–12 transition absorbs considerable financial and human resources. It follows that the reasons for restructuring must be compelling. It follows that the reasons for restr...

by | On 21 Dec 2015

The High and Low Politics of Trade

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is in trouble. Its negotiating mechanism has mostly seized up, as reflected in the failure to conclude the long-running Doha Round. No obvious solution to this conun...

by | On 21 Dec 2015

Exchange Rate Reform in South Sudan

This paper considers the role of the exchange rate in the economy and its importance as a macroeconomic instrument, and outlines the policy choices that are available to governments in general, and th...

by Keith Jefferis | On 18 Dec 2015

India's Sri Lanka Policy: Towards Economic Engagement

India's Sri Lanka policy has built upon economic engagement to cooperate on initiatives of strategic importance. The lesson one can learn from this is the potential of economic linkages to overcome a...

by | On 18 Dec 2015

Pakistan: Politics, Religion & Extremism

The study attempts to investigate whether it is relative deprivation as Ted Gurr suggests or the element of fear that pushed the Muslim majority Pakistan into a cycle of religious violence due to the...

by | On 17 Dec 2015

Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Environments: A Critical Analysis of the UN Approach in Timor-Leste, Liberia and Nepal

This paper looks at possible alternatives to UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions with a view to establishing if there are organizations or other interested parties, which may be more effective...

by | On 17 Dec 2015

Democracy in Bhutan: An Analysis of Constitutional Change in a Buddhist Monarchy

The report attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the constitutional developments in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Starting from the premonarchy era and looking closely at the different phases of m...

by | On 17 Dec 2015

China and Myanmar: Strategic Interests, Strategies and the Road Ahead

This research paper is divided into two parts to provide a more complete view of how both countries think in term of their ambitions and the methods they deem important to achieve them. This paper arg...

by | On 17 Dec 2015

Strategic Framework 2013–2017 Global Programme Food Security

Food security and nutrition is a major global challenge. SDC’s Global Programme Food Security(GPFS) represents an innovative initiative of Switzerland in addressing food security and nutrition challen...

by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC | On 17 Dec 2015

The Design and Implementation of Public Pension Systems in Developing Countries: Issues and Options

Developing countries are increasingly aware of the need to design and implement improvements in public systems for providing pensions to the elderly. Such systems may aim to smooth consumption and thu...

by David Bloom | On 17 Dec 2015

Why Minimum Wage Increases Are a Poor Way to Help the Working Poor

Minimum wage increases are not a very effective mechanism for reducing poverty. They are not related to decreases in poverty rates. They can cost some low-income workers their jobs. And most minimum w...

by Richard Burkhauser | On 16 Dec 2015

Will Changes to the international Tax System Benefit Low- income Countries?

In recent months tax has climbed up the political agenda in ways that would have been unthinkable only a couple of years ago. Creating a fairer international tax system was a central ambition of both...

by Mick Moore | On 16 Dec 2015

Equate and Conflate: Political Commitment to Hunger and Undernutrition Reduction in Five High-Burden Countries

As political commitment is an essential ingredient for elevating food and nutrition security onto policy agendas, commitment metrics have proliferated. Many conflate government commitment to fight hun...

by Rajith Lakshman | On 16 Dec 2015

Irregular Migration, Migrant Smuggling and Human Rights: Towards Coherence

This report examines the political predicament that confronts governments and other political actors when they address the issue of irregular migration. Primarily, it sets out the rights, and claims t...

by | On 10 Dec 2015

Human Rights and Asian Values

The thesis that Asian values are less supportive of freedom and more concerned with order than discipline than are Western values and that the claims of human rights in the areas of political and civi...

by Amartya Sen | On 10 Dec 2015

Follow-up and Review of the SDGs: Fulfilling our Commitments

This paper considers the challenge of establishing a robust follow-up and review mechanism to support such implementation. The paper underscores the importance of the follow-up and review process taki...

by | On 04 Dec 2015

Socially Sustainable Development and Participatory Governance: Legal and Political Aspects

This paper explores the notion of “sustainable development” which has progressively evolved over the recent years from the environmental field in which it originated, to the social sphere and has been...

by | On 02 Dec 2015

Youth Vulnerabilities in Life Course Transitions

This paper examines youth vulnerabilities, with a particular emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. It touches on the challenges confronted by young people exposed to extreme, life threatening...

by | On 26 Nov 2015

Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries

In Arab countries, a widespread lack of human security undermines human development, according to the Arab Human Development Report 2009: Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries. This repor...

by | On 26 Nov 2015

Safe Havens: The Emerging Terror Hubs in South Asia

This issue brief reflects on the prevalence of terror networks in South Asia as Al Qaeda is attempting to expand into new territories in South Asia, “suitable” for safe housing themselves and their il...

by Reshmi Kazi | On 23 Nov 2015

Drivers of Migration

This paper explores the relationship between determinants of migration which are often deeply embedded in the economic, social, political, cultural and environmental context, and more immediate factor...

by | On 06 Nov 2015

Pragmatic Pathways: Critical Perspectives on Research Uptake in the Global South

One of social science’s core roles is to inform evidence-based policy making and policy interventions that produce pro-poor outcomes. This paper explores prominent debates on research uptake and polic...

by | On 05 Nov 2015

Tolerance and Respect for Economic Progress

Our tradition of debate in an environment of respect and tolerance. By upholding it, by fighting for it, the students can repay their teachers and your parents. And you will be doing our country a gre...

by Raghuram G. Rajan | On 03 Nov 2015

Indian Society and the Secular: Public Lecture in Memory of Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer

In this lecture, the author discusses the concept of Indian secularism. She suggests that the concept of secularism went beyond politics. The lecture discusses on three aspects of what is involved in...

by Romila Thapar | On 28 Oct 2015

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2015

The Global Employment Trends for Youth 2015 provides an update on key youth labour market indicators and trends, focusing both on the continuing labour market instability and on structural issues in y...

by | On 28 Oct 2015

Progress of the World’s Women 2015-2016: Transforming Economies, Realizing Rights

This Report focuses on the economic and social dimensions of gender equality, including the right of all women to a good job, with fair pay and safe working conditions, to an adequate pension in older...

by UN Women | On 23 Oct 2015

Cultural Resistance Need of the Hour: Teesta Setalvad

This interview with Teesta Setalvad on the series of awards being returned by various writers post lynching of a person in Dadri and PMs silence. Teesta explained that, this government functions on th...

by Teesta Setalvad | On 20 Oct 2015

Cultural Resistance Need of the Hour: Teesta Setalvad

This interview with Teesta Setalvad on the series of awards being returned by various writers post lynching of a person in Dadri and PMs silence. Teesta explained that, this government functions on th...

by Teesta Setalvad | On 20 Oct 2015

Aspirations and the Role of Social Protection: Evidence from a Natural Disaster in Rural Pakistan

This article uses Pakistan’s 2010 floods to identify the effects of a natural disaster on citizens’ aspirations. Aspirations were significantly reduced—especially among the poorest and most vulnerab...

by Katrina Kosec | On 19 Oct 2015

Inequality: Trends, Harms and New Agendas

The paper focuses on within-country inequalities. It discusses in particular how the consequences of inequality are shaped by specific mechanisms that operate at the national, community and individual...

by | On 13 Oct 2015

Development in Bihar: Predicaments and Prospects of Health Indices

The article aims at understanding the developmental process in Bihar and compares is the same with the national average. After a general comparison of developmental discourse, the focus in on health c...

by Aditya Raj | On 09 Oct 2015

Regional Inequality in Bangladesh in the 2000s: Re-Visiting the East-West Divide Debate

The term “East-West divide” as a way of describing regional disparity in Bangladesh has emerged in the policy discourse only in the 2000s. The administrative divisions belonging to the western part of...

by | On 08 Oct 2015

The Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI 2014) - Measuring the Political Commitment to Reduce Hunger and Undernutrition in Developing Countries

This report presents the Hunger And Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) 2014. It seeks to: 1. Rank governments on their political commitment to tackling hunger and undernutrition; 2. Measure what gover...

by | On 01 Oct 2015

Ground Water and Farm Incomes at Risk from Climate Change in Tamil Nadu, India

Research from South India suggests that climate change will affect ground water availability with serious and negative implications for agriculture. Any increase in temperature above a threshold of ...

by R. Balasubramanian | On 30 Sep 2015

The Effects of Climate Change on Internal and International Migration: Implications for Developing Countries

This synthesis paper informs the development community about the effects of climate change on migration patterns within and out of developing countries, concentrating on the economic aspects of migrat...

by | On 29 Sep 2015

Maternal Mortality in India: A Review of Trends and Patterns

This paper discusses the trends and patterns in reduction in maternal mortality in India, and focuses on highlighting inter- and intra-state disparities. We find that the trends in the maternal mortal...

by William Joe | On 29 Sep 2015

Human Rights for All: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

This Handbook is mainly for human rights practitioners who want to familiarise themselves with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and use the human rights fram...

by | On 23 Sep 2015

India’s Worlds of Waste

The sheer magnitude of the social, political and technological challenges in implementing India’s new national priority of waste management, set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has attracted global a...

by | On 23 Sep 2015

The Troubled Democracy of Bangladesh: ‘Muddling Through’ or ‘a Political Settlement’?

Is democracy in Bangladesh on a reverse course? Is there a culture of intolerance being engendered by deliberate design? Will creeping extremisms create an inevitable schism within the nation? The pap...

by | On 23 Sep 2015

Closing the Gender Gap: The Gender Parity Taskforces

The Global Gender Gap Report 2014 emphasizes persisting gender gap divides across and within regions. Based on the nine years of data available for the 111 countries that have been part of the report...

by | On 11 Sep 2015

Youth and Politics in India - II

This paper aims to uncover the features that make India’s youth politics so distinct from other forms of politics within the country, the kinds of politics young people participate in, and the kinds o...

by Rahul Advani | On 10 Sep 2015

Youth and Politics in India - I

This paper spells out the ways in which, and the reasons why, young people in India today engage in politics. An answer to this research question is attempted by first locating the politics of youth w...

by | On 10 Sep 2015

The End of Laissez-faire, the End of History, and the Structure of Scientific Revolutions

The subject of this essay is formed from three classic pieces of writing: The End of Laissez-Faire by John Maynard Keynes, The End of History? by Francis Fukuyama, and The Structure of Scientific Revo...

by Ravi Kanbur | On 07 Sep 2015

A Review of Data on Nutrition in India: Preliminary Findings

This paper summarizes the preliminary findings of Global Nutrition Report (GNR), which we shared at the GNR stakeholder roundtable in New Delhi. The primary recommendations suggested are a set of core...

by | On 04 Sep 2015

Indian Society and the Secular: 5th Asghar Ali Engineer Memorial Lecture

In this lecture, the author discusses the concept of Indian secularism. She suggests that the concept of secularism went beyond politics and none of the mainstream political parties adhered to it, and...

by Romila Thapar | On 31 Aug 2015

Urban India 2011: Evidence

India’s urban transition has the potential to shift the country’s social, environmental, political and economic trajectory. Urbanisation will interact with the country’s ongoing demographic evolution...

by Indian Institute for Human Settlements | On 12 Aug 2015

Urban Policies and the Right to the City in India: Rights, Responsibilities and Citizenship

This publication highlights the relevance in India and the multiplicity of entry points of the right to the city as a vehicle for social inclusion and sustainable social development for Indian cities....

by Centre de Sciences Humaines CSH | On 12 Aug 2015

Mobile Labour and the New Urban

This set of three papers explores new urban spaces and accumulation under post-colonial capitalism, through the themes of infrastructure and the new urban political subject, migrant labour, and commun...

by Mithilesh Kumar | On 04 Aug 2015

Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Ordinance 2014: A Process Perspective

This paper captures the policy processes leading to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Ordinance, 2014. It maps the role an...

by G. Raghuram | On 28 Jul 2015

The Sunday Edit: Textbooks and Governments

The burden of being politically correct has shackled social science writing for schools, and children’s literature too. When will we be able to recognize that the ‘politically incorrect may be educati...

by Anuradha Kumar | On 20 Jul 2015

Is Imperialism a Relevant Concept in Today’s World?

This paper explores some aspects of the imperialism/empire/new imperialism debate and looks at whether imperialism remains to be a valid theoretical category in analyzing contemporary economics and po...

by Subhanil Chowdhury | On 02 Jul 2015

Fifteenth Report on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014

The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 was enacted to give effect to the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of the...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 22 Jun 2015

In Search of a Model Land Legislation the New Land Acquisition Bill and its Challenges

The draft Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on September 7, 2011 is one of the most important legislations waiting for Parliamentary appr...

by Niranjan Sahoo | On 05 Jun 2015

Tackling Myanmar’s Corruption Challenge

Corruption is widespread in Myanmar, and this has significant negative effects on the country’s economic development. In response, President U Thein Sein has made fighting corruption a priority. Howev...

by Khaing Sape Saw | On 04 Jun 2015

Stateless in Law: Two Assessments

This report comprises two assessments. The first is a theoretical analysis of the prevention and reduction of statelessness under international laws. By acceding to the ICCPR and the ICSCER conventio...

by Charlotte-Anne Malischewski | On 02 Jun 2015

Key Indicators of Situation of Agricultural Households in India

This document brings out the key results of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households of NSS 70th round within a year of completion of the field work for the use in decision support, poli...

by Ministry of Statistics and Prog Implementation (MOSPI) | On 18 May 2015

Accountability of Local and State Governments in India: An Overview of Recent Research

The paper discusses the notion of accountability, followed by an introduction to the Downsian theory of electoral competition. This serves as a point for classifying different sources of accountabilit...

by Dilip Mookherjee | On 14 May 2015

Youth Participation in Civil Society and Political Life in Bihar

This policy brief documents the participation of youth in Bihar in civil society, the extent to which they uphold secular attitudes and their perceptions about and participation in political processe...

by Environmental Management & Policy Research Institute | On 12 May 2015

Youth Participation in Civil Society and Political Life in Andhra Pradesh

This policy brief documents the participation of youth in Andhra Pradesh in civil society, the extent to which they uphold secular attitudes and their perceptions about and participation in political...

by Population Council | On 12 May 2015

Punjab Youth Policy 2012

The policy covers all key issues of youth and has provided a framework that promises social, economic and political empowerment of youth. The central theme of the policy is integrated youth developmen...

by | On 12 May 2015

The Violence of Disappearance: Reading the Boko Haram Kidnapping

‘To disappear’ is no longer a metaphysical-theological mystery or magic act, but a political invention that must be seen as integral to the violence of modern politics. Focusing on the disappearance o...

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 04 May 2015

The Umbrella Revolution and the Future of China-Hong Kong Relations

This article, written during the 2014 civil disobedience 'Umbrella Revolution' in Hong Kong, suggests that this protest became a turning point in China Hong Kong relations. Suggesting that the protest...

by Willy Lam | On 29 Apr 2015

Power, Voices and Rights

The report focuses on the critical question of advancing gender equality, as seen through the prism of women’s unequal power, voice, and rights. Despite the region’s many economic gains, the Report ch...

by United Nations Development Programme UNDP | On 24 Apr 2015

Keeping the Internet Neutral: Net Neutrality and its Role in Protecting Political Expression on the Internet

As Internet-use rises and becomes more widely available, it has become an increasingly important medium of political communication. This article explores internet regulation frameworks in the United S...

by Jennifer L. Newman | On 15 Apr 2015

The Continual Breakdown of Democracy in Thailand: A Case Study on the Role of Elite Competition, Modernization and Political Institutions in the Democratization Process of Thailand

The paper provides an in-depth empirical analysis of Thai political history in an attempt to understand why democracy has failed to consolidate since the 1932 revolution that ended the absolute monarc...

by | On 08 Apr 2015

State Effectiveness, Growth, and Development

This paper discusses recent developments in the literature on state effectiveness. Each section covers the relevant theory with a special focus on the current knowledge about the mechanisms highlighte...

by | On 01 Apr 2015

Mapping Bangladesh’s Political Crisis

On 5 January, the first anniversary of the deeply contested 2014 elections, the most violent in Bangladesh’s history, clashes between government and opposition groups led to several deaths and scores...

by International Crisis Group | On 24 Mar 2015

Contemporary Myanmar Challenges To Political Process and Reconciliation

This paper outlines the political reforms and reconciliation process presently underway in Myanmar and the challenges posed to it. A detailed analysis of changing power dynamics in Myanmar, and the...

by | On 04 Mar 2015

Cleanliness and Sanitation: Underlying Constraints in India

Open defecation and improper garbage disposal are a reality of public spaces in India, not just due to poverty or a lack of initiative on the government, but social acceptance of attitudes which disr...

by Poorva Awasthi | On 24 Feb 2015

Democracy, Inclusion, and Prosperity

People want to live in a safe prosperous country where they enjoy freedom of thought and action, and where they can exercise their democratic rights to choose their government. But how do countries en...

by Raghuram G. Rajan | On 24 Feb 2015

Cracks in Budgetary Policies towards the Social Sectors

The union budget for 2014-15 offers few changes in terms of policy priorities from the United Progressive Alliance government interim budget for 2014-15, and it fails to recognise the cracks in the co...

by Subrat Das | On 20 Feb 2015

Budget Transparency and Participation: Recommendations to the Fourteenth Finance Commission

This paper explores the need for a Pre-Budget Statement, sub-national transparency and civil society participation to make the budgetary process in India more transparent, accountable and participator...

by Ravi Duggal | On 20 Feb 2015

Bangladesh: Polarisation, Political Violence and An Undeclared Civil War

The report states that about 90 people have been killed and more than a thousand were injured in the ongoingviolent anti-government protests by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led 20-party alli...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 19 Feb 2015

Addressing Inequality in South Asia

An outcome report of IMF-World Bank meetings held in October 2014, this report highlights the stark inequalities in human development in South Asia. Based on parameters such as monetary indicators, he...

by Martin Rama | On 17 Feb 2015

Caste, Corruption and Political Competition in India

Voters in India are often perceived as being biased in favor of parties that claim to represent their caste. The caste bias is incorporated into voter preferences and examine its in influence on the...

by Avidit Acharya | On 12 Feb 2015

The Effect of Women’s Decision-Making Power on Reproductive Health Services Uptake - Evidence from Pakistan

A large body of research has attempted to explore the links between women's autonomy and their uptake of reproductive health services in the South Asia region, but the evidence so far is inconclusive...

by Xiaohui Hou | On 04 Feb 2015

Sri Lanka’s Presidential Election: Risks and Opportunities

This briefing discusses Sri Lanka’s presidential election promises. It promises more competition than was initially anticipated but with that comes a great risk of violence. Long-term stability and po...

by Crisis Group | On 02 Feb 2015

Cash Transfers and Temptation Goods

This paper reviews 19 studies with quantitative evidence on the impact of cash transfers on temptation goods. Studies find either no significant impact or a significant negative impact of transfers on...

by David K. Evans | On 22 Jan 2015

Economic Sociology and Political Economy: A Programmatic Perspective

The paper presents some of the ideas underlying the current research program of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG). It begins with a discussion of how the institute’s pro- gra...

by Jens Beckert | On 18 Jan 2015

Global Economic Prospects

The report argues the recent setback in global economy and ways to strengthen the growth in developing countries. with a view to undertake growth and recovery in high-income countries, there is need t...

by World Bank | On 14 Jan 2015

Governance in Sri Lanka: Lessons from Post-Tsunami Rebuilding

This article applies complex evolving systems theory to investigating the governance factors affecting rebuilding in the wake of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka. It also examines the crucial processes o...

by | On 13 Jan 2015

Pakistan and Afghanistan: Understanding Islamabad’s Objectives and Strategies

Pakistan plays a vital role in Afghanistan and is its most prominent neighbor given its strategic location, geographical proximity, historical and cultural ties with the exception of political influen...

by | On 18 Dec 2014

Empowerment of Women through Participation in Local Government: A case of Maharashtra

There is reservation for women in Maharashtra in the local governments. But their number is less. A case study is given.

by Ruby Ojha | On 12 Dec 2014

Violence against Women in Politics A study conducted in India, Nepal and Pakistan

This study addresses the nature, extent and reasons for women’s political participation within India, Nepal and Pakistan. All three countries have recently elected or are in the process of electing th...

by Ranjana Kumari | On 27 Nov 2014

Economic and Financial Outlook

A picture about the macroeconomy that is, the world economy and the domestic economy is given. The two recent regulatory measures are given here. [FICCI/IBA Annual Banking Conference].

by Raghuram G. Rajan | On 18 Sep 2014

A Handbook of Statistical Indicators of Indian Women

The Handbook is intended to provide a bird's eye view of the present status of Indian women. The various tables indicate the primary data sources and the key facts are presented in bullet points at th...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 15 Sep 2014

Finance and Opportunity in India

One of the greatest dangers to the growth of developing countries is the middle income trap, where crony capitalism creates oligarchies that slow down growth. If the debate during the elections is any...

by Raghuram G. Rajan | On 13 Aug 2014

The Political Economy of MGNREGS Spending in Andhra Pradesh

Are ostensibly demand-driven public programs less susceptible to political clientelism even when private goods are allocated? This is examined using expenditure data at the local level from India’s N...

by Megan Sheahan | On 01 Aug 2014

Three Blind Men and an Elephant: The Case of Energy Indices to Measure Energy Security and Sustainability

An 'Energy Index', which is aggregated from energy indicators is a rich source of information and is helpful in providing an assessment of a country's performance. This has, however, resulted in mus...

by Kapil Narula | On 24 Jul 2014

Event, Memory and Historical Analysis: A Reconstruction of Temple Destructions in India

This paper will highlight the myths that surround the question of mass conversion to Islam and the so called temple destructions by the Muslims during the formative years of the Sultanate and the Mugh...

by Amit K Suman | On 24 Jul 2014

The Din of Silence: Reconstructing the Keezhvenmani Dalit Massacre

This paper is an attempt to reconstruct the Keezhvenmani Dalit massacre of 1968 by placing it in the larger socio-political scenario, giving it a ‘pre-history,’ scouring the various narratives of the...

by Nithila Kanagasabai | On 24 Jul 2014

The Flash Statistics - Elementary Education in India – Progress towards UEE

The present publication is an outcome of the second year of unified school based data for elementary and secondary schools. UDISE has become a regular source of information on all aspects of elementar...

by Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI | On 02 Jul 2014

PRS Legislative Research: Annual Policy Review-April 2013 – March 2014

The PRS Annual Policy Review aims to capture the key legislative and policy developments in India during the fiscal year 2013-14. The objective of this document is to summarise all the major devel...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 05 Jun 2014

Organised Labour and Economic Liberalisation India: Past, Present and Future.

This paper examines the role of organised labour in India in a structural and historical context. It attempts to trace the economic, political and social effects of the trade union movement and its st...

by Debashish Bhattacharjee | On 23 May 2014

The Economic Cost of General Strikes in Nepal

This paper reviews the key aspects of general strikes and analyses the economic cost of such strikes in Nepal. Data analysis shows that average direct cost of general strikes stood at NRs. 1.8 billi...

by Min Bahadur Shrestha | On 11 Apr 2014

Politics and Public Policies: Politics of Human Development in Uttar Pradesh, India

In India, public policies for human development are politically contested for many reasons like diverse political interests, commitment to specific social bases by political regimes etc. They have r...

by Shyam Singh | On 10 Apr 2014

Elections 2014: What Do the Manifestos of Political Parties Promise Children?

A quick look at the manifestos of the five national political parties, Indian National Congress (INC), Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Aam Admi Party (AAP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) and S...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 10 Apr 2014

Indian Youth and Electoral Politics - An Emerging Engagement

Review of the book 'Indian Youth and Electoral Politics - An Emerging Engagement' edited by Sanjay Kumar; Fellow at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS); April 2014; pp 180; Rs 450.

by Nandini Bhattacharya | On 07 Apr 2014

Lok Sabha Elections, 2014: Fascism, Democracy’s Challenges and Role of Citizens

PUCL through this statement, wishes to bring to the attention of the people of India, the serious threat to democracy itself and the human rights challenges posed by the electoral alliances and cal...

by People's Union of Civil Liberties PUCL | On 03 Apr 2014

Why So Few Women in Politics? Evidence from India

In this paper we analyze women as political candidates in a representative democracy. Using 50 years of assembly elections data at the constituency level from the Indian states, we show that women are...

by Mudit Kapoor | On 30 Jan 2014

Public - Private Partnerships in Kolkata: Concepts of Governance in the Changing Political Economy of a Region

In order to conceptualize the transforming political and economic orders of today’s South Asia, the perspective of contemporary history is taken. For this, Public-Private Partnership – which is bei...

by Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee | On 24 Jan 2014

Conflicts in South Asia: Causes, Consequences, Prospects

Studying conflicts is a big intellectual enterprise. More than 60 per cent of the top 100 think-tanks listed in the University Pennsylvania survey (2012) study conflicts and issues related to conflict...

by S. D. Muni | On 22 Jan 2014

Factors Driving Drug Abuse in India’s Punjab

This paper explores the phenomenon of drug abuse among the youth of Punjab, India. In aiming to identify the factors influencing the problem, the paper focuses on the importance of the exceptional asp...

by Rahul Advani | On 22 Jan 2014

India’s Regional Security Cooperation: The Nehru Raj Legacy

The paper explores the logic of continuity in independent India’s security policy from where the British Raj had left off. Much like the Raj, Nehru’s India sought to provide security to its smaller ne...

by prashant kumar | On 21 Jan 2014

Emerging Geopolitical Trends and Security in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the People’s Republic of China, and India (ACI) Region

The rapid economic growth in the region consisting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and India has begun to change the strategic landscape of...

by C. Raja Mohan | On 21 Jan 2014

Under the Thumb of History? Political institutions and the Scope for Action

This paper discusses the two leading views of history and political institutions. For some scholars, institutions are mainly products of historical logic, while for others, accidents, leaders, and dec...

by Abhijit V. Banerjee | On 20 Jan 2014

Political Stability and Economic Growth in Asia

This paper has investigated the effects of various factors of political instability on economic growth in selected ten Asian economies during 1990-2005. The empirical findings show a close relationshi...

by Muhammad Younis | On 28 Nov 2013

Special Report: Building National Resilience to Global Risks

Global risks would meet with global responses in an ideal world, but the reality is that countries and their communities are on the frontline when it comes to systemic shocks and catastrophic events....

by World Economic Forum WEF | On 22 Nov 2013

When  Ideas Trump Interests :  Preferences, World Views, and Policy  Innovations

The contemporary approach to political economy is built around vested interests -- elites,  lobbies, and rent-seeking groups which get their way at the expense of the general public. The  role of id...

by Dani Rodrik | On 06 Nov 2013

Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in India

Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in India aims to provide an overview of existing innovative practices that increase the inclusion of internal migrants in society and act as a living document tha...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 21 Oct 2013

Crystallizing Fault-lines: Turkey’s Democratic Durability at Risk

In the aftermath of the anti-governmental Gezi demonstrations of May-June and the conclusion of the Ergenekon trial earlier this month, clear fault-lines are crystallizing in the Turkish political lan...

by Ozan Serdaroglu | On 05 Sep 2013

Statement by Dr. Raghuram Rajan

Statement by Dr. Raghuram Rajan on taking office on September 4, 2013. [RBI Press release].

by Sabeeta Badkar | On 05 Sep 2013

Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Poverty Line

Interview on the recent released poverty line.

by Planning Commission | On 05 Aug 2013

Breaking New Ground: Enacting a National Land Use Policy

With only a total land area of 30 million hectares and a population of 92.3 million growing at an average rate of 2.12 percent, how should the Philippines allocate a very scarce and important resource...

by Senate Economic Planning Office SEPO | On 24 Jul 2013

Does Political Competition Influence Human Development? Evidence from the Indian States

Recently, it has been argued that political competition may have similar effects on economic performance as market competition. This study empirically examines this proposition by linking political co...

by Bharatee Bhushan Dash | On 05 Jun 2013

Media monitoring on Corruption in Indian print Media

To explore how much coverage is given by Leading Indian newspaper to 2G Scam and Common Wealth Games during the period of study. To explore what kind of image of India is famed by all four newspape...

by Daniel Drache | On 25 Apr 2013

The Political Economy of Food Pricing Policy in China

The overall goal of this paper is to analyse the political economy of food price policies in China during the global food crisis. The results show that given China’s unique economic and political co...

by Jikun Huang | On 18 Apr 2013

Social Media and Lok Sabha Elections

A study finds that Facebook users may be the new vote bank Indian politicians have to now worry about.

by IRIS Knowledge Foundation IKF | On 12 Apr 2013

Promoting Democracy in Myanmar: Political Party Capacity Building

The importance of the political parties in Myanmar and their role as the creators of the future of the country. The course of the present developments relies on the ability of the political parties....

by Aung Aung (IR) | On 09 Apr 2013

Women Political Leaders, Corruption and Learning: Evidence from a Large Public Program in India

In the paper there is a use of nation-wide policy of randomly allocating village council headships to women to identify the impact of female political leadership on the governance of projects implemen...

by Farzana Afridi | On 07 Mar 2013

Historical Sources of Institutional Trajectories in Economic Development: China, Japan, and Korea Compared

This essay provides a game-theoretic, endogenous view of institutions, and then applies the idea to identify the sources of institutional trajectories of economic development in China, Japan, and Kore...

by Masahiko Aoki | On 22 Feb 2013

An Investigation into Changes in Nagaland's Population between 1971 and 2011

Nagaland’s population decreased during 2001–11 after growing at abnormally high rates during the past few decades. This is the first time since independence that a state in India has witnessed an ab...

by Ankush Agrawal | On 21 Feb 2013

Indian Special Economic Zones: The Difficulties of Repeating China’s Triumph

New Delhi launched its SEZ revolution in April 2000 to secure the country a two digit growth rate, copying from China what during the previous two decades proved to be an excellent strategy, this pa...

by Claudia Astarita | On 21 Feb 2013

Nutrition Policies in Developing Countries: Challenges and Highlights

There are many nutrition policies in developing countries. What are the challenges faced by these malnutrition policies? There are many countries which have successfully included nutrition in their d...

by Olivier Ecker | On 12 Feb 2013

Metabolism Of Mumbai- Expectations, Impasse and the Need For a New Beginning

As population and human activities expand they exert heavy environmental pressure through the resource requirement, their production and consumption. Hence, it is important to understand the resource...

by B. Sudhakara Reddy | On 12 Feb 2013

A Comparison of the IPC, Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2012, Justice Verma Committee and Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2013

A comprehensive chart mapping legal developments regarding sexual offences developed and published by Lawyers' Collective.

by Lawyers Collective | On 07 Feb 2013

The Changing Perspective of Mental Health of Children and Adolescents

Review of the book 'Child and Adolescent Mental Health' edited by Usha Nayar, United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children; February 2013; pp 363; Rs 115...

by Aarti Salve | On 07 Feb 2013

Land Acquisition for Industrialization and Compensation of Displaced Farmers

This paper addresses the question of how farmers displaced by acquisition of agricultural land for the purpose of industrialization ought to be compensated. Prior to acquisition, the farmers are leasi...

by Maitreesh Ghatak | On 22 Jan 2013

Political Clientelism and Capture: Theory and Evidence from West Bengal, India

There are relatively few theoretical models or empirical analyses of clientelism which analyse the sources and consequences of clientelism. Data from household surveys in rural West Bengal are used t...

by Pranab Bardhan | On 14 Jan 2013

Demographics, Labor Mobility, and Productivity

This paper considers two major issues that need to be treated as matters of urgency. First, internal (within country) migrations in the Asian (ACI) region are mostly undocumented and large. It is show...

by E J Wilson | On 05 Nov 2012

Security Sector Governance (SSG) and Conflict Management in Indonesia: The Aceh Case

This paper examines the evolution of security sector governance (SSG) in Indonesia, focusing in particular on the effects of security sector reform (SSR) on the management of the secessionist conflict...

by Rizal Sukma | On 26 Oct 2012

NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR YOUTH AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

The scheme titled National Programme for Youth Adolescent Development (NPYAD) has been formulated by merger of four 100% central sector grants-in-aid schemes of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports...

by Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs YAS | On 28 Sep 2012

On China’s Traditional Culture and Peaceful Development Strategy

This article discusses the cultural basis and origins of the idea of this strategy from the point of view of China’s traditional culture and historical development and analyzes the the reality of C...

by Wang Dewen | On 27 Sep 2012

Economic and Financial Developments in Odisha

The economic and financial structure of Odisha is highlighted. Various financial inclusion initiatives are taken by the Reserve Bank with a particular reference to Odisha. The macroeconomic policy cha...

by Deepak Mohanty | On 22 Aug 2012

The Group of Twenty: Input and Output Legitimacy, Reforms, and Agenda

The paper examines the debates and makes specific policy recommendations by which regionalism, the engagement of small states (through the role of Singapore and the 3-G coalition), and the expansion o...

by Andrew F Cooper | On 09 Aug 2012

Capitalism as a System of Contingent Expectations: Toward a Sociological Microfoundation of Political Economy

Political economy and economic sociology have developed in relative isolation from each other. While political economy focuses largely on macrophenomena, economic sociology focuses on the level of soc...

by Jens Beckert | On 07 Aug 2012

Western Myanmar Unrest: Partisan Portrayals Risk Extremist Implications

The violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State appears to have died down. However, partisan portrayals of the violence risks jeopardising the security of locals and Myanmar’s reform process with extr...

by Kyaw San Wai | On 31 Jul 2012

How Close Does the Apple Fall to the Tree? Some Evidence on Intergenerational Occupational Mobility from India

Using data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2005, intergenerational occupational mobility in India is examined, an issue on which very few systematic and rigorous studies exist. Individ...

by Sripad Motiram | On 12 Jul 2012

Political Strongholds and Budget Allocation for Developmental Expenditure: Evidence from Indian States, 1971-2005

This paper examines the effects of political factors on allocation of revenue budget for developmental expenditure by the sub-national governments, using data from 15 major states in India during the...

by Arun Kaushik | On 10 Jul 2012

Responsibility to Protect in Southeast Asia: Enlarging Space for Civil Society

The concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is relatively new to many Southeast Asians, who have traditionally relied on the state for security and therefore faced a sense of hopelessness when such...

by Pavin Chachavalpongpun | On 27 Jun 2012

The Effects of Democratization on Public Goods and Redistribution: Evidence from China

This study investigates the effects of introducing elections on public goods and redistribution in rural China. A large and unique survey was collected to document the history of political reforms and...

by Yang Yao | On 05 Jun 2012

Cambodia’s Hydropower Development and China’s Involvement

The research was undertaken to better understand the current policy and plans of the Cambodian government for the electricity sector; map the decision-making process; develop a greater understanding...

by Carl Middleton | On 25 May 2012

Obituary: Leela Dube (1923-2012)

Obituary: Leela Dube (1923-2012)

by Vibhuti Patel | On 22 May 2012

Integrating Urban Datasets: The Path to Effective Socio-Economic Planning in Urban Pakistan

Effective urban policy making and implementation in Pakistan is impeded by the problem of integrating data containing incompatible spatial references. There is great heterogeneity across spatial units...

by Sohaib Khan | On 16 May 2012

Environmental Migrants: A Myth?

This brief reviews recent evidence, examines main research challenges in identifying migration–climate links and discusses the policy options for formalizing migration as an adaptation mechanism to cl...

by Jean-François Maystadt | On 09 May 2012

The Political Economy of Deforestation in the Tropics

Tropical deforestation accounts for almost one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and threatens the world.s most diverse ecosystems. The prevalence of illegal forest extraction in the tropi...

by Robin Burgess | On 08 May 2012

Developing Asia’s Pension Systems and Old-Age Income Support

A broad overview of the current state of pension systems in the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam is provided. An anal...

by Donghyun Park | On 30 Apr 2012

Nepal: Elusive Democracy and Uncertain Political System

Persistence and breakdowns of democracy are the dominant features of Nepali politics.Democracy continues to be attractive amidst setbacks and discontinuity. So it remains perennially elusive, desp...

by Lok Raj Baral | On 23 Apr 2012

Journalism in Democracies During Times of War: Examining the Role of Indian and US Media

This paper examines the larger issue of how a ‘free’ media performs during times of war with particular reference to US and India using case studies. It focuses on ‘national security’ becoming a maj...

by Aradhana Sharma | On 20 Apr 2012

Research Study on Women’s Empowerment, Good-governance and Decentralisation : Assuring Women’s Participation in Panchayats of Two Backward Districts of Northern Part of West Bengal

The study focused on the factors and forces behind the participation of women in Panchayat Structure specially after the seventy third Constitution Amendment Act. The role performance, role awarenes...

by Dilip Kumar Sarkar | On 20 Apr 2012

Approaches to Food Security in Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Nigeria: Lessons for Developing Countries

This paper provides a synthesis of the experiences of six countries (Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico, and Nigeria) in enhancing food security of their population. Approximately 46 per cent of t...

by Pooja Sharma | On 16 Apr 2012

West Bengal Budget Speech: 2012-13

Speech by Amit Mitra, Minister of Finance. [Government of West Bengal]. URL:[http://www.wbfin.nic.in/writereaddata/Budget_Speech/2012_English.pdf].

by West Bengal Government | On 13 Apr 2012

The view, outside in

What India has to do to overcome the dents that India has suffered in its international image? India will have to play a delicate game of exercising autonomy in its pursuit of national objectives with...

by T.N. Ninan | On 10 Apr 2012

India’s Call on BRICS : Aligning with China without a Deal

China–India association in the BRICS bloc of countries is an example of multilateralism at its height. For China, the BRICS group holds a strategic significance as it is targeted towards the Western...

by Jagannath P Panda | On 04 Apr 2012

Political Determinants of the Allocation of Public Expenditures: A Study of the Indian States

This study examines whether the allocation of public expenditures of the Indian states are significantly influenced by government specific political characteristics. Three types of government specif...

by Bharatee Bhusana Dash | On 27 Mar 2012

Myanmar’s Ethnic Insurgents: UWSA, KNU and KIO

Since the elections of 2010, Myanmar’s political landscape has changed significantly; the old military junta has officially been dissolved and a new civilian government, led by President Thein Sein,...

by Christopher O’Hara | On 27 Mar 2012

The Second Fundamental Theorem of Positive Economics

Welfare Economics is fortunate that there are two Fundamental Theorems of Welfare Economics. Positive Economics on the other hand is seemingly endowed with none. One of the fundamental results of Posi...

by Anjan Mukherji | On 15 Mar 2012

Railway Budget 2012-2013

Budget 2012-2013

by Dinesh Trivedi | On 14 Mar 2012

Budget of Nepal 2011-12

Budget speech by Nepal Finance Minister. URL:[http://www.mof.gov.np/publication/speech/2011/pdf/budgetspeech_english.pdf].

by Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal | On 06 Mar 2012

Climate Change and Migration in Southeast Asia: Responding to a New Human Security Challenge

The paper aims at understanding the reasons which influence migration and mobility choices, ways by which vulnerabilities can be managed and the role that local, national and regional policy responses...

by Lorraine Elliot | On 24 Feb 2012

Electoral Rules, Forms of Government and Redistributive Policy: Evidence from Agriculture and Food Policies

The effect of electoral rules and forms of government on public policy outcomes using a new dataset on agriculture and food policies from 74 countries over the 1960-2005 period is investigated. Using...

by Alessandro Olper | On 22 Feb 2012

Is Caste Destiny? Occupational Diversification among Dalits in Rural India

he caste system – a system of elaborately stratified social hierarchy – distinguishes India from most other societies. Among the most distinctive factors of the caste system is the close link betwee...

by Ira Gang | On 07 Feb 2012

Estimating the Middle Class in Pakistan

Using the Pakistan Social and Living Measurement Survey (PSLM), conducted in 2007-08, the paper measures the magnitude of the middle class (definition given by Thurow (1987); Birdsall, Graham and Pe...

by Durr-e- Nayab | On 06 Feb 2012

Shaking Embedded Gender Roles and Relations: An Impact Assessment of Gender Quality Action Learning Programme

The Gender Quality Action Learning programme initiated a village level intervention in 2007 in 10 districts to increase knowledge, change perception, attitudes, and practice/behaviour of the villagers...

by Md. Abdul Alim | On 03 Feb 2012

Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2011-12

This policy review is set in the context of a highly uncertain global environment and a delicately poised domestic balance between growth and inflation. It should be read and understood together...

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 25 Jan 2012

Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments Third Quarter Review 2011-12

The Growth outlook has weakened as a result of adverse global and domestic factors that have been mentioned above. Business and consumer confidence has been impacted. Professional forecasters now...

by Reserve Bank of India RBI | On 25 Jan 2012

Myanmar’s Reforms: The Challenges Ahead

The release of many high-profile political prisoners by Myanmar’s government has been applauded by the international community. Many obstacles to reform still exist, but they are not the usual suspect...

by Kyaw San Wai | On 24 Jan 2012

The HUNGaMA Survey Report – 2011

The HUNGaMA (Hunger and M alnutrition) S urvey conducted across 112 rural districts of India in 2011 provides r eliable estimates of c hild n utrition covering nearly 20% of Indian children. The H...

by HUNGaMa for Change HUNGaMa | On 12 Jan 2012

Power, Profits and Inflation: A Study of Inflation and Influence in Pakistan

The analysis seeks to look at inflation as a political economic phenomenon, based on a framework devised by Jonathan Nitzan and christened differential accumulation. The theory of differential accumul...

by Syed Ozair Ali | On 05 Jan 2012

Time for elections

Even though it would be considered politically premature by both the Congress and the BJP – it may be best to think in terms of fresh elections. URL:[http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ni...

by T.N. Ninan | On 03 Jan 2012

A Conceptual Overview of Structural Equation Modeling

A synthesized version of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and its possible applications in Management problems is presented. The main contribution of the paper is its simple description of a some...

by Tathagata Banerjee | On 27 Dec 2011

Insights into Workers and ‘Political’ Union

Review of the book Workers, Unions and Global Capitalism: Lessons from India, Rohini Hensman, Tulika Books, New Delhi, 2011, pp. xix + 415

by Sharit Bhowmik | On 27 Dec 2011

Poverty Dynamics of Female-headed Households in Pakistan: Evidence from PIHS 2000-01 and PSLM 2004-05

The paper attempts to empirically test a naïve version of what is rather stylistically termed as “feminisation of poverty”, using the sub-sample of female -headed households (FHHs) from two househol...

by Umer Khalid | On 21 Dec 2011

Quality of Maternal Health Care: A Call for Papers for a Maternal Health Task Force–PLoS Collection

The MHTF–PLoS Collection in 2011–12 will focus on quality of maternal health care, as it is clear that such a focus is now a global imperative [9]. The quality of maternal health care is highly va...

by Samantha R Lattof | On 02 Dec 2011

Rejigging the Elephant Dance

India's development challenges. The India growth story was thrown off track by the global financial crisis which engulfed virtually every country in the world. We recovered from the crisis sooner than...

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 30 Nov 2011

Where is the Virtue in the Middle Class?

It is widely agreed by economists and political scientists that the middle class is vital to progress because of its many virtues. But it is difficult to define a middle class by income in a manner t...

by Charles Kenny | On 16 Nov 2011

Millenium Development Goals: How is India Doing?

This paper evaluates the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) as a framework for measuring development and, subject to qualifications arising from that evaluation, assesses how India is doing in terms o...

by Sudipto Mundle | On 11 Nov 2011

Economic and Financial Developments in Goa

Goa is celebrating the Golden Jubilee Year of its Liberation. The recent economic achievements of the state are highlighted. The economic and financial structure of the state as well as the various fi...

by Deepak Mohanty | On 04 Nov 2011

The Financial Accelerator: An Emerging Market Story

In support of the financial-accelerator theory, evidence is found on countercyclical price-cost banking margins possibly explaining the amplifications of business cycles in Pakistan. [WP 41]. URL:[ht...

by Shah Hussein | On 03 Nov 2011

Voice and Accountability: The Role of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Committee

The study aims to explore how the MNCH committee encouraged community participation and how its communication activities empowered the community people to ensure the healthcare needs of the poor and...

by Margaret Leppard | On 17 Oct 2011

Paraiyans’ Self-assertion for Identity

Review of Nandanar’s Children: The Paraiyans’ Tryst with Destiny Tamil Nadu 1850—1956, Raj Sekhar Basu, Sage India, New Delhi, 2011, 492 pp, Rs 895

by Rajesh Komath | On 11 Oct 2011

Urban Transport Sustainability Indicators – Application of Multi-view Black-box (MVBB) Framework

In a recent work Nathan and Reddy (2011a) have proposed a Multi-view Black-box (MVBB) framework for development of sustainable development indicators (SDIs) for an urban setup. The framework is flex...

by Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan | On 10 Oct 2011

User-based Financing of Marine Protection in the Maldives

This paper provides an economic valuation of the recreational uses of atoll-based marine resources in the Republic of the Maldives. A travel demand model to estimate the benefits of atoll-based marin...

by Mahadev G Bhat | On 30 Sep 2011

Rights, Responsibilities and Resources: Examining Community Forestry in South Asia

This paper seeks to understand whether decentralized management of forests can reduce forest loss in developing countries. [SANDEE Working Paper, No 59 - 11]. URL:[http://www.sandeeonline.org/upload...

by Priya Shyamsundar | On 28 Sep 2011

The Lok Pal Bill Debate: Lack of Accountability, not Anna Hazare's Fast, Should be the Focus

The paper analysis the current situation of corruption in India, the protests against it, the role of NGOs and the Lok Pal Bill

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 19 Sep 2011

Iraq’s Last Window: Diffusing the Risks of a Petro-State

This paper, examines the possibility of adopting Oil- to- Cash scheme in Iraq. Here, a new opportunity is identified which aims for direct distribution of Iraqi oil rents in the planned production exp...

by Johnny West | On 19 Sep 2011

Trans-border Identities: (A Study on the Impact of Bangladeshi and Nepali Migration to India)

This paper deals with migration into India from adjoining neighbours and its impact on security and other issues of national interest. Unlike other studies on migration, it focuses on the ethnic ident...

by Subhakanta Behera | On 26 Aug 2011

Technology in Banking- In Pursuit of Excellence

The contribution of technology to the Indian banking industry, the role played by IDRBT and the significance of banking technology awards, in fostering the technological developments of banks. Issues...

by Anand Sinha | On 23 Aug 2011

Predicting Recessions and Slowdowns: A Robust Approach

This paper defines business and growth rate cycles and describes the importance of key coincident indicators and reference chronologies, following reflections on the definition of a recession. The rob...

by Pami Dua | On 18 Aug 2011

Distress Situation in Dryland Areas Impacts on Livelihood Pattern and the Coping Strategies: A Review

This paper is a review of the different coping mechanisms adopted by the households in different dryland area of India. The primary focus of the present paper is to understand the coping mechanisms...

by Nikhil Govind | On 05 Aug 2011

Report of the Two Day Consultation on Access to Health Care of Vulnerable Groups in Mumbai

The two day consultation on access to health care of vulnerable groups in Mumbai was organised by the Mumbai chapter JSA. Vulnerable groups taken are people living in institutions, queer women, sex...

by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan | On 08 Jul 2011

Board Interlocks and Their Impact on Corporate Governance: The Indian Experience - Coping with Corporate Cholesterol

Board interlocks and corporate elites are an engaging field of ongoing academic and policy research around the world, especially because of the concentration of economic power in few individuals or en...

by Bala N Balasubramanian | On 08 Jul 2011

Doha or Dada: The World Trade Regime at an Historic Crossroads

This study was not alone in demonstrating that a deal on the Doha Round could be of huge benefit to the global economy. Assuming plausible enhancements in the course of further negotiations, the big...

by Klaus Deutsch | On 06 Jul 2011

U.S. Trade Policy and Global Development

Polls show that many Americans increasingly see the country’s trade openness asmore of a threat than an opportunity, and the bipartisan political consensus in favor of openmarkets is badly frayed....

by Kimberly Ann Elliot | On 01 Jul 2011

Policies and Measures to Mitigate Potential Environmental Impacts of Cross Border Infrastructure Projects in Asia

While bringing positive impacts and benefits, cross-border infrastructure projects face additional challenges relative to national projects. Moreover, such projects involve a variety of technical, reg...

by ZhongXiang Zhang | On 27 Jun 2011

Fragile States

Many of the world’s poorest countries can be described as 'fragile states' wherein governments cannot or will not provide an environment for households to reduce, mitigate, or cope with poverty and ot...

by Wim Naudé | On 23 Jun 2011

Access to Land and Land Policy Reforms

The objective of this research and policy brief is to analyse different mechanisms of access to land for the rural poor in an era when redistribution through expropriative land reform is largely incon...

by Alain de Janvry | On 10 Jun 2011

India’s Trade Policy Choices

India’s economic growth has accelerated in recent years, and its share of world trade has expanded. These are welcome developments for the country and, given India’s large share of the world’s popul...

by Sandra Polaski | On 10 Jun 2011

Trends in Poverty and Social Indicators: An Update

This paper provides an update of the changes that Bangladesh has undergone in terms of its poverty and social indicators over the last one and a half decades. Several key social and human developmen...

by Zulfiqar Ali | On 07 Jun 2011

China’s Housing Markets: Regulatory Interventions Mitigate Risk of Severe Bust

A closer look at the developments in 35 cities across China, looking for potential regional real estate bubbles. An assessment is done about the success of the various policies and their potential n...

by Ulrich Clemens | On 02 Jun 2011

An Enquiry into the Historical Roots of Industrial Backwardness of Kerala - A Study of Travancore Region

The relative industrial backwardness of Kerela is a problem of very wide concern among scholars as well as administrators and political activities in the state. The contribution of the industrial sect...

by T.M. Thomas Issac | On 31 May 2011

History Revisited: Narratives on Political and Constitutional Changes in Kashmir (1947-1990)

One of the main conflicts prevailing in South Asia today is that of the row over Kashmir. The long history of the conflict, the states involved in the conflict and its geo-political position has...

by Khalid Wasim Hassan | On 26 May 2011

Spatial Heterogeneity and Population Mobility in India

Mobility is one of the important aspects of human nature, which is often guided by socio-economic, political as well as environmental factors. The nature, pattern and direction of population mobili...

by Jajati Keshari Parida | On 16 May 2011

Behavioural Risks in Early Adolescents with HIV Positive Mothers

Although advances in medical treatment have reduced mortality in people living with HIV, thousands of children will continue to cope with the stress of living with a parent who has a chronic, potentia...

by Asha Menon | On 09 May 2011

Nepal and the Pax Indianus

In May 2009, the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) warned of growing threats to sustainable peace in Nepal. Since that time, Nepal’s politics have continued to polarize. Nepal still has two ar...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights | On 04 May 2011

Monetary Policy Statement 2011-12

This Statement sets out the Reserve Bank’s assessment of the current macroeconomic situation and projections. URL:[http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/notification/PDFs/APS030511F.pdf].

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 03 May 2011

Statement by Governor, RBI

There have been significant developments in the global economy since we met in the fall of 2010. The IMF too has moved on several fronts under its mandate which has strengthened its position in a chan...

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 20 Apr 2011

National Youth Policy 2010 (NYP 2010)

The NYP 2010 is a step forward from the earlier Policy formulated in 1988 and, later, in 2003. It reaffirms commitment of the nation to the holistic development of the young people of the country....

by Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs YAS | On 19 Apr 2011

An Alternative to Conventional Public Water Service: "User Group Networks" in a Mumbai Slum

This article is a research on the water services available in north eastern parts of Mumbai. It aims as highlighting the ability of communities to design and run functional systems to overcome the sho...

by Rémi de BERCEGOL | On 08 Apr 2011

Of Human Bondage: An Account of Hostage Taking in Bastar

An event of great political and historical significance occurred on 11 February 2011 inside the dense forests of Abujhmad in Chhattisgarh with the CPI (Maoist) releasing five policemen of Chhatti...

by People's Union for Democratic Rights PUDR | On 29 Mar 2011

Globalization and the Women’s Movement in India

From the early 1990s, the principal economic, social and political problems experienced by the mass of Indian women have, in one way or another, become inextricably linked with the processes and pol...

by Centre for Women's Development Studies | On 28 Mar 2011

A Veteran's Asia Reflections

The report reflects on a wealth of impressions from the emerging continent. Political and economic developments from the Hindukush to Japan are assessed and put into a global context. The issues addre...

by Norbert Walter | On 22 Mar 2011

Political Economy of Tribal Development: A Case Study of Andhra Pradesh

The paper delineates the situation of the Scheduled Tribes in the background of various policies of the state during the successive plan periods and its impact on their socio-economic mobility. Pol...

by M. Gopinath Reddy | On 16 Mar 2011

Panchayats and Economic Development

The objective of this study is to review the analytical literature on the relationship between decentralisation and development, bring out the impact of decentralisation on economic development from...

by M.Govinda Rao | On 07 Mar 2011

The Uses of Economic Theory: Against a Purely Positive Interpretation of Theoretical Results

Economists are excessively influenced by the so-called positive economics view, which says that economists should only describe and not prescribe. Here the author argue that this view is flawed beca...

by Abhijit V. Banerjee | On 04 Mar 2011

The Impact of Climate Change on Indian Agriculture

In India, as elsewhere in the world, climate change is now high on the political and public agenda. In the subcontinent, particular attention is being paid to the impact of climatic changes on agri...

by K.S. Kavi Kumar | On 22 Feb 2011

Macroeconomic Forecasting using Dynamic Factor Models

This study attempts to develop a dynamic factor model (DFM) to forecast industrial production and price level in India. For this purpose, domestic as well as external economic indicators, that appea...

by Sanjib Bordoloi | On 21 Feb 2011

Conditionality and Endogenous Policy Formation in a Political Setting

The paper examines two issues associated with aid and fiscal policy. First, how best the conditionality behind foreign aid, sometimes non-economic, is complied within a principal-agent framework. In...

by S Mansoob Murshed | On 01 Feb 2011

Russia’s Quasi-Sovereign Debt: A Sizeable Contingent Liability

An overview of corporate and quasi-sovereign debt in Russia is provided. Fiscal sustainability in Russia in a broader framework analysed. Scenarios for public debt developments until 2020, also taking...

by Maria Arakelyan | On 31 Jan 2011

Beacon of Hope: An Impact Assessment Study of BRAC’s Rural Development Programme

The impact assessment methodology was constructed on the basis of a set of hypotheses, and incorporated a set of key indicators of impact. The IAS hypothised that various non-RDP factors are likely to...

by Shams Mustafa | On 19 Jan 2011

Shared Goals: Measuring Overall Development in Pakistan

Five possible indicators are suggested that illustrate the type of measurable targets that could help the United States and Pakistan meet shared goals for effective and transparent development. [CGD...

by Nancy Birdsall | On 17 Jan 2011

Ethnic Minority Poverty in Vietnam

The paper examines various aspects of development of minority in Vietnam.

by Bob Baulch | On 07 Jan 2011

Of-Meta Narratives and 'Master' Paradigms: Sexuality and Reification of Women in Early India

The paper analyzes the past and present condition of women in India.

by Uma Chakravarti | On 22 Dec 2010

From Invalidation and Segregation to Recognition and Integration: Contemporary State Responses to Disability in India

This paper traces the engagement of the Indian state with the issue of disability over the past three decades as a discourse of charity and welfare gives way to one of equality and human rights. Using...

by Renu Addlakha | On 22 Dec 2010

The Political Economy of Poverty Reduction

Large-scale antipoverty programs have achieved significant and positive results in many developing countries around the world in the past decade. This paper explores the challenges of “scaling up” sma...

by Raj M. Desai | On 21 Dec 2010

Asymmetric Federalism in India

The paper examines the asymmetric features in Indian federalism and evaluates its contribution. There are discussions on the special arrangements in the Indian constitution to accommodate special ca...

by M Govinda Rao | On 14 Dec 2010

Aid and Development Policy in the 1990s

The 1990s will be the first decade after the revolutionary upheavals in the world economic and political system following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Democracy ha...

by Arjun Sengupta | On 13 Dec 2010

Contemporary lessons in Economic Philosophy drawn from two recent Indian Films

The aim of this paper is to derive some important lessons in economic philosophy from two recent Indian films. The two films, Mani Ratnam’s Guru (2007) and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Corporate (2006), are...

by Tejas A Desai | On 29 Nov 2010

Determinants of Trade Misinvoicing

Traditional explanations for trade misinvoicing -- high custom duties and weak domestic economies — are less persuasive in a world of high growth emerging markets who have low trade barriers. A 35- ...

by Ila Patnaik | On 22 Nov 2010

China in Africa: A Macroeconomic Perspective

In recent years, China has dramatically expanded its financing and foreign direct investment to Africa. This expansion has served the political and economic interests of China while providing Africa...

by Benedicte Vibe Christensen | On 15 Nov 2010

Incomplete Contracts, Incentives and Economic Power

This paper formalizes ideas from classical and radical political economy on task allocation and technology adoption under capitalism. A few previous studies have attempted this, but the framework an...

by Sripad Motiram | On 03 Nov 2010

Global Determinants of Stress and Risk in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Infrastructure

This study analyzes the determinants of stress in public-private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure investment. While project failures seldom occur, there are many stresses that hinder success. O...

by Renato E. Reside, Jr. | On 27 Oct 2010

Consultation Paper on Certain Issues Relating to Telecom Tariffs

This consultation paper brings out various issues that have a bearing on telecom tariff offers. In line with established practice, the Authority seeks the views of all stakeholders by 15th November,...

by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI | On 20 Oct 2010

Fiscal Developments and Outlook in India

The paper identifies those elements in the configuration of fiscal parameters confronting the country that give cause for concern, and examines whether the fiscal reform measures taken address these...

by Indira Rajaraman | On 20 Oct 2010

Decent Work and the Informal Economy

The ILO was founded for social justice, a mandate expressed today in terms of decent work as a global goal, for all who work, whether in formal or informal contexts. In June 2002, the delegates to...

by Anne Trebilcock | On 08 Oct 2010

Trade and Investment Policies and Regional Economic Integration in East Asia

The global economic crisis has affected the East Asian economies via trade and investment. The export-led model which had been responsible for the “East Asian Miracle” now must redirect the basis of g...

by Siow Yue Chia | On 08 Oct 2010

Constructions of Community in Communication Research: A Study of Radio Broadcasting in India

The paper attempts to capture the construction of 'community' in Indian communication research. This paper attempts to trace the genealogy, interrogates its usage in Indian communication studies and s...

by Biswajit Das | On 05 Oct 2010

Impact of Remittances on Poverty in Developing Countries

This study undertakes impact analysis of remittances on poverty in developing countries at two levels. Firstly, it estimates the impact of remittances on poverty in 77 developing countries; Secondly,...

by Rashmi Banga | On 17 Sep 2010

Women and Indian Nationalism

The political role of women as a subject for research is of recent origin in India. It is significant that there are so few studies of women's role in the nationalist movement or of the implications-...

by Leela Kasturi | On 17 Sep 2010

Marxian Economics Today

Marx himself certainly thought that political economy was a subject of most urgent importance for a "theoretician of the revolutionary proletariat". Marx took over the orthodox theory of his day accor...

by Joan Robinson | On 16 Sep 2010

An Ethnography of Associational Life: Caste and Politics in India

In 1956 Susanne Rudolph and I arrived in India for the first of many research years there. We were among the second batch of Ford Foundation Foreign Area Training Fellows. As area scholars we were com...

by Lloyd I. Rudolf | On 15 Sep 2010

Women, Participation and Development: A Case Study from West Bengal

The importance of Women's Organisations for bringing women within reach of the development process is a recognised policy for women's development in India. However, nature and functional role of suc...

by Narayan K. Banerjee | On 14 Sep 2010

European Union Foreign Policy And the Challenges of Globalisation

The European Union is a profoundly political project and one which has attempted to achieve important political goals through economic means. Initially through the establishment of a coal and steel ...

by Christopher F. Patten | On 07 Sep 2010

Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment

This paper uses political reservations for women in India to study the impact of women’s leadership on policy decisions. In 1998, one third of all leadership positions of Village Councils in West Be...

by Esther Duflo | On 25 Aug 2010

An Eye for an Eye: Impact of Sequelization and Comparison in Advertisements on Consumer’s Perception of Brands

In this paper we demonstrate that the positive effects of comparative advertising are significantly diluted when a compared-to brand retaliates. Retaliation introduces sequencing in advertisements....

by Patrali Chakrabarty | On 24 Aug 2010

Indian Software Industry: Distortions and Consolidations of Gains

The Indian software industry is at the bottom of knowledge hierarchy, where the bottom is highly segmented. The political process that successfully thwarted the automation of Indian manufacturing sect...

by Pradosh Nath | On 20 Aug 2010

A Framework for Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Change Adaptation Interventions

Climate change has become one of the most important global issues of our time, with far- reaching natural, socio- economic, and political impacts. In order to equip the community to deal with the...

by Vidhi . | On 12 Aug 2010

Poverty Target Programs for The Elderly In India: With Special Reference to National Old Age Pension Scheme, 1995

This paper looks into various aspects of the old age pension debate and related policies in India. In the analysis that follows, we address issues such as: the identity of the drivers of change; t...

by Anand Kumar | On 11 Aug 2010

An Examination of the Relationship between Health and Economic Growth

This paper attempts to examine the relationship between health and economic growth. The rate of growth is measured using gross national income (GNI) and health status is measured using infant mortalit...

by Garima Malik | On 04 Aug 2010

The Evolution of Singapore Business: A Case Study Approach

This paper is the result of a pilot study conducted to track, explore and analyse various aspects of the evolution of Singapore business within a holistic framework using case study methodology. Fol...

by Anisha Sabhlok | On 30 Jul 2010

The Structure of Tariffs and Long-Term Growth

We show that the ‘skill-bias’ of a country’s tariff structure is positively correlated with long-term per capita GDP growth. Testing for causal mechanisms, we find evidence consistent with the exist...

by Nathan Nunn | On 28 Jun 2010

Communication and Power: The State of Research

Given the increasingly confusing proliferation of models for communication research, documentation of some of the differences that exists have been done. There are a number of ways to divide the terr...

by Biswajit Das | On 22 Jun 2010

Municipal Finance of Urban Infrastructure: Knowns and Unknowns

Various trends, including an increasing emphasis on fiscal decentralization; political democratization in many areas; globalization and the financial liberalization that often accompanies it; growing...

by James Alm | On 18 Jun 2010

Analyzing Corruption Possibilities in the Gaze of the Media

In this paper analyze the economic incentives that govern the strategic relationship between the government and the independent media has been analysed using a consistent analytical framework.The an...

by Samarth Vaidya | On 17 Jun 2010

Street Vendors: Exploitation by the State

Street vendors are those millions of people who come to cities as economic refugees hoping to provide basic necessities for their families.They are the main distribution channels for a large variety...

by Shailly Arora | On 15 Jun 2010

Social Capital and State-Civil Society Relations in Singapore

This paper shows that the realization of Singapore’s vision of “active citizenship” and “state-society partnership”, to a significant extent, depends on how social capital is being created and renew...

by Tan Tay Keong | On 09 Jun 2010

Institutionalizing Shared Sovereignty: South Tyrol as a Model for India’s North East?

South Tyrol in Italy has been showcased as a model of shared sovereignty with the potential of being ‘exported’ to other parts of the world. The model essentially consists in (a) a realization that th...

by Samir Kumar Das | On 05 Jun 2010

Gender Development Indicators: Issues, Debates and Ranking of Districts

The present study emphasizes on independent variable analysis in assessing gender development at the disaggregated district level to account for problems such as the major contradiction facing this c...

by Preet Rustagi | On 03 Jun 2010

Debt Policy and Economic Growth in a Small Open Economy Model with Productive Government Spending

In this paper, the effects of introducing constraints on government borrowing have been examined by using a continuous-time overlapping generations model of a small open economy. Government placing co...

by Koichi Futagami | On 27 May 2010

Book Review: Of Space and 'Spatialities'

Review of Spatialising Politics: Culture and Geography in Postcolonial Sri Lanka. Catherine Brun and Tariq Jazeel (Editors). Sage Publications, New Delhi; 2009, 260 pp, Rs. 695.

by Anandi Dantas | On 04 May 2010

Rural Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development

Empowerment of women has emerged as an important issue in recent times. The economic empowerment of women is being regarded these days as a Sine-quo-non of progress for a country; hence, the issue of...

by Sathiabama K | On 19 Apr 2010

State Business Relations and Performance of Manufacturing Sector in Andhra Pradesh

In this paper, an attempt is made to enquire into the politics of the government and business relation and how it affects the industrial development in general and expansion of manufacturing sector...

by Alivelu G | On 02 Mar 2010

Health and Healthcare in Assam-A Status Report

This report is a comprehensive and analytical compilation of health care development of Assam bringing together all available information and data on health and health care.

by Indranee Dutta | On 09 Feb 2010

Strategic Behaviour of Chinese Political Elites

A conceptual framework is constructed to study the strategic behaviour of Chinese political elites. Various rules of political elite's behaviour are examined and suggests directions for empirical stud...

by Chien Chiao | On 08 Feb 2010

Social Business: A Step Toward Creating a New Economic and Social Order

The concept of social business flows from a firm conviction that profit or benefit is not the only motivating factor for an entrepreneur and an entrepreneur can also be motivated by social goals and e...

by Mohammad Yunus | On 27 Jan 2010

India as a Global Power?

India is a stable democratic political system with rising economic fortunes and global ambitions make it a potential power that could play a very important role in world affairs. But India has to tack...

by Teresita C Schaffer | On 15 Jan 2010

Rethinking Food Security Policies: IDSAsr Declaration

Declaration made at the end of two days national seminar on Food security and Sustainability in India held on November 7-8, 2009 organized by GAD Institute of Development Studies, PO Naushera, Amritsa...

by Gursharan Singh Kainth | On 14 Dec 2009

Democratic Citizenship: From Proportionality to a Continuum Approach to Political Participation

This paper is an attempt to explore the meaning and significance of political participation within (a) the conceptual framework of democratic citizenship and (b) debates surrounding representative d...

by Anupama Roy | On 10 Dec 2009

Public Private Partnership in Uttar Pradesh Health Care Delivery System- UPHSDP as an Initiative

The objective of the study is to find out the primary reason to encourage public private participation in health care delivery system in Uttar Pradesh and the study also aim to analyse UPHSDP -a Wor...

by Bibi Ishrat Jahan | On 07 Dec 2009

Flying with the Crane-Recapturing KMVS’s Ten-Year Journey

This document is at the behest of KMVS and is an effort to hold up a mirror to their journey. It is a documentation of their history, context, evolution, and experiences since its emergence in 1989. A...

by Vimala Ramachandran | On 01 Dec 2009

Muslim Women’s Rights Discourse in the Pre independece Period

The present paper deals with the discourse of the rights of Muslim women in the pre- independence period with particular reference to the Shariat Act 1937 and the Muslim Marriage Dissolution Act 193...

by Sabiha Hussain | On 20 Nov 2009

From Income to Urban Contest in Global Settings: Chronic Poverty in Bangalore

The paper is a research which studies the government policies and agendas that affect the poor in India. For the research 8 to 10 families, who had been intervened several years ago were re-interviewe...

by Solomon Benjamin | On 16 Nov 2009

Cost and Time Overruns in Infrastructure Projects: Extent, Causes and Remedies

Various issues related to delays and cost overruns in publically funded infrastructure projects are investigated. The study is based on, by far, the largest data-set of 850 projects across seventeen i...

by Ram Singh | On 11 Nov 2009

Political Sociology of Poverty In India: Between Politics of Poverty and Poverty of Politics

This paper on political sociology of poverty in India is based upon the assumption that a) the caste system and economic inequality complement each other in the case of the poorer sections of Indian...

by Anand Kumar | On 10 Nov 2009

New Steps to Faster and Broader Debt Relief for Developing Countries

This paper mainly describes he concepts of FTAP and explains the current political state of affairs in the international discussions. [FES]

by Jürgen Kaiser | On 09 Nov 2009

Concept Paper on Child Labour in India

This concept papers aims at demystifying some of these social, economic and political myths, and stimulate discussion, debate and deliberation on various aspects of child labour. This paper, further...

by Child Rights and You CRY | On 07 Oct 2009

Chronic Poverty and Development Policy in Sri Lanka: Overview Study

The present study attempts to capture chronic poverty in Sri Lanka by examining general information on poverty and drawing conclusions on those who are likely to be among the chronic poor. Certain p...

by Indra Tudawe | On 17 Sep 2009

Child Protection A Handbook for Panchayat Members

This handbook on child protection will help Panchayat Raj members to understand the actions they can take to protect children resulting in better convergence of programmes and increased allocation of...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 16 Sep 2009

Human Development Index for Andhra Pradesh

The method used to measure Human Development are reviewed in order to measure Human Development Index for rural AP by considering indicators such as economic attainment, longevity and education. The e...

by Jatinder S Bedi | On 07 Jul 2009

Reserve Bank of India Statistics Day- Governor's Inaugural Address

The third Annual Statistics Day Conference of the Reserve Bank. It has now become a tradition for to mark the Statistics Day as a tribute to late Professor P.C. Mahalanobis and his colossal contributi...

by D Subbarao | On 02 Jul 2009

Construction and Validation of ‘Science Culture Index’ Results from Comparative Analysis of Engagement, Knowledge and Attitudes to Science: India and Europe

Countries world-wide routinely collate statistics on STS performance indicators such as R&D expenditure, science publications, citations and impact, high-tech employment, and penetration of hightech g...

by Rajesh Shukla | On 12 Jun 2009

Role of Science & Technology, Higher Education and Research in Regional Socio-Economic Development

This paper is an attempt to focus on the role of Science and Technology (S&T) on regional development of India by considering 21 Indian states. The Index approach using the Principal Component techniq...

by Rajesh Shukla | On 12 Jun 2009

Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas

Widespread discontent among the people has plagued the Indian polity for sometime now. It has often led to unrest, sometimes of a violent nature. Over the years, statutory enactments and institutional...

by Expert Group Planning Commission | On 06 Jun 2009

Health Economics for Developing Countries: A Survival Kit

Health economics is increasingly recognized as a discipline that has much to offer developing countries in addressing these problems, but how can it help? What economic concepts and tools can be appli...

by Anne Mills | On 04 Jun 2009

China- India Economic Engagement Building Mutual Confidence

China and India, Asia's two largest and most dynamic societies, have come to be important players in regional and global decision-making. Both countries have had their share of experience in colonial...

by Swaran Singh | On 03 Jun 2009

Mass Media and Public Policy: Global Evidence from Agricultural Policies

Mass media plays a crucial role in information distribution and thus in the political market and public policy making. Theory predicts that information provided by mass media reflects the media’s ince...

by Alessandro Olper | On 29 May 2009

People's Health Manifesto-2009

In this article hard realities of people’s health in India today, and some of the maladies of recent health policies are examined. This is followed by core recommendations to strengthen and reorient...

by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan JSS | On 08 May 2009

Controlling Money and Politics – An Exercise in Damage Control

In many countries political financial regulations have been introduced.

by Marcin Walecki | On 28 Apr 2009

Motivating Politicians: The Impacts of Monetary Incentives on Quality and Performance

Using exogenous variation in the salaries of local legislators across Brazil’s municipal governments this paper examines whether higher wages attract better quality politicians and improve political p...

by Claudio Ferraz | On 16 Apr 2009

India – 1947-79 Six Parliaments and Democratic Rights

Communal riots have become an annual feature of Indian life, although their number varies from year to year. A situation has come to pacs where maddening communal violence, arbitrary actions of exe...

by People's Union for Democratic Rights PUDR | On 16 Apr 2009

EC Controversy: What are the Issues? EC Controversy: What Are the Issues

A comprehensive and logically rigorous analysis of the issues raised by the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner N.Gopalaswami for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, the...

by Ramaswamy R. Iyer | On 03 Apr 2009

Fiscal Federalism, State Lobbying and Discretionary Finance in India

The paper attempts to construct political influence variables and explain discrepancies in fund disbursement through proper econometric specification in the Indian context.

by Rongili Biswas | On 21 Jan 2009

States Reorganisation: Contemporary Concerns

Language alone can no longer be the basis for division of states. Issues such as size, governance, economic viability and recognition of new identities are equally important to consider the demands f...

by Asha Sarangi | On 14 Jan 2009

Indian Railways in the Past Twenty Years Issues, Performance and Challenges

To understand the development process of Indian Railway’s over the past twenty years, the study covers issues and strategies related to financial and physical aspects of revenue generating freight and...

by G. Raghuram | On 06 Jan 2009

Homelessness is not just a Housing Problem

Political will, imaginative and collaborative solutions from across the spectrum of health and social care providers are needed to address the needs of homeless individuals.

by Plos medicine Editors | On 06 Jan 2009

Development of What? An Exposition of the Politics of Development Economics

The present paper aims at driving home a hitherto-neglected and perhaps often muted (but important) point, namely, that the confusions and identity crisis that had gripped development economics in th...

by Arup Maharatna | On 31 Dec 2008

Negotiating Constitution for Political Unions

This paper provides a cradle-to-grave model for political union between two unequally endowed states. The main contribution of this paper is to highlight the role of technology gap and unequal distrib...

by Vikas Kumar | On 10 Dec 2008

The Impact of Terrorism and Conflicts on Growth in Asia, 1970–2004

This paper quantifies the impact of terrorism and conflicts on income per capita growth in Asia for 1970–2004. Transnational terrorist attacks had a significant growth-limiting effect. An additional t...

by Khusrav Gaibulloev | On 05 Dec 2008

Controlling Money and Politics – An Exercise in Damage Control

Whether there should be transparency in political finance? Whether there should be a control over the money that the political parties are receiving?

by Marcin Walecki | On 04 Dec 2008

Traveling Agents: Political Change and Bureaucratic Turnover in India

Politicians face high-powered electoral pressures while bureaucrats face longer-term, low powered incentives. Given constitutional constraints, what incentives do politicians employ to control bureauc...

by Lakshmi Iyer | On 02 Dec 2008

The Demand for Disadvantage

In a poor, growing economy with academic costs well below the market value of educational training, the tag of disadvantage has come to acquire value and, ironically, the desire for mobility has brou...

by Rohini Somanathan | On 18 Nov 2008

The State of Human Rights in Bangladesh

The system of justice in Bangladesh is derived from the common law system. The judiciary tends to be conservative in its application of international law. While in many cases the judiciary has cited i...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 07 Oct 2008

Estimating the Probability of Trade Union Membership in India: Impact of Communist Parties, Personal Attributes and Industrial Characteristics

The paper analyses the impact of the reach of communist parties, the degree of political activism, personal attributes of workers, and industrial characteristics on the individual decision to unionise...

by Rupayan Pal | On 22 Sep 2008

JP’s Quest

JP called upon the youth to fight against undemocratic methods. He wanted them to be in the forefront to agitate for the removal of ills that parties had injected into the country’s body politic. Mora...

by Kuldip Nayar | On 01 Sep 2008

Tax Challenges Facing Developing Countries

Most developing countries continue to face serious problems in developing adequate and responsive tax systems. This paper reviews the three principal ways in which developing countries may expand and...

by Richard M. Bird | On 25 Aug 2008

The Indian Banking Industry – A Retrospect of Select Aspects

A broad overview of the achievements and progress made by the Indian banking sector in the last two decades and the emerging frontiers of the Indian banking system, in the post-reform era. [Address d...

by Leeladhar V | On 11 Aug 2008

Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments First Quarter Review 2008-09

The Reserve Bank released the document “Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments: First Quarter Review 2008-09” to serve as a backdrop to the First Quarter Review of Annual Policy Statement for 2008-0...

by Reserve Bank of India | On 28 Jul 2008

Who is Worried about the National Interest?

Given the strategic long run character of the nuclear deal, the decision on it should nor be hurried. Nor is it one that can be taken without seeking wider public consensus than is available to the...

by Arun Kumar | On 21 Jul 2008

Drug Development for Maternal Health Cannot Be Left to the Whims of the Market

The development of drugs for maternal health cannot be constrained by market-driven needs. What is needed is a political will.

by PLoS Medicine | On 16 Jul 2008

Poverty Eradication and Human Rights

This paper examines the proposition that "poverty is a violation of human rights". The author disuses the possibility of this proposition to be implementable in real case senarios and in polcies,

by Arjun Sengupta | On 26 Jun 2008

At a Glance -- Peace Process in Nepal

King Gyanendra of Nepal took over as a king after the royal massacre incidence in 2007. But soon after taking the power people of Nepal were fed up of his authoritarian tendencies and the continuous u...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 24 Jun 2008

Children’s Perception of Sarkar: A Critique of Civics Textbooks

Where do we locate the value of political education in our country, which has largely been imparted under the category of civics? Since textbooks are on possible site for finding answers, this study...

by Alex M. George | On 29 May 2008

Gujjar protest and Reservation Politics

Successive governmental commissions have held that Gujjars do not meet the criteria for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes. The Gujjar protest has ramifications beyond the States where they live. If th...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 28 May 2008

Towards a Less Imperfect State of the World: The Gulf Between North and South

Many developing countries assert a claim to the privilege of managing world order on a shared basis but exhibit a strong reluctance to accept the responsibility flowing from such privilege, for exampl...

by Ramesh Thakur | On 14 May 2008

Divided Destinies, Unequal Lives: Economic, cultural and Social rights and the Indian State

On 10th July, 1979, India - by ratifying the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) - became a State party to this treaty body. Reporting guidelines of the Covenant re...

by Peoples Collective PCESCR | On 10 Apr 2008

Markets, politics and freedom in the work of Hannah Arendt

Like the alchemist's philosopher's stone of old, though, the heavy artillery of game theory is being wheeled out in more and more sophisticated models, in the hope of converting the lead of individual...

by Kevin Quinn | On 17 Mar 2008

Debating with the Ideology of Globalisation

In this paper the authors share their experience in attempting to critically engage a set of young persons on their understanding of the present regime of globalisation through a semester-long course...

by Rahul Varman | On 13 Mar 2008

Union Budget 2008-09: A Bag of Tricks to Get the Vote

The budget is an election budget. There are lots of sectors which needs more attention. Many questions are raised at the end of the document which the government may fail to answer

by Arun Kumar | On 04 Mar 2008

Pakistan’s Historic Opportunity for Change

Opinion polls show less than 20 per cent of Pakistanis now approve of President Musharraf, who has been described as an indispensable ally in the war against terrorism by some members of the Bush admi...

by Husain Haqqani | On 24 Feb 2008

Livelihood Risks and Coping Strategies: A Case Study in the Agrarian Village Of Cherumad, Kerala

The various dimensions of livelihood risk as informed by a in-depth case study of an agrarian village namely, Cherumad in Kerala is examined. [WP no. 394].

by K.N. Nair | On 06 Feb 2008

Transport: Then, now, and Tomorrow

A historical survey of transport to demonstrate that transport has always been recognised as of paramount importance for the wellbeing of the whole community, that a combination of collective and indi...

by Ralph Harrington | On 01 Feb 2008

Third Quarter Review of Annual Monetary Policy for the Year 2007-08

Review consists of three sections: I. Assessment of Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments; II. Stance of Monetary Policy; and III. Monetary Measures. An analytical profile of macroeconomic a...

by Y V Reddy | On 30 Jan 2008

Toward an Economic Sociology of Chronic Poverty: Enhancing the Rigor and Relevance of Social Theory

This paper focuses on both expanding and refining the analytical scope of the “social” (or non-economic) aspects of chronic poverty, and thereby, to enhance efforts to respond more effectively to it....

by Michael Woolcock | On 25 Jan 2008

Transgenics in Indian Agriculture: Experiences so far and implications of KIA proposals on Indian Farmers

KIA proposes to bring a paradigm shift in Indian Agriculture in terms of human resource development, research, technology generation, technology dissemination and commercialization. In the short run,...

by Ramanjaneyulu G V | On 05 Jan 2008

Adaptation for India's cities

The impact of climate changes will become key economic and political questions in South Asia. Indian cities will be affected the most by these. Policies will have to be adopted in such a way that the...

by Aromar Revi | On 27 Dec 2007

Decentralisation as a Policy Process in India

This article argues that decentralisation in India should be seen as a policy process. It is a policy process in the sense that multiple actors, and agencies influence the decentralisation process at...

by V. Anil Kumar | On 12 Dec 2007

Pakistan’s Last Bid for Democracy

This Essay examines the factors retarding democracy in Pakistan and asserts that now, more than ever, the country’s political forces must work together to fight common foes.

by Colum Murphy | On 27 Nov 2007

‘A People United In Development’: Developmentalism In Modern Malayalee Identity

The attempt is to draw upon public sphere debates in Malayalee society in the immediate post-independence decades, more specifically on speech and writing accruing around the distinctiveness of Malaya...

by J Devika | On 23 Oct 2007

Recent Financial Market Developments and Implications for Monetary Policy

The nature of the financial turbulence that happened recently in US and Europe, why it happened, where it happened, and the implications for central banks. Some of the forces that led up to and charac...

by Rakesh Mohan | On 12 Oct 2007

The New Mumbai: Defining Systemic Reforms for the Governance of Mumbai City and Mumbai Metropolitan Region

The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India were made with an express objective or purpose of restoring power back to people by legally encouraging “local self-governance”. At the same...

by A.K. Shende | On 08 Oct 2007

Model Nagara Raj Bill

Model bill to amend the laws relating to the Municipalities and to institutionalise citizens’ participation in municipal functions, e.g. setting priorities, budgeting provisions, etc. by setting up of...

by Ministry of Urban Development MoUD | On 08 Oct 2007

Governance and Health

As we celebrate 60 years of political independence and take pride in our dynamic private sector, our remarkable IT successes and all the other usual dimensions of success, let us remind ourselves that...

by Shankar Acharya | On 08 Oct 2007

Minorities Under Attack in Gujarat: Report of an Investigation

This report is based on the visit of the team to various affected villages and other areas in Gujarat and interviews with the victims and other villagers of these areas. There are a number of other vi...

by Act Now for Harmony and Democracy ANHAD | On 26 Sep 2007

Burma: Member States of the UN must Intervene: ACHR Weely Review

Reports have been pouring in that the Burmese soldiers today used baton and tear gas against the Buddhist monks and civilian protesters at Shwedagon pagoda, the holiest Buddhist place in Rangoon. The...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 26 Sep 2007

Defining Human Differences in Biomedicine

An extensive literature reflects millennia of concern over what we humans call ourselves and others. All life sciences are now grappling further with how to categorize and study the nearly infinite po...

by Maggie Brown | On 26 Sep 2007

Monetary Policy Developments in India: An Overview

A review of the recent developments in the Indian Economy. Review of the trends in monetary policy challenges globally and for emerging market economies (EMEs) in particular. The monetary policy frame...

by Y V Reddy | On 10 Sep 2007

India: Large and Small

The past and present of India can be seen in many different perspectives. There is a case for focusing particularly on the long history of the argumentative tradition in India, and its continuing rele...

by Amartya Sen | On 17 Aug 2007

Safeguard Measures in WTO

The doctrine of precedent is getting established in WTO and seems to be there to stay however much it is argued otherwise. Neglect of this fact means that we are overlooking some of the problematic de...

by Sheela Rai | On 08 Aug 2007

De-risking the System

The advent of political uncertainties has led to questions about poor governance which can lead to economic under performance.

by T.N. Ninan | On 31 Jul 2007

Battling for Clean Environment Supreme Court, Technocrats and Populist Politics in Delhi

The role of Supreme Court in controlling air pollution in Delhi in the face of political contestation and government reluctance in implementing what had already long been on the statute books. Focus i...

by Kuldeep Mathur | On 29 Jun 2007

Does the Market Matter? Economic History of an Indian Region in a Euro-Centric View

The 18th Century Deccan was a highly commercialised, market driven society, quite unlike the descriptions of "traditional" Indian societies in the literature. In many ways, this society was similar to...

by Neeraj Hatekar | On 27 Jun 2007

Women Politicians, Gender Bias, and Policy-making in Rural India

Despite the importance of this issue for the design of institutions around the world, little is known about the relative performance of women as policy makers, about their impact on child development...

by Lori Beaman | On 16 Feb 2007

‘Autonomy On-line’: Indymedia and Practices of Alter-Globalisation

The paper examines Australian Indymedia collectives as a means to improve understanding of the practices of alter-globalisation movements. Indymedia, which emerged around the anti-World Trade Organisa...

by Jenny Pickerill | On 30 Jan 2007

Social Medicine in the Twenty-First Century

In its launch issue in October 2004, PLoS Medicine signaled a strong interest in creating a journal that to the social conditions in which people live and work. The socially disadvantaged have less...

by Scott Stonington | On 23 Jan 2007

Health Is Still Social: Contemporary: Examples in the Age of the Genome

Social medicine is as important now as it has ever been. The fi eld of social medicine includes various social and cultural studies of health and medicine , and in this article, the focus is o...

by Timothy H. Holtz | On 23 Jan 2007

How Did Social Medicine Evolve, and Where is it Heading?

This essay briefl y examines some of the diverse developments of social medicine as an academic discipline and its links to political conceptualizations of the role of medicine in society. The...

by Dorothy Porter | On 10 Jan 2007

Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan and Electoral Politics

Following the Supreme court judgement on election reforms including the mandate to the election commission to disseminate all information provided by the candidate to the people, a large number of non...

by E. Venkatesu | On 10 Jan 2007

Social Cleavages, Multiculturalism and Emerging Space for State in India under Globalisation Regime

This paper focuses on social cleavages based on class , caste,religion and ethnicity in India. It examines the political salience of caste and class conflicts and addresses the translation of social c...

by Sarojini Mishra | On 29 Dec 2006

Pro-Poor Targeting and Accountability of Local Governments in West Bengal

A commonly alleged pitfall of decentralization is that poverty, socio-economic inequality and lack of political competition allow local elites to capture local governments. This hypothesis is empirica...

by Pranab Bardhan | On 27 Dec 2006

Policymaking under Globalization Pressures: Reforming Public Utilities in Latin America

To analyse the role of partisan beliefs and interests, this paper focuses on two industries—telecoms and electricity—which have been subject to strong pressures for policy diffusion and thereby are u...

by Maria Victoria Murillo | On 21 Dec 2006

An Index of Uncertainty for Business Cycle Leading Indicators

Leading indicators based on correlations with reference cycles are regularly used to monitor the economy. It would be useful if we could have a quantitative measure of the risk associated with leadi...

by Minakshy Iyer | On 20 Dec 2006

Modernity with Democracy?: Gender and Governance in the People's Planning Campaign, Keralam

This paper takes advantage of the possibility of a critical perspective afforded by the feminist perspective in analyzing the interactions between political and civil societies in the shaping of spe...

by J Devika | On 19 Dec 2006

Making and Unmaking Poverty: Social Science, Social Programmes, and Poverty Reduction in India and Elsewhere

How does growth actually trickle down to remove an individual’s poverty? Is it through increases in employment? What other avenues did the benefits of growth travel through before reaching and helpi...

by Anirudh Krishna | On 05 Dec 2006

Mahatma Gandhi and the Prisoner’s Dilemma: Strategic Civil Disobedience and Great Britain’s Great Loss of Empire in India

This paper examines the relationship between statutory monopoly and collective action as a multi-person assurance game culminating in an end to British Empire in India. In a simple theoretical model,...

by Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiky | On 27 Nov 2006

Overview of Bilateral Free Trade and Investment Agreements

A comprehensive inventory of bilateral FTAs on a global scale, with sections on Africa and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. It highlights the key points of e...

by Bilaterals.org | On 03 Nov 2006

Historian and Courtesan: Chen Yinke and the Writing of Liu Rushi Biezhuan

In the 1980s the life and work of Chen Yinke, who had died in 1969 during the Cultural Revolution, re-emerged in print. Chen was a former Tsinghua historian and an intellectual luminary who had enj...

by Wen-hsin Yeh | On 18 Oct 2006

Kanshi Ram: The Man and his Legacy

Kanshi Ram’s main legacy is that political mobilization and use of State power is required to provide dalits self-respect, dignity, social equality and political empowerment to fight against dominati...

by Sudha Pai | On 13 Oct 2006

Who's in Crisis?

If one might attempt a hypothesis, it would be that India’s communist parties would like to adjust to the reality of the day by giving up their old identities and becoming social democratic parties, b...

by T.N. Ninan | On 01 Oct 2006

Parens Patriae: Exercising Patriarchal Prerogative in Post-Partition India

This paper analyses the implications of this Abducted Persons (Recovery and Restoration) Act of 1949 not with the intention of discussing its legal merits, but rather, to indicate that in the exercise...

by Ritu Menon | On 29 Aug 2006

An Approach to the 11th Five Year Plan: Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth

The 11th Plan provides an opportunity to restructure policies to achieve a new vision of growth that will be much more broad based and inclusive, bringing about a faster reduction in poverty and hel...

by Planning Commission | On 19 Jul 2006

Ethics in Social Science Research: A Note for Discussion

Some questions relevant in the context of ethics in social science research are: Does social science have peculiarities which are masked by discussions on science at large? Given the need for objectiv...

by Sudarshan Iyengar | On 19 Jul 2006

From a Rights Perspective

The collection of papers demonstrates that the human right to development in essence brings together several distinct but not mutually inconsistent streams of philosophical, political, economic and so...

by Vijay Kumar Nagaraj | On 15 Jul 2006

A Lucrative Career

Why is politics a hereditary business in India, unlike most other democracies?

by T.N. Ninan | On 01 Jun 2006

The Communal Violence (Pevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) bill, 2005

Bill No. CXV of 2005 A Bill to empower the State Governments and the Central Government to take measures to provide for the prevention and control of communal violence which threatens the secular fab...

by Ministry of Home Affairs | On 25 May 2006

Legislative Brief: Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005

The Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005 provides for (a) prevention and control of communal violence, (b) speedy investigation and trials, and (c) rehabil...

by Parliamentary Research Service | On 25 May 2006

The Challenges and Opportunities for International Civil Society in Promoting Ethical Globalisation

This paper explores some of the challenges ahead in terms of strengthening civil society networks working for ethical globalisation and in turning their shared vision of ethical globalisation into an...

by Maureen Leen | On 23 May 2006

Book Review: Communal Mobilisation in South Asia: Is there a Grand Design?

The focus here is on the agency that produces religious forms and associated repertoires of action/conduct---the entire gamut of socio-religious networks of mobilization built around these forms, the...

by Sasheej Hegde | On 15 May 2006

Voluntary Organisations, NGOs and the ‘Politics of Development’ in India: A Critical Exploration

This essay studies the domain of politics of development constituted by the state, and attempts to plot the emergence of the voluntary sector, NGOs in particular, as a representative in this contested...

by Swagato Sarkar | On 31 Mar 2006

Two Kinds of Activism: Reflections on Citizenship in Globalizing Delhi

The paper examines two of the most pressing concerns in Delhi: housing and the environment. The paper reviews the activities of Resident Welfare Associations, Sajha Manch, and Delhi Janwadi Adhikar Ma...

by Sanjeev K. Routray | On 14 Jun 2013

Democracy and People’s Rights in the Neo-Liberal Era: Role of Judiciary

The recent judgments and orders from various levels of higher judiciary indicate a drastic shift in their outlook and approach. A close look reveals two trends developing within the judiciary. Firstly...

by M.B.Rajesh | On 31 Mar 2006

Verdict 2004: From Identities to Issues and Interests?

This paper is a humble attempt to take an intellectual and political position while analyzing the 2004 election results in the context of neo-liberal regime in India and also tries to portray whether...

by Maidul Islam | On 31 Mar 2006

Constituting Development: Encountering the deprivation of the ‘poor’ under the ‘reform’ apparatus in India

The paper addresses three main issues: The nature of economic reforms and how growth is segregated within the sectors; secondly, limitations of the poverty line approach to estimate the development of...

by Saji M. | On 31 Mar 2006

The Persistence of Underdevelopment:Institutions, Human Capital or Constituencies?

Why is underdevelopment so persistent? One explanation is that poor countries do not have institutions that can support growth. Because institutions (both good and bad) are persistent, underdevelopmen...

by Raghuram G. Rajan | On 26 Mar 2006

Post-Autistic Economics Review, Issue No 36, February 2006

Results of Greatest Twentieth-Century Economists Poll Towards a Concrete Utopian Model of Green Political Economy by John Barry Economics Is Structured Like a Language by William Kaye-Blake ...

by Post-Autistic Economics Movement | On 26 Mar 2006

International Young Scholars’ Seminar: Rich Nation, Poor People

Critical Perspectives on the Neo-liberal Regime in India 4–5–6 April 2006 Conference Room, Nehru Guest House, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi Organized by Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia...

by LeftWord Books | On 25 Mar 2006

The Siren Song of Technonationalism

Technological development in Asia is driven by government policy, and that policy is motivated in large part by technonationalism, or the desire of Asian states to free themselves from dependence on W...

by David Kang | On 07 Mar 2006

Decentralisation on Fallow and Fertile Ground: Preparing the Population for Democratic Self-Governance

Decentralizing authority to democratically elected local government is advised for reasons of efficiency and good governance, but equity may suffer if elites capture decision making at the local level...

by Anirudh Krishna | On 16 Feb 2006

Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments: Third Quarter Review, 2005-06

The robust performance of the Indian economy continued during the second quarter (July-September) of 2005-06. According to the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), the economy recorded a real GDP...

by Reserve Bank of India | On 02 Feb 2006

Agrarian Reform for a Liberal Pattern of Society? Karnataka's Land Policy and the New Dispensation

It is puzzling how much the discourse of development has backed away from the seemingly central question of rural poverty: land. Elaborate rules concerning its distribution, rights, regulation, prot...

by Ronald Herring | On 12 Jan 2006

Institutionalising Citizen Participaion in Urban Governance

The twin concepts of a federal arrangement – a structure for a multi-tiered form of government with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, as well as active citizenship are like the two strands...

by Ramesh Ramanathan | On 12 Jan 2006

Corruption and Local Governance: Evidence from Karnataka

The paper examines corruption in the institutions of local government in Karnataka, using a Logit model. One of the arguments in favour of decentralisation in developing countries is that it provide...

by V. Vijayalakshmi | On 09 Jan 2006

Dynamics of Local Governance in Karnataka

The objective of this paper is to unpack the dynamics of local governance in Karnataka by studying the interaction between two sets of rural institutions, (a) the formal, elected Gram Panchayats(GPs...

by Kripa Ananthpur | On 09 Jan 2006

Ideological Elements in Political Instability in Karnataka: Janata Dal in the 1990s

There are strenuous difficulties in managing competing social groups, segments and regions in the political landscape of Karnataka. These difficulties have been accentuated by touchy issues of status...

by Pamela Price | On 09 Jan 2006

Political Leadership and Economic Development in Karnataka

How has the political leadership in Karnataka contributed to the state's economic developmet? In order to assess the role that the political leadership has played, the author examines the role of the...

by Gujjarappa Thimmaiah | On 09 Jan 2006

Change in Karnataka over the Last Generation: Villages and the Wider Context

This paper examines changes that have (and have not) occurred – at the village level in Karnataka where most or the state’s residents live, and at higher levels when they impinge upon villages – sin...

by James Manor | On 09 Jan 2006

The Economic Basis of Global Power: VIP2 A Simple Index of National Power Potential

Though Paul Kennedy and other scholars of National Security, Diplomacy and Foreign relations have emphasized the importance of the economy in National Power, not many economists have taken an interes...

by Arvind Virmani | On 24 Dec 2005

Political Selection and the Quality of Evidence: Evidence form South India

This paper uses household data from India to examine the economic and social status of village politicians, and how individual and village characteristics a®ect politician behavior while in o±ce. Ed...

by Timothy Besley | On 22 Nov 2005

Singapore's Role in Building of an East Asian Community

An East Asian community(EAC) is an idea now being seriously pursued in spite of significant challenges. Proliferating bilateral deals in Asia could emerge as building blocks towards the EAC, provided...

by Rahul Sen | On 22 Nov 2005

The Quest of Economic community in East Asia: Thailand's Perspective

To make the Customs Union in East Asia happen, what is needed the most now are political will and concerted efforts. FTAs should not be the end of economic cooperation in Asia. Instead, the onsolidati...

by Nipon Poapongsakorn | On 22 Nov 2005

Realizing The East Asian Community”

The enterprise of building an East Asian Community has already begun. The process will indeed be long-term. Malaysia, from the beginning , has been steadfast in not giving up on the concept. Despite...

by Stephen Leong | On 22 Nov 2005

Policy Processes and Policy Advocacy

The development process in the present context where economic and governance reforms are emphasized tends at times to by-pass the concerns of the marginalized and the voiceless. It is precisely to bri...

by V. Anil Kumar | On 19 Nov 2005

Mughal Decline, Climate Change, and Britain’s Industrial Ascent:An Integrated Perspective on India’s 18th and 19th Century Deindustrialization

India was a major player in the world export market for textiles in the early 18th century, but by the middle of the 19th century it had lost all of its export market and much of its domestic market....

by David Clingingsmith | On 10 Nov 2005

Economic Backwardness in History: Deviation from a Eurocentric Theme

This paper aims to demonstrate that the economic behaviour of ordinary men and women in the pre-colonial Deccan was as much ‘capitalistic’ as that of similar agents in contemporary Europe. The differe...

by Neeraj Hatekar | On 21 Oct 2005

A Framework For Scaling Up Poverty Reduction, With Illustration From South Asia

This paper develops a framework for thinking about the policy challenge of scaling up small scale interventions, governmental and non-governmental, that address poverty reduction successfully. The fra...

by S. Devarajan | On 30 Aug 2005

The Future Of Democracy

This paper examines the future of democracy in Nepal against the current debate on political reforms, referred to in popular discourse as ‘restructuring the state'

by Krishna Khanal | On 29 Aug 2005

Why Do Governments Lack “Political Will”? An Explanation

This paper proposes “lack of political will” as the most important reason why a ruling political party is unable to commit itself to economically efficient choices or policies. The notion of political...

by Ajit Karnik | On 19 Aug 2005