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Matching keywords : Crime, Corruption, West Bengal, Elections, Politics, Association of Democratic Reforms

Who’s Afraid of Naomi Osaka?

As an extraordinarily powerful individual, Naomi Osaka presents challenges to institutional power most of us can only imagine. If she worked in coordination with other top athletes across different sp...

by Jeffrey Montez de Oca | On 29 Jun 2021

Sexism's toll on Journalism

The report shows that the two-fold danger to which many women journalists are subjected is far too common, not only in traditional reporting fields as well as new digital areas and the Internet, but a...

by | On 08 Mar 2021

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

Know Your Publishing Space: Open Access Publishing

Publishing research in open access journals has been widely discussed over the last decade. Both free access and open access give the reader seamless access to research papers/articles. So, what’s the...

by Shubhada Nagarkar | On 05 Feb 2021

Tribute: Diego Maradona

Even now, over 30 years after he scored that incredible ‘goal of the century’ against the English team in the World Cup, and despite his later descent into drugs and addictions, Maradona remains an ic...

by Shibaji Bose | On 29 Dec 2020

Prakriti Karyashala Case Studies: Villagers Unite Against Illegal Mining

In Sawar village in Ajmer, over the years private mining companies, extracting stone and marble that is exported all over the world, have progressively encroached on village common lands. Not only h...

by Anjali P Iyer | On 27 Nov 2020

Redressing Violence Against Women in COVID 19: Experience of Hospital-based Centres in Mumbai, India

The pandemic has brought a sharp focus on the issue of domestic violence. Over the last few months while COVID 19 has in general led to deaths and disruption of lives, it has, in particular, been an e...

by Sangeeta Rege | On 24 Nov 2020

The Untold Story of the Left in Indian Science

A number of scientists, such as Meghnad Saha, Husain Zaheer, Sahab Singh Sokhey, were not only founders of Indian science, but also close to the Communist Party of India.

by Prabir Purkayastha | On 19 Oct 2020

The Sunday Edit: Sports in/and Schools: Let’s play safe!

Money-spinning school sports tournaments and games are about to be revived, albeit with COVID restrictions, even as sports grounds in schools are deteriorating and disappearing. The National Educatio...

by Padma Prakash | On 02 Aug 2020

Weekend Rumniations: NEP's thrust on mother tongue, the fate of English, and a migrant question

It may never be the language spoken in most homes and remain much smaller than mother tongues, but English will continue to have its place as one of two official languages in India.

by T.N. Ninan | On 02 Aug 2020

The Poet in the Republic

India seems to have turned Platonic anxiety on its head, making the utterance of truth a difficult endeavour in this country.

by | On 01 Aug 2020

Inequality in a Global Perspective

The basic story of global inequality in the last three decades has been an overall decline, but one which is composed of quite intricate patterns. There has been a decline in between country inequalit...

by Ravi Kanbur | On 08 Jun 2020

COVID-19 pandemic – A focused review for clinicians

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 remains a significant issue for global health, economics and society. A wealth of data has been generated since its emergence in December 2019 and it is v...

by | On 27 May 2020

Book Review of 'Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta'.

Review of Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta by Debjani Bhattacharyya. Studies in Environment and History Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Illustratio...

by | On 07 May 2020

Decolonising COVID-19

Territorial colonialism may have ended long ago but this contemporary global health crisis can serve as a reminder that the colonisation of medicine, economics, and of politics, remains alive.

by | On 07 May 2020

New Education Policy: Reinventing Higher Education?

The draft New Education Policy offers challenges disguised as opportunit ies and progressive thinking, especially in terms of autonomy, the deeply troubling role of the private sector HEI, regulatory...

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 27 Jul 2019

Emerging Markets Perspectives on G-20 led Financial Reforms

The chapter examines progress as well as continuing concerns in G-20 led financial reforms, with particular emphasis on emerging markets (EMs). Although risks remain they are of a lower order of magni...

by Ashima Goyal | On 25 Apr 2019

Macroprudential Policy in Asian Economies

This paper analyzes the conduct and effects of macroprudential policy in 11 Asian economies. Of these, India, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea frequently used loan-to-value ra...

by Soyoung Kim | On 23 Apr 2019

Gender and Corporate Success: An Empirical Analysis of Gender-Based Corporate Performance on a Sample of Asian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The paper will provide policy suggestions, such as establishment of credit guarantee funds for easing the female-owned SMEs’ access to finance in Asia. Implementation of supportive policies for female...

by Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary | On 01 Apr 2019

Exchange Rate Movements and Fundamentals: Impact of Oil Prices and the People’s Republic of China’s Growth

This paper identifies five factors that can capture 95% of the variance across 39 US dollar exchange rates based on the principal component method. A time-varying parameter factor-augmented vector aut...

by Hongyi Chen | On 01 Apr 2019

The Rise of the People’s Republic of China and its Competition Effects on Innovation in Japan

This paper empirically examines the “defensive innovation” hypothesis that firms with higher exposure to low-wage economy import competition intensively undertake more innovative activity by using a h...

by Nobuaki Yamashita | On 01 Apr 2019

Price Discovery in Indian Government Securities Market, Monetary Management and the Cost of Government Borrowing

Over 2017-18 there was a sharp rise in Indian government securities (G-Secs) interest rates unrelated to fundamentals. Examining each of the standard explanatory variables shows them to be inadequate...

by Ashima Goyal | On 29 Mar 2019

What Explains the Volatility of India’s Catch-up Growth?

Indian post reform growth rates have been higher but more volatile compared to transition periods for other comparable countries. The reasons are aggravation of shocks due to unaddressed critical bott...

by Ashima Goyal | On 29 Mar 2019

In Memoriam: Darryl D'Monte

Darryl D’Monte, veteran journalist passed away on March 16, 2019 in Mumbai. He was 75.

by | On 24 Mar 2019

The case of the spurious drug kingpin: Shifting pills in Chennai

The public lecture by Dr. Sarah Hodges, organised by the Forum for Medical Ethics Society with the Centre for Law and Society, School of Law, and Constitutional Governance, Centre for Public Health, S...

by Sarah Hodges | On 22 Mar 2019

Services and Manufacturing in Global Value Chains: Is the Dstinction Obsolete?

This paper introduces a taxonomy of service activities in GVCs and describes the main statistical challenges in assessing the contribution of manufacturing and services to output, value added, or trad...

by Sébastien Miroudot | On 07 Mar 2019

Rebalancing the Economy and Reforming the Fiscal System of the People’s Republic of China

The goal of the note is to lay out and discuss a package of reforms that could be consistent with the objectives of the government. The fiscal instruments that we consider here include the division of...

by Roy Bahl | On 07 Mar 2019

Explaining the contractualisation of India’s workforce

The employment structure of India’s organised manufacturing sector has undergone substantial changes over the last decade with a steep rise in the use of contract workers in place of directly hired wo...

by Radhicka Kapoor | On 03 Feb 2019

Trends and Patterns of Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditure: A Study of Manufacturing Firms in India

This paper analysed the trends and pattern of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure of manufacturing firms in India in both voluntary and mandatory period. For the analysis, this study use...

by P. Kavitha | On 01 Feb 2019

Changing Structure of Employment in Indian States

The study attempts a comparative assessment of the changing employment situation in major Indian states, measured in terms of worker-population ratios and the distribution of workers into status group...

by A.V. Jose | On 01 Feb 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

Testing the Friedman-Schwartz Hypothesis Using Time Varying Correlation

This study analyses the time varying correlation of money and output using the DCC GARCH model for the Euro, India, Poland, the UK and the US. Apart from simple sum money, this model uses Divisia mone...

by Taniya Ghosh | On 30 Jan 2019

Examining the Trade-Off Between Price and Financial Stability in India

In recent years, many emerging economies including India have adopted inflation targeting framework. Post the global financial crisis, there is a growing debate on whether monetary policy should targe...

by Ila Patnaik | On 23 Jan 2019

Green Finance in Singapore: Barriers and Solutions

This study reviews how green finance in Singapore is working, examines existing barriers, and suggests some solutions. Singapore, a well-established financial hub in Asia, aims to be a hub for green f...

by Youngho Chang | On 20 Jan 2019

The Development of Education and Health Services in Asia and the Role of the State

This paper analyses the dramatic spread of education and healthcare in Asia and also the large variations in that spread across and within countries over fifty years. Apart from differences in initial...

by Sudipto Mundle | On 14 Jan 2019

Data Localisation in India: Questioning the Means and Ends

This paper classifies the arguments around data localisation into three broad categories - the civil liberties perspective; the government functions perspective and the economic perspective. It examin...

by Rishab Bailey | On 12 Jan 2019

Optimal Regulation of P2P Lending for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

This paper describes and evaluates the range of P2P lending systems on offer to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in several countries, considering different regulatory regimes. In some countr...

by Naoko Nemoto | On 07 Jan 2019

Bangladesh Goes to the Polls: A Street-side View

An informal but informed Indian professional on assignment in Dhaka sends this engaging commentary on the general elections in Bangladesh.

by Srikanth S | On 05 Jan 2019

Industrialization of Developing Countries in a Multicountry, Multisector Capital Accumulation Model

This paper shows that industrialization of developing countries, defined as start of production of investment goods, happens when their share in global production exceeds the global demand for consump...

by Tadateru Hayashi | On 02 Jan 2019

Transformation of Indian Agriculture? Growth, Inclusiveness and Sustainability

This paper provides 10 conclusions on the policies needed to achieve three goals of agricultural development in India. These are : (1) There is a need for change in the narrative in the new context; (...

by S. Mahendra Dev | On 26 Dec 2018

The Impact of Trade Conflict on Developing Asia

This paper analyzes the effects of the current trade conflict on developing Asia using the Asian Development Bank’s Multiregional Input–Output Table (MRIOT), allowing us to calculate the impact on ind...

by Abdul Abiad | On 21 Dec 2018

Does the Exposure to Routinization Explain the Evolution of the Labour Share of Income ? Evidence from Asia

This paper analyzes the evolution of the labor share of income in Asia, a region where countries have experienced steep declines and increases as well as stable labor income shares in the quarter-cent...

by Mitali Das | On 13 Dec 2018

Investment in Research and Development for Basmati Rice in Pakistan

Basmati rice is Pakistan’s celebrated export. After years of growth, Pakistan’s production and export of basmati has slipped and is on a downward trend. The absence of a strong research and developmen...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 13 Dec 2018

Mobility and congestion in urban India

The paper presents the development of a methodology to estimate robust city-level vehicular mobility indices, and apply it to 154 Indian cities using 22 million counterfactual trips measured by a web...

by Prottoy A. Akbar | On 22 Nov 2018

A Primer on the Drivers of Labor Income Share

This paper extends this literature by considering a heterogeneous labor market with capital-skill complementarity. Technological advancement, global integration, regulation of labor market and structu...

by Saumik Paul | On 21 Nov 2018

How Do We Prevent a Food Crisis in the Midst of Climate Change?

The current global warming trends are extremely likely to be the result of human social and economic activity since the middle of the 20th century (NASA 2018). Evidence of rapid climate change varies...

by Kunmin Kim | On 21 Nov 2018

Looking Beyond the Farm and Household: Determinants of On-farm Diversification in India

This paper analyses the factors affecting on-farm diversification decision. Notwithstanding the influence of farm and household conditions, studies have also highlighted the role of external pull fact...

by Varun Kumar Das | On 20 Nov 2018

Indian Banks and the Prevention of Corruption Act: Freedom and Discipline

Selfless activists like Mr. Pai teach us the importance of continuously interrogating the functioning of our democracy. The NPA issue has persisted for almost a decade. It has eroded the profitability...

by Ashima Goyal | On 29 Oct 2018

Insights from Behavioral Economics on Current Policy Issues

The paper examines behavioral constraints in policy-making and in achieving coordination across policies. First it applies psychological concepts to understand policy inadequacies, and next examines h...

by Ashima Goyal | On 29 Oct 2018

Does Regional Integration Matter for Inclusive Growth? Evidence from the Multidimensional Regional Integration Index

This paper employs a multidimensional approach to gauge the degree of regional integration and analyze impact on growth, inequality, and poverty. It constructs a multidimensional regional integration...

by Cyn-Young Park | On 26 Oct 2018

Role of Bank Lending in Financing Green Projects: A Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Approach

This paper develops an environmental dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (E-DSGE) model with heterogeneous production sectors. In particular, the model comprises some low-carbon emission firms that...

by Maria Teresa Punzi | On 19 Oct 2018

Harnessing Technology for Moe Inclusive and Sustainable Finance in Asia and the Pacific

This brief report documents facts of financial innovation in Asia and the Pacific that include: • Fintech redefines a specific sector at the intersection of financial services and technology sectors....

by Asian Bank | On 09 Oct 2018

Demand for Information on Environmental Health Risk, Mode of Delivery, and Behavioral Change: Evidence from Sonargaon, Bangladesh

Lack of access to reliable information on environmental exposure limits opportunities for risk avoiding behavior, particularly in developing countries. Private markets could potentially play a role in...

by Ricardo Maertens | On 04 Oct 2018

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

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 Changing Network of Financial Market Linkages: The Asian Experience

The paper investigates the changing network of financial markets for six periods from 1995–2016, constructing a network that captures the concepts of the direction of links between markets, the signif...

by Biplob Chowdhury | On 21 Sep 2018

Risk Management in Maldives: Sharing Practical Experience and Lessons Learned

Risk management is a systematic approach to determine which goods and passengers need to be examined in detail when entering a country. It involves (i) collecting, storing, and analyzing data to und...

by Asian Development Bank | On 19 Sep 2018

Bribes vs. Taxes: Market Structure and Incentives

Firms in developing countries often avoid paying taxes by making informal payments to tax officials. These bribes may raise the cost of operating a business, and the price charged to consumers. To dec...

by Francesco Amodio | On 17 Sep 2018

Narratives, Imperatives, and Moral Reasoning

The aim of this paper is of course not to answer that immemorial question, but instead to analyze the production and circulation of arguments seeking to justify di§erent courses of action on the basis...

by Roland Benabou | On 17 Sep 2018

Bride Price and Female Education

The paper examines how the effects of school construction on girls’ education vary with a widely-practiced marriage custom called bride price, which is a payment made by the husband and/or his family...

by Nava Ashraf | On 17 Sep 2018

Measuring and Examining Innovation in Philippine Business and Industry

In this paper, results of the 2015 Survey of Innovation Activities (SIA), conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), are described and discussed. Survey results suggest that...

by Jose Ramon G. Albert | On 10 Sep 2018

Aging and Implications for Elderly Care Services in the People’s Republic of China

Aging can be harmful to an economy over the long run, as an increase in the share of the elderly population reduces both the labor force and output per adult, and increases the social security burden....

by Hiroko Uchimura-Shiroshi | On 10 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

Misallocation in the Market for Inputs: Enforcement and the Organization of Production

The strength of contract enforcement determines how firms source inputs and organize production. Using microdata on Indian manufacturing plants, it shows that production and sourcing decisions appear...

by Johannes Boehm | On 03 Sep 2018

Impure Impact Giving: Theory and Evidence

The paper presents a new model of charitable giving where individuals regard out-of-pocket donations and the matches they induce as different. The paper shows that match-price elasticities combine con...

by Daniel M. Hungerman | On 01 Sep 2018

Preparing the Philippines for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Scoping Study

Technological breakthroughs and the interplay of a number of fields, including advanced robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), nanotechnology, neurotech, data analytics, blockchain, cloud technology,...

by Elmer P. Dadios | On 29 Aug 2018

The People’s Republic of China’s Long-Run Growth through the Lens of the Export-Led Growth Model

The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) remarkable growth performance over the last 3 decades has been associated to very robust export growth, so much so that many refer to it as a clear example of ex...

by Jesus Felipe | On 29 Aug 2018

Vulnerability to Poverty in the Philippines: An Examination of Trends from 2003 to 2015

The reduction of poverty is at the heart of the development agenda both nationally and globally. This is reflected in the Philippine Development Plan, and the worldwide commitment toward the Sustainab...

by Jose Ramon G. Albert | On 27 Aug 2018

Green Energy Finance in India: Challenges and Solutions

The paper presents a granular understanding of the associated challenges of mobilizing such finances, drawing from the Indian perspective. It contributes to the present understanding by identifying th...

by Gopal K. Sarangi | On 24 Aug 2018

Financial Barriers to Development of Renewable and Green Energy Projects in Asia

The expansion of green renewable energy has been very limited in all the Asian countries, despite their various differences. The contributing factors are numerous, but, the financial factor has been t...

by Hooman Peimani | On 16 Aug 2018

Welfare Issues in Price Control on Occasions of Calamities, Emergencies, and Like Occurrences

This study focuses on the implications of RA7581 during disaster events, and answer issues on the effects of price control on consumer protection and local economic recovery as well as provides discou...

by Sonny N. Domingo | On 05 Jul 2018

Assessment of the BUB Program: Improving Access of Local Communities to Basic Services and Strengthening Social Capital

The Aquino administration through the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) and Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Cluster (GGACC) launched the Bottom-up Budgeting (BUB) exercise in...

by Rosario G. Manasan | On 05 Jul 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

Health Practices of Children and Women with Disabilities

The study highlights the lack of access to appropriate services for PWDs and that out-of-pocket expenditures on health covers a significant portion of their income. Some recommendations include the pr...

by Celia M. Reyes | On 02 Jul 2018

Process Evaluation of the CHED K to 12 Adjustment Assistance Program

This paper evaluates the implementation of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) K to 12 Adjustment Assistance Program, established following the full implementation of the Enhanced Basic Educatio...

by Alex Brillantes | On 29 Jun 2018

Methods to Investigate the Hydrology of the Himalayan Springs: A Review

This paper reviews the methods that investigate the hydrology of springs, with a focus on the Himalayan region. The methods are classified as field-based empirical and desk-based analytical. Field-bas...

by Pennan Chinnasamy | On 27 Jun 2018

Productivity Growth in Organized Manufacturing in Telangana

This paper makes an attempt to estimate Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth by using both growth accounting approach and production function approach. Kendrick, Solow and Tornqvist-Theil indices ar...

by G. Alivelu | On 26 Jun 2018

On Existence and Properties of Pure-strategy Equilibria under Contests

This paper strictly convex cost functions and demonstrate existence of pure strategy Nash equilibrium for the difference form. Moreover, it shows that several properties of equilibria and the comparat...

by Sakshi Gupta | On 22 Jun 2018

National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence

This strategy document is premised on the proposition that India, given its strengths and characteristics, has the potential to position itself among leaders on the global AI map – with a unique bran...

by Niti Aayog GOI | On 19 Jun 2018

Fair play in Indian Health Insurance

In recent years there has been an increased role for health insurance in Indian health care, through government funded health insurance programs and privately purchased health insurance. Our analysis...

by Shefali Malhotra | On 15 Jun 2018

Market Integration, Demand and the Growth of Firms: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India

In many developing countries, the average firm is small, does not grow and has low productivity. Lack of market integration and limited information on non-local products often leave consumers unaware...

by Robert T. Jensen | On 12 Jun 2018

Economic Policy for Artificial Intelligence

Recent progress in artificial intelligence (AI) – a general purpose technology affecting many industries - has been focused on advances in machine learning, which recast as a quality adjusted drop in...

by Ajay K. Agrawal | On 12 Jun 2018

Financial Inclusion, Regulation, Financial Literacy, and Financial Education in Tajikistan

This paper provides an analysis of financial inclusion, literacy, and education issues in the Republic of Tajikistan. It discusses the recent progress in financial inclusion and the sector’s response...

by Roman Mogilevskii | On 11 Jun 2018

The Impact of Monetary and Tax Policy on Income Inequality in Japan

This paper assesses the effects of the most recent monetary policy behavior of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) (in particular, zero interest rate policy and negative interest rate policy) and Japanese tax pol...

by Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary | On 09 Jun 2018

Constructing the Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation and Integration Index: A Panel Approach

This paper proposes a panel approach in the construction of the Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation and Integration Index (ARCII) to strengthen the index’s ability to track the progress of economic inte...

by Cyn-Young Park | On 06 Jun 2018

Adjustment to Trade Opening: The Case of Labor Share in India’s Manufacturing Industry

This paper is to studies how manufacturing plants in India adjusted to trade liberalization during the period 1998–99 to 2007–08. It estimates how the labor share changed due to tariff reduction. The...

by Prachi Gupta | On 05 Jun 2018

Book Review: Mainstreaming an Emerging Field

Review of 'Reflections on Sociology of Sport: Ten Questions, Ten Scholars, Ten Perspectives'. Edited by Kevin Young; Research in the Sociology of Sport, Emerald Publishing Limited; Vol.10, 1-15.

by Purendra Prasad | On 01 Jun 2018

Do Information and Communication Technologies Empower Female Workers? Firm-Level Evidence from Viet Nam

This paper studies the effects of firms’ investments in information and communication technologies (ICT) on their demand for female and skilled workers. Using the gradual liberalization of the broadba...

by Natalie Chun | On 31 May 2018

National Policy on Biofuels

Biofuels are derived from renewable bio - mass resources and, therefore, provide a strategic advantage to promote sustainable development and to supplement conventional...

by Government of India GOI | On 17 May 2018

Examining the state level heterogeneity of public health expenditure in Indi a: an empirical evidence from panel data

This study explores the relationship over an extended period of time between an increase in per capita public health expenditure and per capita state’s domestic product (per capita inc...

by Deepak Kumar Behera | On 16 May 2018

Vertical Integration, Market Structure and Competition Policy: Experiences of Indian Manufacturing Sector during the Post - Reform Period

In the context of declining degrees of vertical integration in major industries of Indian manufacturing sector during the post - reform period, the present paper is an att...

by Pulak Mishra | On 15 May 2018

National Digital Communications Policy 2018

The National Digital Communications Policy, 2018 seeks to unlock the transformative power of digital communications networks - to achieve the goal of digital empowerment and well b...

by | On 02 May 2018

Family Businesses: The Emerging Landscape 1990 - 2015

The widespread reforms were expected to bring about significant transformations in the structure, operations, allocation of resources (including capital) and competitiveness of the businesses in India...

by Nupur Bang | On 27 Apr 2018

A Techie-Turned-Organic Farmer

Venkat Iyer was living a fast-paced life in the IT world in Mumbai when he decided to stop and take a long, hard look at where he was headed. Disheartened by his stressful existence in the city, h...

by | On 25 Apr 2018

Implementation of the POCSO Act: Goals, Gaps and Challenges

The study comes at a crucial time when key actors as well as the general public would like to know more about how effective is the implementation of the main law protecting children from sexual abus...

by Bharti Ali | On 24 Apr 2018

Rethinking Macroeconomic Policies for Full Employment and Inclusive Growth: Some Elements

This paper reviews recent evidence and research by ILO and others concerning monetary, fiscal, exchange rate and capital account management policies, looking also at issues...

by | On 20 Apr 2018

Changing Paradigms in the Solar Industry

At the moment, there are few industries in the world as fast changing as the solar energy industry. The interest and use of solar energy is as old as mankind. However, the modern solar...

by | On 19 Apr 2018

Predictors of Age-Specific Childhood Mortality in India

Like many other developing nations, the age-specific mortality vary across regions and decline at different pace for India. Using a multinomial logit model, this study analyses the predictors for ne...

by G. Naline | On 16 Apr 2018

Revisiting Rates of Return to Agricultural R&D Investment

This study proposes the use of partial least squares to determine the key parameters of the perpetual inventory method model of capital stock as a new approach to calculate research and development (R...

by Alejandro Nin Pratt | On 13 Apr 2018

Operating Performance of Initial Public Offering Firms after Issue in India – A Revisit

The paper examines how the operating performance of the Indian firms changed after their initial public offerings. It is found that the operating performance does not deteriorate post IPOs, if a per...

by Avdhesh Kumar Shukla | On 09 Apr 2018

Human Trafficking in Taiwan’s Fisheries Sector

Taiwan has one of the world’s largest DWFs, with over 1,800 vessels flying the Taiwanese flag operating across the world and hundreds of Taiwanese-owned vessels flying other flags.

by Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) | On 09 Apr 2018

Cow Vigilantism: Crime, Community and Livelihood January 2016 to March 2018

From 2015 there has been a spate of incidents of violence and intimidation around issues of cow slaughter and beef. These ranged from the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq for alleged cow theft, slaughter...

by PUDR Peoples Union for Democratic Rights | On 04 Apr 2018

Changing Task Contents of Jobs in India: Implications and Way Forward

In this paper, we analyse the evolution of the task content of jobs in India between 1983 and 2011. Following standard literature, we calculated five task intensities by combining NSS data with O-Ne...

by | On 28 Mar 2018

Policy Brief on Foreign Direct Investments (FDI)

In addition good and effective governance is also reflected in the quality of physical infrastructure like roads, electricity availability, ports and transport.

by Forum for Knowledge Sharing | On 27 Mar 2018

Changing Paradigms in the Solar Industry: A Case Study

At the moment, there are few industries in the world as fast changing as the solar energy industry. The interest and use of solar energy is as old as mankind. However, the modern solar industry truly...

by Françoise Pardos | On 26 Mar 2018

Naga media, the elections and ‘solutions’

Naga newspapers’ unwillingness to engage with the real issues plaguing the state was on display in the recent elections.

by Vikas Kumar | On 24 Mar 2018

One Hundred Ninth Report on the National Medical Commission Bill, 2017

The Preamble to The National Medical Commission Bill, 2017 lays down its mission statement, which is to provide for a medical education system that ensures availability of adequate and high quality...

by Rajya Sabha Secretariat | On 23 Mar 2018

The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture: Managing Systems at Risk

The issue of land and water for crops. It examines the kinds of production responses needed to meet demand. It also assesses the potential of the world’s land and water resources to support these de...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | 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

Underground Economy and Tax Evasion in Pakistan: A Critical Evaluation

The paper says that the tax evasion refers to all the illegal actions taken to avoid the lawful assessment of taxes.

by M. Ali Kemal | On 21 Mar 2018

Trade, Technology, and Prosperity An Account of Evidence from a Labor-market Perspective

This report assesses the state of economic research into those areas, with a particular focus on empirical methodologies and their adequacy for an assessment of general-equilibrium outcomes. While di...

by Marc-Andreas Muendler | On 20 Mar 2018

Least-Developed Countries, Transfer of Technology and the TRIPS Agreement

This paper examines the background of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, the nature of this obligation on developed country Members that pertains to the promotion of technology transfer to LDC Membe...

by Jayashree Watal | On 20 Mar 2018

Tribute: Death of a Physicist: Stephen Hawking 1942 - 2018

Stephen William Hawking, physicist, born January 8, 1942, died on March 14, 2018, aged 76. By the time he was 21 he was diagnosed to be suffering from an unspecified incurable disease, later identif...

by S Srinivasan | On 19 Mar 2018

Would UDAY Brighten Up Rajasthan Finances?

Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) required number of State governments to take over debt of power distribution companies in their books of accounts. Though this one time intervention made both debt...

by Pinaki Chakraborty | On 19 Mar 2018

A New Model of Mergers and Innovation

This paper reexamines the impact of merger on innovation. Unlike as in Federico et al (2017), it considers the scenario where merged firms combine their research labs. It shows that, in equilibrium, e...

by Piuli Roy Chowdhury | On 14 Mar 2018

Cash Holding and Tax Evaded Incomes in India – A Discussion

The paper makes an analysis of cash holdings in India and attempts to test its association with tax effort and government spending. The finding arrived is that the ratio of Cash holding to Nominal GDP...

by R. Mohan | On 14 Mar 2018

Budget 2018: Maharashtra Budget Speech Part 2

Mahrashtra Buget speech Part 2

by Sudhir Mungamtiwar | On 12 Mar 2018

Measuring the Equilibrium Impacts of Credit: Evidence from the Indian Microfinance Crisis

In October 2010, the state government of Andhra Pradesh, India issued an emergency ordinance, bringing microfinance activities in the state to a complete halt and causing a nation-wide shock to the li...

by Emily Breza | On 10 Mar 2018

Managing Financial Globalization: Insights from the Recent Literature

This paper seeks to draw lessons for developing countries based on a survey of the recent literature on financial globalization. First, while capital account openness holds promises (by potentially lo...

by Shang-Jin Wei | On 10 Mar 2018

Women and Land in the Muslim World: Pathways to Increase Access to Land for the Realization of Development, Peace and Human Rights

This report looks at global normative work, regional frameworks, and good country level practices, it provides an analysis of the most important aspects to be taken into consideration to successfully...

by Ombretta Tempra | On 09 Mar 2018

Incentives Can Reduce Bias in Online Reviews

Online reviews are a powerful means of propagating the reputations of products, services, and even employers. However, existing research suggests that online reviews often suffer from selection bias—p...

by Ioana Marinescu | On 07 Mar 2018

Changing Enrolment Patterns in Arts and Science Colleges in Kerala

The study is conducted in the context of the decline in the number of young people in the college going age group as a result of the decrease in birth rate in the state as also in the context of the p...

by George Zachariah | On 06 Mar 2018

Reduction in Carbon Emissions Intensity among Indian Manufacturing Firms and Its Impact on Their Export Competitiveness, 2009-2013

Between 2002-03 and 2012-13, energy consumption intensity and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions intensity of Indian manufacturing declined by about 30 percent. During the last 10 to 15 years, Indian ma...

by | On 05 Mar 2018

Microfinance and Women EmpowermentEmpirical Evidence from the Indian States

Microcredit is essentially utilised as the source of empowerment among the poor women in both rural and urban areas of the Indian states. Based on a panel of the Indian states for the period 2007 to...

by | On 27 Feb 2018

Estimates of Air Pollution in Delhi from the Burning of Fire Crackers during the Festival of Diwali

Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world, especially in the winter months from October - January. These months coincide with the religious festival of Diwali. It is argued that air qualit...

by Dhananjay Ghei | On 27 Feb 2018

Internationalisation of the Rupee

This paper evaluates the current status of the Indian Rupee as an international currency using the Chinn and Frankel (2008) framework, and explores the possibility of future Indian Rupee international...

by Shekhar Hari Kumar | On 27 Feb 2018

Labour Migration to Kerala: A Study of Tamil Migrant Labourers in Kochi

The study concludes that the migrant labourers get much higher monetary wages than in their native places.

by Surabhi K.S. | On 27 Feb 2018

Education, Patriarchy, Gendering and Resistance: A Case Study of Adolescent Girls at KGBV, Ranipur

The research was important to see how the scheme is seen by the girls at KGBV, how the teachings shape them, and how does power play come to control them.

by Maitreya Jha | On 23 Feb 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

Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict: Understanding the Motivations

The paper talks about the unequal power relations, discrimination and misogyny in patriarchal societies are exacerbated by the promotion of aggression and violence during war.

by E.J. Wood | On 21 Feb 2018

Militarisation and Armed Conflict

India's claim that all human rights violations are redressed stands sharply refuted by the report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which in its report to UPR2 stated that AFSPA remains i...

by Working Group on Human Rights (WGHR) | On 21 Feb 2018

Divisive Politics in Tamizh Nadu

While the Dravidian movement is surely a necessary counter to historical and even contemporary oppressive politics played by Brahmins and other upper castes, their militant politics and intellectual...

by Shyam Sundar | On 08 Feb 2018

Decentralizing for Development: The Developmental Potential of Local Autonomy and the Limits of Politics Driven Decentralization Reforms

This paper points at the missing link between decentralization and local development in so many countries whose decentralization reforms are driven by political rather than developmental goals.

by Leena Avonius | On 07 Feb 2018

Budget Speech West Bengal: 2018

Finance Minister, Dr. Amit Mitra presented the West Bengal budget on 31st January, 2018.

by Amit Mitra FM, WB | On 05 Feb 2018

Now You, the Ciitizen, can Monitor Air Pollution! A Collaborative Experimental Initiative in Maharashtra

Citizens, journalists and policy makers can now find the state of industrial pollution in their areas with a click. They can log on to the MPCB website (http://mpcb.info) to access report cards of in...

by Aritra Chakrabarty | On 04 Feb 2018

Concept Note on 'Long term Plan for Development of Talent in Olympic Sports'

This paper seeks to bring out the need for addressing the fundamental weaknesses in the Sports Sector and in particular Olympic Sports. It also seeks to explore the possibilities of increased private...

by | On 01 Feb 2018

State of State Finances 2018

Several states such as Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka raise a majority of their revenue from their own taxes. On the other hand, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, and Bihar rai...

by Mandira Kala | On 01 Feb 2018

Economic Survey 2017: Volume II, Chapter 7: Agriculture and Food Management

Agriculture and allied sector has a critical role in ensuring food security, reducing poverty and sustaining growth in India. To improve productivity in agriculture the focus has been on the critica...

by Arun Jaitley | On 31 Jan 2018

Economic Survey 2017: Volume II: Chapter 6: External Sector

India’s external sector continued to be resilient and strong in 2017-18 so far, with the Balance of Payments situation continuing to be comfortable with the Current Account Deficit at 1.8 percent of ...

by Arun Jaitley | On 31 Jan 2018

Economic Survey 2017: Volume I, Chapter 5: Is there a “Late Converger Stall” in Economic Development? Can India Escape it?

The first order fact about the developing world today is that this is an era of unprecedented prosperity. And that is true about India too which has been one of the most dynamic economic performers...

by Arun Jaitley | On 31 Jan 2018

Economic Survey 2017: Volume I, Chapter 4: Reconciling Fiscal Federalism and Accountability: Is there a Low Equilibrium Trap?

Long-run institutional development co-evolves with fiscal accountability involving, perhaps requiring, a low and declining dependence on devolved resources and a high and rising share of direct taxe...

by Arun Jaitley | On 31 Jan 2018

A New, Exciting Bird’s-Eye View of the Indian Economy Through the GST

Data on the international exports of states (the first in India’s history) suggests a strong correlation between export performance and states’ standard of living. India’s exports are unusual in tha...

by Arun Jaitley | On 30 Jan 2018

Determinants and Consequences of Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from the Revision of the Company Act in India

The paper also indicate that the revision is effective to increase the eligible firms' profits by 3.5 percent, compared to the ineligible firms.

by Lee Woong | On 30 Jan 2018

Baloch Insurgency and Challenges to the Islamic Republic of Iran

The tension between insurgents and the regime in Iran till today does exist without any positive development. In order to challenge the problem the present paper deals with several solutions.

by Ahmad Taheri | On 23 Jan 2018

Accountability in Education: Meeting our Commitments

There are today 264 million children and youth not going to school – this is a failure that we must tackle together, because education is a shared responsibility and progress can only be sustainable t...

by | On 22 Jan 2018

Mitigating Threats to Girls's Education in Conflict Affected Contexts: Current Practice

Conflict amplifies existing power dynamics and inequalities in families and societies because of the insecurity and fear caused by the upheaval of support structures. Conflicts generally result in the...

by | On 22 Jan 2018

Technological Change, Automation and Employment: A Short Review of Theory and Evidence

A selective survey of recent papers in the area of technological change, automation and employment is presented. The objective is to convey analytical ideas and the empirical evidence that have inform...

by K. V. Ramaswamy | On 16 Jan 2018

Inequality, Employment and Public Policy

This paper examines dimensions of inequality including labour market inequalities and discusses public policies needed for reduction in inequalities. It discusses both inequality of outcomes and inequ...

by S.Mahendra Dev | On 16 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

Cross-Border Spillover Effects of the G20 Financial Regulatory Reforms

The paper also emphasize the need for regulatory consistency within and between jurisdictions to ensure a level playing field.

by Clive Briault | On 15 Jan 2018

Book Review: Inappropriate Technology and Markets Kill Cotton Farmers and Weavers: A Passionate Account since Colonial Times

Review of A Frayed History: The Journey of Cotton in India by Meena Menon and Uzramma. Oxford University Press, 2018. USD 685.50.

by | On 07 Jan 2018

Consumption- and Productivity-Adjusted Dependency Ratio with Household Structure Heterogeneity

This study constructs a new dependency ratio measure by taking into account the consumption needs of the young and elderly people, and the productivity of middle-aged people. Different from the way th...

by Xuehui Han | On 21 Dec 2017

Prospects of India–Bangladesh Economic Cooperation: Implications for South Asian Regional Cooperation

In recent years, South Asia has received growing attention as a region that is integrating successfully into the global economy. To maximize the benefits in terms of faster growth and poverty reductio...

by Prabir De | On 19 Dec 2017

The Value of Pharmacogenomic Information

This paper studies of couple evidence from a real-world implementation of pharmacogenomic testing with a discrete event simulation model. It uses the framework to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of va...

by John A. Graves | On 18 Dec 2017

Aging and Inequality : The Perspective of Labor Income Share

Despite a growing literature on population aging, empirical studies exploring mechanisms between aging and income inequality are scarce. This paper estimates the impact of aging on inequality via the...

by | On 18 Dec 2017

Mechanics of Replacing Benefit Systems with a Basic Income: Comparative Results from a Microsimulation Approach

Recent debates of basic income (BI) proposals shine a useful spotlight on the challenges that traditional forms of income support are increasingly facing, and highlight gaps in social provisions that...

by James Browne | On 15 Dec 2017

Cities and Entrepreneurs over Time: Like a Horse and Carriage?

This paper explores the co-evolution of entrepreneurship and cities. First, it provides a stylized model of development wherein the rise of cities (urbanisation) is the outcome of the activities of en...

by Wim Naudé | On 15 Dec 2017

The Effect of Age-Specific Sex Ratios on Crime: Instrumental Variable Estimates from India

Using data from 1961 to 2001, the paper shows the impact on crime of two age-specific sex ratios corresponding to pre-marital (ages 10 to 16) and marriageable (ages 20 to 26) age groups in India. To d...

by Rashmi Barua | On 12 Dec 2017

What does the new 2011-12 IIP series tell us about the Indian manufacturing sector?

The paper discusses the changes in the new 2011-12 base year series of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) to ask, whether the new series has improved our under-standing of the growth in the manu...

by Radhika Pandey | On 12 Dec 2017

Role of Government in Public Health: Current Scenario in India and Future Scope

The new agenda for Public Health in India includes the epidemiological transition, demographical transition, environmental changes and social determinants of health. Based on the principles outlined a...

by | On 12 Dec 2017

PIDS Calls For ‘Intelligent’ Discourse On Federalism

The study says that the policymakers should see merit in examining whether federalism can indeed address the sociopolitical and economic problems that hamper the country’s growth.

by PIDS Information Staff | On 11 Dec 2017

Vertical Integration, Market Structure and Competition Policy: Experiences of Indian Manufacturing Sector during the Post-Reform Period

In the context of declining degrees of vertical integration in major industries of Indian manufacturing sector during the post-reform period, the present paper is an attempt to examine how such ‘verti...

by Pulak Mishra | On 11 Dec 2017

Can Social Safety Nets Protect Public Health? The Effect of India's Workfare and Foodgrain Subsidy Programmes on Anaemia

This paper focuses on the consequences of a countrywide guaranteed workfare programme (MGNREGA) and subsidised food distribution scheme (PDS) in India for the prevalence of anaemia, examining whether...

by Sudha Narayanan | On 11 Dec 2017

Consumption Pattern in West Bengal - A Study of Per Capita Expenditure Elasticity by Income Group

The understanding of consumption patterns of the households of different income groups is essential for the development of successful food security policies. In recent years the studies on consumption...

by | On 08 Dec 2017

Inclusive Urban Planning for the Working Poor: Planning Education Trends and Potential Shifts

The report outlines and critically assesses trends in urban planning education across the globe, specifically in countries of the global South, and the extent to which curricula address issues of incl...

by Vanessa Watson | On 07 Dec 2017

Graduation Incentives Through Conditional Student Loan Forgiveness

The paper evaluates a Finish student financing reform which created substantial financial incentives for on-time graduation, and had the side effect of turning expected nominal interest rates on stude...

by Ulla Hämäläinen | On 01 Dec 2017

Temperature Effects on Productivity and Factor Reallocation: Evidence from a Half Million Chinese Manufacturing Plants

This paper uses detailed production data from a half million Chinese manufacturing plants over 1998-2007 to estimate the effects of temperature on firm-level total factor productivity (TFP), factor in...

by Peng Zhang | On 28 Nov 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

Digital Challenges for the Welfare State

Digitalization is the buzzword under which profound changes of the labor market can be summarized. Next to automation, i.e., the increasing use of robots, “intelligent” machines and more comprehensive...

by Werner Eichhorst | On 23 Nov 2017

Freedom of Expression in Pakistan: A myth or a reality

The study adopts a qualitative approach to understand the power dynamics and draws out conclusions from a wide variety of stakeholders regarding the issues at hand.

by Sadaf Liaquat | On 23 Nov 2017

Pakistan’s Highly Taxed Telecom Market: Fall out and Impact

The study aims to create awareness among both the public and private sectors about the importance of exploiting useful information resources.

by Brig (Retd) Yasin | On 21 Nov 2017

Inequality, Good Governance and Endemic Corruption

Can a society suffering contests between rich and poor achieve good governance in the face of endemic corruption? The paper examines a stylized poor state with weak institutions in which a “culture of...

by Gil S. Epstein | On 21 Nov 2017

Revitalizing economy by balancing defence & development

In this context, a government that is in doubt regarding re-election will give a popular or election-oriented budget and go on a spending spree.

by Dr. Abid Suleri | On 20 Nov 2017

Demonetisation Post-Truths

On the day when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) finally reported that almost 99% of the proscribed currency notes of ?500 and ?1,000 denomination had returned to the banking system by 30 June 2017, th...

by | On 17 Nov 2017

Tariff Liberalization and Trade Specialization in India

Since the early 1990s, India has embarked on economic reforms that have progressively opened up the country to international trade. This paper analyzes the effects of reform on India’s trading struc...

by Michele Alessandrini | On 17 Nov 2017

Poverty Argument : In the Context of Total Elimination of Child Labour

One of the most commonly held beliefs in the area of child labour, especially in an under-developed economy’s like India, is that it exists because parents who are unable to make ends meet put their c...

by | On 10 Nov 2017

So That a Nuclear Weapon Free World can Come to Be: Putting Nuclear Weapons to Politico-Diplomatic Use

Existing initiatives and proposals for nuclear disarmament, both inter-Governmental and unofficial ones, are appraised vis-a-vis the Indian approach, with a view to identifying possibilities of synerg...

by | On 09 Nov 2017

Basic Income and a Public Job Offer: Complementary Policies to Reduce Poverty and Unemployment

Unconditional basic income, or a job guarantee by government as employer-of-last-resort, are usually discussed as alternative policies, though the first does not provide the benefits of an earned inco...

by Felix FitzRoy | On 08 Nov 2017

Inequality and Expectations in a Model of Technology Adoption and Growth

This paper highlights the role of initial wealth inequality in determining the technology adoption decision of firms, which in turn impacts upon the overall productivity in an economy. Wealth inequali...

by Surbhi Badhwar | On 08 Nov 2017

Price Discovery in some Primary Commodity Markets in India

With the onset of wide-ranging economic reforms in India in 1991, agents have been exposed to increased price risk in commodity markets. Futures markets are one important instrument for reducing price...

by Raushan Kumar | On 07 Nov 2017

Building Smart Cities in India - An Opportunity For Strategising Urban Development

The report states that the current urbanisation pattern in many Indian states is skewed with growth concentrating in and around the primate city.

by Sujaya Rathi | On 03 Nov 2017

New Issues Puzzle: Experience from Karachi Stock Exchange

Study finds that both groups of IPOs outperforms on first trading day, as average initial market adjusted returns of SOE and non-SOE IPOs are 27.65 percent and 22.53 percent respectively.

by Henna Malik | On 30 Oct 2017

Reduction of GHG Emissions and Attainment of Energy Security through Sustainable Production of Biofuels: Is it a Viable Option ?

This study is a part of Indo-US bilateral JCERDC project for Development of Sustainable Advanced Ligno-cellulosic Biofuels Systems (SALBS). We profusely thank our Director, Prof. S. Galab for his cons...

by M. Gopinath Reddy | On 27 Oct 2017

On Using Exchange Rate for Promoting Exports

The report says that there are well known explanations in contemporary economic literature which explain this counterproductive impact of depreciation.

by . Atiq-ur-Rehman | On 26 Oct 2017

Trade Misinvoicing: What can we measure?

The existing studies on trade misinvoicing have focussed on the discrepancy in reported trade statistics between developing and developed countries. The estimates based on such methods rely on the ass...

by Suranjali Tandon | On 10 Oct 2017

Is Intra-Industry Trade Gainful ? Evidence from Manufacturing Industries of India

This paper identifies the increasingly dominant role of intra-industry trade (IIT) in India’s total merchandise trade at different disaggregated levels of data during the post liberalization era (1990...

by | On 09 Oct 2017

Measuring Competition in the Banking Sector of Pakistan: An Application of Boone Indicator

The banking sector of Pakistan has witnessed a notable transformation in its structure and business activities following the implementation of financial sector reforms since the early 1990s. Specific...

by Mahmood ul Hasan Khan | On 09 Oct 2017

Estimating Public Spending on Health by Levels of Care for National Health Accounts: An Illustration of Use of Data on Withdrawals by Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) in India

This paper illustrates the use of information on withdrawals by Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) for improving estimates of public spending for National Health Accounts (NHAs) in India. Using in...

by Mita Choudhury | On 07 Oct 2017

Relationship between Financial Literacy and Behavior of Small Borrowers

The analysis showed that the relationship of financial literacy of small borrowers was significant with their financial attitude and behavior.

by Ramesh Chaulagain | On 06 Oct 2017

An Assessment of the Community Mortgage Program Implementation Strategy

The study also provides recommendations on how the identified issues can be addressed.

by Marife M. Ballesteros | On 29 Sep 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

Structural Transformation and Income Distribution: Kuznets and Beyond

This paper explores the question of structural transformation and income distribution through the eyes of the pioneer in such analysis, Simon Kuznets.

by Ravi Kanbur | On 27 Sep 2017

Working Group on Education: Digital Skills for Life and Work

The reports says that the question of how digital skills and competencies can be developed by all people — young and old, girls and boys, rich and poor — on a sustainable basis is an ongoing challenge...

by Broadband Commission Development | On 26 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

Migrant Smuggling Data and Research: A Global Review of the Emerging Evidence Base

The report narrates that the diversity of smugglers has been examined in the academic and grey literature.

by Marie McAuliffe | On 25 Sep 2017

The Plutocratic Bias in the Indian CPI

The Laspeyres-type consumer price index (CPI) is traditionally used to measure the changes in cost-of-living over time. Studies indicate this CPI suffers from a plutocratic bias, attaching greater wei...

by Dilip M. Nachane | On 18 Sep 2017

Drivers of Farmers' Income: The Role of Farm Size and Diversification

The study finds that a U-shaped relationship exists between farm size and farm / farmer's income. The results also show that both on-farm and off-farm diversification have an inverted U-shape relatio...

by Varun Kumar Das | On 18 Sep 2017

Recent Changes in Measurement of India's GDP: Overall Issues and Some Focus on Agriculture

This paper discusses (a) changes in measurement in industry and services (b) changes made in agriculture sector and (c) major issues on the measurement of GDP in new series. There are long term or leg...

by S. Mahendra Dev | On 18 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

Estimating the Relationship between the Current Account, the Capital Account and Investment for India

Causality from the capital account (KA) to the current account (CA) of the balance of payments indicates disruption from capital flows while the reverse can indicate smooth financing of the CA that al...

by Ashima Goyal | On 15 Sep 2017

Monetary Transmission in India: Working of Price and Quantum Channels

The paper examines the strength and efficacy of transmission from the policy rate and liquidity provision to market rates in India, using event window regression analysis. The paper finds the interest...

by Ashima Goyal | 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

Trade Potential of the Fishery Sector: Evidence from India

The contribution of fisheries sector to Indian merchandise trade and to world fishery trade is substantial. The items traded have gained reputation over the years which will help to keep the momentum...

by Veena Renjini K K | On 13 Sep 2017

Toilet Access among the Urban Poor – Challenges and Concerns in Bengaluru City Slums

Urban expansion in India over the last few decades has placed cities in a challenging situation with limited infrastructure facilities affecting the quality of life of people who live in low income se...

by Manasi S | On 13 Sep 2017

Structural Change and Labour Productivity Growth in India: Role of Informal Workers

Labour productivity in an economy or industry may increase due to intrinsic increase in productivity (due to capital deepening or TFP growth) or due to the reallocation of workers to more productive s...

by Rosa Abraham | On 11 Sep 2017

The 1857 Indian Uprising and the British Empire

Situating the 1857 Indian uprising within an imperial context, Jill C. Bender traces its ramifications across the four different colonial sites of Ireland, New Zealand, Jamaica, and southern Africa. B...

by Elizabeth Baker | On 11 Sep 2017

Womanhood Beyond Motherhood: Exploring Experiences of Voluntary Childless Women

This study attempts to explore the emerging issue among women in Indian cities who voluntarily chose to be childless, with an emphasis on the reasons accorded for opting out of motherhood. Findings of...

by Chandni Bhambhani | On 07 Sep 2017

The Operation of the Gold Standard in the Core and the Periphery Before the First World War

This paper examines the operation of the gold standard (GS) during the period 1870-1914, its heyday. It discusses the theory of balance of payments adjustment under the GS. Theory postulates automatic...

by Manmohan Agarwal | On 06 Sep 2017

Real Democratization in Cambodia? An Empirical Review of the Potential of a Decentralization Reform

This has facilitated the growth of a (more) positive relationship between civil society and the local state reduced the governance gap and enhanced the legitimacy of the local state.

by Joakim Öjendal | On 01 Sep 2017

Toward a New Frame for Regional Films: Manbhum Videos and the Other Side of (Indian) Cinema

This article focuses on the production and mass circulation of locally produced videos in and across socially marginalized areas of Bengal. It emerges from the research conducted on the video industry...

by Madhuja Mukherjee | On 31 Aug 2017

'Urban Bias' in the Flow of Funds and Deposit Mobilisation: Evidence from Karnataka, India

The paper argues that as bankers consider deposits a means for security, easy and attractive deposit schemes should be introduced in rural areas.

by Gagan Bihari Sahu | On 23 Aug 2017

Price Distortions in Indian Agriculture

The study is about estimating the extent to which domestic prices of major Indian agriculture commodities deviate from their corresponding free trade reference prices. The free trade reference prices...

by Shweta Saini | On 23 Aug 2017

Developing India's Offshore Local Currency Bond Market: Lessons from Emerging Countries

This paper takes stock. It assesses the current market state and structure, surveys a cross-section of market participants to identify the relevant issues, and employs two case studies of EME peers, C...

by Renu Kohli | On 23 Aug 2017

Settling for Academia? H-1B Visas and the Career Choices of International Students in the United States

The yearly cap on H-1B visas became binding for the first time in 2004, making it harder for college-educated foreigners to work in the United States. However, academic institutions are exempt from th...

by Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes | On 17 Aug 2017

Strengthening Local Governance in Africa: Beyond Donor-Driven Approaches

The paper argues, in line with other recent studies that time has come to rethink concepts and practices used to promote local governance in African countries.

by Göran Hydén | On 10 Aug 2017

India, Climate Change and Security in South Asia

South Asia faces a wide array of social, political, and economic issues that already threaten security in the region. The region has a history of border disputes, sectarian violence, and government co...

by David Antos | On 09 Aug 2017

Public Procurement in India: Assessment of Institutional Mechanism, Challenges, and Reforms

The present study assesses the public procurement system and recent reform initiatives in India and outlines the need for changes in the institutional frameworks.

by Bhabesh Hazarika | On 09 Aug 2017

The Importance of Being Siliguri, or the Lack Thereof Border-Effect and the “Untimely” City in North Bengal

Debashis Chakraborty visited Siliguri for the first time in 1952. After the final examinations of Class IV, this was his first trip to Siliguri to visit the part of his family that had relocated to th...

by Atig Ghosh | On 04 Aug 2017

Making Women Count for Peace: Gender, Empowerment and Conflict in South Asia

With a focus on Northeast Indian experiences and a comparative look at Nepal, this project addresses the role of women in local governance and politics, particularly within the context of peace and se...

by Calcutta Group | On 04 Aug 2017

A Measure of Finance-Neutral Output Gap for India

In the Indian context, the present literature on estimation of potential output - the level of output that an economy can produce sustainably over the medium term is based on an understanding that sus...

by Deba Prasad Rath | On 04 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

Inequality of Opportunities Among Ethnic Groups in the Philippines

This paper contributes to the scant body of literature on inequalities among and within ethnic groups in the Philippines by examining both the vertical and horizontal measures in terms of opportunitie...

by Celia M. Reyes | On 02 Aug 2017

A Situational Theory of Pork Barrel Politics: The Shifting Logic of Discretionary Allocations in India

A rich panel dataset on Indian states is used to propose a situational theory of distributive politics which states that incentives for exclusive targeting of affiliated states in dominant party syst...

by | On 02 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

Rethinking Electricity Sector Reform in Developing Asia: Balancing Economic and Environmental Objectives

The OECD or ‘standard’ model of electricity sector reforms has been widely adopted in non-OECD Asian countries since the 1990s. However, despite two decades of attempts at reforms, no notable progress...

by Tooraj Jamasb | On 31 Jul 2017

Building Synergies: Matching Business Reforms to Improved 'Ease of Doing Business'

The study explores ground-level realities linked with initiatives on tax administration, construction permits, transparency, compliance with environmental and labour laws and regulations, and inspecti...

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

Reconfiguring International Financial Institutions: The BRICS Initiative

This paper examines the implications of the establishment of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) for the international financial system and for the BRICS coun...

by Manmohan Agarwal | On 31 Jul 2017

Nuclear Waste Management

This report may lead other nations to follow suit, but countries which do not have large quantities of SNF may find it difficult to justify geological repositories from economic considerations.

by | On 31 Jul 2017

Are All Shifting Cultivators Poor? Evidence from Sri Lanka’s Dry Zones

Shifting cultivation is one of the main causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Sri Lanka. This study uses household data and satellite images to investigate the determinants of shifting cul...

by Prabath Nishantha Edirisinghe | On 28 Jul 2017

Fuel Blending in India: Learnings and Way Forward

The expert paper further estimates significant potential for an overall improvement in balance of trade with increased blending in the context of an expected recovery in global crude oil prices.

by Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy CSTEP | On 27 Jul 2017

The Corporate Social Responsibility Act in India: An Early Assessment

This paper aims at providing an early assessment of the response by firms to this Act. It examines the extent to which the CSR Act has led firms to comply and increase the share of profits being spent...

by Sangeeta Bansal | On 27 Jul 2017

Causal Impact of the Adoption of Soil Conservation Measures on Farm Profit, Revenue and Variable Cost in Darjeeling District, India

This study attempts to evaluate the effects of on-farm soil conservation practices on farm profit and its components, revenue, and variable cost. Since farmers self-select themselves as adopters of a...

by Chandan Singha | On 27 Jul 2017

The Health Burden of Dust Pollution in the Textile Industry of Faisalabad, Pakistan

The study focuses on the high incidence of occupational health hazards faced by women and men working in the textile industry of Pakistan. One of the most relevant risk factors is exposure to airborne...

by Muhammad Khan | On 27 Jul 2017

Valuation of Subsoil Minerals: Application of SEEA for Bangladesh

The present paper is an attempt to conduct a valuation of the three most important exhaustible natural resources, viz., natural gas, coal and hard rock, via the System of Environmental-Economic Accou...

by Mahfuz Kabir | On 27 Jul 2017

Overview of the Evolution of Agricultural Mechanization in Nepal: A Focus on Tractors and Combine Harvesters

This study was conducted to understand the evolution of agricultural mechanization in Nepal, specifically its determinants on both the demand and supply sides, as well as impacts on agricultural prod...

by Hiroyuki Takeshima | On 26 Jul 2017

Gender Equality Results Case Study: Nepal - Community-Based Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project

The project developed a gender, caste, and ethnicity (GCE) strategy that sought to ensure the participation of women and ethnic minorities in decision-making processes, as well as their increased repr...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 25 Jul 2017

East Asia Department Knowledge Management Initiatives in 2014

This annual publication showcases the results of knowledge management initiatives of the East Asia Department of the Asian Development Bank in 2014.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 24 Jul 2017

The Effect of Oil Shocks and Cyclicality in Hiding Indian Twin Deficits

The paper estimates the relationship between the current account and fiscal deficit, and the real exchange rate, in a structural vector auto regression, with Indian data for the managed float period 1...

by Ashima Goyal | On 22 Jul 2017

Households' Inflation Expectations in India: Role of Economic Policy Uncertainty and Global Financial Uncertainty Spill-over

Inflation expectations are an important marker for the conduct of monetary policy. Using a Bayesian structural VAR-X model that includes the inflation expectations of general public based on the Infla...

by Taniya Ghosh | On 21 Jul 2017

Domestic Value Added Content of India's Exports: Estimates for 112 Sectors, 1999-2000 to 2012-13

Using Input-Output (IO) analysis, this study provides the time series estimates of domestic value added (DVA) content of India's merchandise and services exports for the period 1999-2000 to 2012-13 an...

by Veeramani C | On 21 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

Facilitating Foreign Exchange Risk Management for Bond Investments in ASEAN+3

The report says that the bond investors typically have a long position in local currency bond markets. To manage their foreign exchange risk, they may want to hedge that exposure for a period of time.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 12 Jul 2017

Implementation of the ASEAN+3 Multi-Currency Bond Issuance Framework: ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum Sub-Forum 1 Phase 3 Report

The report says that the ASEAN+3 Multi-Currency Bond Issuance Framework (AMBIF) is a policy initiative under the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI) to help facilitate intraregional transactions thro...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 11 Jul 2017

Economic Analysis of Climate-Proofing Investment Projects

This report describes the conduct of the cost-benefit analysis of climate proofing investment projects. An important message is that the presence of uncertainty about climate change does not invalidat...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 10 Jul 2017

Gender Mainstreaming Case Study: Sri Lanka - North East Coastal Community Development Project and Tsunami-Affected Areas Rebuilding Project

This case study looks at the gender dimensions of two projects that focus on the community development component that advocated community participation, social inclusion, and gender equality in commun...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 05 Jul 2017

Police Reforms in India

This report provides an overview of police organisation in India, and highlights key issues that affect their functioning. Note that the Standing Committee on Home Affairs is also examining two subje...

by Anviti Chaturvedi | On 04 Jul 2017

Innovative Strategies in Technical and Vocational Education and Training for Accelerated Human Resource Development in South Asia: Nepal

This report will help improve the quality of the workforce; enhance employability, productivity, and remuneration, leading to higher economic growth.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 30 Jun 2017

Asian Development Outlook 2015 Supplement: Growth Holds Its Own in Developing Asia

The report says Asia’s developing economies remain on track to post growth of 5.8% in 2015 and 6.0% in 2016, as the region’s economies remain resilient to continued economic weakness in industrialized...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 26 Jun 2017

Development of Backward Areas Outcome of the interventions so far

The problem of balanced regional development received much greater attention in the Third Five Year Plan. The Plan took a more positive view of the possibility of reaching regional balance. It stated...

by MC Singhi | On 22 Jun 2017

Economic Vision of Lord Mahaveera: Building Blocks of Relative Economics

The central themes of Jainism are ahimsa (non-violence), anekant (nonabsolutism) and aprigraha (non-possession). Non-violence strengthens the autonomy of life of every being and if one believes that e...

by MC Singhi | On 22 Jun 2017

Disaster-Resilient Microfinance: Learning from Communities Affected by Typhoon Haiyan

The report sets out the experience, analysis and conclusions of VisionFund International and their Philippine microfinance operation Community Economic Ventures Incorporated (CEVI). This analysis foll...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 09 Jun 2017

How Inclusive is Inclusive Business for Women? Examples from Asia and Latin America

This report assesses the extent to which inclusive business models promote women's economic empowerment. Examples come from the inclusive business portfolios of the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-A...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 09 Jun 2017

Papua New Guinea: Development Effectiveness Brief

This report narrates that ADB has scaled up its assistance to Papua New Guinea for power infrastructure, with an emphasis on clean energy solutions, in line with the government’s prioritization of pow...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 08 Jun 2017

Myanmar Transport Sector Policy Note: Railways

The immediate priority must be to implement policies that will enable MR to retain as much of its current market as is economically justified over the next 5–10 years, while ensuring its finances are...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 31 May 2017

Changing Tax Capacity and Tax Effort of Indian States in the Era of High Economic Growth, 2001-2014

Growing demand for public expenditures, limitations in expanding fiscal space and limited scope to deviate from common harmonized tax system under the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime may...

by Sacchidananda Mukherjee | On 25 May 2017

Rural Medical Practitioners: Who are they? What do they do? Should they be trained for improvement? Evidence from rural West Bengal

The private healthcare sector in rural India is often dominated by unqualified rural medical practitioners (RMPs). However, there is limited evidence on RMPs and potential for an intervention to reduc...

by Subrata Mukherjee | On 19 May 2017

ASEAN+3 Bond Market Guide 2016: Japan

The paper narrates that the Government of Japan raises significant amounts from domestic capital markets to finance government expenditures, mainly through the issuance of Japanese Government Bonds (J...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 16 May 2017

The Emergence of Pacific Urban Villages: Urbanization Trends in the Pacific Islands

The paper narrates that the specific needs of the Pacific in the process of urbanization must be recognized and adequately addressed in the post-2015 development agenda. Key priorities include upgradi...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 May 2017

Open Windows, Closed Doors: Mutual Recognition Arrangements on Professional Services in the ASEAN Region

The report says although these MRAs share nearly identical objectives, they diverge significantly in terms of institutional structures, requirements, and procedures. Not all MRAs are created equal. Gl...

by Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza | On 09 May 2017

Bangladesh: Development Effectiveness Brief 2017

The project has dramatically changed the life of Rabeya Sultana, chair of the women-led slum improvement committee formed under the project in Cox's Bazar. "Managing people and money gave me more co...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 08 May 2017

LED Street Lighting Best Practices - Lessons Learned from the Pilot LED Municipal Streetlight and PLN Substation Retrofit Project (Pilot LED Project) in Indonesia

The Pilot LED Project was successful in demonstrating significant savings and in developing new specifications for LED luminaires that focused on luminaire performance, quality of delivered illuminati...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 07 May 2017

The Long Road Ahead: Status Report on the Implementation of the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangements on Professional Services

In the report there has been progress primarily in two areas: (1) the creation of implementing offices and bodies at the regional and national levels as outlined in the MRAs; and (2) the incorporation...

by Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza | On 05 May 2017

Promoting Skill Transfer for Human Capacity Development in Papua New Guinea

The Government of Papua New Guinea’s Development Strategic Plan 2010–2030 seeks to extend the benefits of economic growth to the country’s most disadvantaged communities, emphasizing improvements to...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 04 May 2017

Compliance in Letter and Compliance in Spirit? - Evidence from Board and Audit Committee Meetings in India

This paper analyzes two notions of compliance, 'compliance in letter' and 'compliance in spirit', using data on Board and Audit Committee meetings from India under its Clause 49 corporate governance ...

by Subrata Sarkar | On 03 May 2017

The Long Road to Transformation of Agricultural Markets in India: Lessons from Karnataka

This paper examines Karnataka's pioneering agricultural output marketing reforms with the twin goals of assessing the state and challenges of implementation and to glean lessons from Karnataka's expe...

by Nidhi Aggarwal | On 02 May 2017

Income Generation and Inequality in India's Agricultural Sector: The Consequences of Land Fragmentation

This paper is a contribution to understanding income generation and inequality in India's agricultural sector. The paper analyses the National Sample Surveys of agriculture in 2003 and 2013 using desc...

by Sanjoy Chakravorty | On 02 May 2017

Labor Market Institutions and the Future of Work: Good Jobs for All?

Work and employment around the globe change continuously, but there are potentially more rapid and fundamental transformations ahead as new technologies can have major impact on what jobs will exist i...

by | On 27 Apr 2017

World Employment Social Outlook

Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in reducing poverty in the majority of countries. In emerging and developing countries, taken as a whole, it is estimated that nearly 2 bi...

by International Labour Organization [ILO] | On 14 Apr 2017

An Interview with Anand Patwardhan

For over 40 years Anand Patwardhan’s documentary films have stood for freedom of expression. He faced censorship on numerous occasions, took the government to court, and won each time. Anand is not ju...

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat | On 10 Apr 2017

Banning Slaughter Houses: Not a Hasty Move

The change in guard of Uttar Pradesh has set the stage for a new chapter in UP politics. But will the fulfilling of election promises result in serious negative economic repercussions? The case of t...

by Aritra Chakrabarty | On 04 Apr 2017

Macroeconomic Impact of Demonetisation: A Preliminary Assessment

The analysis in this paper suggests that demonetisation has impacted various sectors of the economy in varying degrees; however, in the affected sectors, the adverse impact was transient and felt ma...

by Reserve Bank of India RBI | On 21 Mar 2017

Macroeconomic Impact of Demonetisation-A Preliminary Assessment

Demonetisation announced on November 8, 2016 was aimed at addressing corruption, black money, counterfeit currency and terror financing. Although demonetisation holds huge potential benefits in the me...

by Reserve Bank of India RBI | On 15 Mar 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

Book Review: ‘Kadhakaran of Arabee Cundree’

Review of Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan, Restless Books, New York,USA 224 pp;To be released: March 14, 2017. USD 17.99. ISBN: 9781632061423

by Kavya Murthy | On 07 Mar 2017

Is Domestic Violence a Lesser Crime? Countering the Backlash against Section 498A, IPC

The situation today is that domestic violence is treated as a `social crime’ when compared with violence by strangers, even though it is much more severe in nature. Why is wife beating considered as a...

by Shalu Nigam | On 21 Feb 2017

Anger Management: Aggression and Punishment in the Provision of Public Goods

The ability to punish free-riders can increase the provision of public goods. However, sometimes the benefit of increased public good provision is outweighed by the costs of punishments. One reason a...

by | On 21 Feb 2017

Development Planning and 'Urban' Context: Reflections on the Indian Scene

Through a broad portrayal of character of its development, changing urban patterns, nature of urban economic structure and contents of urban development policies, this paper takes a political econom...

by Biswaroop Das | On 17 Feb 2017

Darwin's Man in Brazil: The Evolving Science of Fritz MuÌler

David West's detailed study on the life and work of Fritz Müller, an evolutionary biologist and colleague of Charles Darwin, is the culmination of three decades of inquiry. The depth and scope of r...

by Amy Cox Hall | On 15 Feb 2017

The Case Against Weaponising Water

With growing water scarcity across many parts of the world, competition over access to this vital resource has been known to spark conflict. Following the September 2016 Uri attack in India, the gover...

by | On 14 Feb 2017

What Do the Numbers Tell? An Analysis of Union Budget 2017-18

Budget 2017-18 is placed at an important juncture when there has been a thrust by the government for a digitised and a consequent cashless economy with the demonetisation of high value currency note...

by Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability CBGA | On 03 Feb 2017

Vital Stats: State of the Economy 2016-17

The Union Budget for 2017-18 will be presented on February 1, 2017. In this context, we present data regarding the state of the Indian economy in 2016-17, across indicators such as gross domestic pro...

by Tanvi Deshpande | On 01 Feb 2017

In Defence of Traditional Healers: Not What They’re Quack-ed Up To Be

The serious concern over quackery is a shared one, and not solely the province of allopaths, or the courts for that matter. In a plural system like ours, this is to be expected. But looking only to th...

by Devaki Nambiar | On 30 Jan 2017

Swachh Bharat Mission - Gramin (SBM-G): GOI, 2016-17

Using government data, this brief reports on trends for SBM-G along the following parameters: • Allocations and expenditures • Physical progress of toilets built • Expenditures incurred under ...

by Avani Kapur | On 27 Jan 2017

Improving Farmers’ Income and Employment through Budget 2017

The 2017 Budget would be special in two ways – first, it would be presented by Finance Minister on 1st February, 2017. Usually, it was presented in the last week of February each year. It will give...

by Amarnath Tripathi | On 25 Jan 2017

Vehicular Pollution in Indian Cities: What can the Central Budget do?

Indian cities are facing the problem of severe air pollution and vehicles are a major source. The economically vibrant cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai provide numerous job opp...

by Sudakshina Gupta | On 24 Jan 2017

Dealing with GST in the Union Budget 2017

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a harmonized tax regime and it can curb black money through practicing clean "invoices" to redeem input credit. In the Union Budget 2017, central government may announc...

by Lekha Chakraborty | On 23 Jan 2017

Demonetization of Currency Notes: Significance and Challenges

Demonetization is the act of stripping a currency unit of its status as legal tender. Demonetization is necessary whenever there is a change of national currency. The old unit of currency must be reti...

by | On 18 Jan 2017

Jammu and Kashmir Budget Analysis 2017-18

The Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Haseeb A. Drabu, presented the Budget for Jammu and Kashmir for financial year 2017-18 on January 11, 2017.

by Arvind Gayam | On 17 Jan 2017

Securing Property Rights in India Through Distributed Ledger Technology

India registered rapid economic growth over the past couple of years, with the GDP growing 7.6 percent in 2015-2016. While economic activity remains buoyant, however, the country still has a long way...

by | On 11 Jan 2017

Vital Stats: Participation of Members of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (2012-2017)

The Election Commission recently announced the poll schedule for the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. In this context, data on the composition of the 16th Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (2012-...

by Jhalak Kakkar | On 10 Jan 2017

Inequalities in Secondary Education: Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan

Secondary education is an important stage in the school education ladder as it equips students with skills important for higher education and the labour market. Besides helping students to choose diff...

by | On 10 Jan 2017

The Plough, Gender Roles, and Corruption

Cross-national empirical studies of corruption commonly find that nations in which women play a greater role in economic and public life suffer less corruption. This finding has been controversial in...

by | On 10 Jan 2017

Going Cashless: Is India Ready for Digital?

Cash, alas, is not free; its use comes at a significant cost. I have studied the cost of cash in over 70 countries, in research outlined in a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, titled ‘The...

by | On 04 Jan 2017

Plastic Bag Ban in Nepal: Enforcement and Effectiveness

The rampant use of plastic bags in Nepal has led to growing concern in recent years regarding the impact of discarded plastic bags on the environment. Though a number of different control measures a...

by Bishal Bharadwaj | On 29 Dec 2016

Financial Inclusion in the Digital Age

The policies needed to promote financial inclusion in the digital age were discussed at an international conference held at the Asian Development Bank Institute. The  event took place on 7–8 April 2...

by Shawn Hunter | On 29 Dec 2016

Modelling Corporate Sector Distress in India

The paper attempts to formulate a model to predict corporate financial distress of non-government non-financial public limited companies and estimate distressed bank debt due to the sample companies...

by Manjusha Senapathi | On 27 Dec 2016

Migration, Scientific Diasporas and Development: Impact of Skilled Return Migration on Development in India

The contemporary discourse on migration and development is starting to consider the agency role of both diaspora communities and highly skilled returnees on equal terms, and we can observe how several...

by | On 19 Dec 2016

Maharashtra Public Universities Bill, 2016

A bill to provide for academic autonomy and excellence, adequate representation through democratic process, transformation, strengthening and regulating higher education and for matters connected...

by Higher and Technical Education Dept Government of Maharashtra | On 19 Dec 2016

The Problem of Inequality

The paper examines consumption, income, regional, social and gender inequalities in India. Income inequalities are much higher that of consumption. It also looks at inequalities in opportunities like...

by S.Mahendra Dev | On 19 Dec 2016

Identity, Household Work, and Subjective Well-Being among Rural Women in Bangladesh

Despite increases in women’s employment, significant gender disparity exists in the time men and women spend on household and care work. Understanding how social expectations govern gender roles and c...

by Greg Seymour | On 15 Dec 2016

Impacts of the Training and Visit Extension System on Farmers' knowledge and Adoption of Technology: Evidence from Pakistan

This paper provides quantitative evidence on the impact of the Training and Visit (T & V) extension system in the irrigated Punjab of Pakistan. Three models are analyzed using limited dependent variab...

by Paul Heisey | On 08 Dec 2016

Inflation in Pakistan: Money or Oil Prices

The study attempted to investigate the determinants of inflation in case of Pakistan and to check the validity of monetarist stance that inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon by i...

by Mehak Moazam | On 07 Dec 2016

Religious Denominations of Kerala

This paper discusses the demographic and socio-economic profile of religious communities (Castes among the Hindus, Sects among the Muslims and Denominations among the Christians) in Kerala’s three ...

by K. C. Zachariah | On 06 Dec 2016

Strength of Partisan and Candidate Ties in India

This study estimates the impact of incumbency on re-election prospects of parties and candidates in India, between 1977 and 2014, for Lok Sabha elections. Regression discontinuity design is used to es...

by Aditi Singhal | On 05 Dec 2016

E-governance, Accountability, and Leakage in Public Programs: Experimental Evidence from a Financial Management Reform in India

In collaboration with the Government of Bihar, India, a large-scale experiment is conducted to evaluate whether transparency in fiscal transfer systems can increase accountability and reduce corrupt...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 02 Dec 2016

Social Progress Index 2016

Economic growth has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and improved the lives of many more over the last half-century. Yet it is increasingly evident that a model of development based solely o...

by | On 29 Nov 2016

Challenges to the Role of Private Participation in Public Transportation: A Case of Kerala’s Private Buses

The State of Kerala in 2012 through a notification stopped issuing new permits to inter-district buses in Kerala while exempting state run Kerala State Transport Corporation. This was the beginning...

by Madhu Sivaraman | On 28 Nov 2016

Craft Clusters and Work in Rural India: An Exploration

With the farm sector continuing with unimpressive performance in terms of the growth of value of output, agricultural infrastructure and also sustained massive rise in the landless agricultural labo...

by Keshab Das | On 28 Nov 2016

Burden of Diseases due to Air Pollution in Urban India

Air pollution causes some of the most serious long-term impacts on human health. Unlike other health problems, the diseases caused by air-pollution are likely to affect everyone exposed to polluted...

by Amrita Ghatak | On 25 Nov 2016

Poverty Impacts of Agricultural Trade Reforms

The impact of trade policy on poverty, food security and inequality in developing countries is at the centre of a crowded international debate on the role of international trade in development. Develo...

by United Nations Environment Programme UNEP | On 24 Nov 2016

Demonetization and its Impact

The move by the government to demonetize Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes by replacing them with new Rs.500 and Rs.2000 notes has taken the country with surprise. The move by the government is to tackle the m...

by | On 18 Nov 2016

Demonetisation: Impact on the Economy

The argument posited in favour of demonetisation is that the cash that would be extinguished would be “black money” and hence, should be rightfully extinguished to set right the perverse incentive s...

by | On 17 Nov 2016

Report Summary: White Paper on Black Money

According to the Paper, black money is a serious issue because it has a ‘debilitating effect’ on governance and public policy and this affects the poor disproportionately. [PRS Report Summary].

by Vishnu Padmanabhan | On 17 Nov 2016

Asymmetric Impact of Relative Price Shocks in Presence of Trend Inflation

This study examines whether skewness of cross sectional distribution of relative price shocks has asymmetric impact on aggregate inflation. The empirical evidence from various countries suggests tha...

by Sartaj Rather | On 16 Nov 2016

Black Money, Corruption and Demonetisation

The demonetisation of currency after a long period of 38 years was a welcome and bold step taken by the Government of India on November 8, 2016. The last demonetisation was implemented in 1978 by wi...

by Martin Patrick | On 11 Nov 2016

A Stagnant Agriculture in Kerala: The Role of the State

The paper shows that disincentives generated by the successive governments in Kerala through imposing artificial barriers on the freedom of farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs resulted in the coll...

by Lekshmi R Nair | On 08 Nov 2016

The Yogi and the Commissar

It’s the season for media biographies, as NDTV and TV18 publish their life stories. If NDTV comes across as self-righteous TV18 is open about its sins of commission. Chintamani Rao says the books of...

by | On 07 Nov 2016

Policy Brief on Female Labor Force Participation in Pakistan

In Pakistan, women work primarily in the home or on the farm. Their participation in work outside these areas, particularly in formal employment, is extremely low. It is possible that some forms of wo...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 04 Nov 2016

Female Labor Force Participation in Asia: Key Trends, Constraints, and Opportunities

This brief reports on findings from four country studies and a companion macroeconomic study calibrated using an average Asian economy. Almost 28% of the world’s working-age women are accounted for in...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 04 Nov 2016

Mapping the South-Asian Political Landscape in the Context of Migration

Review on , Partha S. Ghosh’s book, ‘Migrants, Refugees and the Stateless in South-Asia’ ; Sage Publications India, 384 pages

by Aashish Khakha | On 03 Nov 2016

A Critique on the Current Labour Policy Reforms

Presently, there is a constant intense debate on labour law reforms in India. It is argued that the restrictive labour laws create rigidity in the labour market or else the Indian economy would have w...

by | On 03 Nov 2016

Gender Inequalities and Demographic Behaviour

This issue is particularly crucial in the present climate of privatization associated with structural adjustment policies. The intellectual tradition behind these policies assumes that the withdrawal...

by Sonalde Desai | On 02 Nov 2016

The Impact of Arranged Marital Customs on Women 's Autonomy in Rural India

It will be argued that while modernization in India has allowed for small improvements to women's autonomy, in rural India today the little autonomy women do have is constricted through traditional no...

by | On 02 Nov 2016

Costs and Benefits of Urbanization: The Indian Case

Urbanization has both benefits and costs. In a market economy, the trade-off between benefits and costs determines the level, speed, and place of urbanization. This paper summarizes research finding...

by Kala Seetharam Sridhar | On 28 Oct 2016

The Elephant That Became a Tiger 20 Years of Economic Reform in India

A foreign exchange crisis in 1991 induced India to abandon decades of inward-looking socialism and adopt economic reforms that have converted the once-lumbering elephant into the latest Asian tiger. I...

by | On 28 Oct 2016

The Ease of Doing Business Rank: An Assessment of its Macroeconomic Relevance

This paper examines the macroeconomic impact of World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EDB) rank, of increasing importance to policy makers, using simple but robust cross-country regressions. Its main f...

by | On 27 Oct 2016

Female Literacy and Access to Drinking Water in Rural India

Women and girl children spend considerable time to collect water for meeting the domestic needs of the households in rural areas of many developing countries. Thus, scarcity of water can have dispropo...

by | On 25 Oct 2016

Analysis of the Kerala Assembly Elections, May 2016

This study attempts to understand people’s perceptions and their understanding approaching the 2016 assembly elections and how it influenced the voting pattern and behaviour while exercising their r...

by D Dhanuraj | On 21 Oct 2016

Decline in Rural Female Labour Force Participation in India: A Relook into the Causes

As an economy transforms from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy, a decline in participation of female labour force is observed. This is attributed to the shift from family-based product...

by | On 19 Oct 2016

Women Workforce Participation in India- A Study

India has experienced rapid economic growth, a decline in fertility rate, introduction of employment generation programs and policy shifts towards women empowerment in recent years. Yet, a striking fe...

by | On 19 Oct 2016

Gender Quotas: Challenging the Boards, Performance, and the Stock Market

Comparing before and after the reform within firms, we find that quotas are associated with a higher share of female board directors, higher levels of education of board members, and a lower share of...

by | On 12 Oct 2016

Remembering Gandhi

Gandhi Jayanti function was graced by Chief Guest Shri Laxman Gole eminent Gandhian activist. Dr.Sudha Vyas.

by K.J.Somaiya College of Arts & Commerce Mumbai | On 11 Oct 2016

Prevalence of Long Hours and Skilled Women’s Occupational Choices

Gender differences in occupations account for a sizable portion of the persistent gender pay gap. This paper examines the relationship between the demand for long hours of work (as proxied for by the...

by | On 10 Oct 2016

Autonomous Colleges in Kerala: An Evaluative Study

Kerala has ushered a new paradigm in higher education sector by granting autonomy to a few colleges in the recent times. Though it has been in the practice only for the last two years, CPPR finds it i...

by Nikhitha Mary Mathew | 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

Why Musahars Vote ?

The most popular imagery that the 16th Lok Sabha election campaign projected was of good governance and development. What does this mean for communities that lie on the margins of body politics? Are...

by Shilp Shikha Singh | On 05 Oct 2016

Measuring Effects of Snap on Obesity at the Intensive Margin

The effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on obesity have been the focus of much debate. However, causal interpretation of estimates from previous studies, comparing particip...

by Lorenzo Almada | On 28 Sep 2016

H-Net Review: Memory and Complicity: Migrations of Holocaust Remembrance

Review of Memory and Complicity: Migrations of Holocaust Remembrance by Debarati Sanyal. ew York Fordham University Press, 2015. Reviewed by Brenda D. Melendy (Texas A&M University-Kingsville) ...

by | On 27 Sep 2016

H-Net Review: Identity and the Second Generation: How Children of Immigrants Find Their Space

Review of Identity and the Second Generation: How Children of Immigrants Find Their Space by Faith G. Nibbs, Caroline Brettell. Nashville Vanderbilt University Press, 2016. 240 pp. Reviewed by Mar...

by | On 27 Sep 2016

A Study of Government Urdu Primary Schools in Bengaluru

This study provides an overview of Urdu-medium primary schools in the Bengaluru urban district of Karnataka in India. Akshara’s research examined access to government-run Urdu-medium schools and iss...

by Divya Vishawanath | On 23 Sep 2016

Two Centuries of Finance and Growth in the United States, 1790-1980

Do efficient financial markets and institutions promote economic growth? Have they done so in the past? This essay, to be included in the Handbook of Finance and Development (edited by Thorsten Beck a...

by Howard Bodenhorn | On 22 Sep 2016

A Vision for the Least Developed Countries Fund in a Post-Paris Climate Regime

The 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are the only country grouping to have a dedicated article in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Article 4.9 commits all parties to the conv...

by | On 22 Sep 2016

Political Feminism in India: An Analysis of Actors, Debates and Strategies

the last 50 years of feminist activism in India has managed to challenge the 5,000 years of patriarchal order. the main achievements were the deconstruction of violence against women, questioning of m...

by Vibhuti Patel | On 22 Sep 2016

Long-Range Growth: Economic Development in the Global Network of Air Links

This paper studies the impact of international long-distance flights on the global spatial allocation of economic activity. To identify causal effects, it exploits variation due to regulatory and tech...

by Filipe Campante | On 21 Sep 2016

Water and Identity: An Analysis of the Cauvery River Water Dispute

This paper focuses on the dispute over river Cauvery in Southern India. Among the causes of river water disputes are contested property rights, difficulty in enforcing such rights, conflict of uses an...

by | On 20 Sep 2016

Life and Death at AIIMS: A Report on Construction Accidents and the Course of Justice

On 9th March 2016, the media reported an accident at a construction site of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi in which two workers were killed and three were injured. In less than...

by People's Union for Democratic Rights PUDR | On 20 Sep 2016

Quantitative Spatial Economics

The observed uneven distribution of economic activity across space is influenced by variation in exogenous geographical characteristics and endogenous interactions between agents in goods and factor m...

by Stephen Redding | On 20 Sep 2016

The Labor Market Consequences of Refugee Supply Shocks

The continuing inflow of hundreds of thousands of refugees into many European countries has ignited much political controversy and raised questions that require a fuller understanding of the determina...

by George Borjas | On 20 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

A Study of Energy Efficiency in the Indian Iron and Steel Industry

The report begins with an overview of the Iron and Steel Industry in the context of its importance to Indian economy and introduces the objective of this study. The status of the industry by productio...

by | On 19 Sep 2016

Zoning and the Economic Geography of Cities

Comprehensive zoning is ubiquitous in U.S. cities, yet surprisingly little is known about its long-run impacts. This paper provides the first attempt to measure the causal effect of land use regulatio...

by Allison Shertzer | On 19 Sep 2016

Coping with Water Scarcity. Challenge of the 21st Century

Produced on the occasion of World Water Day 2007, which focused on the issue of water scarcity, this publication addresses the challenges of water scarcity in relation to climate change, rural areas,...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 16 Sep 2016

Water for India’s Poor: Who Pays the Price for Broken Promises?

The poor do not consume as much water as the rest of the population, but despite the promises, despite the bland assertions of politicians and policy makers, they can and frequently do pay for what li...

by | On 16 Sep 2016

The Changing Rates of Return to Education in India: Evidence from NSS Data

This paper estimates rates of return to education in India by gender, caste, religion and age cohorts using data for the period 1983 to 2011-12. We estimate standard Mincerian wage equations separatel...

by | On 14 Sep 2016

The Effects of Climate Change on Public Health and the Healthcare Provider 's Role in Addressing Climate Change

Climate change is a term that refers to major changes in temperature, rainfall, snow, or wind patterns lasting for decades or longer. Both human-made and natural factors contribute to climate change”...

by | On 14 Sep 2016

Introduction: Academic Freedom in Crisis

This essay is the first in a series on Academic Freedom in Crisis curated by socialsciencespace. In the current context of the apparent retreat of academic freedom across the world, the series of shor...

by Daniel Nehring | On 11 Sep 2016

Obituary: Sharit Bhowmik

Sharit Bhowmik, sociologist, teacher, labour and social activist, well known for his studies in labour and especially on the informal sector, passed away last night (September 9, 2016) in Bangkok. [Tr...

by Editors eSocialSciences | On 09 Sep 2016

Development of Grassroots and Youth Football in India: Current and Future Opportunities

According to the Basketball Federation of India, Basketball is now the fastest-growing sport among boys and girls, with five million participants-which they claim is second only to soccer 2 The Indian...

by | On 09 Sep 2016

Child and Maternal Health and Nutrition in South Asia - Lessons for India

South Asia has been characterized by its minimal progress in the areas of child and maternal health and nutrition in comparison to other regions in the world. The case of India is especially enigmatic...

by | On 09 Sep 2016

Draft National Medical Commission Bill, 2016

A bill to create a world class medical education system that ensures high quality medical education system.

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 08 Sep 2016

Health Spending, Macroeconomics and Fiscal Space in Countries of the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region

The paper examines the issues around mobilization of resources for the 11 countries of the South-East Asia Region of the World Health Organization (WHO), by analysing their macroeconomic situation, he...

by | On 07 Sep 2016

Substance Abuse Treatment Centers and Local Crime

This paper estimates the effects of expanding access to substance-abuse treatment on local crime. It does so using an identification strategy that leverages variation driven by substance-abuse-treatme...

by Samuel Bondurant | On 07 Sep 2016

Emotional Judges and Unlucky Juveniles

This paper analyzes the effects of emotional shocks associated with unexpected outcomes of football games played by a prominent college team in the state. It investigates the behavior of judges, the c...

by Ozkan Eren | On 07 Sep 2016

Impact of Store Format on Shopping Involvement

Store formats exist in three forms of convenience, variety and experience. Shopping involvement tends to change across these formats. This current study (a) establishes the role of store formats on...

by Piyush Kumar Sinha | On 01 Sep 2016

Abductive Reasoning in Macroeconomics

Macroeconomic analytical frameworks change with events they are unable to explain. The process is closer to abductive reasoning that is based on both events and analysis, unlike induction which is d...

by Ashima Goyal | On 31 Aug 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

Encouraging Women to be Entrepreneurs

There are many states in India which have high number of women entrepreneurs. There are states which have many policies to encourage women entrepreneurs.

by Lakshmi Priya | On 30 Aug 2016

The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill 2013: A Threat to our Food and Farming

The primary purpose of this policy brief is to expose the dangerous aspects of the Bill before Parliamentarians who must consider the potential harms to be caused by this Bill to our food and farming...

by Shubhi Sharma | On 30 Aug 2016

Educating the Urban Poor: Case Study of Running Pre-schools in Non-notified Slums of Bengaluru

In the paper, an informal preschool program is described that Akshara Foundation administered over 12 months in a set of non-notified slums in Bengaluru. The intervention is particularly noteworthy be...

by K. Vaijayanti | On 29 Aug 2016

Performance Pay and Malnutrition

We carry out a randomized controlled experiment in West Bengal, India to test three separate performance pay treatments in the public health sector. Performance is judged on improvements in child maln...

by | On 29 Aug 2016

Water Stress Analysis and Recommendations for Water Resources Management in Ningxia

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (referred to as “Ningxia” below) is one of the most water stressed regions in China. In order to help governments and corporations gain a better understanding of water s...

by Lijin Zhong | On 29 Aug 2016

Large-Scale Migration and Remittance in Nepal: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities

Almost half of all households have at least one migrant abroad or a returnee. Estimates of the number of Nepali migrants abroad vary widely, but the most frequently cited estimate, including seasonal...

by World Bank [WB] | On 25 Aug 2016

The Integration of China and India into the World Economy: A Comparison

China and India have successfully integrated into the world economy. Once specialised in textiles, they have developed new export-oriented sectors linked to the information and communication technolog...

by | On 24 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

Does the ICDS Improve the Quantity and Quality of Children’s Diets? Some Evidence from Rural Bihar

This study analyses the impact of supplementary nutrition provided through ICDS on intakes of calories, proteins, vitamin A and iron among young children in Bihar. The analysis is based on 24-hour d...

by | On 19 Aug 2016

‘Full’ Compensation Criteria in the Law of Torts: An Enquiry into the Doctrine of Causation

This paper studies the entire class of liability rules, and considers the bilateral care accidents. It is shown that the ‘causationconsistent’ liability provides a basis for an efficiency characteriz...

by Ram Singh | On 19 Aug 2016

Credit Surety Fund: A Credit Innovation for Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Philippines

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises are a backbone of the Philippine economy. One factor that hinders the growth of these enterprises is their difficulty in accessing finance from banks and o...

by Gary V Maningo | On 19 Aug 2016

Diversity in Donorship: The Changing Landscape of Official Humanitarian Aid

The lead agency in India’s assistance strategy is the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The MEA is directly responsible for assistance to Bhutan, Nepal and Afghanistan, and advises the Department of...

by | On 19 Aug 2016

Opening the Black Box of the Matching Function: The Power of Words.

How do employers attract the right workers? How important are posted wages vs. other job characteristics? Using data from the leading job board CareerBuilder.com, this paper shows that most vacancies...

by Ioana Marinescu | On 17 Aug 2016

Seeds of Adaptation: Climate Change, Crop Diversification, and the Role of Women Farmers

Women farmers around the world are taking the lead in putting crop and varietal conservation and diversification strategies into practice as a way to strengthen local climate change adaptation capacit...

by | On 17 Aug 2016

Estimation of the Food Poverty Line

To monitor changes in absolute poverty across time, it is crucial to ensure that the established poverty line is a fixed standard of living that represents the minimum standard required by an individu...

by Jose Ramon Alber | On 17 Aug 2016

Vital Stats: Parliament during Monsoon Session 2016

The Monsoon Session of Parliament concluded on August 12, 2016. The session had 20 sittings, during which various Bills were passed, including a Constitutional Amendment Bill enabling the levy of a G...

by Kusum Malik | On 16 Aug 2016

Vital Stats: Overview of Education Sector in India

The Ministry of Human Resource Development released a draft National Education Policy in July 2016. In this context, some data on education indicators such as enrolment of students, drop-out rates, a...

by Roopal Suhag | On 16 Aug 2016

Infrequent but Long-Lived Zero-Bound Episodes and the Optimal Rate of Inflation

Countries rarely hit the zero-lower bound on interest rates, but when they do, these episodes tend to be very long-lived. These two features are difficult to jointly incorporate into macroeconomic mod...

by Marc Carreras | On 16 Aug 2016

The Impact of Sex Ratios before Marriage on Household Saving in Two Asian Countries: The Competitive Saving Motive Revisited

This paper estimates a household saving rate equation for India and the Republic of Korea using longterm time series data for the 1975–2010 period, focusing in particular on the impact of the premari...

by Charles Yuji Horioka | On 16 Aug 2016

The Effects of Pre-Trial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges

Over 20 percent of prison and jail inmates in the United States are currently awaiting trial, but little is known about the impact of pre-trial detention on defendants. This paper uses the detention t...

by Will Dobbie | On 16 Aug 2016

Migration Patterns and Challenges for Indians Seeking Work Abroad: A Special Focus on South India

This research concentrates mainly on out-migration in an analysis of primary and secondary sources available with government agencies such as the Emigration Division, the Ministry of Labour (Union Gov...

by | On 12 Aug 2016

Level versus Variability Trade-Offs in Wind and Solar Generation Investments: The Case of California

Hourly plant-level wind and solar generation output and real-time price data for one year from the California ISO control area is used to estimate the vector of means and the contemporaneous covarianc...

by | On 12 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

Gender Dimensions at Work and Employment: A Case of Sexual Harassment

The present study is an effort towards the effective implementation of this welfare piece of legislation for women and deals with employer’s perspective on sexual harassment, existing mechanism for...

by Shashi Bala | On 10 Aug 2016

The Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016

A bill to provide for mental healthcare and services for persons with mental illness and to protect, promote and fulfil the rights of such persons during delivery of mental healthcare and services a...

by Rajya Sabha Secretariat | On 10 Aug 2016

Inequality, Poverty, and Antipoverty Transfers

This report reviews the main trends in global poverty, assesses projections on poverty trends for the medium term, and considers the implications for antipoverty policy. Three main points emerge from...

by Armando Barrientos | On 10 Aug 2016

Can “Make In India” Make Jobs? The Challenges of Manufacturing Growth and High–Quality Job Creation in India

A new “Make in India” campaign to “transform India into a global manufacturing hub” aims to use manufacturing as a vehicle for job growth. Is this strategy realistic? This paper helps answer the quest...

by | On 10 Aug 2016

Analyzing the Impact of the World’s Largest Public Works Project on Crime

India started the implementation of a rural public works program in 2006, covering all districts of the country within three years. The program guarantees 100 days of employment per year at minimum wa...

by Satadru Das | On 09 Aug 2016

China and Socialist Countries: Role Change and Role Continuity

This paper analyses changes in China’s relations with socialist countries. It uses Chinese academic publications to add an inside-out perspective to the interpretation of Chinese foreign policy and ou...

by | On 05 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

Migration and Child Labour: Exploring Child Migrant Vulnerabilities and those of Children Left-Behind

The working paper attempts to describe the correlation between migration and child labour by reviewing secondary data of migrant children with or without their families, and children left-behind by th...

by | On 04 Aug 2016

Food Scurity and Nutrition: The Drivers of Change

This section looks at a range of factors that enable progress towards food security and nutrition goals. The list of factors – economic growth, agricultural productivity growth, markets (including int...

by Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] | On 03 Aug 2016

Universal PDS: Efficiency and Equity Dimensions

India being home to the largest number of poor and malnourished population in the world, the tabling of National Food Security Bill has renewed the public pressure for universalization of PDS in Ind...

by Sowmya Dhanraj | On 03 Aug 2016

Cognitive Performance and Labour Market Outcomes

This paper uses information from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and supplementary data sources to examine how cognitive performance, measured at approximately the end of secon...

by Dajun Lin | On 03 Aug 2016

Tobacco Regulation and Cost-Benefit Analysis: How Should we Value Foregone Consumer Surplus?

This paper outlines the history of the FDA’s recent attempts to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products and how they have valued foregone consumer surplus in cost-benefit analyses. It discusses...

by Helen Levy | On 03 Aug 2016

Dynamic Effects of Teacher Turnover on the Quality of Instruction

It is widely believed that teacher turnover adversely affects the quality of instruction in urban schools serving predominantly disadvantaged children, and a growing body of research investigates vari...

by Eric Hanushek | On 03 Aug 2016

Do Government Audits Reduce Corruption: Estimating the Impacts of Exposing Corrupt Politicians

This paper examines the extent to which government audits of public resources can reduce corruption by enhancing political and judiciary accountability. It does so in the context of Brazil’s anti-corr...

by Eric Avis | On 29 Jul 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

Operational Guidelines: Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) aims at supporting sustainable production in agriculture sector by way of providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unf...

by Ministry of Agriculture GOI | On 28 Jul 2016

Gender and Migration

The identification of gendered ramifications of migratory processes has meant greater attention has been paid by policymakers and scholars alike than has been done previously. There are a number of re...

by | On 25 Jul 2016

RBC Methodology and the Development of Aggregate Economic Theory

This essay reviews the development of neoclassical growth theory, a unified theory of aggregate economic phenomena that was first used to study business cycles and aggregate labor supply. The focus of...

by Edward Prescott | On 21 Jul 2016

State and the IT Industry in India: A Policy Critique

By adopting a historical comparative perspective,this paper assesses the role of state (both national and subnational) in industrialisation through the growth and policy experience of an ‘achieving’ s...

by Keshab Das | On 20 Jul 2016

Child Trafficking in India

Reports of raids in factories and workshops and rescue of children from different cities of the country appear with unfailing regularity. Children from disparate geographical regions: West Bengal, Bih...

by Enakshi Ganguly Thukral | On 20 Jul 2016

Chinese Returnees and High-tech Sector Outward FDI: The Case of Changzhou

The rapid growth and high levels of internationalization by Chinese firms, raise a natural interest in the study of the factors which have led the notable international presence of Chinese firms. In t...

by Zhao Chen | On 19 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

Food Security and the Millennium Development Goal on Hunger in Asia

The MDG on hunger requires that the proportion of people suffering from hunger be halved between 1990 and 2015. Behind this apparently simple statement lies much complexity: the food intake required t...

by | On 19 Jul 2016

Rising China Confronts Maritime Southeast Asia

China’s rejection of the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on its expansive claim to the South China Sea has set itself up for confrontation with maritime states in Southeast Asia. It will also he...

by | On 18 Jul 2016

Understanding Coefficient Alpha: Assumptions and Interpretations

This study aims to examine the effect of addition and deletion of items on coefficient alpha. In addition, necessary assumptions for appropriate interpretation of coefficient alpha are examined. This...

by Dheeraj Sharma | On 18 Jul 2016

Parliament Session Alert Monsoon Session : July 18 – August 1 2 , 201 6

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet for the Monsoon Session between July 18 and August 12, 2016. There will be a total of 20 sittings. The agenda for legislation includes nine Bills for consideration...

by Kusum Malik | On 18 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

Trajectories of China’s Integration with the World Economy through SEZs: A Study on Shenzhen SEZ

By exploring the role of SEZs in China’s integration with the world economy, we also investigate the underlining challenges faced by the economy. The analysis brings forth the indisputable fact that S...

by | On 14 Jul 2016

Keeping the South China Sea in Perspective

The South China Sea disputes involve the interests of the United States, particularly with regard to freedom of navigation, international norms and law, relations with important partners and allies, a...

by | On 13 Jul 2016

A Study on Quality of Acceptance of Children admitted in Private Unaided Schools in Bangalore under section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act

The study was conducted in the Bangalore Urban district comprising of nine educational blocks. Forty-five schools were selected across nine educational blocks to conduct the primary research for the s...

by Jyotsna Jha | On 12 Jul 2016

Livelihood of Local Communities and Forest Degradation in India: Issues for REDD+

The enforcement of The Forest Conservation Act, 1980 enabled the regulation of widespread diversions of forestland for non-forest uses, and hence put a check on deforestation. The changing priorities...

by | On 12 Jul 2016

Labour Law and Governance Reforms in India: A Partial and Misguided View of Employment Relations

Labour regulation in India has engaged the attention of not only policy makers but also social actors, researchers and practioners. Policy measures have started rolling out from the state governments...

by Shyam Sundar | On 11 Jul 2016

Does Social Health Insurance Reduce Financial Burden? Panel Data Evidence from India

Indian government launched the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), a national health insurance scheme, in 2008 that provides cashless health services to poor households in India. The scheme is eval...

by Mehtabul Azam | On 11 Jul 2016

Compliance in Letter and Compliance in Spirit? : Evidence from Board and Audit Committee Meetings in India

This paper analyzes two notions of compliance, 'compliance in letter' and 'compliance in spirit', using data on Board and Audit Committee meetings from India under its Clause 49 corporate governance r...

by Subrata Sarkar | On 11 Jul 2016

Bank Ownership, Board Characteristics and Performance: Evidence from Commercial Banks in India

This paper examines the importance of board size and board composition in determining bank outcomes using data from an emerging economy, India, and using a sample that includes both public and priva...

by Jayati Sarkar | On 09 Jul 2016

Indonesian Labor Migrants in Malaysia: A Study from China

Malaysia is now a major receiving country with estimated over 2 million migrant workers. Such large inflow was caused by scarcity of jobs in plantation, construction and domestic growth. Migrant worke...

by | On 08 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

All India Report on Input Survey 2011-12

The third phase of the Agriculture Census comprises the Input Survey. This survey provides valuable information on the pattern of usage of agricultural inputs such as chemical fertilizers, organic man...

by Department of Agriculture & Cooperation GOI | On 07 Jul 2016

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) and Financial Sector Regulation in India

This paper examines the changes in regulation in four G7 countries post the financial sector breakdown of 2008 and suggestions made by the Financial Stability Board with respect to e.g. capital adequa...

by Jaimini Bhagwati | On 07 Jul 2016

Trends in Strategies and Performance of the Indian Corporate Sector: What has changed in two decades of economic reforms?

This paper documents strategies followed by firms in the last two decades and the resultant changes in business conditions. It is found that although the rate of growth of the industry sector has not...

by Rakesh Basant | On 04 Jul 2016

Guidelines For Improving Water Use Efficiency in Irrigation, Domestic & Industrial Sectors

There is a need for a paradigm shift in approach from development to efficient management by making concerted efforts to achieve higher standards of efficiency in water use in all the three sectors....

by Ministry of Water Resources GOI | On 04 Jul 2016

Medical Education and Emergence of Women Medics in Colonial Bengal

In the existing narratives the wider colonial contexts of institutionalization of western science and medicine and growth of curative medicine, changing patterns of education and health services for...

by Sujata Mukherjee | On 01 Jul 2016

A Study on Community Engagement with Schools in Five States: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh

The study sought to gauge the extent of decentralisation and devolution of power to community-based bodies in relation to schools, and see if there is any disconnect between what is envisaged and what...

by Jyotsna Jha | On 01 Jul 2016

Climate Change Risks and Opportunities in Uttarakhand, India

The Climate Knowledge and Development Network supported a Vulnerability and Risk Assessment process in Uttarakhand to provide the Government of Uttarakhand with the evidence base to refine and priorit...

by Climate and Development Knowledge Network CDKN | On 30 Jun 2016

Valuing Air Quality Using Happiness Data: The Case of China

This paper estimates the monetary value of cutting PM2.5, a dominant source of air pollution in China. By matching hedonic happiness in a nationally representative survey with daily air quality data a...

by Xin Zhang | On 30 Jun 2016

Perspectives on the Investigation, Prosecution and Prevention of Art Crime in Asia

Many art crimes exist in Asia, where looting and trafficking of regional artefacts have developed extensively in contemporary times. The sophisticated methods of looters and middlemen, the highly effi...

by Stefan Gruber | On 30 Jun 2016

National Study on Working Conditions of Teachers: State Report for Jharkhand

The study revealed that universalization of primary education goal had created a pressure on the government to meet the requirement of recruiting large number of teachers in a short period of time. Th...

by GVSR Rao | On 30 Jun 2016

Some Inputs for Draft National Education Policy 2016

The National Education Policy, 2016 provides a framework for the development of education in India over the coming few years. It seeks to address both the unfinished agenda relating to the goals and t...

by Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI | On 30 Jun 2016

National Study on Working Conditions of Teachers: Karnataka State Report

The aim of this study was to document and analyze the recruitment and deployment policies and practice, salary and working conditions (transfer, postings, professional growth and development) of all c...

by Puja Minni | On 29 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

Impact of Ownership Structure on Agency Cost of Debt in India

The paper attempts to answer the question namely the management-principal or the principal-principal is given more significance by the debt holders in the Indian context. It also examines the relation...

by Sakina Kachwala | On 29 Jun 2016

Best Practices in Regulation of Private Education

Current paper aims to understand how the governments in different parts of the world have leveraged upon the private sector to achieve specific educational goals. The idea here is not to recommend o...

by Centre for Civil Society CCS | On 29 Jun 2016

Decentralisation and Interventions in Health Sector: A Critical Inquiry into the Experience of Local Self Governments in Kerala

This paper attempts to analyse the transition in the healthcare sector during the last two decades linking it to the interventions of Local Self Governments (LSGs). It was found that decentralisation...

by | 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

Maternal Anthropometry and Birth Outcome among Bengalis in Kolkata

This study has done a test as to what degree anthropometric measurements are useful and efficient in predicting birth outcome of pregnancy and also to determine the quantitative associations of anthr...

by Samiran Bisai | On 27 Jun 2016

How Successful Are Banking Sector Reforms in Emerging Market Economies? Evidence from Impact of Monetary Policy on Levels and Structures of Firm Debt in India

In this paper investigates the success of banking reforms in India where significant banking reforms have been introduced since 1990s. Using the argument that well functioning credit markets would ref...

by Sumon Kumar Bhaumik | On 27 Jun 2016

Is Partisan Alignment Electorally Rewarding? Evidence from Village Council Elections in India

Do ruling parties positively discriminate in favour of their own constituencies in allocating public resources? If they do, do they gain electorally in engaging in such a practice? This paper tests wh...

by Subhasish Dey | On 27 Jun 2016

Malnutrition: Unanswered Questions from Attapadi

India claims to have achieved financial growth of 7% but despite this high growth rate, poverty and inequality has also grown exponentially and social security, standard of life, security of labor ha...

by Child Rights and You CRY | On 27 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

Water Scarcity and Food Security

The water crisis already looming large will therefore quite probably trigger significant shortfalls in cereal production and, as a result, a massive global food crisis. But before that the dearth of p...

by | On 24 Jun 2016

Talent Management Systems in Indian Pharmaceutical Firms: Exploring an Emerging Typology

This study has explored the implementation of talent management process in pharmaceutical industry in India through a case study approach. Data was collected from top management and senior managers in...

by Kirti Sharda | On 24 Jun 2016

Implementing the Right to Education Act 2009: The Real Challenges

This study is based on the fact that the implementation of the Act involves serious financial and governance challenges. Considering that different Indian states are at different stages of development...

by Jyotsna Jha | On 23 Jun 2016

Antecedents and Consequences of Product Innovation : A Meta - Analytic Review

This study proposes a framework for product innovation to identify what strategies determine the drivers and outcomes of product innovation. Specifically, this meta-analytic study identifies key antec...

by Dheeraj Sharma | On 23 Jun 2016

Towards Increasing Off-Farm Income Opportunities for Farmers

Small land holders dominate Indian agriculture, and need off-farm income for survival. Analysis shows that for sufficient off-farm income opportunities, growth in agriculture, manufacturing, or touri...

by Brajesh Jha | On 22 Jun 2016

Meta-Analysis for Online Retail Performance

The meta-analysis, by combining and synthesizing research of past two decades, attempts to identify key constructs that explain the details of online retail performance in a more coherent manner. The...

by Dheeraj Sharma | On 22 Jun 2016

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) and Financial Sector Regulation in India

The Financial Sector Reforms Commission (FSLRC) which was set up in 2011 by the Ministry of Finance was mandated to study existing legislation and financial sector regulatory practices in India and...

by Jaimini Bhagwati | On 22 Jun 2016

Case Study on AID Effectiveness in Tajikistan

This case study aims at presenting Tajikistan’s perspective of, experiences with, and challenges to foreign aid. The objective of the study is to raise awareness about different dimensions of aid f...

by Rustam Aminjanov | On 20 Jun 2016

Putting Justice First: Legal Strategies to Combat Human Trafficking in India

The comprehensive research found significant impediments preventing victims of trafficking from using the courts: from the lack of specialised legal assistance, to the absence of protection for those...

by The Thomson Reuters Foundation | On 17 Jun 2016

Prosumers in Bengaluru: Lessons for Scaling Rooftop Solar PV

The City of Bengaluru in the Indian state of Karnataka is making progress on rooftop solar PV installations, mainly through its utility implemented net-metering program. Yet, much more needs to be don...

by Sarah Martin | On 17 Jun 2016

Urban Water Systems in India: A Way Forward

This paper provides a new presentation of the urban water problem and offers a set of solutions that are sustainable, both in ecological and financial terms, and seek to tackle the deep inequities in...

by Mihir Shah | On 16 Jun 2016

Employment Growth in West Bengal : An Assessment

West Bengal witnessed the highest growth in non-agricultural employment between 2004-05 and 2009-10 amongst all the states in India. The state also witnessed the highest growth in manufacturing emp...

by Subhanil Chowdhury | On 16 Jun 2016

Evaluating Labour Market Policy

This pper reviews major approaches and findings on the evaluation of the impact of different labour market institutions but pays particular attention to active labour market policies that play an impo...

by Werner Eichhorst | On 15 Jun 2016

Engaging with the Criminal Justice System: A Guide for Survivors of Sexual Violence

In order to encourage prosecution of sexual offences, mandatory reporting was introduced by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (“POCSO Act”), and in 2013 the Criminal Law was am...

by | On 15 Jun 2016

The Global Nutrition Report 2016

Few challenges facing the global community today match the scale of malnutrition, a condition that directly affects one in three people. Malnutrition manifests itself in many different ways: as poor c...

by International Food Policy Research Institute | On 14 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

Yoga in India: Wellness Special Digital Edition

In this special digital edition on yoga, the various aspects of this way of life that has been compiled from the last 25 years’ issues of India Perspectives with an update from The Great Indian Yoga M...

by Ministry of External Affairs, GoI MEA | On 10 Jun 2016

Role of Finance with a Special Focus on Microfinance in Enhancing Clean Energy Access

A number of initiatives have been taken by the government as well as the private sector to address the challenge of energy access in India. In this context, WWF-India conducted a study to measure/asse...

by | On 09 Jun 2016

What Future for the Cities Within our Cities?

According to a report from the Mckinsey Global Institute, India is set to witness a leap in urban population by almost 25 crore over the next 20 years. That translates to roughly 35,000 more people in...

by | On 09 Jun 2016

Returns to Education: The Causal Effects of Education on Earnings, Health and Smoking

This paper estimates returns to education using a dynamic model of educational choice that synthesizes approaches in the structural dynamic discrete choice literature with approaches used in the reduc...

by | On 09 Jun 2016

Landed Property and Credit in Colonial India

The chapter tries to identify three dimensions of land rights – the type of ownership, tenants’ rights, and the right to transfer – to categorise the diversity of land tenures in colonial India. Also,...

by Anand Swamy | On 08 Jun 2016

Confiscation in Taiwan: The Laws and Ideas for Reform

This Occasional Paper shows the evolution of confiscation law in Taiwan. It reviews the current state of confiscation laws and policies in Taiwan and also proposes suggestions for reform of the conf...

by Helen Liu | On 08 Jun 2016

Source of Livelihood and Inter-Temporal Mobility: Evidence from Western Odisha Villages

It is observed that even in a stagnant region with limited opportunities income mobility is occurring,to a limited extent though.Agrarian contract forces households to look for better avenues. With i...

by Arup Mitra | On 07 Jun 2016

Contracting by Small Farmers in Commodities with Export Potential: Assessing Farm Profits of Lentil Growers in Nepal

This study is undertaken to quantify the benefits of contract farming (CF) on farmers’ income in a case where new market opportunities are emerging for smallholder farmers in Nepal. CF is...

by Anjani Kumar | On 07 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

Corporate Debt Market in India: Key Issues and Policy Recommendations

The working paper outlines the significance of debt market in general and its role in accelerating the development of economic growth in particular. It reviews various regulatory and non-regulatory de...

by Anubhuti Sahay | On 06 Jun 2016

Property Rights and Gender Bias: Evidence from Land Reform in West Bengal

While land reforms are typically pursued in order to raise productivity and reduce inequality across households, an unintended consequence may be increased within-household gender inequality. We analy...

by | On 03 Jun 2016

Locked in a Low-Skill Equilibrium? Trends in Labour Supply and Demand in India

This paper analyzes aspects of supply and demand for labour in India using National Sample Survey data for the years 1983, 1993-94, 1999-2000 and 2004-05. With the possibility of a ‘demographic divide...

by Jayan Jose Thomas | On 03 Jun 2016

The Tradeoffs between GHGs Emissions, Income Inequality and Productivity

Rising emission of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) and growing economic inequalities have emerged as key challenges for policymakers over the past two decades and the problems are likely to intensify in th...

by Unmesh Patnaik | On 03 Jun 2016

How Forced Displacements Caused by a Violent Conflict Affect Wages in Colombia

In this paper, we analyze how forced displacements caused by violent conflicts affect the wages of displaced workers in Colombia, a country characterized by a long historical prevalence of violent con...

by | On 02 Jun 2016

Global Slavery Index 2016

The Global Slavery Index (‘the Index’) provides an estimate of the number of people in modern slavery, the factors that make individuals vulnerable to this crime, and an assessment of government actio...

by | On 01 Jun 2016

Social Studies of Social Science: A Working Bibliography

The social sciences are currently going through a reflexive phase, one marked by the appearance of a wave of studies which approach their disciplines’ own methods and research practices as their emp...

by Michael Mair | On 01 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

Draft Report on the Implementation of Status of Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014

This report is an outcome of the continuous interaction of YUVA Urban and National Hawkers Federation (NHF) with the street vendors across different states. They have been a part of the struggle of...

by Sadaf Zafar | 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

Golden Wheat Becomes More Golden Extending SRI to Wheat

People’s Science Institute carried out the first trials of the System of Wheat Intensification (SWI) during rabi 2006- 07. Starting with systematic research trials on farmers’ fields, SWI practice...

by Ravi Chopra | On 27 May 2016

Impact of Social Risks on Indian Businesses

This report has tried identifying the various social risks associated with and caused by businesses and other players, that may have negative social impacts on the stakeholders associated with the fu...

by Oxfam India | On 27 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

Women and Conflict in Afghanistan

This report assesses the status of women in present-day Afghanistan, including the gains achieved with international support after the U.S.-led intervention in 2001. It examines gaps and challenges to...

by International Crisis Group | On 26 May 2016

Afghanistan’s Political Transition

This report reviews Afghanistan’s 2014 presidential election and the related political contests. Drawing on interviews in Kabul and the work of researchers in several provinces, this study does not se...

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

Poverty in Cambodia - A New Approach: Redefining the Poverty Line

This report presents the results of the new approach to measuring poverty and standards of living, which the Royal Government of Cambodia initiated and carried out through 2011-2012.

by | On 25 May 2016

Conservation of Biodiversity: Opportunities and Challenges

This essay includes a review of major strategies for preservation of earth’s biodiversity including the biodiversity “hotspots,” “Wildlands Project,” and the “consensus” strategy. The essay includes a...

by | On 25 May 2016

The Dragon and the Giraffe: China in African forests

China needs Africa’s forests, and Africa knows it. Chinese investments in African forests and woodlands are growing fast. China is the largest importer of tropical timber in the world — possibly accou...

by | On 25 May 2016

The Other Side of Indian Demographics: Accelerating Growth in Ageing and its Challenges

A primary survey of older adults was conducted in seven rapidly ageing states including Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala (Alam et al. 2012). This...

by Moneer Alam | On 25 May 2016

Effects of Ownership Structure on Capital Structure of Indian Listed Firms: Role of Business Groups vis-a-vis Stand-Alone Firms

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between promoter ownership and capital structure of firms using a sample of Indian publicly listed firms for the period from 2006 to 2013, d...

by Indrani Chakraborty | On 23 May 2016

Innovation (and Upgrading) in the Automobile Industry: The Case of India

This paper focuses on the automobile industry and examines the nature of global value chains in it with reference to the case of India. The aim is to explore the relation between lead firms, particula...

by Saon Ray | On 23 May 2016

Mumbai’s Coastal Road: Hollow Pretexts, Harsh Consequences

The coastal freeway is a 34-km road planned along the entire Western Coastline of Mumbai. This presentation attempts to understand Social and Environmental Impacts of the proposed road on the city of...

by | On 20 May 2016

Nutritional Intake in India: 2004-2005

The present report on nutritional intake in India is based on data collected through the 61st round of NSS (July 2004-June 2005). It mainly focuses on intake of nutrients by households in terms of pro...

by Ministry of Statistics and Prog Implementation (MOSPI) | On 20 May 2016

Understanding the Elections in Assam (part 2)

Muslim population, and this population may play a large role in the outcome of Assam’s election. In this piece, CPR researchers Bhanu Joshi, Ashish Ranjan, and Neelanjan Sircar examine the complex con...

by Bhanu Joshi | On 20 May 2016

Performing Poriborton

Congress, stormed to power in West Bengal under the simple slogan poriborton (change). In this piece, Bhanu Joshi, Ashish Ranjan, and Neelanjan explore how Mamata went about demonstrating this change...

by Neelanjan Sircar | On 20 May 2016

Puducherry: Analysis of Asset Comparison of Re-contesting MLAs in Puducherry Assembly Elections, 2016

This report provides an analysis of Asset Comparison of Re-contesting MLAs in Puducherry Assembly Elections, 2016

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 19 May 2016

Puducherry: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates

This report provides an analysis of the financial, criminal and other backgrounds of the candidates contesting in the Puducherry Assembly Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 19 May 2016

Kerala: Analysis of Asset Comparison of Re-contesting MLAs in Kerala Assembly Elections, 2016

This report provides an analysis of the assets of the re contesting candidates in the Kerala Assembly Elections

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 19 May 2016

Kerala: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates

This report provides an analysis of the the financial, criminal and other backgrounds of the candidates contesting in the Kerala Assembly Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 19 May 2016

Tamil Nadu: Analysis of Asset Comparison of Re-contesting MLAs in Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections

This report analyses the assets of the candidates re contesting in the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 19 May 2016

Tamil Nadu: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates

This report provides an analysis about the financial, criminal and other backgrounds of the candidates contesting in the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 19 May 2016

World Employment and Social Outlook 2016 – Transforming Jobs to End Poverty

This edition of the World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) examines the relationship between decent work and poverty reduction. It starts by documenting trends in poverty around the world while pa...

by International Labour Organisation ILO | On 19 May 2016

The Republic of Korea’s Economic Growth and Catch-Up: Implications for the People’s Republic of China

This study investigates the economic growth and catch-up of the Republic of Korea over the past half-century. The gap of output per worker between the Republic of Korea and United States has decreas...

by Jong-Wha Lee | On 19 May 2016

Dossier of The Proposed Iron Ore Mining in the Sawantwadi -Dodamarg Stretch of the Sindhudurg Dist, Maharashtra: India Mining Projects in the Northern Western Ghats

Various mining projects have been proposed in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. The proposed mining area seeks to destroy about 200 sq km. in the Western Ghats part of the Sawantwadi and Dodam...

by | On 18 May 2016

Does Size Matter? The Productivity of Government Expenditures and the Size of States: Evidence from India

Some politicians argue for the splitting and combining of states to increase government productivity, but there is a dearth of empirical evidence on the optimal size of a state. Using data from Indian...

by Cornelis Haasnoot | On 18 May 2016

Politics, While Young

Attempts to reconstruct a young voters' bloc have been crucial to campaigns around the globe. But caste and class fissures run wide and deep among that demographic, and India's youth might converge mo...

by Anish Nair | On 13 May 2016

Where All the Water Has Gone? An Analysis of Unreliable Water Supply in Bangalore City

The demand for urban water supply service is increasing rapidly as globalisation accelerates economic development and brings improvements in living standards in India with the interactive effects of...

by | On 12 May 2016

Water Rights in India and Water Sector Reforms in Andhra Pradesh

Water rights in India in a formal, legal manner are still under formulation. Rights based on centuries old customs and conventions currently prevail. In recent years, reforms have sought to introduce...

by | On 12 May 2016

The Global Risks Report 2016: 11th Edition

Now in its 11th edition, The Global Risks Report 2016 draws attention to ways that global risks could evolve and interact in the next decade. The year 2016 marks a forceful departure from past finding...

by [WEF] World Economic Forum | On 11 May 2016

Potentials, Experiences and Outcomes of a Comprehensive Community Based Programme to Address Malnutrition in Tribal India

This paper demonstrates the effect of an innovative community-based management programme on acute malnutrition among children under three years of age, through an observational longitudinal cohort stu...

by Vandana Prasad | On 11 May 2016

Advancing the Interests of Bangladesh’s Migrant Workers: Issues of Financial Inclusion and Social Protection

The study is expected to contribute to stimulating debate around the broader issues of safeguarding the interests of migrant workers through financial mainstreaming of their income, raising efficacy o...

by | On 11 May 2016

The Trade Marks Act, 1999

Indian trademark law statutorily protects trademarks as per the Trademark Act, 1999 and also under the common law remedy of passing off. Statutory protection of trademark is administered by the Contro...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 09 May 2016

Bill for Compulsory Voting

An analysis of electoral data in local elections shows that rural local bodies have had higher turnouts than their urban counterparts in almost all states of India. Data from 2009-13 of city corporati...

by Bhanu Joshi | On 09 May 2016

Faltering UDF, Rising LDF and the Unknown Factor of the Third Front in Kerala Elections 2016

The ruling United Democratic Front's chances of coming back to power in the forthcoming elections in Kerala seem bleak, while a resurgent Left Democratic Front is gearing up to form the government. Ho...

by N Rajendran | On 09 May 2016

India Policy Forum 2014 - 2015

The episode of volatility starting on May 22, 2013, when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke first spoke of the possibility of the US central bank “tapering” its security purchases, had a sharp nega...

by Shekhar Shah | On 09 May 2016

Issues in India's External Sector

The lecture examines the recent developments in the external sector and address some critical issues such as the appropriate level of current account deficit, exchange rate policy, adequacy of reserve...

by C. Rangarajan | On 06 May 2016

Economic Incentives for the Conservation of Bharathapuzha River: Focus on Sand Mining

Rivers in Kerala are assailed by pollution, sedimentation, sand mining, and constriction of flows. The indiscriminate and unscientific sand mining, even in the midst of many regulatory and protective...

by Lakshmi Sreedhar | On 04 May 2016

West Bengal: Analysis of Asset Comparison of Re-contesting MLAs in West Bengal Assembly Elections, 2016

This report provides analysis of asset comparison of re-contesting MLAs in the West Bengal Assembly Elections

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 04 May 2016

West Bengal: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates in Phase 6

This report provides information about the criminal, financial and other background of the candidates contesting in phase 6 of the West Bengal Assembly Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 04 May 2016

Building an Institution of Insolvency Practitioners in India

This paper identifies the rationale for creating a cadre of insolvency professionals who can play an important role in the process of rescuing, restructuring or liquidating a distresse...

by Anirudh Burman | 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

The Indian Insolvency Regime in Practice-An Analysis of Insolvency and Debt Recovery Proceedings

This paper analyses 45 cases of insolvency and bankruptcy resolution in order to measure the efficiency and problems of the present laws for firm bankruptcy in India.

by | On 02 May 2016

Women on Board and Performance of Family Firms: Evidence from India

This paper provides evidence on the effect of women directors on the performance of family firms with a case study of India.

by | On 02 May 2016

Financial Stability: Underlining Context

The paper argues that context is important in discussions of financial stability. It explores weaknesses in domestic and international reforms and ways of overcoming them, based on mitigating the fund...

by Ashima Goyal | On 02 May 2016

Economic Reforms, Poverty and Inequality

It is going to be 25 years since India embarked on big-bang economic reforms in 1991. What are the achievements in terms of growth and inclusive growth in the post-reform period? What are the issues i...

by S. Mahendra Dev | On 02 May 2016

Tacit Collusion and Market Concentration under Network Effects

In an infinitely repeated Cournot game with trigger strategy punishment, we demonstrate that the relationship between market concentration and collusion sustainability depends on the strength of netwo...

by | On 02 May 2016

Social and Economic Impact Analysis of Vadinar Refinery of Essar Oil: The Case of a Mega Refinery

The paper is a case study of Vadinar refinery in Gujarat. It examines the costs and benefits associated with one of the world's mega refinery projects highlighting the welfare impacts on society. The...

by Sumana Chaudhuri | On 02 May 2016

Weathering the Storm: Ownership Structure and Performance of Microfinance Institutions in the Wake of the Global Financial Crisis

This study investigates the effects of the 2008 global financial crisis on the performance of different microfinance ownership types. The analysis in this study relies on a novel methodological frame...

by Mahinda Wijesiri | On 02 May 2016

Inequality, Neighbourhoods and Variation in Prices

In this study we examine the link between of income distribution and wholesale price of wheat using panel data. We have weekly time series data on prices for wheat for 3 districts in Uttar-Pradesh in...

by | On 02 May 2016

Bofors Redux

Whether it was the Bofors gun in 1986 or Italian helicopters in 2012, a leak or disclosure at the source overseas is like dynamite, and usually impossible to refute.

by T.N. Ninan | On 30 Apr 2016

Employment Growth in West Bengal : An Assessment

This paper analyzes the employment generation in the state of West Bengal

by | On 29 Apr 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

Tamil Nadu: Fragmented Politics in Tamil Nadu

2014 elections in Tamil Nadu is a point of no return for the Congress much like the 1967 general elections. But consolidation of the OBCs that led to the DMK’s emergence is now over and the fragmentat...

by | On 29 Apr 2016

A Survey on Impact of Social Media on Election System

Social media is the primary resource for the information retrieval. Using the text mining field; huge amount of unstructured textual data collected by social media can be converted and displayled as u...

by Nilesh Alone | On 28 Apr 2016

Assam: Analysis of Asset Comparison of Re-contesting MLAs

This report provides an analysis of the assets owned by re contesting MLAs in the Assam Assembly Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 28 Apr 2016

Assam: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates in Phase 2

This report provides information about the financial, criminal and other backgrounds of the candidates contesting in phase 2 of Assam Assembly Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 28 Apr 2016

Assam: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and Other Details of Candidates

This report provides information about the financial, criminal and other backgrounds about the candidates contesting in phase 1 of the Assam Assembly Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 28 Apr 2016

West Bengal: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates in Phase 5

This report provides information about the financial, criminal and other backgrounds of the candidates contesting in the phase 5 of the West Bengal Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 28 Apr 2016

West Bengal: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates in Phase 4

This report provides information about the financial, criminal and other backgrounds of the candidates contesting in the phase 4 of the West Bengal Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 28 Apr 2016

West Bengal: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates in Phase 3

This report provides information about the financial, criminal and other backgrounds of the candidates contesting in the phase 3 of the West Bengal Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 28 Apr 2016

Tamil Nadu: What Voters Want and How They Rate Government Performance

This report consists the findings of a survey carried out in February 2016 in Tamil Nadu. The purpose of the survey was to find out what voters really want from the Government and how they rate the pe...

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 28 Apr 2016

West Bengal: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates in Phase 2

This report contains information regarding the financial, criminal and other background of the candidates contesting in the Phase 2 of the West Bengal Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 28 Apr 2016

West Bengal: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates in Phase 1B

This report provides information regarding the financial, criminal and other backgrounds of the candidates contesting in the phase 1B of the West Bengal Elections.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 28 Apr 2016

West Bengal: Economic Review

This report has been prepared by the West Bengal Chamber of Commerce. It includes data on various sectors including but not limited to: Employment, Industry, Agriculture, Power and Trade.

by Chamber of Commerce | On 27 Apr 2016

West Bengal: Education Status Report

This report provides information about the state of education in West Bengal.

by | On 27 Apr 2016

West Bengal: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates

This report provides information about the financial, criminal and other backgrounds of the candidates contesting in the phase 1A of the West Bengal Elections.

by | On 27 Apr 2016

West Bengal: Census Report 2011

This report if from the Census of India. It provides information about literacy rates, sex ratio, population in West Bengal of the year 2011.

by | On 27 Apr 2016

Land, Labour and Caste Politics in Rural Tamil Nadu in the 20th Century: Iruvelpattu (1916-2008)

The “Slater” villages of Tamil Nadu that were first surveyed by the University of Madras economist, Gilbert Slater, and his students in 1916, were resurveyed in the 1930s, 1960s and the 1980s. This pa...

by John Harriss | On 27 Apr 2016

The Patents Rules, 2003

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has published The Patents Rules, 2003. Some of the salient features of the Draft amendments Rules are: Term of every patent which is in force including a patent r...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 27 Apr 2016

Draft Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2015

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has published Draft Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2015. Some of the salient features of the Draft amendments Rules are The timeline in relation to placing the applic...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 27 Apr 2016

The Patents Act, 1970

The Indian Patents Act, 1970 provides patent protection in India. The same is in accordance with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. The recent conferment of “product patent” along with the “proces...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 27 Apr 2016

The Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2008

India's Design Act, 2000 was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to protection of design and to comply with the articles 25 and 26 of TRIPS agreement. The new act, (earlier Patent and De...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 26 Apr 2016

The Designs Rules, 2001

India's Design Act, 2000 was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to protection of design and to comply with the articles 25 and 26 of TRIPS agreement. The new act, (earlier Patent and De...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 26 Apr 2016

Draft Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2013

India's Design Act, 2000 was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to protection of design and to comply with the articles 25 and 26 of TRIPS agreement. The new act, (earlier Patent and De...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 26 Apr 2016

Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2014

The Designs (Amendment) Rules, 2014 has been published by the Government of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) by notification in Part-II, Section...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 26 Apr 2016

The Designs Act, 2000

India's Design Act, 2000 was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to protection of design and to comply with the articles 25 and 26 of TRIPS agreement. The new act, (earlier Patent and De...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 26 Apr 2016

Global Nutrition Policy Review: What Does it Take to Scale up Nutrition Action?

This Global Nutrition Policy Review is based on a questionnaire survey conducted during 2009–2010, in which 119 WHO Member States and 4 territories participated. Selected case studies illustrate the...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 22 Apr 2016

World Debt Figures : 2015

Since the 1980s, public debt, both in the Third World countries and in the industrialised nations, has been systematically used to impose austerity policies in the name of structural adjustment. Acc...

by Eric Toussaint | On 22 Apr 2016

Systematic Voters’ Education & Electoral Participation: India National Document (2009-2014)

This document is a record of pioneering efforts adopted by the Election Commission of India within the scope of voters’ engagement and participation through the vast national programme of ‘Systematic...

by | On 21 Apr 2016

Taxes: Price of Civilization or Tribute to Leviathan?

The report considers the question of taxes as price versus tribute for contemporary India and makes three points. First, if the accounting cost of services provided exceeds the economic cost (the min...

by | On 15 Apr 2016

PAISA for Panchayats - Tracking Fiscal Devolution toLocal Goverments: A case study from Kolar district, Karnataka

The PAISA for Panchayats research project extends AI’s PAISA methodology to track fund flows and implementations processes at the Panchayat level. By focusing on understanding the state of fiscal devo...

by | On 13 Apr 2016

Study on Copyright Piracy in India

Worldwide it is recognized that copyright piracy is a serious crime which not only adversely affects the creative potential of the society by denying the creators their legitimate dues, it also causes...

by Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI | 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

The Redistributive Effects of Political Reservation for Minorities: Evidence from India

We examine the impact of political reservation for disadvantaged minority groups on poverty. To address the concern that political reservation is endogenous in the relationship between poverty and res...

by Nishith Prakash | On 11 Apr 2016

The Functioning of Medical Council of India

The report examines the role and functioning of Medical Council of India with the ultimate aim of suggesting veritable solutions to the inadequacies that are currently plaguing our medical education a...

by Rajya Sabha Secretariat | On 08 Apr 2016

Inclusive Migration in India: A Study on Domestic Migration and Issues in Electoral Participation

The study compiled information from academic papers, government and non-government reports on the subject of domestic migration, with a specific emphasis on their political inclusion. In order to cond...

by | On 05 Apr 2016

Bangladesh National Food Policy Plan of Action (2008-2015)

The NEP Plan of Action (PoA) 2008 translates the provisions of the National Food Policy, 2006 towards achieving its three core objectives into 26 strategic areas of intervention, priority actions to b...

by Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU) | On 04 Apr 2016

Global Report on Urban health: Equitable, Healthier Cities for Sustainable Development

The Global report on urban health: equitable, healthier cities for sustainable development, 2016 presents new data on the health of urban residents from nearly 100 countries, updating the first joint...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 04 Apr 2016

Evaluation of Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) considered as Irrational and where Showcause Notices were Issued to the Applicants for Submitting their Replies

The Expert Committee evaluated the FDCs in the interest of public health so that public health of people is not compromised. The committee noted that legacy products are available in the market which...

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare MoH&FW | On 01 Apr 2016

Rules of the Monetary Game

Aggressive monetary policy actions by one country can lead to significant adverse cross-border spillovers on others, especially as countries contend with the zero lower bound. If countries do not inte...

by Prachi Mishra | On 31 Mar 2016

The West Sumatra Earthquakes: Not Learning Our Lessons?

A big earthquake hit the ocean floor off Southwestern Sumatra, Indonesia on 2 March 2016. Tsunami warnings were issued by the government to the whole Sumatran regions. How effective are Indonesia’s...

by Jonatan Lassa | On 28 Mar 2016

Budget 2016-17 & The Indian Economy

A brief summary by Niti Aayog about the pre and post 2016-17 Indian Budget Analysis.

by Arvind Panagariya | On 28 Mar 2016

Minimum Wage Setting Practices in Domestic Work: An Inter-State Analysis

The aim of the study is to do a comparative analysis of the states that have notified minimum wages for domestic workers with a view to draw lessons from their experiences. The experiences of various...

by Neetha N | On 23 Mar 2016

The Role of Construction as an Employment Provider: A World-Wide Input-Output Analysis

This study shows how important the construction sector has been over the last decade as an employment provider in countries at different levels of development. The analysis also revealed decreasing tr...

by Christoph Ernst | On 23 Mar 2016

Towards Drinking Water Security in India: Lessons from the Field

With the help of Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation has collected some models of good practices from different parts of the country. Care has been ta...

by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation MDWS | On 22 Mar 2016

Elections in Four Indian States: A Test for the BJP and Modi

Elections will be held in four States and one Union Territory in April and May 2016. The polls will be a crucial test for the governing Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and a gauge of the populari...

by Ronojoy Sen | On 22 Mar 2016

Mixed-Design Approach in Impact Evaluation: Principles and Practice

There is no single method in impact evaluation that can always address the different aspects better than others. Importance of mixed design approach in impact evaluation studies arises with the need f...

by Navneet Kaur | On 21 Mar 2016

The Caste Gender System - A Necessary Analytic of Experience?

This paper formulates a conceptual category called the caste-gender system and tends to follow how the institution of caste operates in systematic complicity with discriminatory gender norms. It talks...

by Ritu Sen Chaudhuri | On 21 Mar 2016

The Conceit of Reason the Cunning of History versus - Modernity and Caste in India

This paper addresses the central question as to how and why caste still survives under conditions of democracy and modernity and what do we make of it. I try to explain this phenomenon by viewing it i...

by Sanjeeb Mukherjee | On 21 Mar 2016

Impact of JNNURM and UIDSSMT/ IHSDP Programmes on Infrastructure and Governance Outcomes in Cities/ Towns in India

The paper is based on a review of the available official data and the existing literature on the Missions. It is divided into three broad sections. The first analyzes data available from the official...

by Lalitha Kamath | On 21 Mar 2016

Living the ‘Absence’ The Rajbanshis of North Bengal

While often it describe the modern era - framed by the Post-Enlightenment narrative - as one marked by an unprecedented concern for identity and identification, it often lose sight of the parallel pro...

by Samir Kumar Das | On 21 Mar 2016

Institutional Choices in the Shadow of History: Decentralization in Indonesia

This series is a continuation of WRI’s ‘Environmental Accountability in Africa’ working paper series (Working Papers number 1 through 22). The series was renamed to reflect the Equity Poverty and Envi...

by Institue World Resources | On 20 Mar 2016

Problems and Possible Solutions For Better Traffic Management: A Case Study of Vadodara-Ahmedabad Section of National Highway Eight

Efficient traffic management on the National Highways (NHs) is very essential in the country. The present NH system that evolved over the years has a number of deficiencies. The basic objective of the...

by Haribandhu Panda | On 20 Mar 2016

Impact of Property Rights Reform to Support China’s Rural-Urban Integration

As part of a national experiment, in 2008 Chengdu prefecture implemented ambitious property rights reforms, including complete registration of all land together with measures to ease transferability a...

by Songqing Jin | On 20 Mar 2016

Improving Rice Production and Commercialization in Cambodia - Findings from a Farm Investment Climate Assessment

In 2010, Cambodia outlined a plan aimed at developing its rice sector into a major rice exporting country. The rice sector was chosen due to comparative advantages in land, perceptions of significant...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 18 Mar 2016

Review and Compendium of Environmental Policies and Laws in Bhutan

This review and compendium of our country’s environmental laws, policies, and regulations aims to enhance the accessibility to information by judges, lawyers, government officials, and stakeholders in...

by Antonia Gawel | On 18 Mar 2016

Money Matters Local Government Finance in the People's Republic of China

Public finance systems in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have evolved substantially over the last three decades. The evolution is continuing, with wide-ranging reforms in budget and debt managem...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 18 Mar 2016

Reforming the Financing System for the Road Sector in the People's Republic of China

This report recommends the creation of a National Roads and Funding Administration and a central road trust fund with dedicated revenues; changes to roles and responsibilities of different levels of g...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 17 Mar 2016

Maldives Overcoming the Challenges of a Small Island State Country Diagnostic Study

This report identifies four critical constraints to inclusive growth in the Maldives: (1) inadequate and poor quality maritime infrastructure that constrains connectivity, limits provision of basic go...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 17 Mar 2016

Gender Concerns in the Union Budget 2016-17

The Union Budget has failed to allocate substantiate funds. With less gender mainstreaming and with lack of assurance of safety to women the budget fails to make an impact in this regard.

by Vibhuti Patel | On 17 Mar 2016

Price Control on Bt Cotton Seeds in India: Impact on Seed Providers

This paper attempts to examine the impact of such price controls on the revenue and profitability of the seed providers in India. Using a panel data for 9 cotton growing states in India over 2002- 200...

by Anchal Arora | On 16 Mar 2016

Do Foreign Banks in India Indulge in Cream Skimming?

Foreign banks in developing countries are often found to indulge in cream skimming, a lending strategy that targets only wealthy segments of the credit market and exclude small and marginal borrowers...

by Mandira Sarma | 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 Technological Conditions of Production in Explaining India's Manufacturing Growth, 1998-99 to 2007-08: Some Policy Perspectives

This paper tries to explain India’s manufacturing growth performance in terms of the technological conditions of production, namely, the returns to scale (RTS) and the elasticity of substitution (ES)...

by Alokesh Barua | On 15 Mar 2016

The Rise of the “Just-in-Time Workforce”: On-demand Work, Crowdwork and Labour Protection in the “Gig-Economy”

The so-called “gig-economy” has been growing exponentially in numbers and importance in recent years but its impact on labour rights has been largely overlooked. Forms of work in the “gig-economy” inc...

by | On 15 Mar 2016

Fossil Fuel Subsidies in Indonesia Trends, Impacts, and Reforms

The objective of this study is to systematically assess the prevalence of different types of fossil fuel subsidies in Indonesia and analyze the potential impacts of their removal. It is hoped that thi...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Fossil Fuel Subsidies in Thailand - Trends, Impacts and Reforms

The objective of this study is to systematically assess the prevalence of different types of fossil fuel subsidies in Thailand and analyze the potential impacts of their removal. It is hoped that this...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Reviving Lakes and Wetlands in the People's Republic of China, Volume 2 - Lessons Learned on Integrated Water Pollution Control from Chao Lake Basin

The government has taken unprecedented steps to create a basic framework to achieve its long-term objective of improving water quality in Chao Lake and protecting and maintaining all of its economic,...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Cambodia Addressing the Skills Gap Employment Diagnostic Study

Cambodia has made great strides toward sustained rapid and inclusive economic growth since its political environment stabilized in 1999. Its 7.8% average annual growth since then has dramatically brou...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Implementation of the ASEAN +3 Multi - Currency Bond Issuance Framework

ABMI aims to develop efficient and liquid bond markets in Asia, which would enable better utilization of Asian savings for Asian investments. ABMI can also contribute to the mitigation of currency and...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Economic Analysis of Climate - Proofing Investment Projects

Recent years have witnessed a large number of studies and reports aimed generally at providing estimates of the economic costs of climate change and of the economic costs of adaptation to climate chan...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Disaster Risk Management in Asia and the Pacific

The study considers key trends, in terms of disaster incidence, sources of vulnerability, and social and economic impacts. This is followed by discussions of some of the major issues: compound disaste...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 15 Mar 2016

Winners and Losers in the Arab Awakening

On January 25, 2012, one year has passed since the protests began on Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Events in the Middle East and North Africa over the past year have altered many previously held beliefs abou...

by | On 14 Mar 2016

Approaching & Counteracting Contemporary Organized Crime

Transnational organized crime is one of the greatest global threats to the security and development of open and democratic societies. It is imperative for states to develop counterstrategies against i...

by | On 14 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

Israel-Palestine: New Leadership Needed

With rumors of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the verge of restarting, a closer examination of the Israeli political situation and the intentions and calculations of teh current government shows...

by | On 14 Mar 2016

The End of Japan’s Nuclear Renaissance? Not Just Yet.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that severally damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant have been described as ending the ‘nuclear renaissance’ in Japan. The government is in a hard pla...

by | On 14 Mar 2016

Japan: Tax Matters

On Monday September 10 the leader of the party likely to win Japan’s next general election, LDP’s SadakazuTanigaki, threw in the towel in a surprise move. He had repeatedly expressed his intention to...

by | On 14 Mar 2016

Deciphering the Security Community Debate

Several attempts have been made in recent years to revive a process towards developing more trust and reconciliation in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian space. But much of this debate has not been very...

by | On 14 Mar 2016

Water Scarcity and the Role of Storage in Development

In this paper, the authors concentrate on the three kinds of technologies that store water for periods of months, in small reservoirs, or years, in aquifers and large reservoirs. These three technolog...

by Andrew Keller | On 14 Mar 2016

Porous Borders The Study of Illegal Markets from a Sociological Perspective

State concerns about crime and security issues have strongly affected conceptions of economic action outside the law, a traditional field of research in sociology. This increasing encroachment by poli...

by Matías Dewey | On 14 Mar 2016

Illegal Markets Boundaries and Interfaces between Legality and Illegality

In sociology generally, the infringement of legal norms is not treated as a special kind of norm violation, the sociology of law being an obvious exception. The study of illegal markets therefore face...

by Renate Mayntz | On 14 Mar 2016

Global Spillovers and Monetary Policy Transmission in India

Do global spillovers clog transmission channels of monetary policy through domestic financial markets? Drawing on stylised facts and using a dynamic factor model to develop an indicator of global spil...

by Michael Debabrata Patra | On 14 Mar 2016

Growing Inclusive Businesses in the Philippines: The Role of Government Policies and Programs

Inclusive business (IB) is a private sector approach to providing goods, services, and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis, either at scale or scalable, to people at the base of the pyramid by...

by Roehlano M. Briones | On 14 Mar 2016

The National System of Technical Vocational Education and Training in the Philippines: Review and Reform Ideas

The role of the National System of Technical Vocational Education and Training (NSTVET) is critical in skill upgrading and development. The rapidly changing technology highlights this need even more....

by Aniceto C. Orbeta, Jr. | On 14 Mar 2016

Politics of ‘Good Governance’ in Sri Lanka’s Parliamentary Polls

Sri Lanka’s latest parliamentary election, slated for 17 August 2015, is important not only for the political-comeback bid by former President Mahinda Rajapakse but also for the focus on issues of ‘go...

by Ayesha Wijayalath | On 14 Mar 2016

Reducing Child Marriage in India : A Model to Scale Up Results

This report is the result of efforts to develop strategies to accelerate the decline of child marriage in India. It breaks new conceptual ground and applies a broad social policy and governance framew...

by Debanita Chatterjee | 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

Towards Rules of the Monetary Game

There are few areas of robust growth around the world, with the IMF repeatedly reducing its growth forecasts in recent quarters. This period of slow growth is particularly dangerous because both ind...

by Raghuram G. Rajan | On 14 Mar 2016

Budget Speech West Bengal: 2016-17

Speech of Finance Minister, 2016.

by West Bengal Government | On 14 Mar 2016

Dependence of States on Central Transfers: Aggregate and State-wise Analysis

This paper examines the dependence of states on central fiscal transfers. It particularly focuses on the role of transfers through tax devolution under the recommendation of the Finance Commissions. T...

by D K Srivastava | On 13 Mar 2016

Corporate Governance and Product Market Competition

On one hand product market competition acts as an ultimate solution to align interests of managers and shareholders, and on the other hand, competition alone may not be sufficient because it may not p...

by Ekta Selarka | On 13 Mar 2016

North Korea's Fourth Satellite Launch Attempt

North Korea has announced that it will attempt another satellite launch between December 10 and 22. As North Korea has an active nuclear weapons program and launching a satellite is technologically qu...

by | On 12 Mar 2016

Deep Seabed Minerals: A New Frontier in the Pacific Region

Minerals, such as rare earth metals, are increasingly becoming an important commodity in a resource-constrained world economy. As a result new frontiers both onshore and offshore, to the depths of the...

by | On 12 Mar 2016

India's Shale Gas Boom: Dream or Reality?

As India prepares for the release of its long anticipated shale gas policy, pressure continues to mount on New Delhi. An increase in coal imports over the past 12 months has demonstrated the stress on...

by | On 12 Mar 2016

North Korea’s Diversifying Diplomatic Ties

While a fourth nuclear test would appear to have been delayed, North Korea is currently seeking to break out of its economic and political isolation by diversifying its diplomatic ties with Japan and...

by Sangsoo Lee | On 12 Mar 2016

Biofuel Feedstock Cultivation in India: Implications for Food Security and Rural Livelihoods

Biofuels are acquiring importance due to their potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The two most important biofuels – viz., bioethanol and bio-diesel, are largely considered supplementary t...

by K.S. Kavi Kumar | On 11 Mar 2016

Parent’s Choice Function for Ward’s School Continuation in Rural India: A Case Study in West Bengal

In this paper we present a choice function of a rural household about her/his ward?s schooling. It makes an empirical evaluation on the basis of simple theoretical framework using primary data set, su...

by Debdulal Thakur | On 11 Mar 2016

‘China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative Society’

China is unique among developing countries in achieving sustained economic and social success. So, policymakers in South Asia will do well to factor a robust Chinese economic future into their thinkin...

by Shahid Javed Burki | On 11 Mar 2016

An Analysis of Bangladesh Today: A Prognosis of its Polity

The paper, written in the context of the recent deportation of 27 Bangladeshi workers from Singapore, argues that what is required is a united front, a closing of ranks of the disparate political and...

by Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury | On 11 Mar 2016

After the Deal: The EU and Iran’s Energy Promise

The EU has played an instrumental role in negotiating the interim agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. OzanSerdaroglu argues that while the prospective lifting of sanctions under a final deal brings w...

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

Mitigating Militancy in Northwest Pakistan

Nearly three months on from the launch of Operation Zarb e Azb by Pakistan’s armed forces, this policy brief explores the problem of militancy in North Waziristan in northwest Pakistan. The author arg...

by | On 10 Mar 2016

Analyzing the Aid Effectiveness on the Living Standard: A Check-up on South East Asian Countries

The present research work aims to analyse the effect that the disaggregated developmental aid has had on the health status and the standard of living in the urban sector after the MDGs were establishe...

by Zareena Begum Irfan | On 10 Mar 2016

Does Corporate Governance Matter in Determinants and Use of Cash: Evidence from India

Our study investigates the determinants and use of cash holdings by Indian companies. Using a large sample of manufacturing firms that are publicly traded on Bombay Stock exchange for the period of 19...

by Ekta Selarka | On 10 Mar 2016

Consumer’s Acceptance towards Genetically Modified Crops and Growth of the Economy: A Theoretical Approach

This paper develops a three-sector theoretical growth model to capture the role of consumers’ acceptance towards the second generation of genetically modified (GM) crops in the long run growth process...

by Arpita Ghose | On 10 Mar 2016

Nutritional Status in Pakistan

In Pakistan, despite an increase in per capita food availability and resultant rise in per capita calorie and protein intake, the prevalence of malnutrition has not improved over last 20 years [Nation...

by Sarfraz K. Qureshi | On 10 Mar 2016

Poverty and Child Mortality in Pakistan

The present analysis is based on the Pakistan Socio-Economic Survey (PSES) data. The survey was conducted nationwide between April and July, 1999 and collected data on household information, incidence...

by Syed Mubashir Ali | On 10 Mar 2016

An Introduction to the 1998-99 Pakistan Socioeconomic Survey (PSES)

This brief paper is quite focused. It describes the methodology and scope of the household survey carried out by the PIDE between March and July 1999, with an aim to generate nationally representative...

by G. M. Arif | On 10 Mar 2016

Poverty Reduction in Pakistan: Learning from the Experience of China

Three major objectives of this study are: (i) to understand China’s success against poverty, particularly the mechanism through which, the economic reforms led to poverty reduction; (ii) to give a his...

by G. M. Arif | On 10 Mar 2016

Pension System Reforms for Pakistan: Current Situation and Future Prospects

The study deals with pension system reforms for the Pakistan economy and highlights the current situation and future prospects. The study presents an overview of the problems prevailing in current pay...

by Umaima Arif | On 10 Mar 2016

Designing Contracts for the Global Fund: Lessons from the Theory of Incentives

This paper uses contract theory to suggest simple contract designs that could be used by the Global Fund. Using a basic model of procurement, we lay out five alternative options and consider when each...

by Liam Wren-Lewis | On 10 Mar 2016

Do People Seek to Maximize Their Subjective Well-Being?

In a new survey we ask respondents, after a standard Subjective Well-Being (SWB) question, if they can think of changes in their lives that would improve their SWB score. If the SWB score is just one...

by Marc Fleurbaey | On 09 Mar 2016

International Technology Transfer and Domestic Innovation: Evidence from the High-Speed Rail Sector in China

How does the transfer of advanced technology spur innovation in developing countries? This paper exploits the large-scale introduction of high-speed railway (HSR) technology into China in 2004 as a na...

by Yatang Lin | On 09 Mar 2016

Models of Affective Decision-making: How do Feelings Predict Choice?

Intuitively, how we feel about potential outcomes will determine our decisions. Indeed, one of the most influential theories in psychology, Prospect Theory, implicitly assumes that feelings govern cho...

by Caroline J. Charpentier | 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

Producing a Rationale for Dowry? Gender in the Negotiation of Exchange at Marriage in Kerala, South India

The allocation of scarce budgetary resources away from ‘alternative’ channels of social security underscores interlocking concerns: a) the financial drain that marriages of girls pose to families and...

by Praveena Kodoth | On 09 Mar 2016

How Protected are our Children in Assam?

Situation of children in Assam in 2016.

by Melvil Pereira | 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

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

Porous Borders: The Study of Illegal Markets from a Sociological Perspective

State concerns about crime and security issues have strongly affected conceptions of economic action outside the law, a traditional field of research in sociology. This increasing encroachment by poli...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

India’s Union Budget: Changing Scope and the Evolving Content

The paper reflects on the changing scope of the Union Budget and the Finance Minister’s speech and assesses the evolving content of these policy instruments in recent years. The analysis undertaken...

by | On 08 Mar 2016

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

On 20 April 2010, an explosion and a fire took place at the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, 65 kilometres from the Louisiana coast in the United States. The inc...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 05 Mar 2016

Fighting Corruption: A Test Case for Indonesia ... and Southeast Asia

Recent anti-corruption efforts by Indonesia have once again brought attention to the longstanding issue of corruption. Indonesia established the Corruption Eradication Commission or the KomisiPemberan...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 05 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

Landmark Verdict by The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

On 26 July 2010, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) delivered its first verdict against a former official of the Khmer Rouge regime, KaingGuekEav (also known as ‘Duch’). The E...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 04 Mar 2016

India Budget 2016: Old Economics, New Politics

India’s latest Budget focuses on the rural sector and the economically vulnerable sections and makes large allocations for agriculture and social sector programmes without compromising on fiscal disci...

by Amitendu Palit | On 04 Mar 2016

Transparency International Releases Its Corruption Perceptions Index 2010

The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index reveals that nearly three quarters of the 178 countries in the index have a score of below five, on a scale of 10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt). Denmark, N...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 03 Mar 2016

Asia¬Pacific Countries Agree on Framework to Address Irregular Migration

The Fourth Bali Regional Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crimes – otherwise known as the Bali Process – was held in Nusa Dua, Bali, on 29-3...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 03 Mar 2016

The Implications of the US Anti-human Trafficking Strategy for National Policies: The Case of Malaysia

This NTS Alert discusses the protection gaps in national anti-human trafficking policies perpetuated by the dominant influence of the US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Reports. Using Malaysia as a case...

by Manpavan Kaur | On 02 Mar 2016

Corruption, a Threat to Human Development

Bribery by companies when doing business abroad is a significant form of corruption, and is particularly serious when vital sectors of a nation’s economy and public services are involved. In a recent...

by S. Rajaratnam International Studies | On 02 Mar 2016

Impact of China Slowdown on India

After three decades of double-digit growth, China is slowing as it is rebalancing its economy from export-driven to less-volatile domestic consumption driven economy. The paper looks at the impact of...

by Geetima Das Krishna | On 02 Mar 2016

Indradhanush-Banking Sector Reforms

The Indradhanush framework with its seven pronged plan was unveiled by Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley on 14th August 2015 for revamping Public Sector Banks (PSBs) of India. In this paper, we look at...

by Sakshi Bhardwaj | On 02 Mar 2016

Trafficking In Persons: Singapore’s Evolving Responses

For a long time, sending countries have been the focus of efforts to combat trafficking in persons (TIP). However, in recent years, destination countries such as Singapore have also stepped up their e...

by Pau Hangzo | On 01 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

Fiscal Policy Instruments and the Political Economy of Designing Programs to Reach the Poorest

This paper examines the fiscal instruments available to different levels of government and their interactions to enhance the effectiveness of public policies for the poorest and hungry groups. Address...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 01 Mar 2016

Decentralization and Local Service Provision : What Do We Know?

What do we know about the results of decentralized service delivery? Verifying outcomes and results of decentralized policies is a very challenging exercise, given the large number of stakeholders inv...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 01 Mar 2016

Multidimensional Poverty and the State of Child Health in India

Using data from the National Family and Health Survey 3, India, this paper measures and validates the extent of multidimensional poverty and examines the linkages of poverty level with child health in...

by Sanjay K. Mohanty | 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

Food Security and the Targeted Public Distribution System in India

Annual food production is enough to feed the 6.9 billion people in the world today. However, access and distribution of food in order that people do not have to die due to hunger continues to remain e...

by Ruth Kattumuri | On 01 Mar 2016

Inclusion and Growth in India: Some facts, Some conclusions

In the main, this study uses the large sample National Sample Surveys (NSS) for the years 1983, 1993/94, 1999/2000, and 2004/5. There are two surveys that the NSS conducts in each of the large sample...

by Surjit S. Bhalla | 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

Should China Revisit the 1994 Fiscal Reforms?

The 1994 Fiscal Reforms in China were spectacularly successful in meeting the immediate challenges that the economy faced at that time—a sharply dropping tax/GDP ratio, and limited ability of the cent...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 01 Mar 2016

Change and Continuity: Agriculture in Palanpur

A central theme in all the studies of Palanpur that have been undertaken to date has been the changing nature of agriculture. One of the reasons for selecting Palanpur from amongst the many villages t...

by Himanshu Prof | On 29 Feb 2016

India and an Indian village: 50 years of economic development in Palanpur

The analysis of the paper begins in the next section by setting out broad economic changes in India as key context for change in Palanpur, with a particular focus on the three drivers set out above; s...

by Himanshu Prof | On 29 Feb 2016

Can the New Intergovernmental Structure Work in Pakistan in the Presence of Governance Challenges? Learning from China

The reform of the tax administration has been recognized as a priority since the early 1980s and the report of the Tax Reforms Commission headed by Qamar-ul Islam, which had called the then Central Bo...

by Ehtisham Ahmad | On 29 Feb 2016

Making Agroecology Viable For Small Farmers: Experiences From The Fields

Agroecological farming weaves in the essentials so that there is profit for each-soil, seeds, traditional knowledge of communities, food security and food sovereignty.

by | On 29 Feb 2016

Climate Change and The Agriculture Crisis as a Solution Agroecology

India's policy on agriculture in the context of climate change, is foregrounded by the need to produce enough grain to meet the food requirements of the country. To promote sustainable agriculture, po...

by | On 29 Feb 2016

Do Exporting Firms in the People’s Republic of China Innovate?

This paper undertakes econometric analysis of innovation, learning, and exporting in automobiles and electronics firms in the PRC using a large-scale dataset to identify the most appropriate innovatio...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 29 Feb 2016

Understanding Innovation in Production Networks in East Asia

This paper explores the “black box” of innovation in the electronics production network in East Asia through a mapping exercise of technological capabilities and an econometric analysis of exporting i...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 29 Feb 2016

Development of Methodology towards Measurement of Poverty

This executive summary attempts to measure developed new techniques of measuring poverty. These techniques will be discussed here. The attempts to measure absolute poverty in India were made to know w...

by Manoranjan Pal | On 29 Feb 2016

India'a Services Sector: Performance, Some Issues and Suggestions

This paper examines the performance of India’s services sector; the recent policy reforms in some important services sectors; issues and suggestions in services sector and in particular the four impor...

by H.A.C. Prasad | On 29 Feb 2016

Corporate Debt Market in India: Key Issues and Some Policy Recommendations

This paper presents an overview of the corporate debt market in India. A study of the structure and the status of the corporate debt market along with the current policies initiated by Securities and...

by M. T. Raju | On 28 Feb 2016

Justice for War Crimes: Retribution, or Reconciliation?

In February, when the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh sentenced two men for crimes committed during the independence war of 1971, deadly protests followed. The violence calls into questi...

by Lina Gong | On 27 Feb 2016

Rising Milk Price – A Cause for Concern on Food Security

Continuous rise in food prices has been posing a serious policy challenge in India. Milk is a major contributor to the food price rise due to its high growth in demand in the domestic and internationa...

by S. Rajeshwaran | On 27 Feb 2016

What is Title Guarantee Worth in Land Markets? Evidence from Bengaluru, India

Land reforms require urgent attention in emerging market economies, and there is a vast body of literature that deals with the economic impact land reforms, especially land titling (Acemoglu et al., 2...

by Madalasa Venkataraman | On 27 Feb 2016

Social Security Schemes: A Case for Universalisation

Prime minister’s recent introduction of new social security schemes to ensure insurance and pension for all remains a laudable step. These schemes were launched on May 9, 2015 and are expected to enha...

by Charan Singh | On 27 Feb 2016

Alternate to Alternatives Critical Review of the Claims of ADR

This paper offers a macro understanding of the dispute resolution methods existing in India. The emerging trend of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) will be the focus of the next section of the pap...

by Jasmine Joseph | On 27 Feb 2016

Non Traditional Security Issues: Securitisation of Transnational Crime in Asia

Transnational crime involving all forms of domestic crime that traverse the international boundary with another one or more states have become a concern amongst all peoples of the Asia Pacific region....

by | On 26 Feb 2016

Food Security and the Threat from Within: Rice Policy Reforms in the Philippines

The forces of globalization, in tandem with realities of domestic natural resources, economics and politics, and the influence of international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO),...

by | On 26 Feb 2016

Whither Civil Society in Thailand?

Civil activism is looming over the Samak government. Although the Royal Thai army has remained in the barracks since the 2007 elections, they may become restive again. What is the position of civil so...

by | On 26 Feb 2016

Farmers’ Suicides in India, 1995-2012: Measurement and interpretation

Farmers’ suicides have become an important socio-economic concern in India that has profound implication on the quality of life of farmers and their families. There are not many epidemiological studie...

by Srijit Mishra | 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

An In-Depth Analysis of Railway Budget 2016-17

An analysis of the railway budget.

by Manoj Singh | On 26 Feb 2016

Tourism Satellite Account for India

This study marks the culmination of a long process, first initiated in 2000 when the Ministry of Tourism Commissioned National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) to undertake a feasibility s...

by Dr. Rajesh Shukla | On 25 Feb 2016

Accra Conference on Aid Effectiveness Perspectives from Bangladesh

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), established in 1993, is a civil society initiative to promote an ongoing dialogue between the principal partners in the decision-making and implementing process....

by Dialogue Centre for Policy | On 25 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

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

Assessment of Sources and Utilization of Funding of State Universities and Colleges

The implementation of the "Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997", CHED Memorandum Order No. 20, and "Public Higher Education Reform Framework" granted state universities and colleges (SUCs) the...

by Rosario G. Manasan | On 25 Feb 2016

Challenges in Health Services Trade: Philippine Case

There is a growing emphasis on the role of trade in health services (telehealth, health tourism and retirement, investments and deployment of medical professionals) in easing fiscal constraints, gener...

by Maria Cherry Rodolfo | 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

Bangladesh Apparels Export to the US Market: An Examination of Her Competitiveness vis-à-vis China

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), established in 1993, is a civil society initiative to promote an ongoing dialogue between the principal partners in the decision-making and implementing process....

by Mustafizur Rahman | On 24 Feb 2016

Towards Comprehensive Economic Co-operation between India and Central Asian Republics

Despite some recovery in recent years, Central Asian Republics (CARs) remain in difficult economic situation and they present a serious challenge to Asia. It is in the mutual interest of both CARs and...

by Ramgopal Agarwala | On 24 Feb 2016

The Hong Kong Declaration and Agriculture: Implications for Bangladesh

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), established in 1993, is a civil society initiative to promote an ongoing dialogue between the principal partners in the decision-making and implementing process....

by Uttam Kumar Deb | On 24 Feb 2016

Improving the Business Climate in NTT: The Case of Agriculture Trade in West Timor

Efforts to improve the business climate in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province are still facing significant obstacles. Moreover, a healthy business climate is needed to create conditions conducive to ha...

by Widjajanti Suharyo | On 24 Feb 2016

Copenhagen: A Missed Opportunity

The failure of the Copenhagen Climate Summit has come as no surprise, and unless major developing countries take a more principled stand for development, future summits can only serve as a stage for m...

by | On 24 Feb 2016

Impact of Management Practices on Employee Effectiveness in South Asia

South Asian organizations in countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are trying to professionalize management practices in recent years. Inspite of such efforts, employees indiscipli...

by Zafar Qureshi | On 24 Feb 2016

Critically Endangered Animal Species of India

India has a staggering variety of flora and fauna, including some of the rarest species in existence on the planet. There is so far a paucity of information for the general public on the status, biolo...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests | On 24 Feb 2016

Cost Effectiveness Assessment of Green House Gas Mitigation Options: A Proposed Methodology

The World Bank has been requested by the government of India to undertake a study, “Strategies for Low Carbon Growth.” The study considers different options for low-carbon growth trajectories to fisca...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests GOI | On 24 Feb 2016

Growth and CO2 Emissions: How Does India Compare to Other Countries?

The key question therefore is what India, as a member of the global community which is to collectively address the global challenge of climate change, can be expected to do?and what it has been alread...

by World Bank | On 24 Feb 2016

Scaling Up Carbon Finance in India

India’s performance in the early carbon market are analysed, and proposes a series of actions to be undertaken by both the Government of India, and the private sector, if India is to take full advanta...

by World Bank | On 24 Feb 2016

Modi’s Urban Initiatives – a Paradigm-shift?

A number of new initiatives announced by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi now, with the phased goal of transforming the overall quality of life in the country’s urban centres, have been conceptual...

by S Narayan | On 24 Feb 2016

Towards Transparency and Good Governance

Transparency has been put in processes, changed many rules for protection of environment and we have started taking decisions that are based on policies. The cases that fall within the policy framewor...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests | On 24 Feb 2016

Urban Nomads: The Masan Jogis Based on the Field Work Experiences in Mumbai

This paper is based on field work experiences with Masan Jogi community living in Mumbai city, which is a De-Notified Tribe. There is lack of awareness and knowledge about these communities.

by . Anjana | On 24 Feb 2016

Global Analysis of an Expectations Augmented Evolutionary Dynamics

We consider a deterministic evolutionary model where players form expectations about future play. Players are not fully rational and have expectations that change over time in response to current payo...

by Massimiliano Landi | On 24 Feb 2016

INDIA: E-Readiness Assessment Report 2005 - For States/Union Territories

For the first time, output and employment multipliers of the key states in India for the software, hardware and ICT composite segments have been calculated to assess the catalytic effect of ICT on eco...

by Research National Council of Applied Economic | On 24 Feb 2016

Compensating the Loss of Ecosystem Services Due to Pollution in Noyyal River Basin, Tamil Nadu

The loss of ecosystem services due to industrial pollution in the Noyyal River Basin was estimated through physical research studies of water and soil quality and bio-mapping followed by economic valu...

by Paul Appasamy | On 23 Feb 2016

Financial Institutions and Structures for Growth in East Asia

The paper examines the changing size, shape and range of financial markets in the region indicates the extent to which regional markets have become more efficient and have improved in quality since th...

by Jenny Corbett | On 23 Feb 2016

Agricultural Contracts in Mindanao: the Case of Banana and Pineapple

Contract growing has been defined as an agreement between farmers and processing and/or marketing firms under forward agreements, usually at predetermined prices for the production and supply of agric...

by Larry Digal | On 23 Feb 2016

Indian Innovation Systems and Emergence of Biopharmaceutical Sector: Issues and Prospects

The prospective entry of generic dominated Indian pharmaceutical sector in the ambit of new technologies is likely to give filip to emergence of strong biopharmaceutical sector.It is pertinent in this...

by Sachin Chaturvedi | On 23 Feb 2016

China and East Asian Energy: Prospects and Issues

Adequate supplies of natural resources have always been preconditions for economic growth. The requirements for energy and metallic mineral resources have been larger and more obvious with the modern...

by Dominic Meagher | On 23 Feb 2016

From Crisis to Recovery in Asia: Strategies, Achievements, and Lessons

This paper reviews and highlights lessons from the stabilisation and reform programme that Thailand, Malaysia and Korea implemented in response to the 1997 crisis. The three countries’ rapid recovery...

by Kanit Sangsubhan | On 23 Feb 2016

Civil Society from the BRICS: Emerging Roles in the New International Development Landscape

There is a burgeoning literature on the (re)emergence of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – as significant actors in international development. To date, however, mos...

by Adele Poskitt | On 23 Feb 2016

Dissecting the China Puzzle: Asymmetric Liberalization and Cost Distortion

In this paper we attempt to explain the China Puzzle: coexistence of accelerating economic growth and worsening growth outlook. The root cause lies in China’s unique liberalization approach, i.e., the...

by Huang Yiping | On 22 Feb 2016

International Monetary Reform: A Critical Appraisal of Some Proposals

This paper reviews some of the current debates on the reform of the international monetary system. Despite its deficiencies, the United States (US) dollar will remain the dominant currency and Special...

by Yung Chul Park | On 22 Feb 2016

India’s Bid for APEC Membership: Trade Policy is the Stumbling Block

India’s chances of becoming a member of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum brightened considerably after the United States welcomed its interest in early 2015. But till now, there has...

by Amitendu Palit | On 22 Feb 2016

Deepening Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Financial Markets

This paper discusses the financial landscape of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a region engaged in building an economic community (a “single market and production base”) by 2015....

by Choong Lee | On 21 Feb 2016

Rural-Urban Migration, Poverty and Child Survival in Urban Banglades

Despite recent decline, infant and child mortality in Bangladesh is still one of the highest among the developing countries with strong urban-rural differentials. Nearly one in ten children in Banglad...

by M. Islam | On 21 Feb 2016

Are Returns To Private Infrastructure In Developing Countries Consistent With Risks Since The Asian Crisis?

This paper presents a basic assessment of the financial performance of infrastructure service operators in developing countries. It relies on a new database of 120 companies put together to track the...

by Maria Pinglo | On 21 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

The People’s Republic of China and Global Imbalances from a View of Sectorial Reforms

This paper examines the impact of sectorial reforms on current account imbalances, with a special focus on the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In particular, we investigate to what extent reforms pe...

by Hiro Ito | On 21 Feb 2016

Creating an Association of Southeast Asian Nations Payment System: Policy and Regulatory Issues

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is expected to benefit from the significant growth in the Asia-Pacific payments market. Growth in economic activity would increase the size, scale, a...

by Tanai Khiaonarong | On 21 Feb 2016

Asian Monetary Integration: A Japanese Perspective

This paper discusses Japan’s strategy for Asian monetary integration. It argues that Japan faces three major policy challenges when promoting intraregional exchange rate stability. First, there must b...

by Masahiro Kawai | On 21 Feb 2016

Natural Gas Situation and LNG Supply/Demand Trends in Asia-Pacific and Atlantic Markets

This paper is an excerpt from a FY 2008 survey for the promotion of oil and natural development and utilization as commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Since 2008, the global L...

by Yoshikazu Kobayashi | On 21 Feb 2016

How Does a Decrease in Oil Production Affect the World Economy?

The world's oil consumption has been increasing for more than a century with a few exceptions. This paper examines the impact of the decrease in oil production on major economies using a computable ge...

by Naohiko Yahaba | On 21 Feb 2016

A Lesson In Market Contestability: Calculating The Cost Of Chinese State Intervention In Iron Ore Price Negotiations

This article analyses the motivation and impact of the 2009 intervention of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) in benchmark price negotiations. The impact of the transition from benchmark pri...

by Luke Hurst | On 21 Feb 2016

Roadmap for the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) in Asia: Personalities, Institutions and Processes

It is over six years since the 2005 UN World Summit endorsed the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP), thus recognising an individual state’s responsibility to protect its citizens from four mass atrociti...

by | On 20 Feb 2016

Myanmar: Learning from the Philippines’ Democratic Transition

In pursuing democratic reforms, Myanmar may take a leaf from the experience of the Philippines’ difficult transition from authoritarianism to democracy. But as demonstrated by the Philippine case, dem...

by | On 20 Feb 2016

Labor Supply Responses to the 1990s Japanese Tax Reforms

The consumption-leisure choice model implies that an exogenous change in tax rates will induce a change in labor supply. This implication is expected to be important to labor supplied by secondary ear...

by Ken Yamada | On 19 Feb 2016

Citizen Roles In Resilient Cities

This lecture focuses on the role of citizens in developing cities, and shows that without the right behaviour and an engaged population even with the best infrastructure, cities will not be resilient....

by | On 19 Feb 2016

Unions Improve Chinese Workers' Welfare --- Results from 1,268 Firms

Based on a survey of 1,268 firms in 12 Chinese cities, this paper empirically studies the effects of unions on three aspects of workers’ welfare, namely, hourly wages, monthly working hours, and pensi...

by Ninghua Zhong | 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

Discourse on Kashmir: From Territoriality to ‘Enlightened Sovereignty’

The author calls for renewed focus on the idea of ‘soft borders’ between India and Pakistan, with particular reference to Jammu and Kashmir, in the light of a theory of ‘enlightened sovereignty’ that...

by | On 19 Feb 2016

China’s Rising Outbound Investment: Trends And Issues

This paper aims to facilitate China’s globalisation process and to enable destination countries to benefit from Chinese ODI potential by having a clear understanding of the institutional background ag...

by Mei Wang | On 19 Feb 2016

Penalising Environmental Violations: An Analysis of The Ministry’s Proposal

In October 2015, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change released a Draft Environment Laws (Amendment) Bill 2015 proposing amendments to the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and the Na...

by Shibani Ghosh | On 18 Feb 2016

A Significant Shift in Casual Relations of Money, income, and Prices in Pakistan: The Price Hikes in the Early 1970s

This study extends the analysis of causality by Husain and Rashid (2006) by taking care of the shift in the variables due to the price hikes in the early 1970s. Casual relation between real income and...

by Fazal Husain | On 17 Feb 2016

Perfect Competition

In his 1987 entry on ‘Perfect Competition’ in The New Palgrave, the author reviewed the question of the perfectness of perfect competition, and gave four alternative formalisations rooted in the so-ca...

by M. Ali Khan | On 17 Feb 2016

The Harris-Todaro Hypothesis

The Harris-Todaro hypothesis replaces the equality of wages by the equality of ‘expected’ wages as the basic equilibrium condition in a segmented but homogeneous labour market, and in so doing it gene...

by M. Ali Khan | On 17 Feb 2016

Something in the Air? Pollution, Allergens and Children’s Cognitive Functioning

Poor air quality has been shown to harm the health and development of children. Research on these relationships has focused almost exclusively on the effects of human-made pollutants, and has not full...

by Dave Marcotte | On 17 Feb 2016

Achieving Skill Mobility in the ASEAN Economic Community Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications

Despite clear aspirations by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to create an effective framework to facilitate movements among skilled professionals within the ASEAN Economic Community...

by Demetrios G. Papademetriou | On 16 Feb 2016

State and Region Public Finances in Myanmar

This paper focuses on understanding the role of state and region governments in relation to Myanmar's public finances. This has been done to take stock of existing research, better understand the comp...

by The Asia Foundation | On 16 Feb 2016

Awareness and the Demand of Safe Drinking Water Practices

The demand for environmental goods is often low in developing countries. The major causes are awareness regarding the contamination of water and poverty, but less attention has been paid to the former...

by Eatzaz Ahmed | On 16 Feb 2016

Determinants of Interest Spread in Pakistan

This study examines the determinants of interest spread in Pakistan using panel data of 29 banks. The results show that inelasticity of deposit supply is a major determinant of interest spread whereas...

by M. Idrees Khawaja | On 16 Feb 2016

Why Civil Service Reforms Do Not Work

(Public Sector Reforms) PSR must be based on the recognition that people are at the heart of public service. As a result, managing human resources must be at the centre of any effort. The people who...

by Nadeem Ul Haque | On 16 Feb 2016

Effectiveness of Regulatory Structure in the Power Sector of Pakistan

This paper is an attempt to study the regulatory environment in the electricity sector of Pakistan. NEPRA, a regulatory authority was formed in 1997 to protect consumer interests in the area of electr...

by Afia Malik | On 16 Feb 2016

International Competitiveness— Where Pakistan Stands?

This paper attempts to assess the position of Pakistan in the International Competitiveness. As a survey paper, the concept, definition and the measurement of competitiveness have been analysed furthe...

by Uzma Zia | On 16 Feb 2016

Financial Globalization in Emerging Countries: Diversification vs. Offshoring

Financial globalization has gathered attention since the early 1990s because of its macrofinancial and crisis implications and its perceived large expansion. But financial globalization has taken diff...

by Francisco Ceballos | On 16 Feb 2016

Supply Chains and Credit-Market Shocks: Some Implications for Emerging Markets

Driven by the increasingly important role of supply chains in global production, this paper studies empirical association between global credit-market shocks and firm behavior towards liquidity needs...

by Yothin Jinjarak | On 16 Feb 2016

Global Implications of the Renminbi’s Ascendance

This paper evaluates the prospects for the renminbi’s role as an international currency and the implications for global financial markets. Although the People’s Republic of China (PRC) does not have e...

by Eswar Prasad | On 16 Feb 2016

Use of National Currencies for Trade Settlement in East Asia: A Proposal

This paper develops a multilateral currency system where national currencies are used for trade settlement in East Asia, comprising the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries,...

by ll Houng Lee | On 16 Feb 2016

Financial Stability and Financial Inclusion

Developing economies are seeking to promote financial inclusion, i.e., greater access to financial services for low-income households and firms, as part of their overall strategies for economic and fi...

by Peter J. Morgan | On 16 Feb 2016

Effectiveness of the Easing of Monetary Policy in the Japanese Economy, Incorporating Energy Prices

Japan has reached the limits of conventional macroeconomic policy. In order to overcome deflation and achieve sustainable economic growth, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) recently set an inflation target of 2...

by Naoyuki Yoshino | On 16 Feb 2016

Hometown Investment Trust Funds: An Analysis of Credit Risk

In Asia, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a major share of employment and dominate the economy. Asian economies are often characterized as having bank-dominated financial systems...

by Naoyuki Yoshino | 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

The Taylor Rule and the Macroeconomic Performance in Pakistan

A widely agreed proposition in modern economics is that policy rules have greater advantage over discretion in improving economic performance. Simple monetary policy instrument rules are feasible opti...

by Wasim Shahid Malik | On 15 Feb 2016

Need to Push for Inclusive Growth

The major challenge facing the Indian economy at this juncture is to provide a big push to the growth momentum while striking a balance between the much-needed capital expenditure and fiscal consolida...

by S.D Naik | 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

Bribe Payers Index 2008

Corruption and bribery are complex transactions that involve both someone who offers a benefit, often a bribe, and someone who accepts, as well as a variety of specialists or intermediaries to facilit...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Linking the Corruption, Water and Environmental Agendas to Combat Climate Change

Corruption in the water sector compromises the environmental agenda. It contributes to water scarcity, large- scale pollution and the destruction of natural habitats — all factors which make our respo...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Corruption and (In)Security

For security policies to be effective states must recognise and respond to how corruption ignites and magnifies these dangers. In some countries and regions corruption is the facilitator of insecurity...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Poverty and Corruption

The year 2007 marked a milestone in the fight against poverty and corruption. It represented the midway point on the road to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the ambitious global pledg...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

2008 Report on Revenue Transparency of Oil and Gas Companies

A majority of leading oil and gas companies are far from transparent when it comes to the payments they make to resource-rich countries, leaving the door open to corruption and hampering efforts to fi...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

War and Drugs in Afghanistan

The cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan is nothing new. Although the drug economy diversified and became more vertically integrated after the fall of the Taliban, it had already emerged and deep...

by Vanda Felbab-Brown | 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

Mitigating the Costs of Corruption in Water for the Poor

The water crisis, exacerbated by corruption, is exacting a high human toll on the lives of the poor and vulnerable. Corruption makes water undrinkable, inaccessible and unaffordable. In developing cou...

by Transparency International TI | 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

National Integrity System Study Palestine 2009

The National Integrity System encompasses the key institutions, sectors or specific activities (the ‘pillars’) that contribute to integrity, transparency and accountability in a society. When it funct...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

Corruption in the MENA Region

The characteristics of the area of the Middle East and North Africa known as the MENA region tend to fuel corruption and result in low levels of transparency. Yet anti-corruption strategies have prima...

by Transparency International TI | On 14 Feb 2016

China Buys into Afghanistan

This article examines three elements of the popular narrative of China’s involvement in the development of Afghanistan’s vast natural resource wealth. It argues that Chinese companies invested in Afgh...

by Erica Downs | On 14 Feb 2016

Crime-War Battlefields

In her new article, “Crime-War Battlefields,” published in the June-July issue of Survival, Vanda Felbab-Brown discusses the evolution of war since the end of the Cold War and the eventual rise of pol...

by Vanda Felbab-Brown | On 14 Feb 2016

Afghanistan’s Displaced People: 2014 and Beyond

Afghanistan is the largest refugee repatriation operation in the world. More than 5.7 million people have returned in the last ten years, representing nearly a quarter of the current population of 28...

by Aidan O'Leary | On 14 Feb 2016

Pakistan's Relations with Afghanistan and Implications for Regional Politics

This essay, published originally by the National Bureau of Asian Research, discusses the long-term and current relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the intertwined militancy in the two count...

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

Growth Diagnostics in Pakistan

Following the Hausmann, et al. (2005) methodology, an attempt is done to identify the constraints to growth in Pakistan. It is argued that governance failure and institutional shortcomings are the h...

by Abdul Qayyum | On 14 Feb 2016

A Study of Cases Filed under Section 498A, IPC; Closed as False in Two Districts and Two Cities of Rajasthan

This study explores closed cases filed under section 498A of the IPC, which pertains to cruelty to a married woman by her marital family. It draws from two datasets of both primary and secondary data,...

by Anjali Dave | On 14 Feb 2016

Let Them Fly - A Multi-Agency Response to Child Marriages in Haryana

The Prohibition of Child Marriages Act (PCMA), 2006 came into effect on 1 November, 2007 replacing the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929. PCMA is a social re-engineering mechanism which mandates St...

by Trupti Jhaveri Panchal | On 14 Feb 2016

Special Cell for Women and Children: The Spirit and Strategies to Meet the Challenges

The aim of the present endeavour is to highlight these commonalities in the nature of the work and individual functioning and thereby adhere to the team spirit and democratic principles of the Special...

by Tata Institue of Social Sciences TISS | On 14 Feb 2016

Human Capital vs. Physical Capital: A Cross-Country Analysis of Human Development Strategies

This study estimates a small simultaneous equation model using panel data from sixty-four countries for the years 1996 and 2004. The model is estimated by various techniques—OLS, TSLS, dummy variable...

by Rizwana Siddiqui | On 14 Feb 2016

Does Governance Contribute to Pro-poor Growth? Evidence from Pakistan

This paper explores linkages between governance and pro-poor growth in Pakistan for the period 1996 to 2005. The analysis indicates that governance indicators have low scores and rank at the lowest pe...

by Rashida Haq | On 14 Feb 2016

Negotiated Identities: Male Migration and Left Behind Wives

This paper examines the impact of husbands’ migration on the lives of women left behind. Using data from the India Human Development Survey 2005, we focus on two dimensions of women’s lives: women’s a...

by Sonalde Desai | On 14 Feb 2016

Corruption and Sport: Building Integrity and Preventing Abuses

Whenever there is money, competition or power involved, corruption is a constant threat. The sporting industry is not immune from this reality. From match-fixing to stadium construction kickbacks, the...

by Transparency International TI | On 13 Feb 2016

Disempowered by Whom? Gender vs. Generation in Family Decision making

The now-frequent use of decision-making questions in household surveys has greatly enhanced our understanding of intra-household power relations. While much of the research interest in these questions...

by Mitali Sen | On 13 Feb 2016

Structured Inequalities – Factors Associated with Spatial Disparities in Maternity Care in India

This paper seeks to explain disparities in delivery care across districts by focusing on three factors: marriage and kinship patterns; district wealth; governance and quality services. It examines the...

by Sonalde Desai | On 12 Feb 2016

Youth and Corruption

Integrity, like corruption, is learned. Unfortunately, in many countries corruption has been tolerated for generations. Young people have the potential to transform this present reality and end corrup...

by Transparency International TI | 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

Corruption and the Private Sector

Supporting and encouraging business to do its part in tackling corruption has been a global priority for Transparency International (TI) since its inception. Our approach is firmly anchored in the bel...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

Global Corruption Barometer 2009

Transparency International’s (TI) 2009 Global Corruption Barometer (the Barometer) presents the main findings of a public opinion survey that explores the general public’s views of corruption, as well...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

The Good Governance Challenge: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine

Accountability, transparency and the fight against corruption have been high on the policy agenda in the Middle East and North Africa. Transparency International, as part of a shared endeavour by civi...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

Whistleblowing: An Effective Tool in the Fight Against Corruption

Whistleblowing helps to prevent and detect corruption and other malpractice. But reporting can come at a high price and it is essential to have policy and legal measures in place that provide an alter...

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

Regulating the Revolving Door

The increased interaction between business and government – as result of privatisations, lobbying and public contracting - has meant increased opportunities for corruption. Conflicts of interest, and...

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

Corruption Perceptions Index 2010

The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index draws on different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions. It captures information about the administrativ...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

Corruption and Public Procurement

Public procurement impacts people’s lives and accounts for a big share government budgets. The large monetary transactions involved make the risk of abuse high and the need for anti-corruption safegua...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

Corruption and Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is thought to affect more than 12 million victims around the world. Corruption is seen as facilitating this flow of people and feeding the impunity that prevents the prosecution of t...

by Transparency International TI | On 12 Feb 2016

Ending Corruption to Ensure Basic Education for All

Universal primary education is one of the eight pledges of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that are set to be met by 2015. Since the goals have been adopted, corruption and governance deficits...

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

Demystifying the Arctic

To this day, the general public thinks of the Arctic in visions of unspoiled ocean and landscapes, expansive ice, clean water, unique species and aboriginal cultures – essentially it reminds everyone...

by World Economic Forum [WEF] | On 11 Feb 2016

Daughters, Dowries, Deliveries: The Effect of Marital Payments on Fertility Choices in India

This paper investigates the effect of the differential pecuniary costs of sons and daughters on fertility decisions. The focus is on dowries in India, which increase the economic returns to sons and d...

by Marco Alfano | On 11 Feb 2016

Towards Fiscal Consolidation and a Simplified Tax Structure?

The forthcoming union budget 2016-17 faces several fiscal challenges and it will be tough task for the government to provide positive signals to revive the private investment while pursuing the fiscal...

by Pratap Jena | On 11 Feb 2016

Intellectual Property and Computer Software, a Battle of Competing Use and Access Visions for Countries of the South

This report was commissioned to examine a range of economic, political and developmental issues connected with the use and expansion of computer software in countries of the South. In particular, it e...

by | On 10 Feb 2016

The Decent Work Agenda: A Gender Perspective

This is a report from Incomes Data Services (IDS) for the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on the gender perspective of the ‘Decent Work’ agenda. Decent Work, Decent Life for Women is th...

by | On 10 Feb 2016

China’s Changing Policy on UN Peacekeeping Operations

Beijing currently has a relatively active policy with regards to UN peacekeeping, especially when compared to its history or the commitment of other major powers. China’s active policy on UN peacekeep...

by | On 09 Feb 2016

Clashes, Crises and Confusion: Japanese Politics at a Crossroads

The general election in Japan on August 30 resulted in a new coalition government formed by three former opposition parties. Focusing both on the short-term task of compil¬ing the national budget, and...

by | On 09 Feb 2016

Notes on Rohith Vemula and the Movement After

This article offers observations to Gopal Guru’s article which highlights the endemic caste discrimination in places of higher learning in India in the wake of the Rohith Vemula suicide in Hyderabad....

by Anveshi Research Centre for Women's Studies | On 09 Feb 2016

Fisheries, International Trade and Sustainable Development

This paper aims to provide a framework for those making and influencing policies to better understand and analyse how key trade policy issues and tools in fisheries relate to and impact on their susta...

by International Centre and Sustainable Development | On 08 Feb 2016

2009 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development: Women's Control over Economic Resources and Access to Financial Resources, including Microfinance

The World Survey on the Role of Women in Development is the flagship publication of the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women. It is presented to the Second Committee of the General Ass...

by UN Women | 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

Consumption Smoothing in the Demand for Health Care

We investigate how, in temporary economic hardship, agents change their consumption of health services, and how this depends on whether the service is universally free-of-charge visits to GP’s or priv...

by Nicolai Kristensen | On 07 Feb 2016

Low Paid Employment in Britain: Estimating State-Dependence and Stepping Stone Effects

Using 18 waves of the British Household Panel Study, this paper examines state dependence and stepping stone effects of low pay. A distinguishing feature is that five types of transition- not in the l...

by Lixin Cai | On 07 Feb 2016

Local Labor Market Conditions and Crime: Evidence from the Brazilian Trade Liberalization

This paper estimates the effect of local labor market conditions on crime in a developing country with high crime rates. Contrary to the previous literature, which has focused exclusively on developed...

by Rafael Dix-Carneiro | On 07 Feb 2016

Promoting Revenue Transparency: 2011 Report On Oil And Gas Companies

The Promoting Revenue Transparency: 2011 Report on Oil and Gas Companies, published by Transparency International in partnership with Revenue Watch, rates 44 companies on their levels of transparency....

by Transparency International TI | On 07 Feb 2016

Pakistan’s Trade Policy, 1999–2008: An Assessment

Employing the Annual Trade Policy issued each year by the Ministry of Commerce as a simplified case study, this paper examines the reasons for the ineffectiveness of this policy instrument and the inh...

by Mirza Qamar Baig | On 07 Feb 2016

Global Corruption Report: Climate Change

The Global Corruption Report is the first comprehensive publication of its kind to explore the corruption risks related to tackling climate change. From international policy-making to national level m...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Corruption In The Land Sector

Unprecedented pressures on land and its governance have been created. As evident around the globe, where land governance is deficient, high levels of corruption often flourish. Under such a system, la...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Making Aid Effective: An Anti-Corruption Agenda

While aid flows topped US$ 128 billion in 2010, they have not always been good at achieving results due to corruption and mismanagement that arise from low levels of transparency, accountability and i...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Guaranteeing Public Participation In Climate Governance

Effective public participation has three interrelated elements: access to information; direct engagement; and oversight. All three factors can play a critical role in reducing corruption risks and the...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Corruption Perceptions Index 2011

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories according to their perceived levels of public sector corruption. It is an aggregate indicator that combines different sources of inform...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Daily Lives And Corruption: Public Opinion In South Asia

Between 2010 and 2011, more than 7500 people were interviewed in six South Asian countries – Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – on their views of corruption levels in their c...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Tackling Forestry Corruption Risks In Asia Pacific

This report is based on research carried out in five Asia Pacific countries – China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. This document should serve as an instrument to help...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Building Integrity And Countering Corruption In Defence & Security

This is the second edition of the TI Defence and Security Programme's Handbook, Building Integrity and Reducing Corruption in Defence and Security: 20 Practical Reforms. This Handbook has a simple pur...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Transparency In Corporate Reporting: Assessing The World's Largest Companies

This study analyses the transparency of corporate reporting on a range of anticorruption measures among the 105 largest publicly listed multinational companies. Together these companies are worth more...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Real Lives, True Stories

When we talk about corruption in terms of statistics, it’s easy to forget the human cost of abused power. Behind every fact or figure are real people, forced to live without the services, opportunitie...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 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

Global Corruption Barometer 2013

The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 draws on a survey of more than 114,000 respondents in 107 countries. It addresses people’s direct experiences with bribery and details their views on corruption in...

by Transparency International TI | On 06 Feb 2016

Factors Determining Public Demand for Safe Drinking Water (A Case Study of District Peshawar)

This study was undertaken to analyze the magnitude of awareness, perception, practices, and demand for safe drinking water. The study further elaborated HHs Willingness to Pay (WTP) for improved water...

by Iftikhar Ahmad | On 06 Feb 2016

Price Setting Behaviour of Pakistani Firms: Evidence from Four Industrial Cities of Punjab

Since the introduction of rational expectations in the literature, most of the research focus in the area of macroeconomics has been investigating micro foundations of macroeconomic theory and transmi...

by Wasim Shahid Malik | On 06 Feb 2016

Foreign Aid and Growth Nexus in Pakistan: The Role of Macroeconomic Policies

Despite receiving large quantities of foreign aid, Pakistan, like many other developing countries, has remained stagnant and become more aid dependent. This grim reality has provoked a vigorous debate...

by Muhammad Javid | On 06 Feb 2016

The Determinants of Food Prices: A Case Study of Pakistan

Controlling prices is one of the major tasks for the macroeconomic policy-makers. The recent oil price hike that shifted the policy towards biofuels and some natural calamities increased food prices a...

by Henna Ahsan | On 06 Feb 2016

It Belongs To You: Public Information in The Middle East And North Africa

This report is part of a larger, region-wide project, entitled ‘Addressing Corruption Through Information and Organized Networking’ (ACTION). ACTION is a four-country project covering Egypt, Morocco,...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Global Corruption Report: Education

Corruption and poor governance are acknowledged as major impediments to realising the right to education and to reaching global development goals. Corruption not only distorts access to education, but...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 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

Corruption Perceptions Index 2013

The Corruption Perception Index 2013 measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in countries worldwide, scoring them from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Covering 177 countries,...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Protecting Climate Finance: An Anti-Corruption Assessment of the Adaptation Fund

Protecting Climate Finance: An Anti-Corruption Assessment of the Adaptation Fund is the first in a series of reports by Transparency International aimed at analysing the policies and practices that se...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Protecting Climate Finance: An Anti-Corruption Assessment of the Climate Investment Funds

Protecting Climate Finance: An Anti-corruption Assessment of the Climate Investment Funds is the second in a series of reports by Transparency International aimed at analysing the policies and practic...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Protecting Climate Finance: An Anti-Corruption Assessment of the Global Environment Facility's Least Developed Countries Fund & Special Climate Change Fund

Protecting Climate Finance: An Anti-corruption Assessment of the Global Environment Facility’s Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund is the third in a series of reports by Tra...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Pakistan National Integrity System Assessment 2014

The objective of the NIS report is to assess and evaluate the various key institutions of governance in the country. These institutions are responsible for integrity and the elimination of corruption....

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

Should there be New Multilateral Rules for Digital Trade?

This think piece addresses the interface between the global trading system and the digital environment. In recent years, the role of digital technologies as a key driver of innovation has dramatically...

by | On 05 Feb 2016

Implementing Energy Subsidy Reforms: Evidence from Developing Countries

This report aims to provide the emerging lessons from a representative sample of 20 country case studies that could help policy makers to address implementation challenges, including overcoming politi...

by | On 05 Feb 2016

Budget Speech by BMC Municipal Commissioner-2016-17

Statement of Municipal Commissioner.

by Ajoy Mehta | On 05 Feb 2016

Corruption and Sport: Building Integrity to Prevent Abuses

Sport is a global phenomenon engaging billions of people and generating annual revenues of more than US$ 145 billion. But corruption and challenges to governance threaten to undermine all the good tha...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Transparency in Corporate Reporting: Assessing the World's Largest Companies (2014)

This Transparency International report, Transparency in Corporate Reporting: Assessing the World’s Largest Companies, evaluates the transparency of corporate reporting by the world’s 124 largest publi...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Corruption Perceptions Index 2014

Based on expert opinion from around the world, the Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide, and it paints an alarming picture. Not one single c...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Preventing Corruption in Humanitarian Operations

Transparency International has long held that the most directly damaging impact of corruption is the diversion of basic resources from poor people. Corruption in humanitarian aid is most egregious for...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Local Governance Integrity: Principles and Standards

The purpose of the Anti-Corruption Principles and Standards for Local Governance Systems is to provide clear guidance as to how to prevent corruption and deal with it when it occurs. Most of them appl...

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

Speak Up: Empowering Citizens against Corruption

There are many barriers that prevent individuals from speaking up. Public trust in the ability of institutions to deal with corruption is low and reporting channels are often unclear or unreliable. La...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

ASEAN Integrity Community: A Vision for Transparent and Accountable Integration

Each ASEAN member state has taken some steps to addressing corruption at the national level, such as ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), but much more is urgently neede...

by Transparency International TI | On 05 Feb 2016

Incentivising Integrity in Banks

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, many different cases of malfeasance and corruption at banks have been exposed. To date, settlements worth more than US$ 230 billion have been agreed be...

by Transparency International | On 05 Feb 2016

Exporting Corruption, Progress Report 2015: Assessing Enforcement of the OECD Convention on Combatting Foreign Bribery

Transparency International’s 2015 Progress Report is an independent assessment of the enforcement of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Anti-Bribery Convention. The...

by Transparency International | On 05 Feb 2016

Just For Show? Reviewing G20 Promises on Beneficial Ownership

Major corruption scandals hitting the news often share key commonalities: the people at the centre of the scandal use a complex web of anonymous companies, trusts and other legal entities situated acr...

by Transparency International | On 04 Feb 2016

Tax Systems: A Channel for Corruption – Or A Way To Fight It?

Fighting tax evasion, corruption and opaque money flows should be seen as advancing the same end point: more equitable and better governed countries. When a tax system works right, it can create an ef...

by Transparency International | On 04 Feb 2016

People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2015 – Global Corruption Barometer

For the latest African edition of the Global Corruption Barometer, we partnered with the Afrobarometer, which spoke to 43,143 respondents across 28 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa between March 2014 a...

by Transparency International | On 03 Feb 2016

Civil Society Participation, Public Accountability and The UN Convention Against Corruption: December 2015

UNCAC Article 13 explicitly recognises the role that civil society can play in tackling corruption. That said, since the establishment of the UNCAC Review Mechanism, there has been debate amongst Stat...

by Transparency International | On 03 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

Assessment of the Bhutan Anti-Corruption Commission 2015

The assessment of Bhutan's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) represents the first time Transparency International has conducted an independent assessment of this sort. The tool will be applied to other...

by Transparency International | 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

The European Union’s position toward the Palestinian cause: 1993-2009

The study discusses the European position toward the peace process since the Oslo Accords in 1993, up to the Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip in 2009. The aim is to elucidate the European role...

by | On 03 Feb 2016

Preliminary Study: Explaining the Ten-fold Increase in Remittances to Pakistan 2001-2012

This study is part of a broader study being undertaken by PIDE on remittances and their impact on the Pakistan economy including explaining its over ten-fold increase between 2001–2012 from around US$...

by Rashid Amjad | On 03 Feb 2016

Rent Seeking Opportunities and Economic Growth in Transitional Economies

This study empirically explores the growth effects of rent seeking activity (RSA) for a group of 52 developing/transitional countries, using a dynamic panel data approach. The modelling framework is a...

by Nasir Iqbal | On 03 Feb 2016

Fiscal Decentralisation and Economic Growth: Role of Democratic Institutions

This study attempts to analyse the impact of fiscal decentralisation on economic growth. It also examines the complementarity between fiscal decentralisation and democratic institutions in promoting g...

by Nasir Iqbal | On 03 Feb 2016

Inter-linkage between Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Trade in Pakistan: Are they Complements or Substitute?

This study tries to investigate the inter-linkage between foreign trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in case of Pakistan. Annual data for the period 1985–2010 have been considered for eight maj...

by Unbreen Qayyum | On 03 Feb 2016

Pak-SAARC Intra-industry Trade

This paper analyses country-specific and industry-specific determinants of intra-industry trade (IIT) between Pakistan and other SAARC countries using panel data techniques. This paper also disentangl...

by Adnan Akram | On 03 Feb 2016

Institutional Quality, Conflict and Aid Dependency

This study attempts to explore the impact of foreign aid on the quality of governance and how conflicts, whether internal or external affect the overall situation. Conflicts affect governance directly...

by Unbreen Qayyum | On 03 Feb 2016

Foreign Aid and the Fiscal Behaviour of Government of Pakistan

This study examines the effect of foreign aid on the fiscal behaviour of the Government of Pakistan. It applies the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model to analyse the relationship that prevailed betw...

by Rabia Butt | On 03 Feb 2016

Remittances and Economic Growth: The Role of Financial Development

Remittances and financial developments have been an important and overgrowing source in accelerating the growth process of many transitional economies. The economies that have enough source of remitta...

by Unbreen Qayyum | On 03 Feb 2016

Liquidity Benefits from Underpricing: Evidence from Initial Public Offerings Listed at Karachi Stock Exchange

This study explains the underpricing phenomenon through the relationship of underpricing (initial returns), ownership structure and aftermarket liquidity empirically by using cross-sectional data of 5...

by Malik Muhammad Shehr Yar | On 03 Feb 2016

Choice of Monetary Policy Instrument under Targeting Regimes in a Simple Stochastic Macro Model

This paper analyzes the relative performance of inflation and price-level targeting regimes in an AS-IS-LM framework under alternative policy instruments used by the central bank.

by Haider Ali | 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

Building Genuine Islamic Financial Institutions

Since the spirit of Islam is in stark and violent conflict with the spirit of Capitalism, the form taken by institutions designed to express this spirit must also be different. Capitalist financial in...

by Asad Zaman | On 03 Feb 2016

Wealth as an Indicator of Socio-Economic Welfare: Islamic Views

According to western views, wealth is unambiguously good, and so human welfare is positive when wealth is in excess of needs, and negative if it is less. Islam has a substantially more sophisticated v...

by Asad Zaman | On 03 Feb 2016

An Analysis of Accrual Anomaly in Case of Karachi Stock Exchange

This study investigates the existence of accrual anomaly by using a sample of 340 non-financial firms listed at Karachi Stock Exchange. The objective of the study is to examine the persistence of th...

by Jawad Mohammad | On 03 Feb 2016

Analysing the Price Cost Markup and Its Behaviour over the Business Cycles in Case of Manufacturing Industries of Pakistan

The issue of imperfect competition in economic theory has been repeatedly discussed given its importance in the distribution of economic resources. In this study, market power measured by price over...

by Salman Ahmad | On 03 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

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

Pesticide Policy

The aggressive media campaigns by pesticide companies do not comply with FAO guidelines for advertising pesticides. Pakistan adopts FAO guidelines on the issues where Pakistani law is silent. The Paki...

by Shahid Zia | On 02 Feb 2016

Trade Policy and Manufacturing Performance: Exploring the Level of Trade Openness in India’s Organized Manufacturing in the Period 1990-2010

This study presents industry-level evidence regarding the connection between trade policy reforms and manufacturing performance. It contributes to the existing literature in several respects. The stu...

by Deb Kusum Das | On 02 Feb 2016

A New Model for Constructing Poverty Lines

In this paper, we present a new model for constructing poverty lines. The model uses consumer theory to construct both food and nonfood poverty thresholds. Although one cannot completely eliminate the...

by Nanak Kakwani | On 02 Feb 2016

People, Policy, and Partnership for Disaster Resilient Development

The National Alliance of Disaster Risk Reduction (NADRR) was launched at a two-day workshop held in New Delhi on November 3rd and 4th, 2007. The workshop brought together over 150 participants represe...

by National Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction NADRR | On 01 Feb 2016

Swings and Roundabouts: A narrative on Water Policy Development in Sri Lanka

This paper deals with the ‘swings and roundabouts’ encountered in water policy development in Sri Lanka. In recent decades, policy reforms for water resource management nationally-demanded but designe...

by Rajindra Ariyabandu | On 01 Feb 2016

Pensions at a Glance: Asia and Pacific

This study combines rigorous analysis with clear, easy-to-understand presentation of empirical results. It does not advocate any particular kind of pension system or type of reform. The goal is to inf...

by OECD Development Centre | On 31 Jan 2016

Off-shoring, Insecurity and the Protectionist Threat

The financial crash of 2008 threatens economic insecurity in industrialized countries to an extent not experienced since the Great Depression. But as discussed in the World Economic and Social Survey...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 2016

Forests: the Green and REDD of Climate Change

Forests are crucial for rural development, access to water, agricultural productivity, energy, soil conservation, and flood control. Forests are also home to at least 80 per cent of terrestrial biodiv...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 2016

The Challenges of Adapting to a Warmer Planet for Urban Growth and Development

The United Nations estimates that more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. It is expected that the proportion of city dwellers globally will have risen to three quarters by 2050,...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 2016

Fiscal Stimulus is still Needed for Global Recovery

Responding to the economic and financial crisis, a large number of countries introduced fiscal stimulus packages to support aggregate demand. These have been critical in avoiding the recession becomin...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 2016

Better Policy Coordination Needed to Avert another Global Slowdown

The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011 cautions that the lack of policy coordination could further weaken the already modest recovery, or even precipitate a new global recessio...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 2016

A Truly Green Agricultural Revolution is Needed

The recent food price spikes have exposed deep structural flaws in the world food system. Although increased financial speculation in commodity futures and options markets seems to have amplified shor...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 2016

Global Liquidity for Global Development

Official development assistance declined in real terms in 2011 as a result, in part, of fiscal austerity in many donor countries. Traditional forms of funding have fallen well short of needs to financ...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 2016

Increasing Public Spending in Agricultural R&D to Ensure Food Security in Developing Countries

Arguably, ensuring food and nutrition security for all people in the coming decades is the major challenge for the global community. Food demand is increasing in aggregate and per capita values, in pa...

by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs | On 31 Jan 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

Founding of IWMI In Sri Lanka

The parliamentary general elections in 1977 was a watershed in the political landscape of Sri Lanka. The government that came into power mid-year sought a more liberalized and open economy, and hence...

by Nanda Abeywickrama | On 30 Jan 2016

Climate-Smart Agriculture in Sri Lanka

The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept reflects the ambition to improve the integration of agriculture development and climate responsiveness. CSA aims to achieve food security and broader develo...

by World Bank [WB] | 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

Institutions of Accountability Series : The Judiciary Policy Note

The courts are one of the most fundamental institutions where power is contested in a constitutional democracy. A functioning and an independent judiciary can restrain and hold the executive accountab...

by . BRAC | On 30 Jan 2016

Improving Transparency in Public Procurement in Bangladesh: Interplay between PPA and RTI Act

This advisory note, while accepting the existing limitations of the transparency regime in public procurement process of the country, argues that the Right to Information (RTI) Act has the potential t...

by . BRAC | On 30 Jan 2016

Institutional Approach to Anti-corruption: An Evaluation of the Anti-Corruption Commission in Bangladesh

Currently, corruption is one of the most discussed topics in the everyday life of Bangladeshi people. They experience it at almost every stage from the top lair of the bureaucracy to the petty grocery...

by Harun Rashid | On 30 Jan 2016

Seeing Like a Citizen: Voice Of The People

‘Seeing like a citizen’ encapsulates within it the notion of being “heard as a citizen”. And it is in this context that the issue of voice has been explored in the research on ‘Deepening democracy, bu...

by Simeen Mahmud | On 30 Jan 2016

Voice And Accountability In The Health Sector

The study was carried out in the Mbarali District of Tanzania. A qualitative study design was used. In-depth interviews and focus group discussion were conducted among members of the district health t...

by Health & Education Advice & Research Team HEART | On 30 Jan 2016

Trade Facilitation, Information Technology and SMEs: Emerging Evidences from India

This paper looks into the key issues concerning trade facilitation and SMEs, particularly how information technology related measures have influenced SMEs. India undertook focused and dedicated trade...

by Sachin Chaturvedi | On 30 Jan 2016

Rules of Origin under Regional Trade Agreements

It is argued in this paper that both the negotiations and the analytical literature pertaining to Rules of origin (ROO) display a lack of sound understanding of the implications of rules of origin. De...

by Ram Upendra Das | On 30 Jan 2016

The Day-of-the-Week Anomaly in Market Returns, Volume and Volatility in SAARC Countries

This study investigates extent of market efficiency and presence of day of week effect in stock market indices and volume and volatility in four major SAARC countries, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ind...

by Sumra Abbas | On 30 Jan 2016

Monetary Paradoxes of Baby-Sitting Cooperatives

Many authors have described and modelled Keynesian effects in a Babysitting Cooperative (BSC), which has the underlying structure of a single good barter economy. A simple model of the BSC economy is...

by Asad Zaman | On 30 Jan 2016

Initiating Work with Children of Prisoners

This Handbook on “Work with Children of Prisoners” attempts to document the experience of working with children of prisoners staying with their mothers inside as well as those left outside. These chil...

by Prayas NGO | On 30 Jan 2016

Initiating Work In Prison Settings

This Handbook on “Social Work Intervention in the Prison Setting” attempts to document the intervention strategies in working with various groups found in prison e.g. male and female prisoners, under...

by Prayas NGO | On 30 Jan 2016

A Safe Public Transportation Environment for Women and Girls

This report provides evidence from three quite different cities in ADB’s Central and West Asia region of the prevalence of women being harassed on public transport. It goes on to show the impacts of t...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 29 Jan 2016

Making Regional Cooperation Work for South Asia’s Poor

South Asia has attracted global attention because it has experienced rapid GDP growth over the last two decades. What is not so well known is that South Asia is the least integrated region in the worl...

by Ejaz Ghani | On 29 Jan 2016

Russo-Iranian Relations and the Vienna Nuclear Agreement

Russo-Iranian relations have undergone a series of often-erratic ups and downs. Looking at the period since the Islamic Revolution, a number of periods can be drawn out, each marked by a series of com...

by | On 29 Jan 2016

Challenges and Trends in Decentralised Local Governance in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a rich legacy of establishing and promoting local government institutions, but the actual roles and contributions of these institutions to augment citizens’ participation and consolidat...

by Niaz Khan | 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

Recognition of Forest Rights and Livelihoods of Tribal Communities: A Study of Western Ghats Region, Kerala State

The study tries to examine the implementation process of the Forest Rights Act 2006 in Kerala, in terms of providing individual holding land rights and community rights over forest products. The stu...

by Jyothis Sathyapalan | On 29 Jan 2016

Hard Law and ‘Soft Law’: Options for Fostering International Cooperation

Substantial literature has emerged in the past two decades on the meaning of “soft law”, its purposes, and its consequences for effective international cooperation. This paper argues that the distinct...

by | On 28 Jan 2016

Glacier Systems and Seasonal Snow Cover in Six Major Asian River Basins: Water Storage Properties under Changing Climate

The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects—from computer modeling to experience with water user associations—and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic stu...

by Vladimir Smakhtin | On 28 Jan 2016

Survey of ICTs for Education in India and South Asia, Extended Summary

The Survey on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Education in India and South Asia was commissioned by infoDev to be undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers, India. The Survey is a third...

by The Survey on Information and Communication Techno ICT | On 28 Jan 2016

Inequality of Educational Opportunity in India: Changes over Time and across States

This paper documents the extent of inequality of educational opportunity in India spanning the period 1983-2004 using National Sample Survey (NSS) data. We build on recent developments in the literatu...

by | On 28 Jan 2016

The Costs of Adaptation in Punakha, Bhutan: Loss And Damage Associated With Changing Monsoon Patterns

People in the Himalayan region are confronted with changes due to global warming. Glaciers are melting, leading to changing river flows and an increased risk of floods (Richardson and Reynolds, 2000;...

by Norbu Wangdi | On 28 Jan 2016

Oilseeds and Pulses in Indian Agriculture: A Review of Development Policy and Production Performance

The study finds that a high order of technology and yield gap exists and indicates that there is enormous scope to accelerate the pace of growth in the production of both oilseeds as well as pulses....

by B.L. Kumar | On 28 Jan 2016

The Guiding Visible Hand of Participatory Approaches to Irrigation Management

The paper argues that the difference in the mode of programme implementation between Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat exerts an influence on the function and performance of the local institutions created as...

by R. Parthasarathy | On 28 Jan 2016

Competition and Response in Small Firm Clusters: Two Cases from Western India

This paper addresses the different firm level strategies adopted to face up to the pressures of competition by two industrial clusters in the highly industrialised state of Gujarat. The overwhelming p...

by Keshab Das | On 28 Jan 2016

Tribal Education in Gujarat: An Evaluation of Educational Incentive Schemes

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the working of various incentive schemes and assesses their utility coverage and quality of benefits received by the tribal children, besides an analysis...

by B.L. Kumar | On 28 Jan 2016

Linking Conservation with Livelihood: Lessons from Management of Gir-Protected Area in Western India

The paper talks about linking-up of regeneration efforts within and outside the Protected Area (PA) by treating them as an integrated ecological system may help better management and also protection o...

by Amita Shah | On 28 Jan 2016

Primary Health Care in Gujarat: Evidence on Utilization, Mis-Matches and Wastage

In order to provide adequate and quality primary health care, a multi-layered network of public health infrastructure has been created right from the district to the village level. But Health for All...

by B.L. Kumar | On 28 Jan 2016

Schools and Schooling in Tribal Gujarat: The Quality Dimension

In order to provide adequate and quality primary health care, a multi-layered network of public health infrastructure has been created right from the district to the village level. But Health for All...

by B.L. Kumar | On 28 Jan 2016

Drinking Water Supply: Environmental Problems, Causes, Impacts and Remedies – Experiences from Karnataka

Drinking water is a basic requirement for life and a determinant of standard of living. The paper examines the nature and magnitude of environmental problems, causes and impacts in drinking water supp...

by Puttaswamaiah S. | On 28 Jan 2016

Potable Water for the Rural Poor in Arid Rajasthan: Traditional Water Harvesting as an Option

This paper enquires into the potential of wells (as TWHS) in the Thar Desert area of Rajasthan. Following a detailed analysis of hydrological and structural aspects of the source and quality of water,...

by Keshab Das | On 28 Jan 2016

Management by Participation? Village Institutions and Drinking Water Supply in Gujarat

One of the critical dimensions of rural water supply has been participation by the local community in managing the source and finances. Drawing upon case studies of 20 villages (spread across 17 distr...

by Keshab Das | On 28 Jan 2016

Transcending Sustainability Beyond CBA: Conceptual Insights from Empirical Study on Shifting Cultivation in Orissa

Conventionally, shifting cultivation (also known as Swidden) has been interpreted as inefficient (economically), destructive (ecologically) and an inflexible static form (institutionally) of agricultu...

by Amalendu Jyotishi | On 28 Jan 2016

Synthesis of Important Discussions on Microfinance and Livelihood Support to Small and Marginal Farmers

This publication incorporates all the discussions on marginal and small farmers such as micro financing for agricultural value chains, MahilaKisanSashaktikaranPariyojna, MF for small farmers through e...

by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | On 27 Jan 2016

Consolidated Replies on State of the Sector Report 2012 for Microfinance

This document incorporates outputs of two discussions conducted on State of the Sector Report 2012. The summaries of the two discussions on SOS 2012 also find place in the State of the Sector Report...

by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | On 27 Jan 2016

Financial Inclusion and Livelihood Promotion of Rickshaw Pullers in India

The research study highlights the financial inclusion needs of cycle rickshaw pullers in India. These include access to service sectors; improvement of asset base; employment of their women; increase...

by | On 27 Jan 2016

Financial Inclusion of Excluded Segments - Learning from Experience Delivery of Financial Services to People with Disabilities

The case study focuses on the unique initiative in India undertaken by the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion International in partnership with v-shesh Learning Services Pvt. Ltd. and three Micr...

by | On 27 Jan 2016

The Microfinance Bill: Need for a Fresh Outlook

This policy paper presents the past efforts of regulating the Microfinance sector, analyses the merits and demerits of various attempts beginning from the report of the Task Force1 in 1999 and present...

by | On 27 Jan 2016

A New Look at the Extensive Trade Margin Effects of Trade Facilitation

We estimate the effects of trade facilitation on the extensive margins of trade. Using OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators – which closely reflect the Trade Facilitation Agreement negotiated at the Bal...

by Robert Teh | On 27 Jan 2016

Achieving Bangladesh's Tourism Potential: Linkages to Export Diversification, Employment Generation and the "Green Economy"

The objective of this working paper is to critically test the assertion that pro-poor "green" tourism is one of the best development options for the majority of least developed countries (LDCs) -- a c...

by Shoaib Akhtar | On 27 Jan 2016

Migration of Indian Health Professionals to Selected European Nations: The Case of Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden

India’s comparative advantage in health care is due to a large resource pool and competence in English. Indian migration to the US, UK or Australia has been widely studied, but not much attention has...

by Ayona Bhattacharjee | On 27 Jan 2016

Focus on Children Under Six

This report is the outcome of a collective effort to bring children under six closer to the centre of attention in public debates and democratic politics. The report builds on a field survey of the In...

by | On 27 Jan 2016

The Relationship Between Services Trade And Government Procurement Commitments: Insights From Relevant WTO Agreements And Recent RTAS

To date, government procurement has been effectively carved out of the main multilateral rules of the WTO system. This paper examines the systemic and other ramifications of this exclusion, from both...

by Robert Anderson | On 26 Jan 2016

Infrastructure Provision , Trade And Development Prospects: Potential Role And Relevance Of The WTO Agreement On Government Procurement (GPA)

The paper, nonetheless, acknowledges that delivering these benefits would involve significant practical and political challenges. It concludes that if the challenges can be overcome and the mutual ben...

by Kodjo Osei-Lah | On 26 Jan 2016

Improving The Availability Of Trade Finance In Developing Countries: An Assessment Of Remaining Gaps

While conditions in trade finance markets returned to normality in the main routes of trade, the structural difficulties of poor countries in accessing trade finance have not disappeared – and might h...

by Marc Auboin | On 26 Jan 2016

Trade Policy Uncertainty as Barrier to Trade

This paper studies the effects of trade policy uncertainty on the extensive and the intensive margins of trade for a sample of 149 exporters at the HS6 digit level. We measure trade policy uncertainty...

by Nadia Rocha | On 26 Jan 2016

Special Compulsory Licences For Export Of Medicines: Key Features Of Wto Members' Implementing Legislation

The survey illustrates that a robust framework supportive of the export of generic medicines to meet public health needs has been put in place by a significant number of WTO Members, there is an obvio...

by Roger Kampf | 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

Pro-Nutrition Agriculture in India: Entry Points and Policy Options

India should comprehensively address its challenge of undernutrition. This includes, pursuing agricultural policies to strengthen agriculture-nutrition linkages. This note suggests that agricultural p...

by S. Mahendra Dev | On 26 Jan 2016

Overcoming the Challenges of Urban Food and Nutrition Security

Despite the high contribution of urban areas to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), urban poverty and nutrition security in India remains a challenge. Poor infrastructure, high unemployment, poor state...

by M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation | 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

Drinking Water and Sanitation in Rural Madhya Pradesh: Recent Initiatives and Issues

This paper presents a brief account, based primarily on available secondary sources, of the current status of drinking water supply and sanitation in rural Madhya Pradesh. With a discussion on the lop...

by Keshab Das | On 26 Jan 2016

Agency and Access under Decentralized Governance: Water Supply and Sanitation in Kolkata City

Ensuring sustainable access to basic services in urban India has continued to remain a major challenge for civic bodies. A fast growing urban population has exerted great pressure on the provisioning...

by Keshab Das | On 26 Jan 2016

Agroforestry in Tribal Areas of Gujarat: Move towards Sustainable Agriculture?

This paper examines the agroforestry initiative adopted by the Government of Gujarat with the aim to enhance the incomes of tribal households facing numerous production constraints. The specific objec...

by Jharna Pathak | On 26 Jan 2016

India in the Emerging World Order: A status quo power or a revisionist force?

This chapter sets out to trace the changing contours of India’s foreign policy by throwing light on: (i) the historical and sociological compulsions shaping India’s strategic trends and the evolution...

by | On 25 Jan 2016

Protecting IPRs of Siddha Practitioners through People’s Biodiversity Register

Siddha system of medicine (SSM) focuses on addressing the root cause of the disease rather than treating the disease symptoms, and combinations of herbs, medicinal plants, animal and marine resources...

by N. Lalitha | On 25 Jan 2016

Regulating Microfinance through Codes of Conduct: A Critical Review of the Indian Experience

The paper critically reviews the course of events that led to the development of codes of conduct for the microfinance industry in the country and examines their effectiveness in motivating microfinan...

by Tara S Nair | On 25 Jan 2016

Total Factor Productivity of the Software Industry in India

This paper uses the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) to estimate change in total factor productivity (TFP) and its constituent components for software companies in India during 1999–2008. On average...

by Nira Ramachandran | On 24 Jan 2016

Does Exchange Rate Intervention Trigger Volatility?

This study aims at investigating two important issues concerning the exchange rate intervention policy of the Reserve Bank of India: (1) whether there is any asymmetry in intervention; and (2) whether...

by M. Ramachandran | On 24 Jan 2016

External Shocks

After the global financial crisis, India was exposed to many external shocks from commodity prices and foreign capital flows. Although capital flow fluctuations were largely due to global risk-on risk...

by Ashima Goyal | On 24 Jan 2016

Public Debt Sustainability in Bangladesh

This policy note reviews the trend in debt composition and sources of debt financing and analyzes debt sustainability of Bangladesh. Along with historical data on level of debt and sources of financin...

by Md. Ezazul Islam | On 23 Jan 2016

Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Bangladesh’s Balance of Payments: Some Policy Implications

This study reports high positive correlation between FDI inflows and Bangladesh’s aggregate exports and imports. The net impact on the current account balance and the balance of payments is positive....

by Muhammad Amir Hossain | On 23 Jan 2016

Volatility of Stock Return in the Dhaka Stock Exchange

This note examines the volatility in stock prices in the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) during 2003- 2007. Excessive volatility and fluctuations in stock price fail to provide the correct signal on compan...

by Md. Habibour Rahman | On 23 Jan 2016

Prospects and Challenges of Bond Market Development in Bangladesh

The thin bond market in Bangladesh faces manifold challenges emanating from several sources including excessive reliance on bank credit, government debt instruments dominated by primary auction based...

by Md. Akhtaruzzaman | On 23 Jan 2016

A Quick Analysis of Deposit Interest Rates Offered by Commercial Banks

The main purpose of the survey is to collect data on the extent of the mis-reporting of deposit interest rates, as accurate data is essential for effective financial and monetary policy.

by Md. Ezazul Islam | On 23 Jan 2016

Blending Force and Consent: India’s Counter-Insurgency Dilemma in the Northeast

The internal and external reactions to the Indian Army’s recent strike against suspected insurgents, in the wake of a deadly attack on soldiers in the state of Manipur, underscore the need for a harmo...

by | On 23 Jan 2016

Opportunities and Challenges in Rice Seeds Trade Between India and Bangladesh

Rice, a major staple crop for India and Bangladesh is important not only for ensuring food security, but also the livelihood security of large number of small and marginal farmers engaged in rice cult...

by Neha Jain | On 23 Jan 2016

Child Marriage In South Asia

The briefing paper primarily focuses on violations of women’s and girls’ reproductive rights and right to be free from sexual violence arising from child marriage in six South Asian countries—Afghanis...

by Center for Reproductive Rights CRR | On 23 Jan 2016

Ensuring Access for the Climate Vulnerable in Bangladesh

Drawing on secondary literature and interviews and discussions with community members, local government officials, and various experts, the report proposes a mechanism through which LGIs could provide...

by International Centre for Climate Change and Develo ICCCAD | On 23 Jan 2016

Expanding Foreign Investment in the Energy Sector Challenges and Risks For Bangladesh?

A recent project under the CMI-CPD institutional collaboration agreement has looked at the effect of corruption on investment in the energy sector. A distinction is made between the extraction of ener...

by Arne Wiig | On 23 Jan 2016

Social Cost-Benefit Analysis of Delhi Metro

The growing demand for public transport in mega cities has serious effects on urban ecosystems, especially due to the increased atmospheric pollution and changes in land use patterns. An ecologically...

by Rashmi Singh | On 23 Jan 2016

Should Bangladesh Monitor Core Inflation for Conducting Monetary Policy?

Over the years, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) has been using changes in consumer price index (CPI) inflation as the operational guide to measuring price stability in Bangladesh. In recent years, it has how...

by Bangladesh Bank | On 23 Jan 2016

A Note on the Contribution of Small and Medium Enterprises to GDP in Bangladesh

Despite the importance, the contribution of SMEs to the country’s GDP and employment has remained somewhat unclear especially in view of the multiplicity of the definition of SMEs adopted by different...

by Bangladesh Bank | On 23 Jan 2016

Results of the Methodological Studies, for Agricultural and Rural Statistics

This report summarizes outcomes of collaboration between ADB and implementing agencies of Bhutan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Philippines, and Viet Nam to address gaps in the production of a...

by Asian Bank | On 23 Jan 2016

Creating Alliances for Renewable Energy Investment: Lessons from China and India

Alliances’ of public and private actors can play a crucial role in accelerating the transition to sustainable energy systems, and these groupings can be ‘engineered’. Based on research findings from I...

by Institute of Development Studies IDS | On 23 Jan 2016

Can Targeted Transition Services for Young Offenders Foster Pro-Social Attitudes and Behaviours in Urban Settings? Evidence from the Evaluation of the Kherwadi Social Welfare Association’s Yuva Parivartan Programme

In Maharashtra, state-sponsored programmes that support school dropouts and young offenders in finding employment and integrating into society are severely limited by a lack of resources and capacity....

by Jaideep Gupte | On 23 Jan 2016

East Asia in 2015

The future political landscape of Asia-Pacific would largely be decided, arguably, by happenings in the East Asian region. It is so because in East Asia, the interests of three important players of wo...

by Sandip Kumar Mishra | On 23 Jan 2016

Children still battling to go to school

The 2011 EFA Global Monitoring Report exposed the hidden crisis of education in conflict-affected countries. Two years later, to mark the birthday of Malala, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Talib...

by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultura UNESCO | 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

Import Penetration And Price-Cost Margins In Indian Manufacturing Industries

An econometric analysis of the impact of import liberalization on price-cost margins in Indian industries in the post-reform period is carried out using firm-level data for eight manufacturing industr...

by Bishwanath Goldar | On 22 Jan 2016

Community Based Women Empowerment Initiatives in India

Over the years, India has designed and implemented a number of targeted interventions for the poor including putting in place specific reservations for the disadvantaged to ensure equitable access to...

by Global IPE | On 22 Jan 2016

India's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions

This document outlines one component of India’s INDC submission to the UNFCCC focussing on the renewable energy contribution to its future electricity mix. So far, the Government of India has articula...

by Sudatta Ray | On 22 Jan 2016

Rising Powers in International Development

The setting up of the New Development Bank was first suggested by India in early 2012 in order to fund its domestic energy and infrastructure needs, namely power transmission, 11 roads and ports. Fina...

by Stephen Spratt | On 22 Jan 2016

The E15 Initiative: Strengthening the Global Trade and Investment System in the 21st Century

World trade has experienced a significant slowdown since the 2008 financial crisis. Over this period, the global ratio of trade expansion to income growth has halved. An effective global trade and inv...

by World Economic Forum [WEF] | On 22 Jan 2016

Strategic Trade Policy for Network Goods Oligopolies

The paper analyzes strategic trade policy for differentiated network goods oligopolies under alternative scenarios, when there is export-rivalry between two countries. We show that, under price compet...

by Anomita Ghosh | On 22 Jan 2016

Fostering Synergy between Health and ICDS for Advancing Child Survival and Development

This case study was undertaken to understand and document the experiences of the Valsad district. The researchers spent two weeks in Valsad collecting data. Interviews were conducted with functionarie...

by Climate Modelling Forum CMF | On 22 Jan 2016

Does Marginal Cost Pricing of Electricity Affect the Groundwater Pumping Behaviour of Farmers? Evidence From India

The purpose of this evaluation was to quantify the impact of the recent policy change in West Bengal relating to the pricing of electricity from a flat-rate tariff to a metered tariff. The study attem...

by Meenakshi J V | 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

Principles and Good Practice for Preserving Data

This guidance aims to assist official data producers (national statistical offices and line ministries) in defining and meeting their digital preservation requirements and obligations. The recommendat...

by Nancy McGovern | On 21 Jan 2016

Productivity in the Era of Trade and Investment Liberalization in India

Very recent years India has witnessed wide-ranging economic reforms in her policies governing international trade and FDI flows. As per the findings of the paper, some of the important determinants of...

by Ram Upendra Das | On 21 Jan 2016

The R&D Scenario in Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

This discussion paper provides an analysis of the impact of these reforms on pharmaceutical R&D in India. It looks into the context in which the reforms were introduced, the nature and trends of R&D e...

by Reji K Joseph | 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

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has emerged as a major regional initiative for trade and investment liberalisation and towards enhancing competitiveness of the twelve participant countries drawn f...

by V. S. Seshadri | On 21 Jan 2016

The Growth-Employment Relationship Since 2000

This discussion paper is a brief assessment of the employment challenge that become manifest in the Indian economy during the past decade. It analyses various available economic indicators and present...

by Shipra Nigam | On 21 Jan 2016

Strengthening Public Health Nurition Education in India

Malnutrition remains a major challenge for public health and for human and economic development in India. A lack of adequately trained public health professionals and nutritionists means that this cha...

by Shweta Khandelwal | On 20 Jan 2016

Identifying Predictors of Childhood Anaemia in North-East India

The objective of this study is to examine the factors that influence the occurrence of childhood anaemia in North-East India by exploring dataset of the Reproductive and Child Health-II Survey (RCH-II...

by S Dey | On 20 Jan 2016

Remittances, Migration and Social Development: A Conceptual Review of Literature

This paper reviews the empirical literature on the relationship between remittances and various dimensions of social development in the developing world within a broader conceptual framework of migrat...

by | On 19 Jan 2016

Women Workers and the Politics of Claims-Making in a Globalizing Economy

The paper analyses the evolving politics of claims-making by women workers in the Global South in the context of a globalized economy. It addresses the following questions. What kinds of claims are pr...

by | On 19 Jan 2016

Long-term care protection for older persons: A review of coverage deficits in 46 countries

This paper: (i) examines long-term care (LTC) protection in 46 developing and developed countries covering 80 per cent of the world’s population; (ii) provides (data on LTC coverage for the population...

by Xenia Scheil-Adlung | On 19 Jan 2016

Evolution of Capital Structure in East Asia: Corporate Inertia or Endeavours?

The present paper examines the capital structure adjustment dynamics of listed non-financial corporations in seven East Asian countries during 1994-2002. Compared to firms in the least affected countr...

by Sarmistha Pal | On 19 Jan 2016

Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia: Results from a Pilot Project in Vietnam

Human trafficking is one of the most widely spread and fastest growing crimes in the world. However, despite the scope of the problem, the important human rights issues at stake and the professed inte...

by Ngan Dinh | On 19 Jan 2016

Does Gender Matter for Firm Performance? Evidence from Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Using 2005 firm level data for 26 ECA countries, this paper estimates performance gaps between male- and female-owned businesses, while controlling for their location by industry and country. We find...

by Shwetlena Sabarwal | On 19 Jan 2016

Conducting Elections in the World’s Largest Plural Society

The paper discusses the need to have elections completely free of crime, and abuse of money, based on a perfect electoral roll, and with full voter participation.

by S. Y. Quraishi | On 19 Jan 2016

The Laboratory and its Double: The Making of the Scientist-Citizen at TIFR

If the utopian ideals of Bhatnagar with which we began our journey saw science as existing without national boundaries, Bhabha’s institute which attempted to mirror that utopian ideal focused on erasi...

by Indira Chowdhury | On 19 Jan 2016

The Skills They Want: Aspirations of Students in Emerging India

This report investigates student awareness, interests and aspirations around general and vocational education. Using a survey administered to class 12 students in one district each in Rajasthan, Chatt...

by Megha Aggarwal | On 19 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

Health Service Inequities as Challenge to Health Security

The paper provides an overview of the inequities in health outcomes and their variation across regional, social, and economic groups. It seeks to explain these variations by focusing on health service...

by | 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

The Future of Jobs

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, which includes developments in previously disjointed fields such as artificial intelligence and machine-learning, robotics, nanotechnology, 3-D printing, and genetics...

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

Equity and Health­ Care in the Era of Reforms

Two important policy shifts occurred with the period of economic reforms: one, the sharp reduction in the controlled drug list leading to significant increase in drug prices, and second, the introdu...

by Gita Sen | On 18 Jan 2016

Public Infrastructure as a Determinant of Intertemporal and Interregional Productive Performance in China

This paper focuses on the question whether public infrastructure capital matters for labor productivity in China, both over time and across regions. It finds that public infrastructure is a significan...

by | On 15 Jan 2016

Rebalancing Growth in Asia

Rebalancing growth patterns of Asian economies is an important component of the overall rebalancing effort that will be required in the world economy. In this paper, I provide an empirical characteriz...

by Eswar S. Prasad | On 15 Jan 2016

Language Proficiency of Migrants: The Relation with Job Satisfaction and Matching

We empirically analyze the language proficiency of migrants in the Netherlands. Traditionally, the emphasis in studying language proficiency and economic outcomes has been on the relation between earn...

by Hans Bloemen | On 15 Jan 2016

Housing Policies in China: Issues and Options

This article consists in three parts. The first part deals with theory. We evaluate the pros and cons of government involvement in urban housing and of renting versus ownership. In the second part, we...

by Yves Zenou | On 14 Jan 2016

Gender and Climate Change Thematic Section

Eldis has brought together an editorially selected range of over 170 research resources from diverse perspectives and publishers. The theme focuses on gender equality and the role that both women and...

by E. Esplen | On 14 Jan 2016

Job Search Processes for Tribal People from Jharkhand and West Bengal

Millions of job seekers in South Asia, including many tribals, are forced by lack of local employment opportunities to migrate towards urban areas. This fieldwork-based study aims to understand specif...

by Rajib Dhar | On 13 Jan 2016

Female Migrants and their Health in India: A Study of Kerala Women Working in Mumbai

In this paper, an attempt has been made to understand the general, reproductive, and mental health status of migrant women from Kerala who stay in the working women’s hostels. The present study is bas...

by R. S. Reshmi | On 13 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 Deprived, Discriminated & Damned Girl Child: Story of Declining Child Sex Ratios in India

This article traces the different elements that explain and help understand the phenomena of declining child sex ratios in India along with the debates on the subject, with specific focus on urban loc...

by Preet Rustagi | On 13 Jan 2016

Medical Education in India- Gender Distribution

The medical profession in India has experienced major changes in terms of woman participation in medicine. In the last few decades, the number of women joining medicine has revealed a noticeable growt...

by Rituparna Dutta | On 13 Jan 2016

Elementary Education in India: Progress, Setbacks, and Challenges

This paper provides a stocktaking of progress and shortcomings in India’s march towards universalisation of elementary education (UEE), whilst addressing concerns of equity, inclusion, and quality fro...

by | On 13 Jan 2016

Broken Lives and Deserted Homes: Report on Exodus of Muslim Families from Atali

The following is a report based on PUDR’s repeated visits to Atali and its interactions with Muslim and Jat families over the last four months.

by PUDR Peoples Union for Democratic Rights | On 13 Jan 2016

Gender and Migration: Overview Report

This Overview Report on Gender and Migration takes a broad approach to migration – it looks at the gender dynamics of both international and the lesser-researched internal migration and the interconne...

by | On 13 Jan 2016

Recent Downturn in Emerging Economies and Macroeconomic Implications for Sustainable Development: A Case of India

The paper discusses the progress of Indian economy and its policies since the broadbased structural reforms initiated in 1991 with a special focus on the recent downturn following the global financial...

by | On 11 Jan 2016

Data-Driven Planning for Solid Waste Management in Chennai

The paper reports the advantages of data-based planning for solid waste management in a major Indian city, which have been demonstrated through three steps undertaken as part of a pilot project in a C...

by | On 09 Jan 2016

The Judicial Appointments Debate in India: The Need for Integrity and Transparency

The latest ruling by the Supreme Court of India against the government’s project of the National Judicial Appointments Commission has further stirred a public discourse on the best means to have the b...

by Vinod Rai | On 09 Jan 2016

Caste and Gender: The Social Barriers to Solid Waste Management in India

The paper explains the indignities and deeply-held attitudes that stigmatize those who deal with waste, garbage and human excreta in India. It outlines how such attitudes make the goals of the ‘Swachh...

by | On 09 Jan 2016

India-Myanmar Ties: New Hope, Old Despair

India’s current trade negotiations have three agreements as top priorities. Two of these the India ASEAN services agreement and the bilateral trade and investment agreement with the European Union (EU...

by Laldinkima Sailo | 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

State of Injustice: The Indian State and Poverty

The paper throws light on the view that the Indian state has been one that has been perpetrated by injustice irrespective of a series of ground-breaking legislative acts that enshrine a number of soci...

by John Harriss | On 09 Jan 2016

Suicide Bombings in Afghanistan

The findings of this research paper on suicide bombings largely discredit the commonly-held view that the personalities of the insurgent suicide bombers and their religion are the principal causes of...

by Riaz Hassan | On 09 Jan 2016

Indian agricultural development in the context of economic reforms. Causes of change and issues for a future reform agenda.

This work examines the influence of reforms in the 1990s regarding the agricultural development in India. Many studies have analysed the impact of these reforms but most of them focused on foreign tra...

by Marion Künzler | On 08 Jan 2016

Double Bubble Trouble

Sustaining anything in the region of 7% growth should be good enough in a troubled and risk-laden world.

by T.N. Ninan | On 08 Jan 2016

Poverty Alleviation Programmes in India

This monograph tries to analyse the nature of poverty in India in its various dimensions, particularly emphasising its social underpinnings, and Government initiatives to alleviate rural poverty. It d...

by Neepa Saha | On 08 Jan 2016

Impact of Participatory Forest Management on Financial Assets of Rural Communities in Northwest Pakistan

The system of participatory (or joint) forest management was commenced in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan in 1996 through Asian Development Bank's funded project. These forest refo...

by Tanvir Ali | On 08 Jan 2016

Analysis of Myths and Realities of Deforestation in Northwest Pakistan: Implications for Forestry Extension

Pakistan is among those countries, which have very high deforestation rate. The remaining forests are very diverse in nature and of significant importance for the country’s economy and livelihoods of...

by Tanvir Ali | On 08 Jan 2016

A Report on Fluorosis mitigation in Dhar District (M.P.)

Vasudha Vikas Sansthan with the help of Peoples’ Science Institute, Dehra Doon undertook fluoride testing and fluorosis mitigation in Tirala, Dharampuri and Umarban bloks of Dhar district. The program...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 07 Jan 2016

Activity Based Training of WaterAid India Partners in Water Quality Monitoring & Management

Effective monitoring of access to, quantity of and quality of water is a key consideration for India. Given the large investments and big programmes and schemes including the current thrust of Sector...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 07 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

Household Decision-Making Under Threat of Violence: A Micro Level Study in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

The rural household livelihood and children’s educational investment decisions are analyzed in a post-conflict setting located in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. The study represents...

by | On 07 Jan 2016

Remittances and Labor Supply in Post-Conflict Tajikistan

This paper analyzes the impact of remittances on the labor supply of men and women in post-conflict Tajikistan. It is found that on average men and women from remittance-receiving households are less...

by Olga Shemyakina | On 07 Jan 2016

Asia-Latin America Free Trade Agreements: An Instrument for Inter-Regional Liberalization and Integration?

Trade integration and free trade agreement (FTA)-led cooperation between Asia and Latin America has increased since the early 2000s. Using new criteria, this paper examines whether Asia-Latin America...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 07 Jan 2016

Socio-Economic Uncertainty and Violent Conflicts

This paper, with reference to the literature on research on violent conflicts, discusses socio-economic uncertainty and characteristics of coping with it in the context of violent mass conflicts. Rese...

by Gyöngyvér Demény | On 07 Jan 2016

Navigating a Changing World Economy: ASEAN, the People's Republic of China, and India

Most projections envision continued rapid growth in the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and India (collectively, ACI) over the next...

by Fan Zhai | On 07 Jan 2016

Production Networks, Profits, and Innovative Activity: Evidence from Malaysia and Thailand

Cross-border production networks have been playing an increasingly important role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries’ trade in recent years, but micro-level studies are ra...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 07 Jan 2016

Innovative Strategies in Higher Education for Accelerated Human Resource Development in South Asia Nepal

The report herein provide in-depth analysis of the state of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education in Nepal.

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 07 Jan 2016

Financing Development Cooperation in Northeast Asia

Infrastructure connectivity in Northeast Asia — comprising the northeastern People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and the Russi...

by Masahiro Kawai | On 07 Jan 2016

The 2030 Architecture of Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Agreements

This paper investigates and analyzes the present status, potential, and prospects of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade agreements (FTAs). The move towards the ASEAN Economic Co...

by Suthiphand Chirathivat | On 07 Jan 2016

How Low-Carbon Green Growth Can Reduce Inequalities

Half of the world’s population — 3 billion people — lives below the poverty line, and Asia has the largest share. In pursuit of sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation, there is great...

by Anbumozhi Venkatachalam | 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

Food System Strategies for Preventing Micronutrient Malnutrition

Micronutrients are defined as substances in foods that are essential for human health and are required in small amounts. The goal of this paper is to identify deficiencies in the food system that lead...

by Ross M. Welcha | On 07 Jan 2016

Negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: Evaluation and Implications for East Asian Regionalism

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement seems to have reached a crossroads: it could either be a building block toward achieving economic integration in Asia and the Pacific, or trigger the form...

by Inkyo Cheong | On 07 Jan 2016

Multilateralizing Asian Regionalism

Motivated by the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia over the last decade, this paper studies the challenges faced by the Asian “noodle bowl” — overlapping, multiple trade rules, reg...

by Richard Baldwin | On 07 Jan 2016

Modern Currency Wars: The United States Versus Japan

In 2013, through massive quantitative easing by the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the yen depreciated about 25% against the US dollar, stoking fears of Japan bashing by the US. However, this sharp depreciation...

by Ronald McKinnon | On 07 Jan 2016

Special Study on Sustainable Fisheries Management and International Trade in the Southeast Asia and Pacific Region

This paper analyzes the current status of fisheries and aquaculture in Southeast Asia and international trade. Analysis concludes that a policy of sustainable management for both capture fisheries and...

by Masayuki Komatsu | 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

Better Hospitals, Better Health Systems: The Urgency of a Hospital Agenda

This paper outlines the nature of the issues surrounding hospitals in emerging markets and makes the case for early action to bridge the abyss of neglected hospital investments and the path needed to...

by | On 06 Jan 2016

ASEAN Economic Integration through Trade and Foreign Direct Investment: Long-Term Challenges

This paper explores the long-term challenges for trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The region has emerged as an important production base...

by Masahiro Kawai | On 06 Jan 2016

Japan’s Lost Decade: Lessons for Other Economies

Japan has suffered from sluggish economic growth and recession since the 1990s, a phenomenon dubbed “Japan’s Lost Decade.” The People’s Republic of China, many countries in the eurozone, and the Unite...

by Naoyuki Yoshino | On 06 Jan 2016

Locating the Survivor in the Indian Criminal Justice System: Decoding the Law

The publication “Locating the Survivor in the Indian Criminal Justice System: Decoding the Law” serves as a guide for survivors, young lawyers, and other key stakeholders in the criminal justice syste...

by Lawyers Collective | On 06 Jan 2016

Habitat III Issue Papers : 22 – Informal Settlements

Although some governments acknowledge the existence of slums and informal settlements, many do not. This lack of recognition and subsequent response directly undermines city-wide sustainable developme...

by | On 05 Jan 2016

Land Laws, Administration and Forced Displacement in Andhra Pradesh, India

The present study was taken up in this context with the objective of examining the land laws and administration in AP and see how the existing laws are implemented, forced acquisition of lands is ta...

by Ramachandraiah C | 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

Indonesia Local Economic Governance Index, 2007

This year's Indonesia Local Economic Governance Survey provides a fascinating look into the dynamics of local governance and business development in Indonesia nearly a decade after regional autonomy....

by The Asia Foundation | On 02 Jan 2016

Afghanistan in 2009: A Survey of the Afghan People

The findings from The Asia Foundation's fifth public opinion poll in Afghanistan, Afghanistan in 2009: A Survey of the Afghan People, which covers all 34 of Afghanistan's provinces.

by The Asia Foundation | On 02 Jan 2016

State Building, Political Progress, and Human Security in Afghanistan

Based on the Asia Foundation’s , "Afghanistan in 2006: A Survey of the Afghan People." , the papers in this volume analyze survey data on the opinions and perceptions of Afghans towards government, pu...

by | On 02 Jan 2016

Book Review: A Persuasive Narrative

Review of Eat Dust: Mining and Greed in Goa by Hartman de Souza; Harper Collins India; 2015, pp 288, Rs 350. Eat Dust: Mining and Greed in Goa By Hartman de Souza; Harper Collins India; 2015, p...

by Augusto Pinto | On 02 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

Urban Systems and Urban Development in the People’s Republic of China

This paper examines the trends in urbanization in the People’s Republic of China. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is experiencing a trend toward population concentration in its large coastal c...

by Zhao Chen | On 01 Jan 2016

Partial Minimum Wage Compliance

In many developing countries, a significant portion of the wage distribution is found below the legal minimum wage. In order to fully understand the nature of this non-compliance, we need to compare t...

by Delia Furtado | On 01 Jan 2016

Better Migrants, Better PISA Results: Findings From a Natural Experiment

Switzerland changed its migration policy in the 1990s from a “non-qualified only” policy to one of almost free movement of labor. To analyze the impact of this policy change on the schooling outcomes...

by Maria Cattaneo | On 01 Jan 2016

Differential effects of graduating during a recession across gender and race

This study examines the differential effects of the unemployment rate at labor market entry,defined as the time of leaving school, on subsequent wages across gender and race using the National Longitu...

by Ayako Kondo | On 01 Jan 2016

Poverty and Violent Conflict: A Micro Level Perspective on the Causes and Duration of Warfare

This paper discusses how endogenous mechanisms linking processes of violent conflict and the economic well-being of individuals and households in combat areas provide valuable micro foundations to the...

by Patricia Justino | On 30 Dec 2015

Can immigrants help women “have it all”? Immigrant Labor and Women’s Joint Fertility and Labor Supply Decisions

This paper explores how inflows of low-skilled immigrants impact the tradeoffs women face when making joint fertility and labor supply decisions. I find increases in fertility and decreases in labor f...

by Delia Furtado | On 30 Dec 2015

International Financial Reforms: Capital Standards, Resolution Regimes and Supervisory Colleges, and their Effect on Emerging Markets

This paper focuses on the relevance to emerging economies of three major financial reforms following the global financial crisis of 2007–2009: the improved capital requirements intended to reduce the...

by Duncan Alford | On 30 Dec 2015

A State in Periodic Crises Andhra Pradesh

The history of Andhra Pradesh is conveyed here with some authority based on a long, unbroken and, in all modesty, unrivalled experience as a civil servant. Some writings are collected together which t...

by B P R Vithal | On 30 Dec 2015

Sukha Mukti Abhiyan

Meaningful participatory processes of natural resource management lead to enhanced productivity, equity, sustainability and self-reliance. This is evident from the experiments at Sukhomajri, Ralegan-S...

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 29 Dec 2015

The Effect of Remittances on Labour Supply in the Republic of Haiti

We examine the labour supply effect of remittances in the Republic of Haiti, the prime international remittances recipient country in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region relative to its GDP....

by Evans Jadotte | On 29 Dec 2015

Deepening the Social Dimensions of Regional Integration

The present report presents an overview of some recent trends and future challenges regarding the deepening of the social dimensions of regional integration, in light of the Recommendations of the Rep...

by | On 29 Dec 2015

Self-Employment amongst Migrant Groups in England and Wales: New Evidence from Census Microdata

Self-employment constitutes a vital part of the economy since entrepreneurs can provide not only employment for themselves but also for others. The link between self-employment and immigration is, how...

by Ken Clark | 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

Financial Crisis as a Catalyst of Legal Reforms: The Case of Asia

This paper discusses how financial crises in emerging Asia and Japan worked as catalysts for legal reforms. Findings show that six Asian countries pursued significant legal and judicial reforms follow...

by Masahiro Kawai | On 29 Dec 2015

An Asian Perspective on Global Financial Reforms

The purpose of this study is to better understand the likely impact on Asian economies and financial institutions of various recent global financial reforms, including Basel III capital adequacy and l...

by Peter Morgan | On 29 Dec 2015

Public and Private Control and Contestation of Public Space amid Violent Conflict in Karachi

Few cities in South Asia have been affected by violence more than Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and economic centre. This working paper examines the impacts of the city’s declining security situati...

by Noman Ahmed | On 29 Dec 2015

A Connectivity-Driven Development Strategy for Nepal: From a Landlocked to a Land-Linked State

Nepal's lackluster economic performance during the post-conflict period (that is, after November 2006) has been driven by remittances from the export of labor services and the improved performance of...

by Pradumna Rana | 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

Afghanistan in 2015: A Survey of the Afghan People

The Asia Foundation's Survey of the Afghan People is Afghanistan’s broadest and longest-running public opinion poll. After the first full year of Afghanistan’s National Unity Government, 9,586 Afghans...

by Zachary Warren | On 26 Dec 2015

Assessing the Experience of South Asia–East Asia Integration and India's Role

This paper examines the gains for South Asian economies from integratingwith East Asia and India’s role in this process. Evidence of increased pan-Asian integration exists but the process is uneven. B...

by Ganeshan Wignaraja | On 24 Dec 2015

Income Distributions, Inequality, and Poverty in Asia, 1992–2010

In this paper, income distributions for developing countries in Asia are modeled using beta-2 distributions, which are estimated by a method of moments procedure applied to grouped data. Estimated par...

by Duangkamon Chotikapanich | On 24 Dec 2015

Social Factors Affecting Women's Susceptibility to HIV in India

India is the global epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Asia. Previousresearch indicates that the majority of HIV-positive women in India were infected by their husbands, their only sexual partner,...

by Priya Lall | On 23 Dec 2015

Connecting South Asia and Southeast Asia: A Bangladesh Country Study

Economic integration is being inhibited by the poor state of transport connectivity between Bangladesh, and South Asia and Southeast Asia. This study reviews connectivity initiatives of Bangladesh and...

by Mustafizur Rahman | On 23 Dec 2015

Financial Inclusion, Regulation, and Education in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has achieved a high level of financial inclusion compared to other South Asian countries. Its financial sector comprises a wide range of financial institutions providing financial services s...

by Saman Kelegama | On 23 Dec 2015

Macroeconomic Effects of Oil Price Fluctuations on Emerging and Developed Economies in a Model Incorporating Monetary Variables

The goal of this paper is to examine the impact of crude oil price movements on two macro variables, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate and the consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate, in...

by Naoyuki Yoshino | 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

Asymmetric Influence in Global Banking Regulation

Global regulatory standard setting is one of the most lucrative battlefields of the international political economy. Asymmetric influence and regulatory capture in setting such standards can undermine...

by Roman Goldbach | On 23 Dec 2015

Mobile Financial Services in Bangladesh: An Overview of Market Development

The objective of this report is to share a market level overview of the early stage progress of MFS in Bangladesh up through the first quarter of 2012. With this goal in mind Bangladesh...

by Bangladesh Bank | On 22 Dec 2015

Estimating Growth-Inflation Tradeoff Threshold in Bangladesh

The objective of this study is to explore the inflation-economic growth linkage, if any, in Bangladesh. With this view, various tables and charts, correlation matrices, pair-wise Granger Causality tes...

by Sayera Younus | On 22 Dec 2015

Capital Structure, Ownership and Crisis: How Different Are Banks?

Employing data for 1992-2012, the article examines the factors affecting the capital structure of publicly listed Indian banks from a corporate finance perspective and compares the findings by exploit...

by Goutam Chatterjee | On 22 Dec 2015

nabling Trade: Increasing the Potential of Trade Reforms

It has become clear that as governments pursue trade facilitation, those that take a “horizontal” approach achieve the most success. This approach involves identifying industries with the highest pote...

by | On 22 Dec 2015

Indo-French Defence Cooperation - Friends in Need or Friends Indeed?

This paper aims at understanding the reasons behind the institutionalization of Indo-French defence cooperation after 1998, and at assessing the future prospects for this collaboration. By retracing i...

by | On 22 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

Thailand’s Investment in India’s Northeast: Strategies, Potentials and Risks

The imperatives for Thailand’s investment in the Northeast have come from two important considerations, reflecting longterm strategic objectives of the Look West Policy of Thailand. First, India’s nor...

by | On 22 Dec 2015

Climate Change and India: A 4 X4 Assessment a Sectoral and Regional Analysis for 2030

This report is a step in this direction. In particular, the knowledge and understanding of impacts as deduced from the Global Circulation Models and Regional Climate Models are not adequate to assess...

by Government of India GOI | On 22 Dec 2015

Gender and Financial Inclusion through the Post

Women form a disproportionately large share of the world’s unbanked population. Gender inequalities in employment and earnings mean that women have lower incomes, making them less able to open account...

by | On 21 Dec 2015

The Politics of Climate Change in India: Narratives of Equity and Co-benefits

India occupies an intriguing dual position in global climate politics – a poor and developing economy with low levels of historical and per capita emissions, and a large and rapidly growing economy wi...

by Navroz Dubash | On 21 Dec 2015

The Smart City Obsession: A Critique

Pune does not need a skewed smart city plan. The government needs to come up with a comprehensive white paper on the city's problems, and an integrated plan to tackle these problems, keeping the inte...

by Neeraj Jain | On 21 Dec 2015

Water-Related Disasters and Disaster Risk Management in the People’s Republic of China

Disaster risk now presents one of the most serious threats to inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development. Coupled with anticipated increases in the frequency and intensity of weather-related...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 21 Dec 2015

Addressing Climate Change Risks, Disasters, and Adaptation in the People’s Republic of China

It is vital for countries to identify climate risks, reduce these risks through mitigation, and adapt to these risks—thereby increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability. This study informs decisi...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 21 Dec 2015

Challenges to School Edupreneurs in the Existing Policy Environment: Case Study of Delhi and Gujarat

The Indian education ecosystem today consists of the government, private sector, and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) that have helped provide education to millions of children. The enactment of t...

by Meril Antony | On 21 Dec 2015

Regulatory Structure of Higher Education in India

This report analyses the current regulatory framework of higher education in India and highlights areas that require important policy reforms in order to encourage greater private participation. This...

by Centre for Civil Society CCS | On 21 Dec 2015

The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011: Origin, Need, and Analysis

Tabled by V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, in Lok Sabha in December 2011, The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redre...

by Amit Chandra | 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

The Global Information Technology Report 2014

The Global Information Technology Report provides a comprehensive assessment of networked readiness, or how prepared an economy is to apply the benefits of information and communications technologies...

by | On 21 Dec 2015

Now Corporate Paralysis

Public investment financed by the government's own or borrowed resources do not provide an adequate answer to the problem of relatively low investment.

by T.N. Ninan | On 18 Dec 2015

Basic Entrepreneurship: A Big New Idea in Development

The question of what keeps people mired in poverty is one of great importance to policy-makers and economists alike. The world’s poor typically lack both capital and skills, and each of these two fact...

by Oriana Bandiera | On 18 Dec 2015

Study of the Regulatory and Operational Structure of the Higher Education Sector in India

This project will study and document these barriers in a carefully chosen sample. Privately-managed higher education institutions have been chosen for the study. This will include a study of the three...

by Parth Shah | On 18 Dec 2015

Assessing Teacher Quality in India

Using administrative data from linked private schools from one of districts in India that matches 8,319 pupils to their subject specific teachers at the senior secondary level, we estimate the importa...

by Mehtabul Azam | On 18 Dec 2015

Access to and Financing of Healthcare through Health Insurance Intervention in India

Health insurance is expected to promote equity in access to health, financial protection, reduce escalating healthcare cost, enhance provider networks and enable country to make an optimal use of limi...

by Shailender Hooda | On 18 Dec 2015

Managing the Family Firm: Evidence from CEOs at Work

We develop a new survey instrument to codify CEOs’ diaries in large samples and use it to measure the labor supply of 1,114 family and professional CEOs of manufacturing firms across six countries...

by Oriana Bandiera | On 18 Dec 2015

Labour Processes and the Dynamics of Global Value Chain: A Developing Country Perspective

This paper with specific reference to India argues that limited view of verticality of production fails to appreciate the fact that choices of locations, the amount of rent created, the shift of value...

by Satyaki Roy | On 18 Dec 2015

The Value of Sustainable Protocol to Address Uterine Prolapse in Nepal: Health Camp, Awareness Education, and Employment Strategy

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a global women’s health concern; uterine prolapse (UP), one of the five types of POP, has significant prevalence in Nepal. Studies indicate that over 600,000 women in Ne...

by Sherrie Palm | On 18 Dec 2015

Can Improved Cooking Stoves Work? The Nepal Chulo Experience

What motivates rural households to switch from older cooking methods to newer, more improved, ones? Improved cooking stoves (ICS) technology has demonstrated capacity to reduce health hazards from smo...

by Dipika Gawande | On 18 Dec 2015

Naxalite Movements of India: A Profile

In order to understand the current phase of Naxalism, there is a need to understand different aspects of organizational transformation that have occurred within the Naxal movement, since the genesis a...

by Rajat Kumar Kujur | On 18 Dec 2015

National Legal Framework for IDPs in Sri Lanka: A Critical Analysis

This study places special attention on evaluating constitutional provisions that affect IDPs, on legislation pertaining to displacement, and the National Legal Framework for Relief, Rehabilitation, an...

by | On 18 Dec 2015

Swat A Critical Analysis

While the government continues to press for an unconditional surrender of arms and men as a precondition to a dialogue and settlement; the other side is also adamant on its demands including the withd...

by | On 18 Dec 2015

Global Sustainable Development Report, 2015 edition

The 2015 Global Sustainable Development Report, an intergovernmental-mandated report on the science-policy interface for sustainable development, was presented to UN Member States at the High Level Po...

by United Nations UN | On 17 Dec 2015

Nepal: A Failing State or a State in Transition?

The modest intention of this paper is to question the above assertion that Nepal is a failing state. To this end, it shall firstly outline the broad definition of failing states. Secondly, it will off...

by Oliver Housden | On 17 Dec 2015

In a Weak State: Status and Reintegration of Children Associated with Armed forces and Armed Groups (CAAFAG) in Nepal

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed on 21 November 2006, made an unprecedented commitment to those children who had been involved in Nepal’s decade long civil war. It stipulated that those ...

by | On 17 Dec 2015

Contemporary Ladakh: Evolving Indigenous & Quality Education

The current education system in Ladakh does not give much importance to learning rather they manufacture students by making them pass the examination; this is leading to degradation of education in L...

by | On 17 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

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

Contemporary Naxal Movement in India: New Trends, State Responses and Recommendations

This paper makes an attempt to map the Maoist conflict in its present state of affairs and while describing its present manifestations, the past links have always been revisited. The paper also attemp...

by | On 17 Dec 2015

Hidden in Plain Sight: A Statistical Analysis of Violence against Children

The report sheds light on the prevalence of different forms of violence against children, with global figures and data from 190 countries. Where relevant, data are disaggregated by age and sex, to pro...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 17 Dec 2015

For Every Child, a Fair Chance: The Promise of Equity

This report makes the case for closing persistent gaps in equity, because the cycle of inequity is neither inevitable nor insurmountable, and the cost of inaction is too high. UNICEF’s commitment to e...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 17 Dec 2015

Achieving the Malaria MDG Target: Reversing the Incidence of Malaria 2000–2015

In this joint publication, UNICEF and the World Health Organization report that between 2000 and 2015, malaria mortality rates among children under age 5 fell by 65 per cent, saving an estimated 5.9 m...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 17 Dec 2015

Children of Migrants: The Impact of Parental Migration on Their Children's Education and Health Outcomes

This paper examines how parental migration affects children’s health and education outcomes. Using the Rural-Urban Migration Survey in China data we are able to measure the share of children’s lifetim...

by Xin Meng | On 17 Dec 2015

Globalisation and the Future of the Welfare State

This paper reconsiders the link between welfare state provision, globalisation and competitiveness empirically. We challenge the conventional wisdom that welfare states, large-scale public provision o...

by Yu-Fu Chen | On 16 Dec 2015

Progress of the World’s Women 2005: Women, Work and Poverty

This report marks the fifth anniversary of the UN Millennium Declaration and the tenth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. It argues that unless governments and policymakers pay more atten...

by Martha Chen | On 16 Dec 2015

Surrogacy: Law’s Labour Lost?

The article presents the inconsistencies in the revised Draft ART Bill of 2010, particularly with regard to provisions about surrogacy and citizenship of the babies born from a surrogate mother.

by Aastha Sharma | On 16 Dec 2015

The Journey: Essays on the Indian Railways 1853 - 1920 : The Early Enthusiasts

The railways in India would not have been possible without the efforts of a few ambitious and adventurous men, who had dreams, took tremendous risks and had the ability and dexterity to persuade a ran...

by Anuradha Kumar | On 16 Dec 2015

Domestic Work, Wages and Gender Equality: Lessons from Developing Countries

The paper looks at the basic characteristics of female domestic workers, gaps in minimum wage coverage, compliance, and the extent of minimum wage violations. Presenting empirical evidence on labour m...

by | On 16 Dec 2015

China's Fitful Economic Reforms

Back in 2004, when I ran the Chinadesk at the International Monetary Fund, my team some written questions to Beijing ahead of our meetings with Chinese officials. China’s central bank had claimed that...

by Eswar Prasad | On 16 Dec 2015

Improving the quality of girls’ education in madrasas in Bangladesh

Research around the world has demonstrated the important role that education plays in the empowerment of girls and women. Providing girls with a quality education can help prevent early marriage, prev...

by Musammat Badrunnesha | On 16 Dec 2015

A Room of Our Own?

For decades, the creative process in Goa has been stymied by the lack of a market, of production facilities, of free speech (for a significant part of the 20th century), and even a shortage of role mo...

by | On 15 Dec 2015

How Can Food Subsidies Work Better? Answers from India and the Philippines

This study explores the outcomes of food subsidies to the poor in the case of India and the Philippines. Both countries operate in-kind food subsidy programs with similar mandates, commonalities in...

by Shikha Jha | On 15 Dec 2015

Education Reforms, Bureaucracy and the Puzzles of Implementation: A Case Study from Bihar

It is a widely accepted truth that the Indian state suffers from a serious crisis of implementation capability. Despite widespread recognition of this crisis, there is remarkably little analytical wor...

by | On 15 Dec 2015

Human Development Report 2015- Work for Human Development

From a human development perspective, work, rather than jobs oremployment is the relevant concept. A job is a narrow concept with a set of pre-determined time-bound assigned tasks or activities, in an...

by United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] | On 15 Dec 2015

The Sunday Edit: The Music of Relativity

It’s a hundred years since Einstein laid out the fundamental landscape of the General Theory of Relativity and changed the human construct of our universe.

by S Srinivasan | On 14 Dec 2015

The Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond of Poor Households to Recurrent Floods in Mumbai

This paper examines poor households in the city of Mumbai and their exposure, vulnerability, and ability to respond to recurrent floods. The paper discusses policy implications for future adaptive cap...

by | On 14 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

National Strategy Day on India: Delivering Growth in the New Context

The World Economic Forum along with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) convened the National Strategy Day on India on 3rd and 4th of November to provide a platform to boost economic growth and...

by | On 09 Dec 2015

Budget for Children in Meghalaya 2015-16

Budgets are the most solid expression of a government’s priorities, performances, decisions and intentions both at the national as well as the level of the states. This budget for children (BfC) in Me...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 08 Dec 2015

Climate Change: Impact on Agriculture and Costs of Adaptation

This Food Policy Report presents research results that quantify the climate-change impacts, assesses the consequences for food security, and estimates the investments that would offset the negative co...

by International Food Policy Research Institute | On 07 Dec 2015

Progress of the World’s Women 2008/2009: Who Answers to Women?

The “Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009: Who Answers to Women?” demonstrates that one of the most powerful constraints on realizing women's rights and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (...

by | On 07 Dec 2015

Gender Equality and Sustainable Development

The immense social, economic and environmental consequences of climate change and loss of essential ecosystems are becoming clear. Their effects are already being felt in floods, droughts, and devasta...

by | On 07 Dec 2015

The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column: Are the Women Safe in Your Workplace

This Sunday Column is about having simple safety initiatives and improvements to make your workplaces safe. With the recent incident of a woman print entrepreneur murdered in her workplace in Delhi, i...

by Noel D'Cunha | On 06 Dec 2015

Regional Inequality and ‘Inclusive Growth’ in India under Globalization: Identification of Lagging States for Strategic Intervention

This paper analyses the trends and patterns of economic inequality across Indian states since the early 1990s. The inter-state inequality in per capita income and consumption expenditure show a clear...

by | On 04 Dec 2015

Trade Liberalization, Labour Law, and Development: A Contextualization

This paper is a literature review that emphasizes institutional analyses of trade law, and explores some of the linkages with the development literature. The paper contends that the development of tra...

by | On 02 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

HIV/AIDS Epidemic in India: An Economic Perspective

In thinking about the implications of HIV/AIDS, considerable attention was initially drawn to its clinical aspects. More recently, other dimensions of HIV, including economic, have been explored. The...

by | On 01 Dec 2015

Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in India

HIV and AIDS are a serious challenge for the developing as well as the developed world. India, with an estimated 5.206 million people living with HIV in 2005, accounts for nearly 69 percent of the HIV...

by | On 01 Dec 2015

Loss Aversion and Willingness to Pay for New Products

This paper reports and models the discrepancy between the full bidding and endow and upgrade findings from a willingness-to-pay (WTP) elicitation Becker-Degroot-Marschak (BDM) experiment for an improv...

by Banerji A | On 30 Nov 2015

International Migration, Trade and Aid: A Survey

This paper surveys the voluminous literature on migration affecting trade and the somewhat less developed literature linking aid flows to migration. It aims to guide the reader through the two literat...

by | On 27 Nov 2015

Access to Clean Energy

The development and utilization of renewable energy sources has been accorded high priority by the Government of India. The policies and programmes implemented by the Ministry of New and Renewable Ene...

by | On 27 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

The Global Gender Gap Report 2015

The Global Gender Gap Report quantifies the magnitude of gender based disparities and tracks their progress over time. While no single measure can capture the complete situation, the Global Gender Gap...

by World Economic Forum [WEF] | On 24 Nov 2015

From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State

This paper sets forth the main lines of the ideology of the Islamic State and carefully follows its historical trajectory. Part I, Doctrines, takes up the group’s fundamental religious and political b...

by Cole Bunzel | On 22 Nov 2015

Terrorism and Security in Asia: Redefining Regional Order?

While a good deal has been written and said about the threat posed by terrorism in Southeast Asia, there has been little work analyzing the impact of terrorism and the war on terror on Asian regional...

by Amitav Acharya | On 22 Nov 2015

Comment of the Draft Environmental Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015

The Bill which proposes fundamental changes to Environmental Governance in India is deeply disconcerting and disruptive of prevailing environmental jurisprudence. The Bill promotes fundamental changes...

by Environment Support Group (ESG) | On 20 Nov 2015

Book Review: Religious Publishing, Nationalism and the Hindu

Review of The Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India. Harper Collins India, 2015; pp. 552, Rs 527/-

by Sandeep Dubey | On 20 Nov 2015

Agricultural Outlook and Situation Analysis Reports: Fourth Semi-annual Medium-term Agricultural Outlook Report

This report attempts to compare the latest medium-term projections for wheat, rice, coarse grains, oilseeds, vegetable oils and sugar made by four international institutions (OECD/FAO, USDA, FAPRI, an...

by National Council of Applied Economic Research | On 18 Nov 2015

Why can't an Academic deliver a Lecture on Secularism without Police Protection? - Romila Thapar

At Pratirodh, the Writers' Convention organised on 1 October 2015, Romila Thapar began with an anecdotal account of her recent lecture on secularism in Mumbai, a lecture for which she was advised to t...

by Romila Thapar | On 18 Nov 2015

Irfan Habib on Unscientific Approach Towards History and Losing Space of Dissent

Irfan Habib spoke at the writer's convention, Pratirodh, held at Mavlankar Hall on the 1st of November, in solidarity with writers who have returned their awards protesting the loss of a liberal space...

by | On 18 Nov 2015

Theories of Change in International Development: Communication, Learning or Accountability?

This paper provides a much needed analysis of how Theories of Change are used in the day-to-day practice of an international development organisation, The Asia Foundation. The Foundation uses the appr...

by | On 16 Nov 2015

The Sunday Edit: Bringing Back Beef

Beef bans and intolerance of the diversity that abounds in this country are clearly not the way to win elections.

by Ravi Duggal | On 15 Nov 2015

Women's Voices: Employment and Entrepreneurship in India

The report maps the workforce participation and aspirations of young women and girls from low income groups in and around four metropolitan cities of India and determines the barriers they face in rea...

by | On 13 Nov 2015

State Policy for Transgenders in Kerala, 2015

The documents states the Government's policy on Transgenders (TGs) its goals, objectives, approaches, implementation processes and highlights selected area of focus in Kerala' s socio-economic context...

by Social Justice Department Kerala | On 13 Nov 2015

Provincial Globalisation: Transnational Flows and Regional Development

This paper reviews the migration and development debate and the current state of knowledge about flows of migrant resources to India, pointing to gaps and shortcomings in the literature. It argues tha...

by | On 13 Nov 2015

Are Juveniles Really Responsible fo Making Delhi the Rape Capital?

Statistics have been the most important criteria for the Central Government in changing the juvenile justice law and introducing treatment of 16-18 year old juveniles committing such offences as adult...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 13 Nov 2015

Employment and Economic Class in the Developing World

This paper introduces a model for generating national estimates and projections of the distribution of the employed across five economic classes for 142 developing countries over the period 1991 to 20...

by | On 10 Nov 2015

Now Focus on the Economy

What the government should is to concentrate on economic issues with diversionary issues being put back in the cupboard.

by T.N. Ninan | On 07 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

The Sector Reforms Process in Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation: A Review of the Role of WASMO in Gujarat

This paper provides an assessment of the interventions in reforming the drinking water and sanitation sector in Gujarat as through the Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) from a sup...

by Keshab Das | 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

Whither the Co-operative Banking?

Current status of the urban co-operative banking in India, how it reached there, what recent initiatives the Reserve Bank has taken to strengthen the sector and what is the way forward. [Speech deliv...

by R. Gandhi | On 04 Nov 2015

Gender and Land Tenure Security: Challenges and Barriers to Women’s Entitlement to Land in India

Given the importance of securing women’s rights to land as India grows and develops and recognizing the dearth of available data to guide the design of gender-sensitive interventions, this study provi...

by | On 04 Nov 2015

Performance of Targeted Public Distribution System in Kerala

Targeted Public Distribution System was introduced in the country following the failure of the Universal PDS to serve below the poverty line and poorest of the poor households.It is being implemente...

by T Jayan | On 04 Nov 2015

Top Ten Urban Innovations

Humanity faces the mammoth task of adding over 2 billion people to the urban population before 2050. This is the equivalent of creating a city the size of London or San Francisco every month for the n...

by | On 03 Nov 2015

Skyrocketing Prices of Pulses and the Agrarian Crisis: Impact of Neo-liberal Policies

This interview with Vijoo Krishnan, Joint Secretary All India Kisan Sabha, on the agrarian crises leading to farmer suicides and rising prices of food grains traces backs the agrarian crises to the ne...

by Vijoo Krishnan | On 02 Nov 2015

Internal Migration, Remittances and Poverty: Evidence from Ghana and India

Drawing on data from population censuses and recent household surveys for India and Ghana, this paper demonstrates the importance of internal migration in comparison to international migration, showin...

by | On 02 Nov 2015

Monitoring Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Opportunities and Challenges

On 2 August 2015, the outcome document of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 was agreed by consensus by Member States. The outcome document will be presented to the Summit for adop...

by UN Women | On 30 Oct 2015

Meta - Study of Literature on Budget Private Schools in India

Despite lack of infrastructure and facilities, studies over the past decade has shown that learning outcomes in these schools are equal to or better than those of far more resourcefu...

by Centre for Civil Society CCS | On 29 Oct 2015

Inequality, Social Cooperation and Local Collective Action

This paper examines the relationship between inequality and collective action, and identifies a range of mechanisms that shape the association between income inequality and local collective action. Th...

by | On 29 Oct 2015

Evaluating the Targeting Effectiveness of Social Transfers: A Literature Review

Many methodologies exist for dividing a population into those who are classified as eligible for social transfers and those who are ineligible. Popular targeting mechanisms include means testing, prox...

by | On 29 Oct 2015

Quality of Government and the Relationship between Natural Disasters and Child Poverty A Comparative Analysis

This paper explores the degree to which exposure to reoccurring natural disasters of various kinds explains seven dimensions of severe child poverty in 67 middle- and low-income countries. It also ana...

by Adel Daoud | On 28 Oct 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

The Climate Summits: Only Pledges and No Reviews

This interview is with D Raghunandan of Delhi Science Forum on India’s pledge regarding climate changes negotiations in Paris. The pledge was recently revealed in the documents presented by Prakash J...

by D Raghunandan | 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

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

Impact of Migration on Poverty and Development

This paper reviews the literature on migration in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, East Africa and West Africa in order to highlight the complexity of migration patterns and impacts. It is...

by Tasneem Siddiqui | On 19 Oct 2015

The Battle for Bihar

While the politics of caste and personalities do seem to be relevant to the elections to the Legislative Assembly in the eastern Indian State of Bihar, with the multi-phase polls beginning on 12 Octob...

by | On 19 Oct 2015

Policy Tradeoffs in an Open Economy and the Role of G-20 in Global Macroeconomic Policy Coordination

In this paper the aim is to investigate the different nuances of India's capital account management through empirical analyses as well as descriptive discussions. In particular the study the evolution...

by Rajeswari Sengupta | On 19 Oct 2015

Women on Board and Performance of Family Firms: Evidence from India

This paper provides evidence on the effect of women directors on the performance of family firms with a case study of India.

by Jayati Sarkar | On 16 Oct 2015

The Economic Cost of Out-of-School Children in Southeast Asia

This publication is the result of UNESCO Bangkok’s project in cooperation with Educate A Child (EAC) which seeks to eradicate obstacles, both in policy and practice, that would prevent children in Sou...

by Save Children | On 15 Oct 2015

Labour Market Reforms Since the Crisis: Drivers and Consequences

The paper analyses the determinants and effects of reforms of employment protection legislation (EPL), using a novel inventory that covers 111 developed and developing countries between 2008 and 2014....

by Clemente Pignatti Morano | On 15 Oct 2015

Indian Capitalism: A Case that doesn’t Fit?

This paper critically examines the ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ (VoC) School’s approach to constructing typologies of capitalisms with reference to the specific case of Indian capitalism. It emphasizes t...

by Surajit Mazumdar | On 14 Oct 2015

Food and Nutrition in India: Facts and Interpretations

This paper reviews recent evidence on food intake and nutrition in India. It attempts to make sense of various puzzles, particularly the decline of average calorie intake during the last 25 years. Th...

by Angus Deaton | On 13 Oct 2015

Measuring Poverty in a Growing World

The extent to which growth reduces global poverty has been disputed for 30 years. A major problem is that consumption measured from household surveys, which is used to measure poverty, grows less rapi...

by Angus Deaton | On 13 Oct 2015

Rainbow Revolution in Bihar: Problem and Prospect

Green revolution has made the country self-sufficient in food grain production, mainly rice and wheat. We now need to usher in a rainbow revolution which encompasses not only agriculture but the allie...

by R K P Singh | On 13 Oct 2015

Measuring Poverty

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted in 2000 a set of “Millennium Development Goals” the first of which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, more specifically to “reduce by half,...

by Angus Deaton | On 13 Oct 2015

Panchayats and Household Vulnerability in Rural India

This paper tries to assess the impact of coping strategies on household welfare. The paper tries to identify the components of vulnerability to better focus policy. India, particularly rural India, h...

by Raghbendra Jha | On 12 Oct 2015

Violence Against Women in Rural Bihar: A Case of Four Villages

This covers various kinds of violence in the private and public spheres faced by women in the four villages. It concludes with issues for further research and some policy suggestions.

by Shivani Satija | On 12 Oct 2015

Bihar Ten Years of Election Watch: Comprehensive Reports on Elections, Crime and Money

Ten years of election watch in Bihar.

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 12 Oct 2015

Development Strategy in Bihar through Revitalizing the Agricultural Sector: A Preliminary Analysis

Based mainly on secondary data and partly on primary information obtained through field surveys in selected rural areas in Bihar in 2011, this paper firstly argues the critical importance of agricultu...

by | On 11 Oct 2015

The Sunday Edit: History, Politics and Science: Temerity of Archaeology

The echoes of the execution of the Syrian archaeologist, Khaled al-Assad by ISIS for trying to protect the antiquities at Palmyra, and the attempts to brutally erase intellectual inquiry, are to be he...

by Anuradha Kumar | On 11 Oct 2015

The New Dread-word

The new dread-word is deflation. What does this mean for India? This can cause a threat for domestic producers. This is because of the global situation. We can be prepared and by improving efficiency...

by T.N. Ninan | On 09 Oct 2015

Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007–2012) Social Sector

The Eleventh Plan places the highest priority on education as a central instrument for achieving rapid and inclusive growth. It presents a comprehensive strategy for strengthening the education secto...

by Planning Commission, India | On 09 Oct 2015

Urban Poverty in Asia

This paper on Urban Poverty in Asia looks at the different dimensions of poverty in Asia, both income and nonincome, its two main regions, including a brief account of who and what class of people are...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 09 Oct 2015

Achievements of BRAC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Towards Millennium Development Goals and Beyond

BRAC WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) programme aims to facilitate, in partnership with the government of Bangladesh and other stakeholders, the attainment of the targets of UN Millennium Developm...

by Nepal C Dey | On 09 Oct 2015

Migration and Social Networks: Evidence from Bangladesh

This paper explores the role of social networks in the migration process in Bangladesh. Migration can be costly and can also involve considerable risks around finding adequate housing and employment....

by | On 08 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

Soil Health: Issues and Concerns - A Review

This paper brings out the importance of soil fertility management (SFM) with respect to agricultural production and livelihood contribution to the rural people. It looks into the farmers' own knowledg...

by B. Suresh Reddy | On 08 Oct 2015

The Interaction Between Social Protection and Agriculture - A Review of Evidence

This study explores the interaction between formal social protection and agriculture by proposing a theory of change and conducting an empirical review that identifies how social protection impacts ag...

by Nyasha Tirivayi | On 07 Oct 2015

Inside the News: Challenges and Aspirations of Women Journalists in Asia and the Pacific

Why does gender equality in the media matter? Because of the many influences that shape the way we see men and women, media are among the most powerful. Media shape our daily lives, infusing their mes...

by UNESCO UNESCO | On 07 Oct 2015

Attempting the Production of Public Goods through Microfinance: The Case of Water and Sanitation

This paper evaluates the attempt to create public goods via microfinance loans. Microfinance loans in the production of goods with public goods characteristics signify an emergent micro-privatisation....

by Philip Mader | On 06 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

Public Good Provision in Indian Rural Areas: The Returns to Collective Action by Microfinance Groups

Self-help groups (SHGs) are the most common form of microfinance in India. The authors provide evidence that SHGs, composed of women only, undertake collective actions for the provision of public good...

by | On 01 Oct 2015

Scarce Land: Issues, Evidence and Impact

This paper was written in response to something that happened at one session of the 2013 Cuddalore Conference of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS). In India, net sown area had expanded from 1950-51 up...

by Sheila Bhalla | On 01 Oct 2015

Strategies for Tobacco Control in India: A Systematic Review

Tobacco control needs in India are large and complex. Evaluation of outcomes to date has been limited. The aim of this paper is to review the extent of tobacco control measures, and the outcomes of as...

by | On 30 Sep 2015

The Effect of ASEAN on Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia

This paper examines the trafficking of vulnerable populations in Southeast Asia and the effectiveness of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in combating human trafficking in the region. Human...

by | On 29 Sep 2015

Food Security, Productivity, and Gender Inequality

This paper examines the relationship between gender inequality and food security, with a particular focus on women as food producers, consumers, and family food managers. The discussion is set against...

by Bina Agarwal | On 29 Sep 2015

Safe Cities and Gender Budgeting

Women in the communities make efforts to seek allocation under appropriate budget heads to identify streams of revenue, available revenue and the required expenditure. Town planners, policy makers and...

by Vibhuti Patel | On 28 Sep 2015

Poverty and Social Protection in Urban India

This paper, highlights the need for provisioning adequate social protection coverage to the vulnerable sections of population in urban India, assesses the role of the TPDS in reaching out to the depri...

by R. Radhakrishna | On 28 Sep 2015

Cyber-Violence Against Women and Girls: A World-Wide Wake Up Call

The growing reach of the Internet, the rapid spread of mobile information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the wide diffusion of social media have presented new opportunities and enabled var...

by United Nations UN | On 28 Sep 2015

Report of the Fact Finding Mission to Rampal, Bangladesh

The objective of the mission was to evaluate the impact of the power plant on the livelihoods of the people and ecology of the region, examine the legal framework governing its and assess if the propo...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 28 Sep 2015

Surviving in Bihar

Can election change the condition of Bihar? At least improving the transport facilities....

by T.N. Ninan | On 26 Sep 2015

The National Health Profile 2015

The National Health Profile 2015 prepared by the Central Bureau for Health Intelligence (CBHI) has revealed some disturbing facts about India’s healthcare sector. It shows the poor patient to bed rati...

by Central Bureau for Health Intelligence (CBHI) | On 25 Sep 2015

Planning and Design for Sustainable Urban Mobility: Global Report on Human Settlements 2013

Planning and Design for Sustainable Urban Mobility argues that the development of sustainable urban transport systems requires a conceptual leap. The purpose 'transportation' and 'mobility' is to gain...

by UN-HABITAT | On 25 Sep 2015

Working towards Sustainable Development: Opportunities for decent work and social inclusion in a green economy

A green economy is necessary if sustainable development is to be realized. However, as this report emphasizes, a green economy can also, if accompanied by the right policy mix, create more and better...

by | On 25 Sep 2015

Technology, Development and the Role of the State

South Asian countries like India and Pakistan had in the beginning placed the State at the “commanding heights of the economy”. Later, the State was justifiably displaced from that high pedestal. Howe...

by | On 24 Sep 2015

Present State of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Reform in India

There are several challenges before introduction of GST and these can be classified into two broad heads – a) GST Design and Structure related, and b) GST Administration and Institutional. On design r...

by Sacchidananda Mukherjee | On 24 Sep 2015

The Challenge of Slums - Global Report on Human Settlements 2003

The Challenge of Slums presents the first global assessment of slums, emphasizing their problems and prospects. It presents estimates of the numbers of urban slum dwellers and examines the factors tha...

by United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-Habitat | On 23 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

Towards Universal Access to Health Care in India

In this concept note authors aim to put forth a broad canvas of the various issues that need to be considered and positions that need to be formulated, in order to argue that it is possible to make Un...

by Dr. Abhay Shukla | 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

Food Security vs Nutritional Security: Need for Multi-Sectoral Convergence

The paper attempts to address the problem of undernutrition in India and its adverse effects on children and adults. Today, food security concerns include not only the problems of physical availabili...

by | On 22 Sep 2015

Rural Health System in India: A Review

Rural Health is one of vital elements of rural life. India being a nation of villages requires an intensive approach towards rural health. Nearly 75 per cent of health infrastructure and other health...

by | On 22 Sep 2015

Education for All 2000-2015: Achievements and Challenges

This Report draws on all of this experience, to make sharp recommendations for the place of education in the future global sustainable development agenda. The lessons are clear. New education targets...

by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultura [UNESCO] | On 22 Sep 2015

Book Review: India’s Fighter Pilots in the 1971 War: Daring and Devilry

Review of Death Wasn't Painful: Death Wasn’t Painful: Stories of Indian Fighter Pilots from the 1971 War by Dhirendra S Jafa, New Delhi, Sage Publications; 2014. pp. 268, Rs. 445/-. ISBN-13: 978-81321...

by SK Sriharsha | On 19 Sep 2015

Designing and Evaluating Social Safety Nets: Theory, Evidence, and Policy Conclusions

This paper reviews the literature on the performance of commonly found social safety net programs in developing countries. The evidence suggests that universal food subsidies have very limited potenti...

by | On 18 Sep 2015

The Percolation of Public Expenditure: Food Subsidies and the Poor in India and Philippines

This paper measures the percolation of food subsidy expenditures to the poor. The paper proposes a metric that takes into account the depth and width of income transfer. The metric is applied to food...

by Shikha Jha | On 18 Sep 2015

Political and Economic Analysis of State Business Relations in Andhra Pradesh: Impact on the Performance of Manufacturing Sector

The central objective of this paper is to enquire into the politics of the government and business relation and how it affected the industrial development in Andhra Pradesh.

by Alivelu G | On 17 Sep 2015

Social Protection, Growth and Employment: Evidence from India, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico and Tajikistan

The paper addresses the issue of growth and development by looking at evidence from six country case studies to assess how to enhance the employment impact of social protection programmes by improving...

by United Nations Development Programme UNDP | On 16 Sep 2015

Comparative Notes on Indian Experiences of Social Democracy: Kerala and West Bengal

This paper compares, in historical perspective, the conditions for democracy, economic development and well-being in India and Scandinavia. Within India, it compares the states of Kerala and West Beng...

by | On 16 Sep 2015

Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms

This report – “Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms” is a scorecard to take stock of what reforms have happened, and to identify the way forward for States. The report highlights the...

by World Bank | On 15 Sep 2015

Report of the National Consultation on Prevention of Child Marriage

The purpose of the national consultation was to bring together initiatives from across the country to share experience and challenges. This report is the final draft of the discussions and a common ag...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 14 Sep 2015

Women's Participation in the History of Ideas and Reconstruction of Knowledge

"The problems of knowledge are central to feminist theorizing which has sought to destabilize androcentric, mainstream thinking in the humanities and in the social and natural sciences". The feminist...

by | On 14 Sep 2015

The Conundrum of Profitability Versus Soundness for Banks by Ownership Type: Evidence from the Indian Banking Sector

Banks pursue profit like any business, but in their role as custodians of domestic savings, they are required to be cautious. Riskier but profitable advances may cause asset quality deterioration, thu...

by Sreejata Banerjee | On 14 Sep 2015

India: Death Without Legal Sanction

This study highlights that India has not been complying with its obligations under the ICCPR and has indeed been imposing death penalty without legal sanction. While the violations of international fa...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 14 Sep 2015

The Sunday Edit: It's Not the Labour Laws!

The loud clamour for liberalisation of labour laws in recent times quite overlooks the fact that other institutional reforms are far more important for rejuvenating the sector.

by K.R. Shyam Sundar | On 13 Sep 2015

Overcoming the Curse of Malnutrition in India: A Leadership Agenda for Action

The leadership agenda for action released by Coalition for Sustainable Nutrition Security in India to promote policy, programme and budgetary focus on overcoming the curse of malnutrition. The Coaliti...

by Coalition for Food & Nutrition Security India | On 11 Sep 2015

Women, Business and the Law 2016: Getting to Equal

The report reveal the magnitude of the challenge that the world still faces in the quest for gender equality. This report promotes the cause of inclusion of women by informing research and policy disc...

by World Bank | On 11 Sep 2015

HIV-related Stigma Research in India: Current Knowledge, Gaps, and Recommendations

The study provides evidence in support of an effective national response to addressing stigma faced by people living with HIV and other high-risk groups and guide future research on the subject. In In...

by | On 11 Sep 2015

The Dismal State of the Social Sciences in Pakistan

The report measures the development of social sciences against several criteria, some of which are listed here: the number of Pakistani social scientists who have made internationally recognised contr...

by S. Akbar Zaidi | 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

Report of Working Group on Nutrition for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17)

This report details the vision for 12th Five Year Plan on Nutrition which is to move towards Nutrition Security- especially the more vulnerable infants and young children, adolescent, girls and women,...

by Planning Commission | On 10 Sep 2015

Debt-Bondage Slavery in India

There have been numerous investigations in recent years to determine the incidence and prevalence of modern slavery worldwide, and debt bondage in India has been found to be the most extensive form of...

by Sarah Knight | On 10 Sep 2015

National Focus Group on Educational Technology

The paper attempts to revitalise appropriate systems that will provide for and enable appropriate teaching-learning systems that could realise the identified goals of reach, equity, and quality. Moder...

by National Council of Educational Research &Training NCERT | On 10 Sep 2015

Seventh All India School Education Survey

The broad objective of the survey is to assess the availability of schooling facility for primary, upper-primary, secondary and higher secondary stages within the habitations (including SC/ST) in diff...

by National Council of Educational Research &Training NCERT | On 10 Sep 2015

The Role of Establishments and the Concentration of Occupations in Wage Inequality

This paper uses the microdata of the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey to assess the contribution of occupational concentration to wage inequality between establishments and its growth o...

by | On 09 Sep 2015

Universalising Health Care for All

This booklet presents a brief analysis of certain key sectors and themes related to the Health system in India on creating an integrated and comprehensive public health system that prioritizes people’...

by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan | On 09 Sep 2015

Socio-Demographic Factors Associated with Domestic Violence in Urban Slums, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Domestic violence is identified as a public health problem. It is associated with adverse maternal health. This study examined the prevalence and determinants of domestic violence among women in urban...

by C.P. Prakasam | On 09 Sep 2015

Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal Nutrition: A Survival and Development Priority

This report contains nutrition profiles for 24 countries. This report shows that an estimated 195 million children under age 5 in developing countries suffer from stunting, a consequence of chronic nu...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 08 Sep 2015

Education For All Towards Quality with Equity

India has made significant progress towards the goal of Education for All during the past few years. Keeping in view the pace of progress achieved till 2000, several programmes have been formulated an...

by Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI | On 08 Sep 2015

Theories of Change in International Development: Communication, Learning, or Accountability?

Critically analysing assumptions is a much needed endeavour in international development policy and practice: existing management tools rarely encourage critical thinking and there are considerable po...

by | On 08 Sep 2015

Soccer Vs. Jihad: A Draw

There is much that militant Islamists and jihadists agree on, but when it comes to sports in general and soccer in particular sharp divisions emerge. Men like the late Osama bin Laden, Hamas Gaza lead...

by James M. Dorsey | On 07 Sep 2015

Driving Across the South Asian Borders: The Motor Vehicle Agreement Between Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal

The benefits of strengthening physical connectivity in a geographically contiguous region are increasingly being recognised. These links are expected to increase economic activity and people-to-people...

by Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury | On 07 Sep 2015

Civil Society Briefs: Sri Lanka

This brief provides an overview of civil society in Sri Lanka. With a view to strengthening ADB cooperation with civil society organizations, the NGO and Civil Society Center periodically prepares rep...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 07 Sep 2015

Civil Society Briefs: Myanmar

This brief provides an overview of civil society in Myanmar. With a view to strengthening ADB cooperation with civil society organizations, the NGO and Civil Society Center periodically prepares repor...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 07 Sep 2015

Financial Inclusion in Asia: An Overview

This paper provides an analysis of financial development and inclusion in developing Asia using data from a wide array of sources. In terms of aggregate measures of financial development, the region a...

by | On 07 Sep 2015

Street Politics

Will the changes in the names of places and streets be accepted? How should they be named?

by T.N. Ninan | On 05 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

The Great Expectations: Impact of One-Child Policy on Education of Girls

The findings of the paper highlights the role of fertility policies in women’s empowerment of last century. This paper investigates the impact of the birth control policies on teenage girls’ education...

by Wei Huang | On 03 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

Report on the Death Penalty

The Law Commission of India received a reference from the Supreme Court in Santosh Kumar Satishbhushan Bariyar v. Maharashtra [(2009) 6 SCC 498] and Shankar Kisanrao Khade v. Maharashtra [(2013) 5 SCC...

by Law Commission India | On 31 Aug 2015

Addressing Urban Poverty: Relevance of Conditional Cash Transfers

This paper from a two-day conference in New Delhi explores the relevance of CCTs in addressing entrenched issues of urban poverty even as across Asia there remain few social protection measures that p...

by United Nations Development Programme UNDP | On 31 Aug 2015

Ghar Wapsi for Logic

If there is one thing the Census 2011 shows, it's that India will remain overwhelmingly Hindu forever

by T.N. Ninan | On 29 Aug 2015

Quality of Life for All: A Sustainable Development Framework for India’s Climate Policy

The study builds on the India Energy Security Scenarios (IESS) 2047 tool developed by NITI Aayog by adding a ‘quality of life’ dimension to the energy and emissions pathways. The study aims to evaluat...

by | On 28 Aug 2015

Rough Roads To Equality: Women Police in South Asia

This report looks at the situation of women in policing in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, and Pakistan. It is based on the premise that gender equality, besides being a value to be upheld in and of...

by Aideen Gilmore | On 28 Aug 2015

The Effect of Family Size on Education: New Evidence from China’s One Child Policy

Social scientists theorize that the inverse relationship between socio-economic status and family size represents a trade-off between the quality and quantity of children. Evaluating this hypothesis e...

by Susan Averett | On 26 Aug 2015

Bilateral Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding on Migration of Low Skilled Workers: A Review

The aim of the paper is to review trends in developments of bilateral agreements (BAs) and MOUs focussing on low-skilled migration based on a global mapping exercise and and highlight agreements which...

by Piyasiri Wickramasekara | On 26 Aug 2015

Women in NREGA: Issues of Child Care

The present study on evaluation of the NREGA Scheme is intended to assess the impact of this scheme on the status of child care services at worksites of the NREGA, status of facilities available to wo...

by Madhuri Karak | On 25 Aug 2015

The New ‘MASVAW Men’: Strategies, Dynamics and Deepening Engagements. A Case Study of a Networked Approach to Challenging Patriarchy Across Institutions in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh is ranked second among Indian states in ‘crimes against women’, which includes rape, abduction, dowry-related deaths, mental and physical torture and sexual harassment (Government of Utt...

by Jerker Edström | On 25 Aug 2015

Strong Sustainable Growth for the Indian Economy

How is the RBI helping the government to create the conditions for a sustainable growth? Structural reforms will help strengthen this growth – two weeks ago, the Government announced Indradhanush, la...

by Raghuram G. Rajan | On 25 Aug 2015

Has Indian Plantation Sector Weathered the Crisis? A Critical Assessment of Tea Plantation Industry in the Post-reforms Context

the paper provides an overview of the growth and status of Indian tea plantation sector delineating the trends in economic performance in the global context in a historic perspective. It then examine...

by Viswanathan P K | On 25 Aug 2015

Globalisation, Growth and Employment in the Organised Sector of the Indian Economy

One of the most important forces that have shaped India’s economy in the last two and a half decades is the process of globalization. This has been a world-wide phenomenon, and India could not have re...

by B.N. Goldar | On 24 Aug 2015

Inequalities and Their Measurement

This paper is a review of the recent advances in the measurement of inequality. Inequality can have several dimensions. Economists are mostly concerned with the income and consumption dimensions of in...

by Almas Heshmati | On 24 Aug 2015

Children in Conflict with Law

A juvenile or a child is any person below the age of 18 years. Over the last 10 years, crimes committed by children, as a percentage of all crimes committed in the country, have risen from 1.0% to 1....

by Apoorva Shankar | On 21 Aug 2015

Demand for Watershed Services: Understanding Local Preferences through a Choice Experiment in the Koshi Basin of Nepal

This study undertakes a choice experiment in order to identify differences in local demand for watershed services in the Koshi basin of Nepal. The paper first examines the possibility of using a non-m...

by Rajesh Kumar Rai | On 20 Aug 2015

ICDS and Nutrition in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012)

This Working Group report aims to study the advocacy programme in ICDS that would enable widespread and sustained community participation as result of a better understanding and appreciation amongst t...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 19 Aug 2015

Classroom Process, Teacher Ability and Student Performance: Evidence from School based Component of Young Lives in Undivided Andhra Pradesh

This study attempts to examine children's attitude to school and their experience of school, performance of children, mathematical ability of teachers and classroom process, as all these have bearing...

by | On 19 Aug 2015

Long Run Trends in Unemployment and Labor Force Participation in China

Unemployment rates in countries across the world are typically positively correlated with GDP. China is an unusual outlier from the pattern, with abnormally low, and suspiciously stable, unemployment...

by Shuaizhang Feng | On 19 Aug 2015

WTO and Nepal

This publication attempts to study major concepts of WTO and present some perspectives on Nepal’s membership in this rule based global trading organization. The chapters presents an introduction with...

by Nepal Rastra Bank NRB | On 17 Aug 2015

Don’t Target the Media

It is not correct to blame the media when effective communication suffer. The government will have to recheck its media policies and the distance it has to keep the media.

by T.N. Ninan | On 15 Aug 2015

Report of the Steering Committee on Rapid Poverty Reduction and Local Area Development (2007-2012)

This report of the steering committee on rapid poverty reduction and local area development for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). The first section attempts to examine the data on the poor, the...

by Planning Commission, India | On 14 Aug 2015

Criminalizing Cheque Bounce Cases – An Effective Remedy?

A review is done to understand if criminalising cheque bounce cases has been an effective remedy. The penalties imposed in other countries against cheque bounce offenders is studied and an analysis of...

by Centre for Civil Society CCS | On 14 Aug 2015

Effectiveness of School Input Norms under the Right to Education Act, 2009

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009 ratified education as a fundamental right and seeks to promote equitable access to education for all children up to the age of 14...

by Centre for Civil Society CCS | On 13 Aug 2015

Property Rights of Street Vendors

Street vendors’ rights to carry on their trade in public spaces, has been the subject matter of debate and discussion in India for a very long time. In fact it has taken numerous judgments of the Supr...

by Amit Chandra | On 13 Aug 2015

Public Debt Management in India and Related Issues

This study focuses on the marketable domestic public debt of the Government of India (GoI) in terms of size, magnitude, policy and approach followed and also discusses issues and challenges on debt m...

by Lakshmanan L | On 13 Aug 2015

Reduction of GHG Emissions and Attainment of Energy Security through Sustainable Production of Biofuels: Is it a Viable Option? A Review of Experinces

The National Policy on Biofuels sets an indicative target of 20per cent blending of biofuels by 2017 to tackle the twin problem of energy security and climate change. Although biofuels seem to be the...

by Gopinath Reddy | On 13 Aug 2015

The BPO Challenge: Leveraging Capabilities, Creating Opportunities

There may not be a single standard approach to developing the ICT-BPO sector, the successful experiences of developing countries can provide useful insights and practical lessons for countries contemp...

by Fatima Lourdes E. Del Prado | On 12 Aug 2015

The Politics of Sustaining Inclusive Growth and Social Inclusion

This working paper records the findings of the project and discusses the key principles that underpin the Danish and Finnish welfare states. The paper reflects on the critical issues that must be cons...

by Valerie Koh | On 11 Aug 2015

Moving Beyond ‘Supply And Demand’ Catchphrases: Assessing the Uses and Limitations of Demand-Based Approaches in Anti-Trafficking

The need to reduce ‘demand’ for trafficked persons is widely mentioned in the anti-trafficking sector but few have looked at ‘demand’ critically or substantively. Some ‘demand’-based approaches have b...

by Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW) | On 10 Aug 2015

Quality and Accountability in Healthcare Delivery: Audit Evidence from Primary Care Providers in India

This paper presents direct evidence on the quality of health care in low-income settings using a unique and original set of audit studies, where standardized patients were presented to a nearly repres...

by Alaka Holla | On 04 Aug 2015

Does Introduction of Bureaucratic Competition Reduce Corruption in Public Service Delivery?

The paper theoretically explores the impact of introducing bureaucratic competition on corruption. For this purpose it considers three different measures of corruption such as corruption incidence (CI...

by | On 04 Aug 2015

Social Sector and Economic Reforms (With Special Reference to Public Health)

Social Sector performs an effective function in human resource development and hence it is very important to study how the economic reforms are influencing social sector expenditures. Any economic re...

by Runa Paul | On 03 Aug 2015

The Role of Technical and Vocational Education in the National Development of Bangladesh

Education is a basic human right and considered by many as a key tool for national development. However, this tenet has been challenged by several economists, especially Pritchett (1996). His empirica...

by Gazi Mahabubul Alam | On 03 Aug 2015

A Reality Check on Suicides in India

In this paper, we study the data from the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) of India and disaggregate across demographic and leading causes of suicides. We find that mental and physical health are t...

by Shamika Ravi | On 02 Aug 2015

Careful with Those Surveys

A survey's design determines its findings; understanding the logic behind measurement is key to interpretation.

by T.N. Ninan | On 01 Aug 2015

Globalisation and Labouring Lives

Newer production processes with changing global spaces have produced newer division of labour and work categories. The two studies presented here draw attention to the shrinking space for articulation...

by Swati Ghosh | On 31 Jul 2015

Impact of Trilemma Indicators on Macroeconomic Policy: Does Central Bank Independence Matter?

For a sample of 42 high and middle income countries analyzed over a period of 30 years ranging from 1982 till 2011, this paper shows that while an efficient trilemma policy choice can help lower inf...

by | On 31 Jul 2015

Trafficking in Persons Report

This report, produced by the United States of America's Department of State, catalogues the state of human trafficking as of 2015 across the world.

by Department of State United States of America | On 30 Jul 2015

Liberalizing Trade of Environmental Goods and Services: How to Address the Free-Rider Problem

This paper aims to provide APEC members with evidence-based guidance on the implementation of the APEC mandate. Theoretically, this approach addresses the free-rider problem. Free riders are countries...

by | On 28 Jul 2015

Performance of Flagship Programmes in Tamil Nadu

This study aims to provide a mid-term appraisal of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12), focusing on the performance of flagship programmes in Tamil Nadu. In this paper, a brief note on the Eleventh...

by K. R. Shanmugam | On 27 Jul 2015

Employment in Unorganised Sector in Navi Mumbai: A Socio Economic Profile

This study deals with employment conditions of wage workers and self-employed professionals in Navi Mumbai, particularly in the unorganized sector. This study also focuses on employment and type of ec...

by Bino Paul G.D | On 27 Jul 2015

Whither Right to Food? Rights Institutions and Hungry Labour in Tea Plantations of North Bengal

This paper explores what constitutes the mechanics of the legal and the administrative world of food rights in the Dooars area of West Bengal, specifically food rights of the tea plantation labourers....

by Geetisha Dasgupta | On 24 Jul 2015

Juvenile Justice in India: Policy and Implementation Dilemmas

The article tells us about what are the positive aspects of Juvenile Justice bill what it is lacking.

by Bharti Ali | On 23 Jul 2015

India: Trade in Healthcare Services

During the last two decades international trade in healthcare services has expanded under the GATS. Increasingly it has acquired new dimensions with application of advanced information and communicati...

by T.P. Bhat | On 23 Jul 2015

Commodities Update: The Importance of Potatoes

The recent potato crisis affecting Bengal and Odisha has to be seen for what it is: an artificial situation created by traders and markets with help from the state.

by | On 23 Jul 2015

Book Review: Partitioned Lives: Migrants, Refugees, Citizens in India and Pakistan, 1947-65

Review of Partitioned Lives: Migrants, Refugees, Citizens in India and Pakistan, 1947-65. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2012. xii + 254 pp. Rs. 521/-, ISBN 978-0-19-808177-7.

by Rohini Hensman | On 22 Jul 2015

Parliament Session Alert-Monsoon Session: July 21 – August 13, 2015

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet for the monsoon session between July 21 and August 13, 2015. The legislative agenda includes 7 legislative Bills currently pending in Parliament for consideration...

by Kusum Malik | On 21 Jul 2015

How are Firms Responding to Philippine Free Trade Agreements?

The Philippines has been more cautious in its policy toward free trade agreements (FTAs) than other ASEAN member-states, having signed, so far, only one bilateral agreement with Japan in addition to t...

by Rafaelita M. Aldaba | On 20 Jul 2015

Research Productivity in Management Schools of India: A Directional Benefit-of-Doubt Model Analysis

Given the growing emphasis on research productivity in management schools in India, composite indicator (CI) of research productivity is developed, using the directional benefit-of-doubt (D-BOD) model...

by Biresh K Sahoo | On 20 Jul 2015

Perspectives on Valuation of Biodiversity

The economic value that biodiversity and ecosystems have is known to be very high. Despite this knowledge, we still find that there is large scale and significant loss of diversity of resources and ec...

by Suneetha M. S. | On 17 Jul 2015

Cyclone Aila and the Sundarbans: An Enquiry into the Disaster and Politics of Aid and Relief

This paper explores the politics and problems of the governmentality of aid and relief in context of the disastrous effect of cyclone Aila on the Sundarbans and nearby areas. The author through narrat...

by Amites Mukhopadhyay | On 17 Jul 2015

Net Neutrality: DoT Committee Report

In March 2015, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued a consultation paper titled “Regulatory Framework for Over-the-Top (OTT) Services” wherein the issue of Net Neutrality in the bac...

by DoT Committee on Net Neutrality | On 16 Jul 2015

Articulating a Vision for a Progressive BRICS Development Bank

Amidst calls for reform of international financial institutions and failure of existing development banks to satisfy the development financing needs of developing countries in general, and BRICS in pa...

by | On 16 Jul 2015

The Republican Spirit

Elected representatives should be ready to admit the mistakes which they have done and not flaunt the wealth. They should be sensitive to what is happening around them.

by T.N. Ninan | On 11 Jul 2015

Women Police in the City of Delhi: Gender Hierarchies, 'Transgression', and 'Pariah Femininities'

When women personnel are incorporated in the profession of policing, there is a general assumption behind it that the presence of women makes the force sensitive to gender-crimes, and thus more effici...

by Santana Khanikar | On 09 Jul 2015

The Role of Subsidy Uncertainty in Mission Drift of Microfinance Institutions of Asia

This study sheds light on the mission drift arguments for 149 MFIs working in continent Asia over the period 2003 to 2013. The mission drift is captured by average loan size, total number of borrower...

by | On 08 Jul 2015

Nepal Earthquake 2015: Post Disaster Needs Assessment - Executive Summary

The Government of Nepal officially launched a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) to determine the impacts of the devastating earthquake on April 25, 2015 and a series of aftershocks since, includin...

by National planning commission Government of Nepal | On 07 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

Fourth Report on Issues Concerning Flood Management, Compensation and Status of Ownership of Submerged and Eroded Land in the Country

Standing Committee on Water Resources (2014-15) took up this subject for a detailed examination and report. It includes flood affected area and damaged scenario, causes of flood, role of Union and Sta...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 25 Jun 2015

Tracking Universal Health Coverage: First Global Monitoring Report

This report is the first of its kind to measure health service coverage and financial protection to assess countries’ progress towards universal health coverage. It shows that at least 400 million...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 25 Jun 2015

Twelfth Report on Pricing of Agricultural Produce

This Report of the Committee on Agriculture deals with the action taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in the Sixtieth Report of the Committee on Agriculture (2013-14) on ‘Pricing...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 24 Jun 2015

Minimising Selection Failure and Measuring Tax Gap: An Empirical Model

This paper presents an empirical model for minimising selection failure by tax departments in selecting cases for scrutiny assessment. This model also provides a new methodology for estimating tax gap...

by Sudhanshu Kumar | On 23 Jun 2015

Fourteenth Report on Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme

The audit report on ICDS has revealed that the policy of universalization of ICDS Scheme remained unattained and the Scheme could not achieve the desired goals. Hence, controller and auditor general d...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 22 Jun 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

Street Vendors in India get Legal Protection

This paper briefly summarizes the major implications of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 and the details of its provisions as well as the proces...

by Sharit Bhowmik | On 22 Jun 2015

Guidelines and Protocols: Medico-legal Care for Survivors/Victims of Sexual Violence

Sexual violence is a significant cause of physical and psychological harm and suffering for The health concerns of survivors/victims of sexual violence, and their right to health is an issue of import...

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 22 Jun 2015

Out-Of-Pocket (OOP) Financial Risk Protection: The Role of Health Insurance

Though health has been considered a fundamental human right since the Alma Ata Declaration in 1978, still a significant proportion of world population don’t get access to basic healthcare simply due t...

by S Madheswaran | On 22 Jun 2015

How Empowered is Microfinance in Empowering Women ? Evidence from India

Drawing upon the data from the recent period, this paper explores the relationship between women’s involvement in microfinance programs and improvement in their empowerment status. The significant d...

by | On 19 Jun 2015

Financing for Health Coverage in India: Issues and Concerns

The paper explores the trends, composition, and incidence of out-of-pocket health expenditure (OOPHE) in India, which has been the predominant means of financing its health care needs. Unit-level data...

by Indrani Gupta | On 19 Jun 2015

Health Policy Kerala 2013

Kerala has achieved good health indictors compared to other Indian states. In order to navigate the sector through the multiple challenges faced in the health sector Government of Kerala needs to arti...

by Health & Family Welfare Department Kerala | On 17 Jun 2015

Medium-Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF) of Prime Minister’s Office 2011-12

The statement aims to build a knowledge-based and digital Bangladesh and to advance the socio-economic conditions of all sections of the nation, through the establishment of good governance in the all...

by Ministry of Finance Bangladesh | On 17 Jun 2015

Medium Term Budget Framework: Pre Budget Document 1390-1392

This Pre Budget Report incorporates the Medium-Term Budget Framework (MTBF). The MTBF links the spending plans of budgetary units to overall government policy objectives.The purpose of the Report is t...

by Ministry of Finance Afghanistan | On 16 Jun 2015

Afghanistan Quarterly Fiscal Bulletin, 1390

This edition of the Afghanistan bulletin provides a snapshot of the actual domestic revenues collection and core budget execution during the quarter. An attempt has been made to provide analytical ana...

by Ministry of Finance Afghanistan | On 16 Jun 2015

Maldives: The Case for a Resolution at the 29th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

As the UN Human Rights Council holds its 29th session from 15th June 2015 to 3 July 2015, it ought to adopt a resolution on the deplorable human rights situation in Maldives as a consequence of the si...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 15 Jun 2015

A Noodle-Bowl of Issues

Will those who promote ayurvedic products that have iron as a standard ingredient, get the same treatment as Maggi noodles, or benefit from benign neglect?

by T.N. Ninan | On 15 Jun 2015

Mid-Year Review of the Indian Economy 2014-15

This economic outlook by NCAER, analyses expected growth, inflation, balance of payments, fiscal balances, savings and investment trends, and covers the state of important sectors of the economy, inc...

by National Council of Applied Economic Research | On 15 Jun 2015

The Migration of Women Domestic Workers from Sri Lanka: Protecting the Rights of Children Left Behind

Remittances that flow from low-skilled labor migration are critical to many developing countries, yet these economic benefits can come at a high price. Roughly half of all migrant workers are women, m...

by Brian Opeskin | On 12 Jun 2015

Status Report of Child Rights in India

Children constitute over a third of the country’s 1.21 billion population; yet children appear to be the most neglected segment in India, whose rights continue to be vastly ignored. Over 17% of the wo...

by Child Rights and You CRY | On 12 Jun 2015

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 1390 Citizens Budget

The Government’s main budgetary objective is to allocate fiscal resources in line with Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS). In this way, it will be assured that resources are allocated to...

by Ministry of Finance Afghanistan | On 11 Jun 2015

Citizens’ Guide to the 1390 National Budget

This guide explains, in simple and easily understood language, the 1390 Budget Statement presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance on 5 February 2011. The guide is designed to help the genera...

by Ministry of Finance Afghanistan | On 11 Jun 2015

Inter-State Disparities in Economic Growth in India: Some Policy Implications for Laggard States

Faster economic growth of some of the backward states like Bihar, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh in the post 2004-05 compels us to think if it is any indicative of convergence among states of India. How...

by Anjali Masarguppi | On 10 Jun 2015

Five Growth Strategies for Myanmar: Re-engagement with the Global Economy

After decades of isolation, Myanmar is now actively re-engaging with the global economy. For successful re-engagement, Myanmar needs to implement comprehensive economic reforms based on a shared visio...

by So Umezaki | On 10 Jun 2015

When the Kerala Model of Development is Historicised: A Chronological Perspective

It is proposed in this study that the development experience in Kerala has resulted ultimately in weakening the material basis of public action. On limited evidence it is pointed out that the poor in...

by P.K.Michael Tharakan | On 10 Jun 2015

International Migration of Health Professionals and the Marketization and Privatization of Health Education in India: From Push–Pull to Global Political Economy

Health worker migration theories have tended to focus on labour market conditions as principal push or pull factors. The role of education systems in producing internationally oriented health workers...

by | On 09 Jun 2015

Implementation of Forest Rights Act: Undoing the Historical Injustices?

This paper is based on a critical literature review and looks into the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in India, with particular reference to the two states of Chhattisgarh and Gujarat....

by Madhusudan Bandi | On 09 Jun 2015

Archiving the Nation-State in Feminist Praxis: A South Asian Perspective

This essay mainly examines the relationship between feminism and nationalism as a point from which it looks at South Asian feminist scholarship. The historical circumstances in their respective countr...

by Uma Chakravarti | On 08 Jun 2015

Gujarat Ecology Commission Annual Report 2013-14

This report of Gujarat Ecology Commission (GEC) provides information and other inputs which are needed to develop policy and provide the right approach for ecological conservation and sustainable deve...

by Gujarat Ecology Commission Government of Gujarat | On 08 Jun 2015

Youth, Social Change and Politics in India Today: An Introduction to the Delhi Studies

Events in many parts of the world over the last decade – starting with protests in Greece in December 2008, following the death of a young student at the hands of the police, and continuing through th...

by | On 05 Jun 2015

Nepal's Continuing Quest for Federalism and Peace

Nepal is currently experiencing perhaps one of the most turbulent phases in its contemporary political history. In 2008, the 240-year-old institution of monarchy—for long seen as a symbol of unity, in...

by Akanshya Shah | On 05 Jun 2015

Can Better Houses Help Tackle Indoor Air Pollution - A Case Study of Sri Lankan Tea Pluckers

Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) is a major health hazard in many developing countries. The health impact of this type of pollution is obviously influenced by various facets of house design, such as room si...

by Ajantha Kalyanaratne | On 04 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

The Dance of the Elephant and the Dragon: The Promise and Perils of Sino-Indian Relations

India and China, two of the world's oldest civilisations, have had little historically relevant interactions with one other. Separated by the world's highest mountain range, the Himalayas, neither of...

by Himanil Raina | On 04 Jun 2015

Performance Audit of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

This report of comptroller and auditor general of India containing the results of performance audit of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) hig...

by Ministry of Rural Development GOI | On 02 Jun 2015

Fourteenth Report on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Empowerment of Women in Rural Areas

The primary objective of the Act is augmenting wage employment. In this regard, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 provides for the enhancement of livelihood security of the...

by Committee on Empowerment of Women GOI | On 01 Jun 2015

An Advocates' Tool for Monitoring Rights-Based Provision of Contraceptive Information and Services in India

This Advocates’ Guide has been developed based on the ecommendations made in the World Health Organization’s “Ensuring human rights in the provision of contraceptive information and services: Guidance...

by Renu Khanna | On 01 Jun 2015

Report of the Sub-Group on Environment for Twelfth Five Year Plan

With the increasing emphasis on need for development, coupled with increasing urbanization, it is becoming apparent that the natural resources are to be used judiciously and sustainably. This report h...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests GOI | On 27 May 2015

Report of the Working Group on Skill Development and Training for XII Five Year Plan (2012-17)

The mismatch between the supply and demand of skills requires special focus on employment sector. Growth in employment opportunities are the critical indicators of the process of development in any ec...

by Ministry of Labour and Employment GoI | On 25 May 2015

Book Review: Reading Darwin in Arabic, 1860-1950

Review of Reading Darwin in Arabic, 1860-1950. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. 448 pp. Rs. 2,854 , ISBN 13 9780226001302.

by Maurice Jr. M. Labelle | On 25 May 2015

The Working Group on Health Research for XII Plan

Health research is the key to a well functioning and effective health sector in the country. The focus of the report is to identify major issues, areas for policy research in health sector for 12th Fi...

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 22 May 2015

WHO Reform: Progress Report on Reform Implementation

This report summarizes the progress of WHO reform since the report to the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly. It provides an update on developments in each of the three broad areas of reform (programme...

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 22 May 2015

Report of the World Health Assembly Executive Board on its 133rd and 134th Sessions

The Executive Board held its 133rd session on 29 and 30 May 2013 and its 134th session from 20 to 25 January 2014. This report summarizes the main outcomes.

by World Health Organisation (WHO) | On 22 May 2015

Household Consumer Expenditure across Socio-Economic Groups, 2011-12

The Household Consumer Expenditure Surveys of the National Sample Survey (NSS) are the primary source of data on various indicators of level of living of different segments of the population at nation...

by Ministry of Statistics and Prog Implementation (MOSPI) | On 20 May 2015

The Constitution (One Hundred and Fifteenth Amendment) Bill, 2011

This Bill is further amendment to the constitution on levy and collection of goods and service tax and trade in India. It provides the parliament with exclusive powers to make laws with respect to goo...

by Ministry of Finance | On 19 May 2015

GST Reforms and Intergovernmental Considerations in India

This paper reviews the replacement of the state sales taxes by the Value Added Tax in 2005 marked a significant step forward in the reform of domestic trade taxes in India. Implemented under the leade...

by | On 19 May 2015

State of Indian Farmers: A Report

The present study is based on primary survey across 18 states of India by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi conducted between December 2013 and January 2014. The survey wa...

by | On 18 May 2015

Reforming Labour Markets in States

resenting a critical review of the issues in labour market reforms in India, this article places them against the backdrop of trends in labour force participation and formal/informal employment in the...

by Achin Chakraborty | On 18 May 2015

Employment and Unemployment Situation Among Social Groups in India - NSS Report

This report presents information on selected aspects of employment and unemployment and some other features pertaining to people belonging to four social groups viz., Scheduled Tribe (ST), Scheduled C...

by Ministry of Statistics and Prog Implementation (MOSPI) | On 14 May 2015

Fortieth Report: The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012

The Standing Committee on Labour and Employment (Chairman: Mr. Dara Singh Chauhan) presented its 40th report on the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012 on December 13, 2013....

by Ministry of Labour and Employment | On 14 May 2015

The Coal Mines (Conservation & Development) Amendment Bill, 2012: Standing Committee on Coal and Steel (2012-2013)

Standing Committee on Coal and Steel present this Thirty-Seventh Report (Fifteenth Lok Sabha) on "The Coal Mines (Conservation & Development) Amendment Bill, 2012" relating to the Ministry of Coal. Th...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 14 May 2015

National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at Work Place

he National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at workplace to eliminate the incidence of work related injuries, diseases, fatalities, disaster and loss of national assets. It aims to not only e...

by Ministry of Labour and Employment GoI | On 14 May 2015

National Health Policy - 2002

A National Health Policy was last formulated in 1983, and since then there have been marked changes in the determinant factors relating to the health sector. Some of the policy initiatives outlined in...

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 14 May 2015

Twenty Second Report on Action Taken on the Recommendations on ‘Small and Mini Hydel Projects

This report of the Standing Committee on Energy deals with the action taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations contained in their Sixteenth Report (Fifteenth Lok Sabha) on ‘Small an...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 13 May 2015

The Trade Union (Amendment) Act, 2001

The Act provides for amendments in Trade Union Act, 1926. The amendments relate to payment of a minimum subscription by members, employment and conditions of unorganised workers.

by Ministry of Labour and Employment GoI | On 13 May 2015

ASEAN and Conflict Management: The Need for a High Council

This year the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will formally establish the ASEAN Community, which is set to enhance regional community building among its member states. Ramses Amer makes...

by | On 13 May 2015

Indian Youth: Ignored Constituency Report on the Renewal of Youth Agenda in India

This report look at various youth issues and then suggest changes that can be targeted at redressing the same. There is an opportunity in which hard hitting reforms can be instituted to strengthen you...

by | On 12 May 2015

Women, Media and Gender Equality

Media and its development have accompanied an increase in the magnitude and complexity of societal actions and engagements, rapid social change, technological innovation and decline of some traditi...

by | On 12 May 2015

Adolescent Health and Development – A Profile for Orissa

The Orissa Adolescent Profile is a maiden effort to carry this process forward at the state level and contribute to the knowledge and information base on the issue. The profile is primarily based on s...

by Dr. Bhagbanprakash . | On 12 May 2015

Draft State Sports Policy-2010

In order to achieve excellence in sports, government of Assam aims to adaopt a uniform policy so that sports activities in the state are spread over the year. Assam sports policy aims to provide sport...

by Government of Assam | On 12 May 2015

YOJANA Volume 58, Issue 1- January 2014

The January 2014 issue of YOJANA contains the following articles - Tribal and Marginalized Communities, Constitutional Provisions, Laws and Tribes, Actualising Adivasi Self-Rule, The Food Bill, Wild F...

by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting MIB | On 11 May 2015

Inter Linking of Rivers: Action taken in the Eleventh Report (14th Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Water Resources

This Report of the Standing Committee on Water Resources deals with the action taken by the Government on the recommendations / observations contained in their Eleventh Report on Water Resources (2008...

by Lok Sabha Secretariat | On 11 May 2015

MGNREGA: Opportunities, Challenges and the Road Ahead

The Second Report of the Consortium of Civil Society Organizations on MGNREGA emphasis on market reforms and GDP through government schemes like MGNREGA. The paper also focuses on states within India...

by National Consortium on MGNREGA GoI | On 08 May 2015

IMI- Konnect, Volume 4, Issue 4

The April 2015 issue of IMI Konnect contains the following articles - “A Grand Design”, by Rajat Kathuria; “Budget 2015-16 and India's “Vishva Guru”; Dream”, by Vighneswara Swamy; “Micro Vs Macro Impa...

by IMI Konnect | On 08 May 2015

Building the Skills for Economic Growth and Competitiveness in Sri Lanka

Despite armed internal conflict and the global financial crisis, Sri Lanka has made remarkable progress in recent years, enjoying healthy economic growth and substantially reducing poverty. Moreover,...

by Halil Dundar | On 07 May 2015

Reassessing Internal Displacement in South Asia

Displacement is by no means a new phenomenon in South Asia. As they emerged as independent states, at least half of the South Asian countries experienced mass displacement. In Bangladesh it is esti...

by | On 28 Apr 2015

Guide on Right to Information Act, 2005

The present guide is an updated and consolidated guide for the use of all stakeholders. This guide contains five parts. Part I of the guide discusses some aspects of the Act which all the stake-holder...

by Government of India GOI | On 27 Apr 2015

Why Democracy Struggles: Thailand’s Elite Coup Culture

Since the revolution of 1932 that ended absolute monarchy, Thailand has experienced sporadic military interventions, with 19 coups and coup attempts over those decades. This article explains these mil...

by | On 27 Apr 2015

Growing through Cities in Developing Countries

This paper examines the effects of urbanization on development and growth. It begins with a labor market perspective and emphasizes the importance of agglomeration economies, both static and dynamic....

by | On 24 Apr 2015

Aging and Migration in a Transition Economy: The Case of China

Post-reform China has been experiencing two major demographic changes, an extraordinary amount of internal migration and an aging population. We present a general migration model which captures the id...

by Kailing Shen | On 22 Apr 2015

Pakistan: New Cybercrime Bill Threatens the Rights to Privacy and Free Expression

ARTICLE 19 and Digital Rights Foundation Pakistan have serious concerns about measures contained in Pakistan’s proposed Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill (‘PEC Bill’). The Bill contains a number of...

by Article 19 | On 22 Apr 2015

National Agroforestry Policy - 2014

The National Agroforestry Policy, which deals with the practice of integrating trees, crops and livestock on the same plot of land, was launched February 10, the first day of the World Congress on Agr...

by | On 21 Apr 2015

The Pocket book on Agricultural Statistics 2013

The Pocket book on Agricultural Statistics 2013 is intended as a quick reference guide for essential data frequently used by the policy makers and officers of the Ministry of Agriculture and related a...

by Ministry of Agriculture GOI | On 20 Apr 2015

Economic Policy Reforms in South Asia: An Overview and the Remaining Agenda

In the past few years, the pace of economic growth in South Asia has slowed considerably for two reasons: unfavourable global economic environment and the slowing pace of economic reforms that once we...

by | On 20 Apr 2015

Deliberating Public Spheres: How does Net Neutrality Enable Democracy?

This study reviews and re-conceptualizes the ideas of democracy and the public sphere through the receptive medium of the Internet. Through exploring the transformational concept of the public sphere...

by Jonathan Cunha | On 15 Apr 2015

International Perspectives on Network Neutrality

This issue of Global Media Journal - Canadian Edition spotlights international perspectives on network neutrality focusing on the politics, policies and practices of network management. Contents - Int...

by | On 15 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

Situation Analysis of Children and Women in Pakistan

This Situation Analysis shows that females in Pakistan face discrimination, exploitation and abuse at many levels, starting with girls who are prevented from exercising their basic right to education,...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 01 Apr 2015

Two Decades of Indian Microfinance: Trajectory and Transformation

This paper critically reviews the major trends in the trajectory of evolution of Indian microfinance since the early 1990s. The debates on Indian microfinance reflect the myriad imaginations and perc...

by | On 31 Mar 2015

Health Policy Changes and Their Impact on Equity in Health Financing in India

This study examines the impact of health policy changes on equity of financing among households by using four successive rounds of national sample survey (NSS) data on consumer expenditure in India. T...

by | On 30 Mar 2015

The Impossible Trinity: Where does India stand?

A comprehensive overview of a few empirical studies is presented that have explored the issue of Trilemma in the Indian context. Based on these studies an analysis is done on how have Indian policy ma...

by Satish Y Deodhar | On 30 Mar 2015

The People’s Republic of China's Potential Growth Rate: The Long-Run Constraints

In this paper People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) potential growth rate during the last 30 years is analysed. The PRC’s potential growth rate is not demand constrained, in particular by the balance...

by Juzhong Zhuang | On 27 Mar 2015

Women’s Autonomy and Experience of Physical Violence Within Marriage in Rural India: Evidence From a Prospective Study

Evidence regarding the relationship between married women’s autonomy and risk of marital violence remains mixed. Moreover, studies examining the contribution of specific aspects of women’s autonomy in...

by | On 26 Mar 2015

"Stop Reporting or We’ll Kill Your Family" Threats to Media Freedom in Afghanistan

This 48-page report documents harassment, intimidation, and attacks on journalists and the Afghan government’s failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible. The failure to protect journalist...

by Human Rights Watch | On 26 Mar 2015

Outcome Budget 2015-2016

The “Outcome Budget” reflects the endeavour of the Government to convert “Outlays” into “Outcomes” by planning expenditure, fixing appropriate targets and quantifying deliverables of each scheme. The...

by Ministry of Finance | On 26 Mar 2015

IMI Konnect Volume 4 Issue 2 - February 2015

The February 2015 issue of IMI Konnect (Volume 4, Issue 2) has the following articles - Reinventing India as an Innovation Nation? by Raghunath Anand Mashelkar; Understanding the Underpricing of IPOs...

by IMI Konnect | On 25 Mar 2015

Right to Education Act: Claiming Education for Every Child

This policy brief highlights the Enactment of the landmark RTE legislation has triggered significant improvements, but evidence shows that quality has often been neglected.

by | On 25 Mar 2015

Budget for Children in India 2008-09 to 2013-14: A Summary

Budget for children is not a separate budget. It is merely an attempt to disaggregate from the overall allocations made, those made specifically for programmes that benefit children. This enables us t...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 24 Mar 2015

IMI Konnect Volume 4 Issue 1 - January 2015

The January 2015 issue of IMI Konnect (Volume 4, Issue 1) contains the following articles - Does Monetary Policy Limit Lending Behaviour of Banks? by Samaresh Bardhan; Entrepreneurship Education in In...

by IMI Konnect | On 24 Mar 2015

BRICS Trade Policies, Institutions and Areas for Deepening Cooperation

This document studies the Trade Policies and Institutions of BRICS, India and BRICS: issues of trade and technology; and examines the scope for deepening cooperation in services among BRICS members. T...

by | On 24 Mar 2015

The Role of Diversity on Freedom of Speech in Democratic Societies

There is no doubt that freedom of speech plays an important role in the process of democratization. Freedom of speech is a guarantee to citizens to participate effectively in the working of democracy....

by | On 24 Mar 2015

IMI-Konnect, Volume 4, Issue 3

The March 2015 issue of IMI Konnect contains the following articles - “Perceptions on Financial Inclusion”, by Basabi Bhattacharya; “Does Innovation Lie in the Eyes of the Beholder?”, by Devjani Chatt...

by IMI Konnect | On 23 Mar 2015

Making Democracy Work: Culture, Social Capital and Elections in China

This paper aims to show that culture is an important determinant of the effectiveness of formal democratic institutions, such as elections. It is found that social capital complements democratic insti...

by Gerard Padro -i-Miquel | On 23 Mar 2015

Women’s Education, Family Planning, or Both? Application of Multistate Demographic Projections in India

Is education the best contraceptive? Using the multistate human capital projection model, the authors' analysis shows that the projected changes in India population vary depending on investments in ed...

by | On 19 Mar 2015

An Act to Amend the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

This Act may be cited as the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution to be it enacted by the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

by | On 17 Mar 2015

Bhutan: Making Progress on the Path to Prosperity

his country brief highlights how ADB operations have helped support Bhutan’s efforts in advancing socioeconomic development. Since Bhutan became a member in 1982, ADB has provided $486.29 million i...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 17 Mar 2015

Free Trade Agreements: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

This FAQ is intended to be a ready reckoner for trade and industry including their associations and bodies; students of international trade, academicians, trade researchers etc for understanding the s...

by | On 16 Mar 2015

Financial Access - Measurement and Determinants: A Case Study of Unorganised Manufacturing Enterprises in India

This paper attempts to study financial access of unorganized manufacturing enterprises in India given their importance to the economy and the fact that finance has been the main constraint on their gr...

by T.A. Bhavani | On 12 Mar 2015

The Fiscal and Welfare Impacts of Reforming Fuel Subsidies in India

This paper evaluates the fiscal and welfare implications of fuel subsidy reform in India. Fuel subsidies are found to be badly targeted, with the richest ten percent of households receiving seven time...

by | On 11 Mar 2015

Youth and Democratic Citizenship in East and South-East Asia

This report addresses East and South-East Asian youth’s sense of involvement and empowerment as democratic citizens, their assessments of institutions and quality of governance, and how they particip...

by United Nations Development Programme UNDP | On 10 Mar 2015

Women in Indian Labour Market - Emerging Options

Expanding women’s access to the labour market and enhancing their employability, apart from all its other impact, contributes to the GDP substantially. It is important to generate creative partnership...

by G.D Bino Paul | On 10 Mar 2015

Parliamentary Procedures

The purpose of this primer is to assist newly elected Rajya Sabha MPs in navigating the Rules of Procedure of the Rajya Sabha. It has been organised in a manner that highlights the opportunities for p...

by | On 10 Mar 2015

What Holds Back Manufacturing in South Asia

The recent South Asian (other than that of Bangladesh) experience of a growing merchandise trade deficit and the challenge of job creation have forced attention back on the role of manufacturing. Bang...

by | On 09 Mar 2015

India’s Progress in Combating Climate Change

This Briefing Paper attempts to present a range of initiatives highlighting policy designs and their implementation in various sectors with states and non-state to set up cooperation on climate chan...

by | On 05 Mar 2015

Budget for the Rich to get Richer and throw Crumbs to the Poor

A substantial part of the 2015 Budget Statement is interspersed with the promise that ‘every rupee of public expenditure…will contribute to the betterment of people’s lives through job creation, pover...

by Gautam Mody | On 03 Mar 2015

Maharashtra State Consultation to Review the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012

“The children are the stakeholders...we are the duty bearers and should do our duty to the best of our ability”, was the message given by Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, Mohit Shah, while inaugur...

by Majlis Legal Centre MLC | On 01 Mar 2015

Economic Survey 2014-15: Vol II

State of the Economy - an overview Public Finance monetary management and financial intermediation External Sector Price, Agriculture and Food Management Industrial, Corporate and Infrastructur...

by Ministry of Finance | On 28 Feb 2015

India's Union Budget: Changing Scope and the Evolving Content

The paper reflects on the changing scope of the Union Budget and the Finance Minister’s speech and assesses the evolving content of these policy instruments in recent years. The analysis undertaken is...

by | On 27 Feb 2015

Politics, Paisa or Priorities: Where Would Children Fit into the 2015-16 Union Budget?

It is a well-known fact that children are not getting much attention in the Union Budgets. There are some schemes by the government for children. Many of them are not properly implemented or lack fund...

by Bharti Ali | On 25 Feb 2015

Road Infrastructure: Issues in Financing

Equity and efficiency are two issues that arise again and again the area of infrastructure finance. If the financing of infrastructure projects is to be sustainable the private sector must be entruste...

by Sudakshina Gupta | On 25 Feb 2015

Economic Policy for Revival of Mining

There is a need for public policy revival in mining sector as its contribution to GDP is declining. India has coal reserves but it is one of the highest importers of coal in the world. There is a need...

by Lekha Chakraborty | On 24 Feb 2015

Report of the Fourteenth Finance Commission

The Fourteenth Finance Commission (FC-XIV) was constituted by the President under Article 280 of the Constitution on 2 January 2013 to make recommendations for the period 2015- 20. Dr. Y. V. Reddy w...

by Finance Commission | 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

Parliament Session Alert-Budget Session: February 23 – May 08, 2015

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet for the Budget Session between 23rd February and 8th May, 2015. There will be a recess between 21st March and 19th April when the Standing Committees will examine D...

by Kusum Malik | On 23 Feb 2015

Pre-Budget Memorandum 2015-16

This document provides an overview the current state of the Indian economy; lists the issues related to investment and finance for various Indian industries; finally makes a list of suggestions for th...

by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry | On 19 Feb 2015

Budget 2015-16: Expectations

Government of India (GoI) will present its Budget for 2015-16 on February 28, 2015. After the new Government was sworn in during May 2014, it had a short period of six weeks before presenting the Revi...

by Aditi Nayar | On 19 Feb 2015

Microfinance for Decent Work – Enhancing the Impact of Microfinance: Evidence from an Action Research Programme

In many emerging markets, Micro FinanceInstitutions have significant outreach, providing financial services to thousands, if not millions of small and micro enterprises. Since their primary relationsh...

by International Labour Organisation ILO | On 18 Feb 2015

Medico Friend Circle Bulletin 363-364 (Jan/Feb 2015)

This special issue on mental health was put together for the Annual Meet of the Medico Friend Circle at Pune. Contents - Power to Label: the Social Construction of Madness by Prateeksha Sharma (1); T...

by Medico Friend Circle | On 18 Feb 2015

Cost of Providing Sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services: An Initial Assessment of LCCA in Andhra Pradesh

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services levels remain stubbornly low in rural India despite high levels of public expenditure during recent decades. In many areas, this is a result of service le...

by V Ratna Reddy | On 18 Feb 2015

The Paradox of Gender Responsive Budgeting

Despite the steps towards gender responsive budgeting, the budgetary allocations for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment show a decline. Not only has the magnitude of the gender budget a...

by | On 17 Feb 2015

Removing Boundaries, Losing Connections: Electoral Consequences of Local Government Reform in Japan

This paper examines the role of local politicians in affecting national-level election outcomes by focusing on the drastic municipal mergers in Japan that took place in the early 2000s. Specifically,...

by | On 17 Feb 2015

Declining Free Healthcare and Rising Treatment Costs in India: An Analysis of National Sample Surveys, 1986-2004

This paper focuses on the trends in health seeking behaviour of people and the cost of treatment by examining the National Sample Survey data pertaining to three rounds -1986-87, 1995-96 and 2004. Wit...

by Anil Gumber | On 13 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

Indian Public Finance Statistics 2013-14

Indian Public Finance Statistics' is an annual publication prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. This provides a comprehensive overview of the b...

by Ministry of Finance | On 10 Feb 2015

Report of High Level Committee on Reorienting the Role and Restructuring of Food Corporation of India (FCI)

Government of India (GoI) set up a High Level Committee (HLC) to suggest restructuring or unbundling of FCI with a view to improve its operational efficiency and financial management. GoI also asked H...

by Food Corporation of India | On 04 Feb 2015

21st Century Aid: Recognising Success and Tackling Failure

This report examines the evidence on aid, and finds that while aid alone cannot solve the deprivation experienced by people living in poverty or redress the extreme imbalance of wealth that characteri...

by Oxfam International | On 03 Feb 2015

21st Century Aid: Recognising Success and Tackling Failure

This report examines the evidence on aid, and finds that while aid alone cannot solve the deprivation experienced by people living in poverty or redress the extreme imbalance of wealth that characteri...

by Oxfam International | On 03 Feb 2015

Real Pride of Ancient Indian Science

Do we really have the time to waste on controversies like what ancient India did or did not achieve by way of scientific discoveries? This is when there is the huge unfinished agenda to use the best o...

by Sunita Narain | On 03 Feb 2015

Parliament’s Role in Financial Oversight

This note presents an analysis of Parliament’s role of financial oversight and examines how to strengthen it. It highlights gaps and solutions to improve the existing structures affecting budgetary an...

by Apoorva Shankar | On 30 Jan 2015

Surge in Solar-Powered Homes: Experience in Off-Grid Rural Bangladesh

The studies broad aim is to access the welfare impact of solar home systems (SHS) on households and to evaluate the present institutional structure and financing mechanisms. Also it accesses the direc...

by Shahidur R. Khandker | On 27 Jan 2015

India’s Climate Strategy Needs Revision

Developing countries do not come with a clear plan or proactive position to climate change negotiations, whereas industrialised nations do - to erase their contribution to the emissions already presen...

by Sunita Narain | On 22 Jan 2015

Annual Day Lecture of the Delhi School of Economics, India

The lecture focuses on the continuing relevance of the founding principles of the School, viz., academic freedom, academic excellence, social commitment with technical competence.

by C.H. Hanumantha Rao | On 21 Jan 2015

Relations between Corruption and Human Rights in North Korea

North Korea’s public distribution system has been maintained somewhat perfunctorily since its severe economic hardship in the 1990s. However in reality, rationing to the working class has been suspend...

by | On 20 Jan 2015

Tribute: Jasodhara Bagchi

Jashodhara Bagchi was a leading Indian feminist critic and a prodigious professor in her field. She was a scholar who voiced women's cause and worked for their empowerment. She also was chairman of...

by Vibhuti Patel | On 19 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

Health System in Bangladesh: Challenges and Opportunities

The health system of Bangladesh relies heavily on the government or the public sector for financing and setting overall policies and service delivery mechanisms. Although the health system is faced w...

by | On 13 Jan 2015

Presidential Stakes and Sri Lanka's future

Across the great Eurasian plate these days, one can find leaders dispensing with truly competitive politics. But traverse the Himalayas to South Asia and the climate is different: Democracy is on a w...

by Chandrani Sharma | On 13 Jan 2015

Cyber Crime and Security

The purpose of this paper is Understanding Cyber crime and its phenomena, challenges and legal response to assist everyone in understanding the legal aspects of cyber security and to help harmonize le...

by Shilpa Yadav | On 13 Jan 2015

Obituary: Jasodhara Bagchi - Feminist Scholar, Women’s Movement Activist

Jasodhara Bagchi, feminist scholar, activist and leader of the women's movement and a pioneering women's studies academic passed away on January 9, 2015 after a brief illness in Kolkata, India.

by | On 11 Jan 2015

Jasodhara Bagchi : "The Women’s Movement and I"

A short post on PosterWomen that first appeared in July 25, 2011 in which Jasodhara Bagchi, the late feminist scholar and activist talks about her involvement with the women's movement in India.

by Jasodhara Bagchi | On 11 Jan 2015

Militancy and Identity Politics in Assam

With the state getting tougher and the public turning against them, the militants in Assam are clearly on the defensive today. Militancy in Assam is not a mere law and order problem but a reflection o...

by | On 29 Dec 2014

Recommendations for High Level Committee on Status of Tribal in India

Keeping the present status of the tribal community and government commitment to improve their socio-economic status there have been various policy, programmatic and legislative interventions from time...

by Natural Resource Knowldge Activist Hub | On 29 Dec 2014

‘Coin of Blood’: Savarkar’s 'The Indian War of Independence – 1857'

Savarkar’s chief claim from the outset is that the Revolution was the manifestation of deep underlying principles. Indeed this sense of the underlying principles can alone justify such massive loss of...

by Nikhil Govind | On 27 Dec 2014

Human Rights in North Korea: Addressing the Challenges

An international response to North Korea’s egregious human rights record has begun to take shape. Building on the work of NGOs and UN human rights experts, the United Nations Human Rights Council i...

by Roberta Cohen | On 26 Dec 2014

Framing Savarkar: Reading the Author’s Introduction and the Publishers’ Notes to Savarkar’s 'Indian War of Independence -1857'

Savarkar was not only a revolutionary, but also one who could reflect on the revolutionary life. The earlier generation of 1857 perhaps lacked the ability or at the very least, the opportunity to refl...

by Nikhil Govind | On 26 Dec 2014

Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

On 21 March 2013, at its 22nd session, the United Nations Human Rights Council established the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Resolution A/...

by | On 26 Dec 2014

Child Marriage in India: A Study of Situation, Causes & Enforcement of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act

The practice of early marriage of children is not confined to India but it is a global problem. The practice of child marriage in India may be dates back to the ancient period however, during the Musl...

by Planning Commission | On 24 Dec 2014

Support to Rural Pension Reform and Administration in the People’s Republic of China

The lack of social protection for the elderly in rural areas of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has, since the 1990s, been seen by the government as a critical issue. The central government intro...

by Asian Development Bank Institute | On 23 Dec 2014

Global, Regional and National Age–Sex Specific All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality for 240 Causes of Death, 1990–2013: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

Up-to-date evidence on levels and trends for age-sex-specifi c all-cause and cause-specifi c mortality is essential for the formation of global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global...

by | On 19 Dec 2014

U.S. - China Climate Deal : Maker or Breaker?

Recently, the U.S. and China signed a bilateral treaty according to which they would equalise green house emissions by 2030, followed by a gradual reduction in emissions. Not part of the treaty, India...

by Sunita Narain | On 17 Dec 2014

Counting the Poor: Measurement and Other Issues

This paper first presents approach of Expert Group (Rangarajan). The clarifications are given under the following heads: (1) what is new in the approach for poverty line; (2) Use of calories; (3) Mu...

by C. Rangarajan | On 12 Dec 2014

Last Call to Get Climate Deal Right

The US “peaked” its emissions in 2012. Countries which were required to cut emissions did not do so at the scale or pace needed. The Durban CoP agreed that the world would work to finalise a new agree...

by Sunita Narain | On 03 Dec 2014

Multidimensional Poverty and Child Survival in India

Though the concept of multidimensional poverty has been acknowledged cutting across the disciplines (among economists, public health professionals, development thinkers, social scientists, policy make...

by Sanjay K. Mohanty | On 02 Dec 2014

Cross-Sectional Time Series Analysis of Associations between Education and Girl Child Marriage in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan

Girl education is believed to be the best means of reducing girl child marriage (marriage <18 years) globally. However, in South Asia, where the majority of girl child marriages occur, substantial imp...

by Anita Raj | On 02 Dec 2014

Student Politics: A Game-Theoretic Exploration

The student parties on campus are essentially student wings of larger national parties, which command huge amounts of resources that are used during elections, often instigating conflict and violenc...

by Soumyanetra Munshi | On 01 Dec 2014

Will Indian Farmers Respond to the Call for Increased Biofuel Production-Evidence from Northeastern India

In India, biofuel has gained in popularity in recent years because of its potential as a clean energy source and a means to stimulate rural development. Yet, growth in Jatropha, a key bio-fuel crop,...

by Kishor Goswami | On 27 Nov 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

Need for and Access to Health Care and Medicines: Are There Gender Inequities?

Differences between women and men in political and economic empowerment, education, and health risks are well-documented. Similar gender inequities in access to care and medicines have been hypothesiz...

by Anita K. Wagner | On 26 Nov 2014

Safeguarding Security and Sovereignty

K.G.KANNABIRAN MEMORIAL LECTURE.

by Justice C.V. WIGNESWARAN | On 20 Nov 2014

Pathways of Economic Inequalities in Maternal and Child Health in Urban India: A Decomposition Analysis

Children and women comprise vulnerable populations in terms of health and are gravely affected by the impact of economic inequalities through multi-dimensional channels. Urban areas are believed to ha...

by Srinivas Goli | On 19 Nov 2014

Trends in Child Immunization across Geographical Regions in India: Focus on Urban-Rural and Gender Differentials

Although child immunization is regarded as a highly cost-effective lifesaver, about fifty percent of the eligible children aged 12–23 months in India are without essential immunization coverage. Despi...

by Prashant Kumar Singh | On 13 Nov 2014

Making Sense of Green Building Rating

It is time to go beyond just lip service to push green reforms in building standards. On analysing reports from the Indian Green Building Council, researchers at the Centre for Science and Environment...

by Sunita Narain | On 11 Nov 2014

Mortality Burden and Socioeconomic Status in India

The dimensions along which mortality is patterned in India remains unclear. We examined the specific contribution of social castes, household income, assets, and monthly per capita consumption to mort...

by Y. T. Po June | On 07 Nov 2014

Economic Inequalities in Maternal Health Care: Prenatal Care and Skilled Birth Attendance in India

The use of maternal health care is limited in India despite several programmatic efforts for its improvement since the late 1980's. The use of maternal health care is typically patterned on socioecono...

by Praveen Kumar Pathak | On 06 Nov 2014

Analysis of Criminal and Financial Details of Candidates and MLAs from Jharkhand: Based on 2009 Assembly Elections

Jharkhand Assembly elections 2009 were held in five phases from November 16, 2009 to December 13, 2009. This report includes the analysis of voting trends, criminalization, money power, gender etc in...

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 05 Nov 2014

Reforming the Agricultural Extension System in India: What do we Know about What Works Where and Why?

This paper reviews existing reform programs and strategies currently existing in agricultural extension in India. It distinguishes strategies that have been employed to strengthen both the supply and...

by Katharina Raabe | On 05 Nov 2014

Participation in Decision Making

This is the 5th chapter from the report 'Women and Men in India 2014' by CSO. This is shows the participation of women in India.

by Central Statistical Organization CSO | On 05 Nov 2014

Socioeconomic Dynamics of Gender Disparity in Childhood Immunization in India

Recent evidence indicated that gender disparity in child health is minimal and narrowed over time in India. However, considering the geographical and socio-cultural diversity in India, the gender gap...

by Ranjan Kumar Prusty | On 03 Nov 2014

Decomposing the Gap in Childhood Undernutrition between Poor and Non–Poor in Urban India, 2005–06

Despite the growing evidence from other developing countries, intra-urban inequality in childhood undernutrition is poorly researched in India. Additionally, the factors contributing to the poor/non-p...

by Abhishek Kumar | On 03 Nov 2014

Labour Market Transitions of Young Women and Men in Bangladesh

During the last decade, Bangladesh maintained a stable growth rate of around 6 per cent, and gross domestic product (GDP) doubled in the period 2000–12. Unfortunately, economic growth has not translat...

by Kazi Ali Toufique | On 31 Oct 2014

Is the NREGS a Safety Net for Children? Studying the access to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for Young Lives families, and its impact on child outcomes in Andhra Pradesh

The NREGS is an ambitious public works program intended to provide a basic safety net to the rural poor in India. This paper attempts to study two aspects of the program’s functioning using data from...

by Vinayak Uppal | On 31 Oct 2014

Ozone-smart, climate-cool

HFC has been a bugbear in the India-US relationship. One item on the agenda of the much-discussed Narendra Modi-Barack Obama meeting that has Indian commentators flummoxed is hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)...

by Sunita Narain | On 29 Oct 2014

The Global Gender Gap Report 2014

Through the Global Gender Gap Report 2014, the World Economic Forum quantifies the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracks their progress over time. While no single measure can capture the co...

by World Economic Forum WEF | On 29 Oct 2014

Creating Jobs in India’s Organised Manufacturing Sector

Despite witnessing a decade of rapid economic growth, an acceleration of growth in the organised manufacturing sector has eluded India. Using data from the Annual Survey of Industries, the factors hol...

by Radhicka Kapoor | On 27 Oct 2014

Four Changes to Trade Rules to Facilitate Climate Change Action

The tension between trade and climate change has arisen in part because of the assumption that climate change action (e.g., carbon price increases) can be taken as a given. The question that many pape...

by Aaditya Mattoo | On 20 Oct 2014

Youth in Transition: The Challenges of Transitional Change in Asia

This book originates from a conference of the Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils and contains writings and research reports on Youth in Transition in the Asia and Pacific region. Th...

by UNESCO UNESCO | On 16 Oct 2014

Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2014: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Candidates

Maharashtra Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 2336 candidates out of 4119 candidates who are contesting in the Maharashtra Assemb...

by Association for Democratic Reforms ADR | On 14 Oct 2014

The 100 Laws Project: Compendium of Laws to be Repealed

100 laws are identified which can be repealed. The laws in this compendium need to be repealed on account of any one of three reasons: they are either redundant (having outlived their purpose), they...

by Centre for Civil Society CCS | On 08 Oct 2014

The Cult of Statistical Significance - A Review

A review and extended discussion is presented of The Cult of Statistical Significance: How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice and Lives by Deirdre McCloskey and Stephen Ziliak, a work that rai...

by Sripad Motiram | On 29 Sep 2014

Genesis and Evaluaton Political Parties in India

In the last two decades, there has been a substantial change both in the nature of politics in India as well as in nature of relationship between the state and the society. One of the very important m...

by Satri Kesalu | On 29 Sep 2014

Abolishing Indonesia’s Direct Local Elections: Missing the Forest for the Trees?

The Indonesian House of Representatives is due to pass a bill ending direct elections of local leaders, leaving the selection process to legislators in regional parliaments. Is such a move missing the...

by Jonathan Chen | On 25 Sep 2014

Green clearance test for NDA

Environmentalists are rightly alarmed that the NDA government is busy dismantling the environmental regulatory system in the country. Over the past two months, the media has reported that clearances f...

by Sunita Narain | On 22 Sep 2014

Worker’s Rights and Practices in the Contemporary Scenario: An Overview

This book offers a careful summary of the rights and practices of work in the Indian labour market. In specific, it deals with rights deficiency of workers in different sectors especially on agricultu...

by V.V. Giri Labour Institute | On 19 Sep 2014

Conditions of Employment, Work and Service of Faculty in Private Engineering Colleges in India

Based on the analysis of primary data collected from private engineering colleges from various parts of the country, the study gives a vivid account of the major issues and concerns of faculty in te...

by Sanjay Upadhyaya | On 19 Sep 2014

A Study of Welfare Measures for Beedi Workers in Bangalore and Hyderabad Regions

The present study examines the welfare measures and its operation mechanism focusing on how the welfare fund is generated, what problems are faced in the process of collection of cess and how the fund...

by Dr. Poonam S. Chauhan | On 19 Sep 2014

Civil Society, Indian Elections and Democracy Today

Civil society in Independent India has perhaps never been as active as it is today, except in the years before and during the emergency. The author explores the role it has played in strengthening and...

by Trilochan Sastry | On 18 Sep 2014

Indian Development Cooperation: the State of the Debate

India’s recent development cooperation activities with the South have provoked global curiosity. Two factors shape this interest. First, the strong growth of some countries like India, China and Brazi...

by Sachin Chaturvedi | On 18 Sep 2014

India: Third and Fourth Combined Periodic Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child

‘India: Third and Fourth Combined Periodic Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child’ is a product of extensive consultations with all stakeholders. The Report has been prepared after consul...

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

Nutritional Status of Women and Children and Working of ICDS in Flood Prone Districts of Bihar 2005

ICDS is one of the most critical programmes of the Government of India, implemented by Department of Women and Child Development. In course of several fieldwork in North Bihar the investigating team o...

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

Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS) Community Health Centres Level

In order to provide Quality Care in these CHCs Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) are being prescribed to provide optimal expert care to the community and achieve and maintain an acceptable standar...

by Government of Odisha | On 09 Sep 2014

Unemployment Burden and its Distribution: Theory and Evidence from India

To develop a measure of unemployment that takes into account both the level and intensity of unemployment and that satisfies several desirable properties, including distribution sensitivity (dealing w...

by Sripad Motiram | On 25 Aug 2014

Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All

The 2013/4 Education for All Global Monitoring Report shows why education is pivotal for development in a rapidly changing world. It explains how investing wisely in teachers, and other reforms aimed...

by UNESCO UNESCO | On 25 Aug 2014

The Case for Investing in Young People

More attention to the promotion and protection of the rights and the socio-economic needs of young people needs to be an essential element of a country’s efforts to eradicate poverty. Young people (de...

by United Nations Population Fund UNFPA | On 22 Aug 2014

Indian Planning Experience: A Statistical Profile

The Planning Commission completed 50 years of its setting up on 15th March, 2000. At the time it was set up the purpose of the Planning Commission was to formulate the five year and the annual plans f...

by Planning Commission | On 18 Aug 2014

Government of India's Resolution setting up the Planning Commission

Problems of planning were reviewed towards the end of 1949 by the Advisory Planning Board which was appointed by the Interim Government of India, an important recommendation of the Board being the app...

by Government of India GOI | On 18 Aug 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

UN World Youth Report 2011 - Youth Employment: Youth Perspectives on the Pursuit of Decent Work in Changing Times

The World Youth Report 2011 explores the transition of young people from schools and training institutions into the labour market, a phase marking a critical period in the life cycle. The current empl...

by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs UNDESA | On 12 Aug 2014

Integrated Health and Microfinance in India, Volume II: The Way Forward

Integrated Health and Microfinance in India: The Way Forward is a follow-up report that highlights the context of integration of health and microfinance in light of India’s journey towards universal h...

by Somen Saha | On 11 Aug 2014

CRY’s Response to the Draft Juvenile Justice, Bill 2014 circulated by Ministry of Women and Child Development

Suggestions for sections of the bill is given.

by Child Rights and You CRY | On 08 Aug 2014

Budget 2014-15: The Continuing Neglect of the 'Rural'

The Union Budget remains significant for the agricultural sector in the country for at least the following two reasons. First, the budget comes in the background of an agrarian crisis in the country,...

by Arindam Banerjee | On 04 Aug 2014

Editorial - Remembering Obaid – One Year Later

Obaid Siddiqi had a special impact on hundreds of researchers in India and all over the world. This editorial piece talks about the relationship the editors of the Journal of Biosciences had with Prof...

by Shahid Jameel | On 29 Jul 2014

India Science Report - Science Education, Human Resources and Public Attitude towards Science and Technology

The present report focuses on science education, human resources in science & technology and public understanding of science. A custom-designed survey, the India Science Survey 2004, funded by INSA, w...

by Rajesh Shukla | On 28 Jul 2014

Decline in Science Education in India – A Case Study At + 2 and Undergraduate Level

The authors examine here the option exercised by students at 10 + 2 level for science subjects vis-à-vis accounts and economics for a 11-year period, from 1992 to 2002 based on the data obtained from...

by B. M. Gupta | On 28 Jul 2014

In-service Teacher Professional Development (TPD) for Elementary Education

This paper outlines HBCSE's approach to developing a model for inservice teacher professional development (TPD) for elementary education in India. The focus is on achieving competence and academic...

by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education HBCSE | On 28 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 Memories of a Spark: Reconstructing the 1965 riots in Madurai against the imposition of Hindi

The paper aims to capture the synthesis and popular reconstruction of one of independent India’s earliest instances of large-scale violence over the emotive issue of language, i.e. the January 1965 Ma...

by Sriram Mohan | On 24 Jul 2014

India – National Youth Policy 2014 (NYP-2014)

The Government of India (GoI) currently invests more than Rs 90,000 crores per annum on youth development programmes or approximately Rs 2,710 per young individual per year, through youth-targeted (hi...

by Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs YAS | On 21 Jul 2014

Gender Quotas and Female Leadership: A Review

Despite significant advances in education and political participation, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions in politics and business across the globe. In many countries, policy-ma...

by Rohini Pande | On 07 Jul 2014

In-service Teacher Training for Public Primary Schools in Rural India

The paper represents an amalgamation of different viewpoints of teachers, cluster resource co-ordinators, resource persons, and staff members from district and state level offices of SSA, DIET, Depart...

by Huma Kidwai | On 07 Jul 2014

India's Public Distribution System: A National and International Perspective

This study examines the impact of India's Public Distribution System (PDS) on poor households in terms of income gains, reductions in the incidence and severity of poverty, as well as nutritional impr...

by R. Radhakrishna | On 07 Jul 2014

Gujarat Gender Budget Statement 2014-15

As per census 2011, there are 289.48 lakh women and girls in the state of Gujarat, comprising 47.90 per cent of total population. “Gender Budget 2014-15” shows financial allocations for women in vario...

by Ministry of Finance Government of Gujarat | On 03 Jul 2014

Repeal and re-enactment of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, (JJ Act)

The Ministry of Women and Child Development invites comments and suggestions to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act of 2000, which is also known as the JJ Act.

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 02 Jul 2014

Determinants for the Demand and Supply of Texile Exports of Pakistan

This study analyses the demand and supply side determinants of textile and garments’ exports of Pakistan using time series data for the period 1972– 2010. Eight trading partners (US, UK, Canada, It...

by Rabia Latif | On 01 Jul 2014

Crimes of Habit: A Report on Custodial Torture in Vijay Vihar Police Station

This investigation report unfolds the custodial torture which some boys had to undergo in a police station in outer Delhi.

by PUDR Peoples Union for Democratic Rights | On 01 Jul 2014

Incidence of Poor and Poverty Risk in India across NSS Regions for Rual and Urban Areas, 2004-05 and 2009-10

This note provides an estimate of incidence of poor and poverty risk in India across NSS regions for 2004-05 and 2009-10 in rural and urban areas. It raises concern on increasing poverty risk and als...

by Srijit Mishra | On 23 Jun 2014

Gossip: Identifying Central Individuals in a Social Network

The paper examines individuals’ abilities to identify the highly central people in their social networks, where centrality is defined by diffusion centrality (Banerjee, Chandrasekhar, Duflo, and Jacks...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 19 Jun 2014

Project Brazilian Dreams

The Brazilian Dream Project is a non-profit social responsibility endeavour with no consumption bias, that arose from the ever more clearly awareness that Brazil has reached an unprecedented moment in...

by Box 1824 | On 18 Jun 2014

Inter-Regional Report on Labour Migration and Social Protection

Since the 1970s in particular, the countries of Western Asia and those of the Asia-Pacific region have been closely linked to each other through highly extensive movements of people. Opportunities cre...

by United Nations Economic and Social Commission (UNESCAP) | On 17 Jun 2014

Why India Needs the Women’s Reservation Bill

Nine out of ten parliamentarians in India are men. Such dismal figures reveal the lasting grip of unfavourable social norms. Women’s disadvantage on a complex set of social and economic factors effect...

by Lucy Dubochet | On 17 Jun 2014

The World’s Youth – Data Sheet 2013

The Population Reference Bureau factsheet presents various facts about young people across the world. Some of the data refers to teenage pregnancy, childbirth, prevalence of child marriage in the worl...

by PRB Population Reference Bureau | On 17 Jun 2014

Police and the Rule of Law: Recent Developments in India

This paper examines some of the recent pronouncements of the Supreme Court and other High Courts and tries to analyse them vis-à-vis the understanding of the rule of law in India. [IIMA W.P. No.2014-0...

by Anurag K Agarwal | On 11 Jun 2014

The Market Valuation of Innovation: The Case of Indian Manufacturing

The relationship between market value and innovation in the context of manufacturing firms in India was analysed, using data for 2001-2010. In a milieu where most firms do not patent, the concern was...

by Sunil Kanwar | On 10 Jun 2014

Child labour in India

To study the various definitions of a child as highlighted under the Constitution as well as under various other legislations and compare the various objectives which led to the differential criteria...

by Mubashshir Sarshar | On 09 Jun 2014

Young Leaders in the Parliament - Know your MP

The 2014 General Elections has marked its place in election history- one is the margin of victory witnessed which was the largest in the history of Indian democracy. The second factor unique this time...

by IRIS Knowledge Foundation IKF | On 06 Jun 2014

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013: A Generation at Risk

This issue of Global Employment Trends for Youth provides an update on youth labour markets around the world, focusing both on the continuing labour market crisis and on structural issues in youth lab...

by International Labour Organisation ILO | On 30 May 2014

Contractual Solutions for Migrant Labourers: The Case of Domestic Workers in the Middle East

This article discusses domestic and international responses to the issue of abuse of female domestic workers in the Middle East, and concludes that a standard working contract, such as that in use in...

by Gwenann S. Manseau | On 26 May 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

Growth and Structure of Workforce in India : An Analysis of Census 2011 Data

Census 2011 brings new dimension to ongoing debate on the decline in the growth of employment from the last two decade. The census 2011 result gives better picture when compared with NSSO estimation o...

by Suresh Veslawatha | On 23 May 2014

Growth of the Urban Shadow, Spatial Distribution of Economic Activities and Commuting by Workers in Rural and Urban India

Unlike migration, scant attention has been paid to the phenomenon of commuting by workers in developing countries. This paper fills this gap by using a nationally representative data set from India t...

by Ajay Sharma | On 20 May 2014

Position Paper on Education Post-2015

This position paper identifies that there is a strong need for a new and forward-looking education agenda that completes unfinished business while going beyond the current goals in terms of depth and...

by UNESCO UNESCO | On 16 May 2014

Bengalis, but not Men? Bhadralok Masculinities in Adda

Drawing on interviews with 16 men and women in two age groups – fifties and twenties – and participant observation in adda sessions in an undergraduate college in contemporary Kolkata, this paper atte...

by Romit Chowdhury | On 13 May 2014

Parampara, Pedagogy and Performance: Reading Spaces in the ‘Dhrupad Gurukul’, Palaspé

This paper intends to further the understanding of how a ‘tradition’ is formed through pedagogy – how ideas of continuity, change and knowledge transfer are addressed during the student’s period of le...

by Ajinkya Shenava | On 13 May 2014

Columbo Declaration On Youth ‘Mainstreaming Youth in the Post-2015 Development Agenda’

This declaration is intended to be a framework for the outcome of the World Conference on Youth to be held in Sri Lanka in 2014. It is based on agreed principles from previous outcomes and is intend...

by World Conference on Youth 2014 | On 13 May 2014

Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development

The report investigates migration in the context of demographic changes and trends in both growth and inequality. It also presents more detailed and nuanced individual, family and village experiences,...

by Jeni Klugman | On 06 May 2014

The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World

The 2013 Human Development Report, The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World looks at the evolving geopolitics of our times, examining emerging issues and trends and also the new actors...

by Khalid Malik | On 06 May 2014

Agricultural Research and Productivity Growth in India

This research report, which examines the effects of research and development on productivity in India, finds that India is still benefiting from these investments. The report shows that the public ben...

by Robert E Evenson | On 29 Apr 2014

Developing Democracies in Southeast Asia:Theorizing the Role of Parties and Elections 1 Forthcoming in Southeast Asia and Political Science: Theory, Region, and Method

Political parties and elections lie at the center of modern democratic politics. Elections function as the chief means of holding leaders accountable for their actions in democratic societies. Politic...

by Erik Kuhonta | On 28 Apr 2014

Dynamic Effects of Microcredit in Bangladesh

This paper uses long panel survey data spanning over 20 years to examine the dynamics of microcredit programs in Bangladesh. With the phenomenal growth of microfinance institutions representing...

by Shahidur R. Khandker | On 26 Apr 2014

How to win an Afghan Election

Afghanistan is currently in its second round of presidential and provincial council elections since 2001. In these elections most attention by international observers and analysts is being paid to que...

by Martine Bijlert | On 21 Apr 2014

National Refugee Law in India: Benefits and Roadblocks

India’s status as a preferred refugee haven is confirmed by the steady flow of refugees from many of its subcontinental neighbours as also from elsewhere. India continues to receive them despite its o...

by Arjun Nair | On 17 Apr 2014

Issues of Exclusion and Inclusion in Decentralized Local Governance Institutions in India

This paper proposes to explore “the issues of exclusion and inclusion in decentralized local governance institutions in India”. It also tries to explore how the marginalized groups are excluded in the...

by Dr. Dasarathi Bhuyan | On 14 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

Aggregate Fertility and Household Savings: A General Equilibrium Analysis using Micro Data

This study uses micro data and an OLG model to show that general equi- librium forces are critical for understanding the relationship between aggregate fertility and household savings. [BREAD WP No....

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 03 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

Decentralised Forest Governance, Institutions and Livelihoods in Odisha: A Study of Evolution of Policy Process and Politics

This paper aims to provide an analytical glimpse of the evolution of forest policies in Odisha in the post-independence era, by unraveling the major stages of evolution of such policies. The paper a...

by Bishnu Prasad Mohapatra | On 02 Apr 2014

Land Reforms in India: Unfinished Task

In India, over 70% of the population resides in rural areas with majority depending on land based activities for their livelihood. Studies have shown that owners of productive plots of land tend to be...

by Sita Devi | On 31 Mar 2014

Environmental Goods and Services: Issues for Negotiations for India

Liberalisation of trade in environmental goods and services (EGS) has become a key issue at the complex and rapidly developing trade and environment interface. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) at it...

by Vijaya Katti | On 12 Mar 2014

Report of the Steering Committee on Rapid Poverty Reduction And Local Area Development for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012)

The report examines the data on the poor, their characteristics and attempts to profile the poor. It addresses the need to devise a vision for the Eleventh Plan, which derives from the Approach Paper...

by Planning Commission | On 04 Mar 2014

Equity and Health Sector Reforms: Can Low-Income Countries Escape the Medical Poverty Trap?

The paper discusses two of the trends in market-oriented health-sector reforms pushed forward from the international institutions, namely: the introduction of user fees for public services and the gro...

by Margaret Whitehead | On 04 Mar 2014

What Does it Take to Become a Software Professional?

Rather than place of origin (rural vs urban) or economic background, two educated parents most commonly characterise newly recruited software professionals in Bangalore. A survey of three software fir...

by Anirudh Krishna | On 04 Mar 2014

Social Mobility of Caste and Tribes in India

Explains how the social difference between the caste system and different tribes was contained even through the caste system was officially abolished. Presents a general model of social mobility based...

by Panizza Philipp | On 28 Feb 2014

Election 2014: What Political Parties Must Commit to Children

What children need are effective institutions, equitable services and adequate resources, combined with political will and accountable leadership. This is what political leaders can promise them. [H...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 20 Feb 2014

Can Government-Allocated Land Contribute to Food Security? Intrahousehold Analysis of West Bengal’s Microplot Allocation Program

Secure land rights are a critical, but often overlooked, factor in achieving household food security and improved nutritional status in rural areas of developing countries. This study evaluates the im...

by Florence Santos | On 17 Feb 2014

Land, Politics, Work and Home-Life at Adimalathura: Towards a Local History

This paper focuses on the fishing hamlet of Adimalathura located on the coast of the Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala, which has been identified as an area of extreme developmental disadvantage...

by J. Devika | On 11 Feb 2014

Land, Politics, Work and Home-Life in a City Slum: Reconstructing History from Oral Narratives

This paper is a limited attempt at sketching the history of a prominent slum in the city of Thiruvananthapuram, using mainly the memories of residents collected as oral narratives. [CDS Working pape...

by J Devika | On 07 Feb 2014

'Arranged' Marriage, Education, and Dowry: A Contract-Theoretic Perspective

This paper propounds a contract-theoretic model where dowry acts as a screening device to differentiate grooms of varying qualities. In 'arranged' marriage settings that are characterized by incompl...

by Soumyanetra Munshi | On 31 Jan 2014

Women and the RSS

Bound together by fraternal ties, the RSS and the various members of the Parivar share all pervasive ideas of ‘female virtue’ and the ideal of ‘Hindu family’ that serves to push aside a more comprehe...

by Namrata Ganneri | On 25 Jan 2014

Do Indian States have the Power to Devise their Own Policies? A Study on Fiscal Space

With the decentralization process of the 1990s, linked to economic liberalization, there emerged new decisional scope for regional governments to shape their own policies. But the decentralization pro...

by Kim Robin | On 24 Jan 2014

Structural Reforms and Agriculture: Issues and Policies

The performance of Agriculture in India is important as the sector not only contributes to overall growth of the economy but also provides employment and food security to majority of the population...

by S. Mahendra Dev | On 23 Jan 2014

The Road Ahead for Aam Aadmi Party

This paper seeks insight into the road-map followed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) till date and in the coming future. There were very few who had foreseen the stunning debut of the Aam Aadmi Party (AA...

by Ronojoy Sen | On 22 Jan 2014

Bangladesh at a Crossroads: A Political Prognosis

Bangladesh is in the cusp of great changes. At this point in time it is standing at a crossroads. This is when its friends and its responsible citizenry must help point towards the right direction: on...

by Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury | On 22 Jan 2014

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 Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury | On 22 Jan 2014

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 Rahul Advani | On 22 Jan 2014

India’s Development Cooperation: Charting New Approaches in a Changing World

This report first briefly delves into the historical context within which India's development cooperation must be seen and the role, objectives and the functioning of the DPA is explained. The report...

by Vivan Sharan | On 21 Jan 2014

Obituary: Prof. Ila Pathak (1933-2014): A Feminist Crusader

Ila Pathak was a dedicated social activist who stood by socially excluded sections of society, especially brutalized women. She tirelessly supported women survivors of dowry harassment, rape victims,...

by Vibhuti Patel | On 21 Jan 2014

What is Driving the Indian Middle Class Towards Electoral Politics? Evidence from Delhi

Using the case of Delhi and drawing on examples from other metropolitan cities, this paper attempts to understand the factors that have led to the rise of middle class neighborhood associations an...

by Poulomi Chakrabarti | On 16 Jan 2014

Status Report on Convergence Initiatives of NREGA in India

In order to share some of these innovative experiments with wider range of development professionals, NIRD has prepared a status report on convergence initiatives. [NIRD].

by M.V Rao | On 07 Jan 2014

Forty Eighth Report: The Lokpal Bill, 2011

The law has to seek not only to make corruption painful and hurtful after the event, but to make corruption unnecessary, undesirable and difficult to embark upon at the inception. Indeed many of such...

by Rajya Sabha | On 20 Dec 2013

The Return of the Prodigy Son: Do Return Migrants Make Better Leaders?

This paper investigates the impact of political leaders’ migration experience on the quality of their leadership. A database is constructed on the personal background of 932 politicians who were at...

by Marion Mercier | On 20 Dec 2013

Child Work and Schooling in Rural North India: What do Time Use Data Say about Tradeoffs and Drivers of Human Capital Investment?

This study examines time use data for 1244 children in the age-group 6-12 years in 274 villages in eight states in rural north India to understand the tradeoffs between time spent in school, time sp...

by Sudha Narayanan | On 02 Dec 2013

China-ASEAN Relations: Consensus on Principles, Differences on Specifics

ASEAN, for China, is the focal point for Chinese diplomacy with Southeast Asian countries. Beyond ASEAN, China’s overall relations with Russia, Central Asia and most South Asian countries are relative...

by Chaobing Qiu | On 29 Nov 2013

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

Asia's Rising Power and America's Continued Purpose

This paper examines a range of possible outcomes in strategic Asia and evaluates the likelihood of each outcome based on the prospective performance of the U.S and the Chinese economies, potential pol...

by Aaron Friedberg | On 26 Nov 2013

Subnational-level Fiscal Health: Stability and Sustainability Implications for Kerala, Punjab, and West Bengal

The Government of India has recently announced that Kerala, Punjab, and West Bengal are fiscally unsound at the level of general category states. The study reviews this projection and assesses their...

by Nimai Das | On 26 Nov 2013

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Reform Challenges and Key Tasks for the Philippines

The paper calls the attention of policymakers to address critical constraints affecting the effective utilization of free trade agreements, growth, trade facilitation and customs administration, servi...

by Gilberto M. Llanto | On 15 Nov 2013

Strengthening Democracy in Bangladesh

The paper describes of some of the critical challenges to democratization in Bangladesh. While electoral challenges are included, the paper looks beyond elections and describe other factors that can h...

by ASIA FOUNDATION | On 14 Nov 2013

Nepal’s Constituent Assembly Elections: A Lesson For The Convicted Politicians?

As Nepal prepares to hold the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections on 19th November 2013, there already seems to be one positive lesson: those “convicted of a criminal offence involving moral turpitu...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 11 Nov 2013

Dishonesty and Selection into Public Service

In this paper, it is demonstrated that university students who cheat on a simple task in a laboratory setting are more likely to state a preference for entering public service. Importantly, it is also...

by Rema Hanna | On 11 Nov 2013

Economic Conditions of the In-Migrant Workers in Kerala: A Case Study in the Trivandrum District

The major objective of the paper is to examine the economic conditions of the in-migrant workers in Kerala. This has been done by analysing their savings, income and consumption pattern and nature o...

by Dilip Saikia | On 11 Nov 2013

Social Media and Elections

Social Media and search results can be readily manipulated which has remained unappreciated by the press and the general public. During time of elections, when the stakes are high, electoral candidate...

by Panagiotis Metaxas | On 06 Nov 2013

Judgement of Supreme Court of India on Voting Option

The apex court of India has decided to allow the NOTA (none of the above) option in the voting system. Noting that democracy was all about choice the Court has stated that by providing NOTA button in...

by Supreme Court of India | On 29 Oct 2013

Arresting Child Mortality Rates: What Do the Report Cards Say?

The issue of child mortality in India has been under the scanner in several research publications in recent times. All the reviews acknowledge that India will not achieve the required reductions of un...

by Shambhu Ghatak | On 28 Oct 2013

Democratic Politics and Legal Rights: Employment Guarantee and Food Security in India

This paper focusses on two Indian laws that seek to guarantee socioeconomic rights: the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), an important example of India’s recent history of legislation...

by Reetika Khera | On 25 Oct 2013

Asymmetric Information and Middleman Margins: An Experiment with West Bengal Potato Farmers

A study middleman margins, trading mechanisms and the role of asymmetric information about prices between potato farmers and local trade intermediaries, in West Bengal, India is conducted. Farmers in...

by Sandip Mitra | On 23 Oct 2013

Medical Tourism in the Philippines: Market Profile, Benchmarking Exercise, and S.W.O.T. Analysis

This report reviews the medical tourism industry in the Philippines. It discusses the global market for medical tourism, analyzes the demand and supply aspects of the local industry, and identifies...

by Oscar F Picazo | On 22 Oct 2013

Rationalism Rationed

The gruesome murder of Dabolkar, who had been spearheading a movement against superstitions in Maharashtra, has plunged all people of rationalist disposition in shock. Voices are rising that laws sho...

by Oscar F Picazo | On 22 Oct 2013

Taming Food Inflation in India

High food inflation, which has averaged 10% during FY 2008-09 to December 2012, has been a major concern for policy makers in India. This is all the more important as an average household in India sti...

by Ashok Gulati | On 21 Oct 2013

Global Slavery Index

Modern slavery includes slavery, slavery-like practices (such as debt bondage, forced marriage, and sale or exploitation of children), human trafficking and forced labour. This is the first year of...

by Walk Free Foundation | On 18 Oct 2013

Changing Leadership in Computer and Information Services, Emergence of India as the Current World Leader in Computer and Information Services

The paper analyses the changing leadership in Computer and Information Services (CIS). Leadership is measured in terms of export shares. The leadership appears to have changed from United States of ...

by Sunil Mani | On 10 Oct 2013

Child Focussed Questions in Parliament in 2012

One third of the population of India are children below the age of 18 years. They are citizens of this country. Even though they do not vote, they have all rights as equal citizens of the country. How...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 07 Oct 2013

Decentralized Provisioning of Supplementary Nutrition for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in Mumbai

This study is an attempt to examine the decentralized production of supplementary nutrition which has been instituted for the Integrated Child Development Services in urban Maharashtra, specifically,...

by Natasha S. K. | On 04 Oct 2013

Does Economic Growth Reduce Corruption? Theory and Evidence from Vietnam

Government corruption is more prevalent in poor countries than in rich countries. This paper uses cross-industry heterogeneity in growth rates within Vietnam to test empirically whether growth leads...

by Jie Bai | On 03 Oct 2013

Interrogating 'Best Practices' for the Implementation of School Nutrition Programme in Urban India

This study examines the differences between two major Mid-day Meal implementation models: the decentralized model where food is cooked and served within the schools premises, and the centralized model...

by Shankar Priya | On 01 Oct 2013

Caste, Land, and Migration: A Preliminary Analysis of a Village Survey in an Underdeveloped State in India

This paper explores migration from Bihar, one of the most underdeveloped states in India, by paying particular attention to social class (caste) and landholdings. After describing details of individu...

by Yuko Tsujita | On 27 Sep 2013

Addressing India's Nutrition Challenges - Report of he Multistakeholder Retreat

India has accorded the highest priority to combating malnutrition, since it remains persistently and unacceptably high, in spite of a multitude of efforts of the Government. The key issue is preventin...

by Planning Commission, India | On 27 Sep 2013

Portrait of a Statesman: Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Special programme by Rajya Sabha TV on Dr S.Radhakrishnan on the occasion of Teacher's Day 2012.

by Rajya Sabha TV RSTV | On 05 Sep 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

Five Years of Leading the Reserve Bank: Looking Ahead by Looking Back

This Tenth Nani A. Palkhivala Memorial lecture lecture centres around the role and responsibility of a central bank in a democratic structure. Central banks make macroeconomic policy that influences t...

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 30 Aug 2013

India Shadow Report

The gains made since ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are plenty, but the reality of children’s situation is disturbing on many counts calling for urgent and serious att...

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 26 Aug 2013

On Calling a Revolution, a Revolution and a Coup, a Coup

It is a sad thing for an academic to have to explain the difference between a revolution and a coup d'état to other academics, especially those who have described the Egyptian military coup against it...

by Amr Othman | On 18 Aug 2013

Forecasting Profitability

Newly-available Indian panel data is used to estimate how the returns to planting-stage investments vary by rainfall realizations. [BREAD Working Paper No. 392]. URL:[http://ipl.econ.duke.edu/bread/pa...

by Mark Rosenzweig | On 16 Aug 2013

The Companies Bill, 2012

A bill to consolidate and amend the law relating to companies. [Ministry of Corporate Affairs]. URL:[http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/The_Companies_Bill_2012.pdf].

by Ministry of Corporate Affairs GOI | On 09 Aug 2013

Position Paper on Breastfeeding and Work

The role of the lactation consultant is to provide care, problem-solving, education, and counseling to breastfeeding mothers and their families. These clinical services, however, make up just one pa...

by International lactation Consultant Association | On 07 Aug 2013

The Changing Pattern of Internal Migration in India: Issues and Challenges

This paper is an attempt to understand the emerging migration patterns in India and issues underlying it. With globalisation, urbanisation and accompanying changes in socio-economic conditions, migran...

by Sandhya Rani Mahapatro | On 07 Aug 2013

Draft National Land Reforms Policy

This policy outlines a very clear strategy of creating a large pool of land so that every family's right to land is fully honoured. The policy proceeds to suggest a just and equitable method of allott...

by Ministry of Rural Development GOI | On 06 Aug 2013

Out-of-pocket Expenditures and Poverty: Estimates From NSS 61st Round

Poverty needs to be measured taking into account OOP spending, since health spending is also now viewed as an essential expenditure that enhances welfare like food and other necessities. [Paper prese...

by Indrani Gupta | On 05 Aug 2013

Cyberwarfare: Logged and Loaded, but Wither Asia?

Cyber operations could have as devastating an impact on populations as conventional military weapons. With militaries already in the process of developing cyberwarfare as a means of battle, there is a...

by Elina Noor | On 26 Jul 2013

Perils of the Drug Trade: Implications and Challenges of Central Asia’s “Northern Route”

The international trade in Afghan drugs is one of the most significant transnational threats emanating from Central Asia. Exacerbated by weak border management, corruption, and lack of income-generat...

by Lars-Erik Lundin | On 26 Jul 2013

A Good Model for Grievance Redressal? Kerala’s Award-Winning Mass Contact Programme

Kerala’s innovative programme for redressing grievances and rooting out corruption has won the chief minister accolades even as it served to connect people to political leaders directly.

by Amrutha Jose Pampackal | On 22 Jul 2013

As Dear As Salt: The Story of Neglect in a Traditional Occupation in Goa

Salt has been an important produce of the coastal region of Goa on the west coast of India for centuries and has been exported from there to countries in Africa and the rest of Asia. But today, the tr...

by Frederick Noronha | On 22 Jul 2013

What the US Supreme Court decisions on same sex marriage mean for India

ANAND GROVER, a senior advocate and the director of Lawyers Collective, appeared on behalf of the Naz Foundation (India) Trust in the Supreme Court in the Section 377 case. In an interview to Frontlin...

by Lawyers Collective | On 15 Jul 2013

Draft National Sports Development Bill, 2013

To provide for promotion and development of sports and welfare measures for sportspersons, promotion of ethical practices in sports (including elimination of doping practices, fraud of age and sexual...

by Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs YAS | On 12 Jul 2013

An Economic Investigation of Corruption and Electricity Theft

Theft and corruption are common in electricity distribution systems worldwide. Electricity theft is analysed in the framework of an individual’s choice under uncertainty and through a three-layered pr...

by Faisal Jamil | On 10 Jul 2013

Recession and Child Labour: A Theoritical Analysis

This paper provides a theoretical model of the impact of recession (income shock) on household's child labor (CL) decision. Parental altruism is endogenized; as their choice of substituting child lab...

by Sahana Roy Chowdhury | On 25 Jun 2013

Driving Force: Labour Struggles and Violation of Rights in Maruti Suzuki India Limited

As reports of severe harassment of Maruti workers and their families trickled in in late July 2012, Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) undertook a fact finding investigation into the inciden...

by PUDR Peoples Union for Democratic Rights | On 07 Jun 2013

Issue of Declining Child Sex Ratio

As per the Census, the child sex ratio (0-6 years) has shown a sharp decline from 927 females per thousand males in 2001 to 914 females per thousand males in 2011.

by Anonymous | On 27 May 2013

Malnutrition in India & Steps Taken To Reduce It

According to Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012” report, there is a reduction of 34.9 percent in prevalence of undernourishment from 1990-1992 to 2010-...

by Anonymous | On 27 May 2013

Valuing the Damage Caused by Invasive Plant Species in a Low-income Community in Nepal

This paper presents a choice experiment designed to estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of rural farmers to mitigate damages caused by invasive plant species, particularly Mikania micrantha, in the...

by Rajesh Kumar Rai | On 27 May 2013

Profile of Out-of-School Children in the Philippines

The Philippines committed to Millennium Development Goals and Education for All (EFA) targets that include universal primary education. However, various data sources, including the Department of Educa...

by Jose Ramon G Albert | On 23 May 2013

Circular Migration in India

This brief explores circular migration in India and the policy response, and impact of this policy response, on the welfare of migrants and more broadly, on regional inequality. [ODI Policy Brief No....

by Kate Bird | On 24 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

Advertisement Placement in TV Programs: Different Roles of ELM and Mood Protection Mechanism

This study explores how involvement of the audience with cognitive/affective program influence their processing of advertisements aired in between the program because of varying involvement within p...

by Mayank Jyotsna Soni | On 12 Apr 2013

Living Rough: Surviving City Streets

This paper records the findings of a small investigation into a fragment of experiences of people living on streets and into the social, economic, nutritional situation of urban homeless men, women, b...

by Harsh Mander | On 10 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

The Criminal Law (Amendement) Bill, 2013 as passed by Lok Sabha

A bill further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 [PRS]. URL:[http://www...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 08 Apr 2013

Employment Effects of Low-Skilled Immigrants in Korea

This study examines the impact of inflows of foreign workers on Korean natives’ economic performance – namely, employment – through the Employment Permit System, the basis of Korea’s system by which...

by Jungho Kim | On 03 Apr 2013

Options and Determinants of Rice Residue Management Practices in the South-West Region of Bangladesh

This study examines options for managing rice residue and the factors that determine its management in the south-west region of Bangladesh. Study results indicate that while straw length, low-elevatio...

by Mohammed Ziaul Haider | On 29 Mar 2013

Federal Budget Pakistan: 2012-13

Budget speech by Minister of Finance. [Ministry of Finance]. URL:[http://www.finance.gov.pk/budget/budget_Speech_12_13.pdf].

by Minister of Finance Pakistan | On 22 Mar 2013

Report of China’s Local and Central Budgets 2013

Following is the full text of report on the implementation of central and local budgets in 2012 and on draft central and local budgets for 2013, which was submitted for review on March 5, 2013 at the...

by Ministry of Finance China | On 21 Mar 2013

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Bill, 2013

A bill further to amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992. [PRS]. URL:[http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media//SEBI%20(A)%20Bill,%202013/The%20Securities%20and%20Exchange%20Board%20...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 19 Mar 2013

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, GOI, 2013-14

This brief gives the idea about the allocations to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan by Government of India in 2013-14 [Accountability Initiative]. URL:[http://www.accountabilityindia.in/sites/default/files/ssa_2...

by Accountability Initiative | On 07 Mar 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

Explaining Access to Credit by Rural Households: Results based on a Study of Several States in India

Against the backdrop of evolution of rural credit system in India as well as its observed failure to be inclusive in character, this paper makes use of a fairly large data set of the Center for Manage...

by Saugandh Datta | On 07 Mar 2013

Analysis of Railway Budget 2013

The Minister of Railways, Pawan Kumar Bansal, presented the Railway Budget 2013 to Parliament on 26th February. In his address, he commented on the performance of Railways in 2012-13 and laid out his...

by Vishnu Padmanabhan | On 28 Feb 2013

Evaluation Study of Tribal/Folk Arts and Culture in West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhatisgrah and Bihar

The status of various forms of tribal and folk art and culture are explored. The influence of tribal and folk art & culture on the socio-economic conditions of the subjects covered under survey are...

by Gramin Vikas Seva Sanshtha GVSS | On 26 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

Performance of PDS: Better in Richer States?

How well has the PDS been functioning across the country? Do the poorer states do better or worse than the richer states? Interpreting data on PDS can be misleading unless they are read against seve...

by Shambhu Ghatak | On 14 Feb 2013

Domestic Violence Prevention Bill, 2012, Bhutan

Recognizing that the domestic violence is a serious social evil; that there is incidence of domestic violence within Bhutanese Society; that victims of domestic violence are the most vulnerable membe...

by National Assembly of Bhutan | On 11 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

Positive and Normative Aspects of Food Policy and the Market in Indian Agriculture-An Empirical Analysis of Government Policy Interventions in Food Management

There are discussions about food management and food policy issues in India in the backdrop of largely unchanging dynamics of slow growth of the farm sector in India. First we deal with the manner in...

by Munish Alagh | On 30 Jan 2013

Microfinance in Evolution: An Industry Between Crisis and Advancement

Following the international financial crisis that started in 2007, market growth and MFI performance started to deteriorate. Over the last decade the market has matured and become more efficient. Is...

by Cédric Lützenkirchen | On 14 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

Social Fragmentation, Public Goods and Elections: Evidence from China

This study examines how the economic effects of elections in rural China depend on voter heterogeneity, for which religious fractionalization is taken as a proxy. [BREAD Working No. 366]. URL:[http:/...

by Gerard Padro-i- Miquel | On 09 Jan 2013

Building a Knowledge Base on Population Ageing in India: Report on the Status of Elderly in Select States of India, 2011

To understand the ageing in India, a primary survey was carried out in seven states – Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal – having a higher percentage of...

by United Nations Population Fund UNFPA | On 08 Jan 2013

PUDR's Submission of Suggestions to Verma Commission for Changes in Law and Procedure Regarding Violence Against Women

Legal mechanisms to achieve justice should factor in the challenges and roadblocks of its implementation, structural or otherwise, right from the stage of planning and framing the law. Law can be expe...

by D Manjit | On 08 Jan 2013

Vital Stats: Parliament in Winter Session 2012

The first half of the Winter Session of Parliament, 2012 was dominated by disruptions over and discussion on the government's notification to allow 51% FDI in the retail sector. The issue was finally...

by Devika Malik | On 21 Dec 2012

Kerala-The Land of Development Paradoxes

An attempt has been made to understand the paradoxes of Kerala's development like the state's per capita consumer expenditure is more than the per capita state domestic product. But the nutritional i...

by K.K. George | On 18 Dec 2012

Public Expenditure Benefit Incidence on Health: Selective Evidence from India

This paper attempts to analyse the benefit incidence of health spending in the context of India. Benefit incidence analysis (hereafter BIA) is used here. This is a methodology that addresses this ques...

by Lekha Chakraborty | On 17 Dec 2012

Corruption Perceptions Index 2012

The Corruption Perceptions Index is constructed by the Transparency International. The Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in countries worldwide. Ba...

by Transparency International TI | On 07 Dec 2012

The Intellectual Origins of the New Asia

Essayist, journalist and novelist Pankaj Mishra was at Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) September 19, 2012, to discuss his new book From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Agains...

by Pankaj Mishra | On 07 Dec 2012

Foreign Investment in Farmland No Low-hanging Fruit

A key driver of foreign investment in land, food security is a challenge mankind has been confronted with in various times and places. Wherever human societies have developed, growing needs have led t...

by Claire Schaffnit Chatterjee | On 15 Nov 2012

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

How Indian Voters Respond to Candidates with Criminal Charges: Evidence from the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections

What are the response of voters to candidates who have reported that they have criminal charges against them? A analysis within the framework of a simple analytical model which assumes that criminal c...

by Bhaskar Dutta | On 02 Nov 2012

Diesel Pricing in India: Entangled in Policy Maze

This paper identifies the important economic activities that use diesel and discusses the contribution of those sectors in GDP. Other important petroleum products and, their limited substitution possi...

by Mukesh Kumar Anand | On 17 Oct 2012

The Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development Bill, 2011

To declare the institution known as the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, to be an institution of National importance and to provide for its incorporation and for matters connected...

by Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs YAS | On 05 Oct 2012

What Do Teachers Do? Teacher Quality Vis-a-vis Teacher Quantity in a Model of Public Education and Growth

This paper analyses the contribution of teachers in a public education system and its implication for growth. Focus is given exclusively on two teacher-specfi?c inputs (teacher quality and teacher q...

by Mausumi Das | On 21 Sep 2012

Food Subsidy in India: Trends, Causes and Policy Reform Options

This paper analyses the trends in volume of food subsidy in the post-reforms period (1991-92 to 2012-13) and then examines various components of food subsidy, which are under the control of FCI and th...

by Vijay Paul Sharma | On 20 Sep 2012

Energy Savings Potential and Policy for Energy Conservation in Selected Indian Manufacturing Industries

This paper focuses on the assessment of energy savings potential in seven highly energy consuming industries. The paper estimates the energy savings potential for each of these industries using unit l...

by Manish Gupta | On 17 Sep 2012

Gender Impact of Trade Reforms in Indian Plantation Sector: An Exploratory Ananlysis

This paper examines the potential gender impacts of the trade reforms in plantation agriculture in the emerging context of the two prominent FTAs, viz. the Indo-ASEAN and the proposed EU-India FTA....

by Viswanathan P K | On 14 Sep 2012

The Challenge of Employment in India: An Informal Economy Perspective Volume I - Main Report

India is perhaps the first country to set up, at the national level, a commission to study the problems and challenges being faced by what in India is called the unorganized economy - or the informal...

by NCEUS NCEUS | On 05 Sep 2012

Financial Stability Report Issue No. 5

The report reflects the collective assessment of the Sub Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on potential risks to financial stability. [RBI]. URL:[http://rbidocs.rbi....

by Reserve Bank of India RBI | On 04 Sep 2012

National Commission for Minorities: Communalising Assam Riots?

The Asian Centre for Human Rights has alleged that the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) is communalizing the riots in Assam. [ACHR]. URL:[http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/NCM-2012.pdf].

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 24 Aug 2012

Capital Market Bank Funding: (Not such a) Brave New World …

What degree the financial crisis and the resulting developments have impacted and will impact long-term, capital market bank funding. [DB research] URL:[http://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-...

by Meta Zähres | On 23 Aug 2012

Network Structure and the Aggregation of Information: Theory and Evidence from Indonesia

A unique data-set from Indonesia is analysed to understand what individuals know about the income distribution in their village to test theories such as Jackson and Rogers (2007) that link informatio...

by Vivi Alatas | On 23 Aug 2012

Situating Conflict and Poverty in Manipur

What is the relationship between social conflict and poverty in the context of Manipur? There is a need to recognize togetherness of the imperatives of economic well being, socio-cultural identity a...

by Anand Kumar | On 22 Aug 2012

Under-Nutrition in Maharashtra: Is ICDS effective?

Malnutrition and under nutrition are critical issues in Maharashtra. In spite of being a high growth state in the country, it has occasionally remained in the news due to deaths caused by under nutrit...

by Manisha Karne | On 21 Aug 2012

Coordinating Healthcare and Pension Policies: An Exploratory Study

Rapid ageing of the population globally represents an unprecedented historical trend. As pension and healthcare costs are positively correlated with rising incomes, ageing, urbanization, and a shift f...

by Azad Singh Bali | On 20 Aug 2012

The Protection of Women Aganist Sexual Harassment at Work Place Bill, 2010

A bill to provide protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected therewith or incidental...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 17 Aug 2012

The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosures Bill, 2010

Commonly known as the Whistleblower's Bill, it seeks to establish a mechanism to register complaints on any allegations of corruption or wilful misuse of power against a public servant. The Bill also...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 17 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

Constraints Faced by Industry in Punjab, Pakistan

What are the main impediments to investment and industrial productivity in Punjab which have contributed to this unprecedented decline in growth? This is done by analyzing the 2007 Investment Climate...

by Syed Turab Hussain | On 08 Aug 2012

Averting an Impending Storm: Can We Reengineer Health Systems to Meet the Needs of Aging Populations?

The proportion of elderly in the world population is increasing. Health systems across the globe are ill prepared to meet the needs of aging populations. The needs of the elderly are different from t...

by Arlene S Bierman | On 08 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

Environmental Changes and Ripples for Water Security in Southern States

Environmental change is regarded by many geopolitical experts as one of the biggest threats to international security in the coming years. In Southern Asia, its impact on rivers, and thus water secur...

by Dhanasree Jayaram | On 07 Aug 2012

Agricultural Credit - Accomplishments and Challenges

Agriculture’s share in GDP is less than 15 per cent but it still remains the direct domain of over half of the population whose economic prospects are linked to the performance of agriculture. There a...

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 03 Aug 2012

The Quality of Governance How Have Indian States Performed?

What is ‘good’ governance? Can the quality of governance be measured? And how do state governments in India measure up by such a measure? [Working Paper no. 104]. URL:[http://www.nipfp.org.in/neww...

by Sudipto Mundle | On 02 Aug 2012

Suicide and Property Rights in India

Is there an impact of female property rights on male and female suicide rates in India. Using state level variation in legal changes to women's property rights, it is shown that better property righ...

by Siwan Anderson | On 02 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

The Draft National Policy for Children, 2012

To affirm the Government’s commitment to the rights based approach in addressing the continuing and emerging challenges in the situation of children, the Government of India adopted this Resolution...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 30 Jul 2012

Water, City and Urban Planning: Assessing the Role of Groundwater in Urban Development and Planning in Delhi

The paper examines the stages and patterns of urban evolution in the Delhi metropolis and its peri-urban areas and links the role of groundwater in urban development from the past to the present. Wi...

by Suresh Kumar Rohilla | On 20 Jul 2012

Evolution of Model Concession Agreement for National Highways in India

This paper discusses the evolution of Model Concession Agreement for National Highways, the vital framework on which the success of Public Private Partnership lies. The key learnings of this study wou...

by Ramakrishnan T S | On 18 Jul 2012

Child Malnutrition in Pakistan: Trends and Determinants

The major objective of this paper to examine the determinants of child malnutrition, based on the Pakistan Panel Household Survey (PPHS-2010). The study has focused on individual (child), household an...

by G M Arif | On 16 Jul 2012

Climate Change Mitigation and Green Growth in Developing Asia

Developing Asia is the driver of today's emissions intensive global economy. As the principle source of future emissions, the region is critical to the task of global climate change mitigation. Reflec...

by Stephen Howes | On 16 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

The Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011

A bill to promote autonomy of higher educational institutions and universities for free pursuit of knowledge and innovation and to provide for comprehensive and integrated growth of higher educati...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 12 Jul 2012

Three Gorges Dam: A Model of the Past

The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the world’s largest and most controversial hydropower project. The 600 kilometer-long reservoir has displaced 1.3 million people and is wreaking havoc wi...

by International Rivers Network IRN | On 12 Jul 2012

Review of Philippine Migration Laws and Regulations Gains, Gaps, Prospects

The Philippines has often been cited as the global model in managing international labor migration. Despite the complexity of our management infrastructure, however, some gaps still remain. This pap...

by Julyn S Ambito | On 12 Jul 2012

Recommendations on the Proposed Disability Rights Legislation

Estimates of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in India vary greatly depending on the source. The 2001 census found 21.91 million disabled persons (2.13 % of the population), but there are serious cons...

by National Advisory Council NAC | On 11 Jul 2012

Domestic Violence Prevention Bill 2012: Bhutan

This Act ensures a prompt and just legal remedy for the victims of domestic violence; facilitate access to remedies for immediate and effective assistance, shelter homes and protection to the victims...

by National Assembly of Bhutan | On 11 Jul 2012

Small Farmers in India: Challenges and Opportunities

This paper examines the roles and challenges of small holding agriculture in India. It covers trends in agricultural growth, cultivation patterns, participation of small holding agriculture, productiv...

by S. Mahendra Dev | On 06 Jul 2012

Troubled Encounter: Japan–DPRK Non-Relations

This paper explores the interplay between two neighbors that have been victims of history, Japan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, also known as North Korea). [ISDP Asia Paper]. U...

by Bert Edström | On 05 Jul 2012

National Budget of Bhutan: Financial Year 2012-13

Budget of Bhutan 2012-13. URL:[http://www.mof.gov.bt/downloads/BudgetReport2012.pdf].

by Minister of Finance Bhutan | On 04 Jul 2012

Has India Emerged? Business Cycle Stylized Facts from a Transitioning Economy

A comprehense documentation - using both annual and quarterly data - an exhaustive set of stylized facts for the Indian business cycle in the pre and post reform period, the data is used to report...

by Chetan Ghate | On 19 Jun 2012

What Should Regulation do in the Field of Micro-finance?

Recent events in India have brought a fresh focus on the appropriate regulatory stance towards micro-finance. In this paper, facts and recent experience about Indian microfinance is reviewed. The puz...

by Renuka Sane | On 19 Jun 2012

Women in Indian Engineering: A Preliminary Analysis of Data from the Graduate Level Engineering Education Field in Kerala and Rajasthan

Are there substantial changes in the relationship between women and engineering in recent times? This is a fascinating question to explore especially since it has been so little studies especially in...

by Sreelekha Nair | On 11 Jun 2012

Capitalism, Religion, and the Idea of the Demonic

Following the debate on the relationship between capitalism and religion, this paper discusses the role of religion in present-day capitalism. It argues that neither the secularization thesis nor the...

by Christoph Deutschmann | On 11 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

The End of Japan's Nuclear Renaissance? Not Just Yet

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that severally damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant have been described as ending the ‘nuclear renaissance’ in Japan. The government is in a hard pl...

by Elliot Brennan | On 25 May 2012

The Impact of 1998 and 2008 Financial Crises on Profitability of Islamic Banks

The paper investigates the profitability of 78 Islamic banks in 25 countries for the period of 1992-2009. The Fixed Effect Model (FEM) used to analyse profitability shows that profit efficiency is pos...

by NOR HAYATI BT AHMAD | On 24 May 2012

Myths and Realities of Long-run Development: A Look at Deeper Determinants

This paper reviews the debate surrounding the “deeper determinants” of economic performance. It reviews the work of Institutional School and Geography School and their interpretation of the long-r...

by Lubna Hasan | On 24 May 2012

Trafficking in Persons: Singapore's Evolving Responses

For a long time, sending countries have been the focus of efforts to combat trafficking in persons (TIP). However, in recent years, destination countries such as Singapore have also stepped up their e...

by Pau Khan Khup Hangzo | On 23 May 2012

Black Money

The objective of this paper is to place in the public domain various facets and dimensions of black money and its complex relationship with the policy and administrative regime in the country. The pa...

by Ministry of Finance | On 22 May 2012

Group Norms and the BRAC Village Organization – Enhancing Social Capital Baseline

This study used social capital as an organizing framework to capture VO members’ group behaviour, and their current status along programme activities. The study compared the status of intervention...

by Nayma Qayum | On 22 May 2012

Obituary: Leela Dube (1923-2012)

Obituary: Leela Dube (1923-2012)

by Vibhuti Patel | On 22 May 2012

One Planet to Share: Sustaining Human Progress in a Changing Climate

In the run-up to Rio+20, this Asia-Pacific Human Development Report takes a bold look at climate change and what can be done about it. Tackling head-on the issue of poverty reduction and human deve...

by United Nations Development Programme UNDP | On 21 May 2012

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2007

With the aim of better regulation of traffic systems in cities, this Bill amends the existing Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Among other provisions, it makes way for state governments to allow recognised a...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 21 May 2012

How Much is a Life Worth? Examining the Risk-Wages Trade Off in Pakistan

Governments across the world use estimates of people’s willingness to pay for a reduction in the probability of death and injury to develop a wide range of environmental, industrial and developmenta...

by South Asian Network for Development SANDEE | On 21 May 2012

Private Returns to Public Office

The wealth accumulation of Indian parliamentarians using public disclosures required of all candidates since 2003 are studied. Annual asset growth of winners is on average 3 to 6 percentage points hi...

by Raymond Fisman | On 18 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

Hate Crimes in India: An Economic Analysis of Violence and Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) by the upper castes in India represent an extreme form of prejudice and discrimination. In this paper, the ef...

by Smriti Sharma | On 16 May 2012

Inter-Party Competition and Electoral Campaigning in Rural Malaysia: The Pendang and Anak Bukit By-Elections of 2002

The Pendang parliamentary and Anak Bukit by-elections for the Kedah state legislative assembly were among the most contentious of by-elections in recent Malaysian politics. Held simultaneously on 18...

by K Ramanathan | On 10 May 2012

Where There Is No Health Research: What Can Be Done to Fill the Global Gaps in Health Research?

Efforts to strengthen capacity in health research have, so far, concentrated on countries where there is existing capacity rather than those where it is almost completely lacking. Judged by absolut...

by Martin McKee | On 10 May 2012

Role of Communication in Stigma and Discrimination

The objective of the study was to review media coverage (print ) related to HIV/AIDS in three states (Gujarat, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh) in order to determine the gaps in reporting. [CCMG Working Pa...

by Biswajit Das | On 10 May 2012

Estimation of Capacity Utilisation in Indian Industries: Issues and Challenges

The estimation of capacity utilisation (CU) derives its significance from the fact that, if properly assessed, it may provide a reliable indication of incipient inflationary pressure in an economy. Me...

by Atri Mukherjee | On 09 May 2012

Encouraging Myanmar’s Reforms: Engage Beyond Sanctions

The paper analyzes the state of reforms in Myanmar and the need to increase the pace of these reforms

by Kyaw San Wai | On 02 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

Liberalisation of Technical Education in Kerala: Has a Significant Increase in Enrolment Translated Into Increase in Supply of Engineers?

Enrolments in engineering in Kerala increased from about 2800 in 1991 to about 28,000 in 2008. The study analyses whether this increase in potential supply of engineers has resulted in actual supply o...

by Sunil Mani | On 25 Apr 2012

Corruption

In this paper, a new framework for analyzing corruption in public bureaucracies is provided. The standard way to model corruption is as an example of moral hazard, which then leads to a focus on bette...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 24 Apr 2012

Behavior of Remittance Inflows and its Determinants in Bangladesh

The paper examines the determinants of remittance inflow by applying ordinary least square method (OLS). The model include the weighted average GDP of the six (Saudi Arabia (KSA), United Arab Emirat...

by Mst. Nurnaher Begum | On 24 Apr 2012

The Negative Consequences of Overambitious Curricula in Developing Countries

Learning profiles that track changes in student skills per year of schooling often find shockingly low learning gains. Using data from three recent studies in South Asia and Africa, it is shown that ...

by Lant Pritchett | On 23 Apr 2012

Exports of Services: Indian Experience in Perspective

India’s experience with exporting services is examined. The country’s experience is distinctive in that services, especially modern tradable services, comprise a significantly larger share of GDP tha...

by Barry Eichengreen | On 23 Apr 2012

Urban Policies: Political Gimmicks?

Review of the book 'Re-visioning Indian Cities: The Urban Renewal Mission' by Christopher Manickam. Author of the book: K. C. Sivaramakrishnan, published by Sage, New Delhi.

by Christopher Manickam | On 23 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

Draft National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy

The National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy reaffirms the commitment of the Government of India to provide integrated services for holistic development of all children, along the con...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 20 Apr 2012

Audiovisual Services in Korea: Market Development and Policies

This paper reviews economic development and the regulatory environment of audiovisual services in the Republic of Korea (hereafter, Korea). The paper specifically examines motion pictures and broadcas...

by Yeongkwan Song | On 19 Apr 2012

Measuring and Explaining the Asymmetry of Liquidity

This paper examines transactions costs in buying versus selling using a large database of snapshots of the limit order book. On the equity spot market, there is clear evidence of asymmetry in liquid...

by Rajat Tayal | On 19 Apr 2012

Innovative Approaches to Managing Longevity Risk in Asia: Lessons from the West

This paper discusses what is longevity risk, why it is important, approaches used by the West to manage longevity risk and what lessons can be learnt by Asian countries from the experiences of the Wes...

by Amlan Roy | On 18 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

The Iban Population of Sarawak: 1947-2000

The paper gives an analysis and description of the quantity and quality of the Iban population of Sarawak. The information about the pattern and trends of change of the population over time is also sh...

by Lam Chee Kheung | On 09 Apr 2012

Monetary Transmission in Pakistan: The Balance Sheet Channel

Using data of non-financial listed firms over a period of 1999-2010, this paper investigates the effectiveness of balance sheet channel in monetary transmission mechanism in Pakistan. By classifying f...

by Safia Shabbir | On 09 Apr 2012

Chronicling the Hindutva Threat

Review of The Saffron Condition, Politics of Repression and Exclusion in Neo Liberal India By Subhash Gatade; Three Essays Collective, New Delhi; Pp. 475, Rs 500.

by Ram Puniyani | On 04 Apr 2012

Highlights of Madhya Pradesh Budget 2012-13

The salient features of the budget estimates of 2012-13 of Madhya Pradesh. [Ministry of Finance Madhya Pradesh]. URL:[http://www.mp.gov.in/finance/index.htm].

by Madhya Pradesh Government | On 04 Apr 2012

A Corporate Governance Index for Large Listed Companies in India

A Corporate Governance Index for 500 large listed Indian firms for the period from 2003 to 2008 is constructed. The index construction uses information on four important corporate governance mechan...

by Jayati Sarkar | On 04 Apr 2012

Assessment of Community-Based Systems Monitoring Household Welfare

The analysis of micro impacts of macroeconomic adjustment policies (MIMAP) is a relatively new discipline. It has spawned out of the concern that adjustment policies aimed to correct macroeconomic imb...

by Celia M Reyes | On 04 Apr 2012

Price and Income Elasticity of Imports: The Case of Pakistan

The paper estimates the elasticity of Imports with respect to relative prices and income for Pakistan from 1971 to 2009. What distinguishes this paper from the earlier studies is the use of robust est...

by Khurram Ashfaq Baluch | On 30 Mar 2012

Causes of Emissions from Agricultural Residue Burning in North-West India: Evaluation of a Technology Policy Response

The burning of agricultural field residue, such as stalks and stubble, during the wheat and rice harvesting seasons in the Indo-Gangetic plains results in substantial emissions of trace gases and pa...

by Ridhima Gupta | On 28 Mar 2012

Uses and Misuses of Statistics

Statistics is used in our day to day life. Examples are there to show that statistics is misused in many. This can happen when people are information illiterate. [Address at DST-CIMS, BHU on Mar 20, 2...

by Chakrabarty K C | On 27 Mar 2012

Maharashtra Budget Speech 2012-13: Part I

Budget for the year 2012-13. [Government of Maharashtra]. URL:[http://maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/english_speech_part_I.pdf].

by Maharashtra Government | On 27 Mar 2012

The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010

A bill further to amend the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954. [PRS]. URL:[http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Marriage%20Laws/Marriage%20Laws%20Bill%202010.pdf].

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 26 Mar 2012

National Budget of Bhutan-2011-12

Budget speech by the Finance Minister of Bhutan. [Budget Speech]. URL:[http://www.mof.gov.bt/downloads/Budgetreport2012.pdf].

by Minister of Finance Bhutan | On 22 Mar 2012

Annual Report (2011-12) on The Working of State Power Utilities and Electricity Departments

Major shifts in the policy initiated in the electricity sector are well documented, only then the effect of the policy change can be analyzed, especially from the point of view of laying down future p...

by Planning Commission | On 19 Mar 2012

Prevalence, Distribution, and Impact of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Latin America, China, and India: A 10/66 Population-Based Study

Rapid demographic ageing is a growing public health issue in many low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs). Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a construct frequently used to define groups of people...

by Ana Luisa Sosa | On 19 Mar 2012

Not the Remembered Country

The food security Bill's focus ignores changes in agriculture and eating habits. [BS editorial]. URL:[http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-notremembered-country/467874/].

by T.N. Ninan | On 19 Mar 2012

Budget for Children (BfC) in the Union Budget 2012-13

What the Budget of India, 2012-13 has got for children? [HAQCRC]. URL:[http://www.haqcrc.org/sites/default/files/BfC%202012-13_0.pdf].

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 19 Mar 2012

Close Eye or Closed Eye: The Case of Export Misinvoicing in Bangladesh

The effect of export subsidies on the under-invoicing of exports in Bangladesh is analyzed. In a framework that allows for unobserved heterogeneity among importing countries and product specificities,...

by Pranav Kumar Gupta | On 16 Mar 2012

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, GOI 2012-13

This brief uses Government reported data to analyse Sarva Shiksha Ahiyan performance along the following parameters: a) Overall trends in allocation and expenditures, b) Expenditure performance across...

by Accountability Initiative | On 16 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

Forty Eighth Report on The Lok Pal Bill, 2011

The report includes a specific recommendation to categorically have a statutory provision imparting genuine independence to the CBI by declaring, for the first time, that it shall not be subject, on...

by Rajya Sabha | On 14 Mar 2012

The Union Budget: A Primer

This week, the finance minister presents a statement to Parliament of how much money the central government expects to raise in the next financial year, and how it will spend that money. The budget sp...

by Avinash Celestine | On 12 Mar 2012

Federal Budget of Pakistan-2011-12

BUDGET SPEECH 2011-2012 by DR. ABDUL HAFEEZ SHAIKH, Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Planning & Development.

by Minister of Finance Pakistan | On 12 Mar 2012

Services as a New Engine of Growth for ASEAN, the People’s Republic of China, and India

The purpose of this report is twofold. First, a compendium of relevant data is presented on the state of the services sector in the ACI (ASEAN, PRC and India) countries, focusing on its contribution t...

by Ben Shepherd | On 12 Mar 2012

How has the Indian Corporate Sector Responded to Two Decades of Economic Reforms in India? An Exploration of Patterns and Trends

In the context of various policy initiatives made during the last two decades to reform the Indian economy in general and corporate sector in particular, the present paper attempts to assess how the...

by Rakesh Basant | On 07 Mar 2012

Asia’s Wicked Environmental Problems

The developing economies of Asia are confronted by serious environmental problems that threaten to undermine future growth, food security, and regional stability. This study considers four major envir...

by Stephen Howes | On 06 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

Under trial Prisoners: Quicker Trial and Human Rights

Discussion on the human rights violation of under trial prisoners.

by Ranesh Chandra Majumdar | On 06 Mar 2012

Report of the Sub-Groups on Child Rights for 12th Five Year Plan

A Working Group on Child Rights was constituted by the Planning Commission to recommend priorities and strategies for children in the 12th Five year Plan 2012-17. Five Sub Groups of the Working group...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 06 Mar 2012

Penance time

The time has come for the governmant to make up for its sins of the past three years. The Budget must be judged on whether it shows that the govt is in the mood to recognize its follies, and in a posi...

by T.N. Ninan | On 05 Mar 2012

India Cheapest, Japan Priciest for Pancakes

How much does it cost to make a pancake in India? The Economist had this fun infographic/chart where it charts the cost of ingredients that are used in making a pancake. A comment

by Sriram Vadlamani | On 01 Mar 2012

The State of the World's Children 2012: Children in an Urban World

The experience of childhood is increasingly urban. Over half the world’s people – including more than a billion children – now live in cities and towns. This report adds to the growing body of eviden...

by United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF | On 01 Mar 2012

Failed Mechanism: How the CDM is Subsidizing Hydro Developers and Harming the Kyoto Protocol

Five years age, International Rivers started monitoring the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), concerned that funds marked for climate change mitigation would be used to encourage c...

by Barbara Haya | On 01 Mar 2012

Wastewater Irrigation, Heavy Metals and the Profitability of Rice Cultivation – Investigating the East Calcutta Wetlands in India

In India, as in many developing countries, wastewater is often used to irrigate crops. This undoubtedly helps to recycle useful nutrients through the food chain, but, as there can be toxic chemicals...

by Vivekananda Mukherjee | On 27 Feb 2012

The Public Procurement Bill, 2012

A bill to regulate public procurement with the objectives of ensuring transparency, fair and equitable treatment of bidders, promoting competition, enhancing efficiency and economy and safeguarding...

by Ministry of Finance | On 24 Feb 2012

Terms of Trade and Its Implications: Bangladesh Perspective

This paper explores the key reasons behind the movements in the terms of trade and the real net gain and loss from trade in the long run. Like some selected Asian countries (Vietnam, China and South...

by Mohammad Masuduzzaman | On 23 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

Saving Mumbai

What Mumbai needs as a starting point is a city administration that is accountable to the city's residents, and a directly elected mayor, as in all great cities of the world. [BS Weekend Ruminations]....

by T.N. Ninan | On 22 Feb 2012

Regional and Global Monetary Cooperation

The increasing occurrence of national, regional, and global financial crises, together with their rising costs and complexity, have increased calls for greater regional and global monetary cooperation...

by Mario Lamberte | On 21 Feb 2012

Drawn into Violence: Evidence on 'What Makes a Criminal' from the Vietnam Draft Lotteries

Draft lottery number assignment during the Vietnam Era provides a natural experiment to examine the effects of military service on crime. Using exact dates of birth for inmates in state and federal pr...

by Jason Lindo | On 19 Feb 2012

Foundations of Collective Action in Asia: Theory and Practice of Regional Cooperation

This paper argues that the collective action in Asia by its regional organizations has historically suffered from a “capability–legitimacy gap”: a disjuncture between the capability (in terms of mat...

by Amitav Acharya | On 17 Feb 2012

Economics of Mango Cultivation

The paper is based on "Commodity Specific Study on Mango" undertaken by NABARD in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. For the study, A total sample of 186 respondents was sele...

by G.D. Banerjee | On 17 Feb 2012

Mumbai Riots, 1992-3: Revisiting the Affected

Review of the book 'Riots and After in Mumbai: Chronicles of Truth and Reconciliation' Meena Menon, Sage Publications India, 2011, Pp 267 + xcii, Rs. 595/-

by Irfan Engineer | On 17 Feb 2012

Cultural Diversity, Geographical Isolation, and the Origin of the Wealth of Nations

This research argues that variations in the interplay between cultural assimilation and cultural diffusion have played a significant role in giving rise to differential patterns of economic developm...

by Quamrul Ashraf | On 16 Feb 2012

Violent Conflict and Human Capital Accumulation

This paper reviews and discusses available empirical research on the impact of violent conflict on the level and access to education of civilian and combatant populations affected by violence. Three ...

by Patricia Justino | On 15 Feb 2012

Are Saving and Investment Cointegrated? A Cross Country Analysis

Saving is an important part of the economic process that gives rise to investment and economic growth. In this paper an attempt is made to explore the relationship between saving and investment in t...

by Sanjib Bordoloi | On 14 Feb 2012

Business and Growth Rate Cycles in India

This paper describes business and growth rate cycles with special reference to the Indian economy. It uses the classical NBER approach to determine the timing of recessions and expansions in the India...

by Pami Dua | On 10 Feb 2012

Human Rights in Malaysia: Challenges and Constraints in the Malaysian Context

The paper discusses some of the main human rights areas of concern within Malaysia, over the years. [Working Paper Series No. 12]. URL:[http://www.ieas.unimas.my/images/stories/hirmanritom.pdf].

by Mohammad Hirman Ritom Abdullah | On 07 Feb 2012

Foreign R&D Centres in India: An Analysis of their Size, Structure and Implications

The study measures the contribution of MNCs to the generation of innovations from India. The focus is on innovations that are carried out in foreign R&D Centres. After having mapped out the size of...

by Rakesh Basant | On 06 Feb 2012

The Euro Zone Crisis and its Dimensions and Implications

The sovereign debt problems in the peripheral economies of the euro zone has started to pose a serious threat to the main economies of the Europe and perhaps to the future of the 'euro‘ itself. Such a...

by M R Anand | On 06 Feb 2012

Transparency in Parliament: A Review of the Procedures and Practices in South Asia along with Recommended Guidelines for Increasing Openness

This paper examines the functioning of Parliaments in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka1 in order to gauge the extent of openness and access from the point of view of both Members of Parliam...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 31 Jan 2012

Intentions vs. Implementation of Philippine Economic Reforms Under Aquino, 1986-92

This paper explains the gaps between official objectives and the actual accomplishments of the Aquino government, with an emphasis on the implementation record of agricultural-based strategies. Summar...

by V. Bruce J Tolentino | On 30 Jan 2012

More and Better Jobs in South Asia

This report investigates how more and better jobs can be created in South Asia. It does so for two reasons. First, this region will contribute nearly 40 percent of the growth in the world’s workin...

by Reema Nayar | On 30 Jan 2012

Chinese Commodity Imports in Ghana and Senegal: Demystifying Chinese Business Strength in Urban West Africa

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, independent entrepreneurial migrants from China have been increasingly flocking to Africa in search of “greener pastures.” This paper scrutinizes the...

by Laurence Marfaing | On 25 Jan 2012

Worldwide Incidence of Malaria in 2009: Estimates, Time Trends, and a Critique of Methods

Measuring progress towards Millennium Development Goal 6, including estimates of, and time trends in, the number of malaria cases, has relied on risk maps constructed from surveys of parasite prevale...

by Richard E Cibulskis | On 25 Jan 2012

The Relationship between Inflation and Relative Price Variability in Pakistan

This paper explores the relationship between inflation and relative price variability (RPV) by using disaggregated CPI data for Pakistan. Three methods have been used to assess the functional form and...

by Muhammad Akmal | On 25 Jan 2012

To Bt or Not to Bt? Risk and Uncertainty Considerations in Technology Assessment

Production costs and crop incomes in drought years are analyzed to test a simplistic theory of risk based on first principles. A mixed-methods framework is employed to draw inferences by combining da...

by Sarthak Gaurav | On 24 Jan 2012

Vital Stats: Assembly Elections 2012

The Election Commission recently announced the poll schedule for Assembly elections in five States – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. As parties prepare for the upcoming election...

by Rohit Kumar | On 24 Jan 2012

K to 12: The Key to Quality Education?

The continuous deterioration of the quality of education in the Philippines has prompted the DepEd to push for the implementation of the K to 12 program, which entails the institutionalization...

by Senate Economic Planning Office SEPO | On 23 Jan 2012

Building World Class Businesses for the Long Term

This report identifies some of the factors complicating the debate on role of the company in society. It focuses particularly on the changing models of ownership and differing time horizons and on how...

by Gillian Lee | On 23 Jan 2012

The Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill & Rules (Draft 2010): A Comment

The Draft Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill and Rules 2010, is the latest draft of following the incorporation of additions and modifications to the Draft Bill 2008. The new Draft was expected to...

by SAMA .. | On 21 Jan 2012

India’s Draft Universal Periodic Report-II: A Case of Forced Marriage?

The paper has the objective of viewing the condition of women in terms of freedom of choice, freedom and expression and right of privacy. Also it views violence against women.

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 20 Jan 2012

Second Universal Periodic Review of India-Draft

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process of the Human Rights Council which involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years. The reviews are cond...

by Ministry of External Affairs, GoI MEA | On 19 Jan 2012

Antiques and Adat: The Changing Face of Paka’s Mini-museum, Kampung Benuk, Penrissen, Kuching

This paper is an account of recent developments at Paka's mini-museum, which culminated in the production of English text panels for its collection in March 2005. As it turned out, working on these...

by Liana Chua | On 19 Jan 2012

On the Blowout Preventer Testing Problem: An Approach to Checking for Leakage in BOP Networks

Blowout Preventers (BOPs) and choke manifolds are key pieces of drilling rig equipment to prevent the uncontrolled release of potentially hazardous formation fluids to surface. The blowout prevent...

by Diptesh Ghosh | On 19 Jan 2012

Parental Education as a Criterion for Affirmative Action in Higher Education: A Preliminary Analysis

Affirmative action, especially in the form of reservation policies, to address the issues of inclusion and equity has been in place in India for a long time. Through these policies higher participatio...

by Rakesh Basant | On 09 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

Can the Bill Bring Desired Outcomes?

The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill (LARR) is considered to be a flawed piece of legislation. An alternative method based on auction based pricing mechanism is suggested here.

by Maitreesh Ghatak | On 05 Jan 2012

The Unseen Skills of the Dalit Population

Review of the book Post-Hindu India: A Discourse on Dalit-Bahujan, Socio-Spiritual and Scientific Revolution, Kancha Ilaiah SAGE India, New Delhi 2009, Rs 295/-, pp 340.

by Vaijayanta Anand | On 03 Jan 2012

Vital Stats: Parliament in 2011

The year in Parliament was characterised by frequent disruptions and protests over a host of issues. The issue of the establishment of a Lokpal prompted both disruption as well as intense debate. A...

by Rohit Kumar | On 02 Jan 2012

Ethanol Blending Policy in India: Demand and Supply Issues

In the year 2008, the Government of India announced its National Policy on biofuels, mandating a phase-wise implementation of the programme of ethanol blending with petrol in various states. This stud...

by Saon Ray | On 02 Jan 2012

Plan vs. Performance Winter Session – November 22 to December 29, 2011

This note lists the legislative business planned by Parliament and compares it with the actual performance during the Winter Session. [PRS Note]. URL:[http://www.prsindia.org/administrator/uploads/ge...

by Kusum Malik | On 30 Dec 2011

Consultation Report on Strengthening the Role of Agriculture for a Nutrition Secure India

The Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), New Delhi organized a workshop ‘Strengthening the Role of Agriculture...

by Srijit Mishra | On 27 Dec 2011

Social Implications of Economic Reforms in India

Review of the book 'Economic Reforms and Social Exclusion: Impact of Liberalization on Marginalized Groups in India', by K S Chalam, Sage Publications, New Delhi, India.

by Rajesh Komath | On 26 Dec 2011

Realising Decent Work

A commentary on final report of the task force on domestic workers

by G.D Bino Paul | On 26 Dec 2011

Comparison of the Lok Pal Bill, 2011 and the Standing Committee Report on the Lok Pal Bill

The Department Related Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice tabled its 48th Report on the ‘Lok Pal Bill, 2011’ on December 9, 2011. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sa...

by Kaushiki Sanyal | On 23 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

Seasonal Migration and Risk Aversion

Pre-harvest lean seasons are widespread in the agrarian areas of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Every year, these seasonal famines force millions of people to succumb to poverty and hunger. An incentive...

by Gharad Bryan | On 20 Dec 2011

Mullaperiyar – the Issue and the Politics

Discussions and debates are going on in Kerala over the Mullaperiyar dam. A solution is proposed here to solve the issues associated with the dam.

by Santhakumar V | On 19 Dec 2011

Public Sector Performance: A Global Perspective

The public sectors of different countries are shaped by many factors, but they share common challenges. Those challenges make public sector performance management more complex than it is in the privat...

by Louise Ross | On 14 Dec 2011

Union Power November 2011

The three year journey of the G-20 Heads of Government Summit from Washington in 2008 to Paris this November is signified by two markers of the depth of the global capitalist crisis. First, that the c...

by Louise Ross | On 14 Dec 2011

Why Full Open Access Matters

Scientific authors who pay to publish their articles in an open-access publication should be congratulated for doing so. They also should be aware that they may not be getting full open access fro...

by Michael W Carroll | On 13 Dec 2011

The Effect of Foreign Remittances on Schooling: Evidence from Pakistan

The underlying study intends to show the impact of foreign remittances on the educational performance of children in the households receiving these remittances. Much of the literature in this area c...

by Muhammad Nasir | On 13 Dec 2011

Toxicity and Profitability of Rice Cultivation under Waste- Water Irrigation: The Case of the East Calcutta Wetlands

The paper reports the results of an empirical study on the profitability of rice cultivation in the East Calcutta Wetlands region where untreated sewage water from the city of Calcutta, India, is us...

by Vivekananda Mukherjee | On 13 Dec 2011

Impact of Inter-organizational Relationships on Organizational Learning

The paper explores how inter-organizational relationships foster organizational learning process through experiential and vicarious learning. The paper further explores various factors that impact t...

by Vijayta Doshi | On 08 Dec 2011

Estimating the Value of Statistical Life in Pakistan

The study estimates the Value of Statistical Life and Limb in Pakistan based on the compensating wage differential among blue-collar industrial workers in the city of Lahore. The data for this study...

by Mohammad Rafi | On 07 Dec 2011

Data from State Assemblies: Some trends

How often do our State Assemblies meet? Do MLAs get enough opportunity to scrutinize Bills? Are all budget demands discussed on the floor of the House? PRS studied the work done by 13 State Assemblies...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 07 Dec 2011

Turning the Tide

If the story earlier was that the number of Maoist-affected districts was increasing, that no longer seems to be true. URL:[http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-turningtide/456691/].

by T.N. Ninan | On 02 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

National Urban Transport Policy

The objective of this policy is to ensure safe, affordable, quick, comfortable, reliable and sustainable access for the growing number of city residents to jobs, education, recreation and such other...

by Ministry of Urban Development GOI | On 30 Nov 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

Legislative Brief: The Lok Pal Bill, 2011

The Bill establishes a body called the Lok Pal. It provides a process for receiving corruption complaints against public servants and investigating and prosecuting these in a time bound manner. The B...

by Kaushiki Sanyal | On 30 Nov 2011

Fifth Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series: Moving Towards Universal Access to Health Care- 6

The Fifth Anusandhan Trust’s Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series on Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Sciences was held on January 5, 2011. The speakers were Dr. K. Srinath Reddy (Chairperson o...

by Hansa Thapliyal | On 29 Nov 2011

Fifth Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series: Moving Towards Universal Access to Health Care- 5

The Fifth Anusandhan Trust’s Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series on Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Sciences was held on January 5, 2011. The speakers were Dr. K. Srinath Reddy (Chairperson o...

by Hansa Thapliyal | On 29 Nov 2011

Fifth Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series: Moving Towards Universal Access to Health Care- 3

The Fifth Anusandhan Trust’s Krishna Raj Memorial Lecture Series on Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Sciences was held on January 5, 2011. The speakers were Dr. K. Srinath Reddy (Chairperson o...

by Hansa Thapliyal | On 29 Nov 2011

How Are Markets Made?

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the making of markets. The paper identifies two ideal-typical processes in which markets are made – organized making and spontaneous making – which are often...

by Patrik Aspers | On 29 Nov 2011

Social Security and Labor Migration in ASEAN

This policy brief takes a preliminary look at portability of social security in ASEAN, particularly old-age, retirement, and survivor benefits. The next section discusses the growth of intra-ASEAN...

by Gloria O. Pasadilla | On 28 Nov 2011

Publishing Construction Contracts as a Tool for Efficiency and Good Governance

Construction is a $1.7 trillion industry worldwide, much of which is linked to publicly financed projects. Outcomes from this financing are frequently suboptimal. Cost and time escalation, as well a...

by Charles Kenny | On 25 Nov 2011

The Politics of Water Discourse in Pakistan

The policy brief explores the evolving discourse on water issues in Pakistan where the process of political articulation, securitization and mobilization which often links water to Kashmir is studied....

by Medha Bisht | On 24 Nov 2011

Studying Soft Power

In an era of globalised communication technologies, research is focussing on the potential of media as a means of ‘soft power’, to persuade people and wield influence. The issue of credibility also co...

by Maya Ranganathan | On 22 Nov 2011

Policies for Increasing Non-Farm Employment for Farm Households in India

The present paper adopts a diagnostic approach; problems of non-farm employment in rural sector are identified by studying pattern and process of rural employment using data from the NSS quinquennia...

by Brajesh Jha | On 22 Nov 2011

Torture in India 2011

Torture in India series have been instrumental for bringing national and international spotlight on torture in india. The Government of India regrettably has been reluctant to address torture. It draf...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 21 Nov 2011

In Search of Growth

With deep crisis weakening potential output growth, the need for an explicit growth policy is emerging most starkly in Japan, the EU and the US. If properly shaped, this will help to consolidate bud...

by Klaus Deutsch | On 21 Nov 2011

India’s Agricultural Development under the New Economic Regime: Policy Perspective and Strategy for the 12th Five Year Plan

The Eleventh Plan, which had attempted to reverse deceleration of agricultural growth during the Ninth and Tenth Plan, had some success in as foodgrains production has touched a new peak of 241.56 m...

by Vijay Paul Sharma | On 17 Nov 2011

Juveniles of Jammu and Kashmir: Unequal Before the Law and Denied Justice in Custody

While the arrests of dozens of juveniles during the mass uprising in the Kashmir valley from June to September 2010 brought the abuse of the Public Safety Act against the children in conflict with the...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 16 Nov 2011

Cost Effectiveness of Interactive Radio Instruction Program Karnataka: Basic and Program Cost Effectiveness

The Program CEA extends to the study to an impact analysis of the Radio programs to assess whether the expenditure being made for this intervention is helping the students in improving their learnin...

by Shubhashansha Bakshi | On 16 Nov 2011

"I did not ask for it". Sexual Harassment: Impressions from Mumbai

Sexual harassment is a global issue. In a recent case in Mumbai, two young men, Keenan Santos (24) and Reuben Fernandez (29) were stabbed on 20 Oct 2011 while confronting some unknown men eve-teasing...

by Indira Gartenberg | On 14 Nov 2011

Energy Intensity and Firm Performance: Do Energy Clusters Matter?

In analyzing this phenomenon for Indian manufacturing industries, this study tries to find out the determinants of profitability of firms based on three energy clusters (natural gas, petroleum, coal)...

by Santosh Kumar Sahu | On 10 Nov 2011

Financing Infrastructure for Connectivity: Policy Implications for Asia

This paper discusses Asia’s infrastructure needs and its corresponding financing needs and challenges. It proposes ways to address financing gaps by identifying potential financing sources and instr...

by Biswa Nath Bhattacharyay | On 09 Nov 2011

The Public Procurement Bill, 2011

An Act to regulate public procurement with the objective of maximising economy and efficiency, promoting competition among suppliers and contractors while ensuring a fair, transparent and equitable...

by Planning Commission | On 08 Nov 2011

The Determinants of Export Performance of China's Township-Village Enterprises

The rapid export growth of China's township-village enterprises (TVEs) has not been well understood and explained. Using a simple analytical model and exploring a unique dataset on China's TVEs the...

by Changqi Wu | On 08 Nov 2011

Institutionalising Democracy

Review of Economy, Democracy and the State: The Indian Experience by Ramashray Roy, Sage Publications, New Delhi;2009, pp. viii + 247, Rs 650.

by Bhanoji Rao | On 07 Nov 2011

Living on the Margins: Prawn Harvesters from Little Rannof Kutch (An Exploratory Study of Health Status)

CEHAT in collaboration with Anandi designed and carried out the present study to document the living conditions of the prawn harvesters and availability and access to essential services. The study als...

by Anagha Pradhan | On 04 Nov 2011

Explorations in Cultural Process

Review of the book 'Locating Cultural Change Theory, Method, Process' Partha Pratim Basu and Ipshita Chanda (eds.) Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2011, 279 pp, Rs.795/.

by Hemali Sanghavi | On 04 Nov 2011

Reading Savarkar: Disequilibriums in Hindutva’s Notion of National-Unity-at-all-Costs

Sarvarkar’s case for Unity is at best a cumulative network of agile concepts that are open-ended, and can be used by future sympathetic thinkers. To not grasp this agility is to fundamentally misunder...

by Nikhil Govind | On 03 Nov 2011

Draft of Citizens Right to Grievance Redress Bill, 2011

A Bill to lay down an obligation upon every public authority to publish citizens charter stating therein the time within which specified goods shall be supplied and services be rendered and provide...

by Department of Administrative Reforms Public Grievances | On 03 Nov 2011

Task Force to Explore Options other than Price Control for Achieving the Objective of Making Available Life-saving Drugs at Reasonable Prices

The Task Force was constituted to explore options other than price control for achieving the objective of making available life-saving drugs at reasonable prices. The Task Force recommends that pr...

by Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals | On 02 Nov 2011

Complex, Historical, Self-reflexive: Expect the Unexpected!

The object world of the social sciences is complex, historical and self-reflexive. It generates nonlinear effects, it is unique, and it is able to understand the theories developed about it and resp...

by Sandra Mitchell | On 01 Nov 2011

Teaching How to Bridge Neuroscience, Society, and Culture

In most universities, sharp disciplinary and departmental divisions continue to this day and have regrettably translated into the life sciences being taught with scarce attention to their historical a...

by Giovanni Frazzetto | On 31 Oct 2011

Growth and Election Outcomes in a Developing Country

With the exception Brander and Drazen (2008), who use a comprehensive cross-country database consisting of both developed and developing countries, the hypothesis that rapid growth helps incumbents...

by Poonam Gupta | On 31 Oct 2011

A Comparison of the Industrialization Paths for Asian Services Outsourcing Industries, and Implications for Poverty Alleviation

This paper examines three software and/or information technology enabled services (ITES) industries—two in the early stages of development (in the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and the Philippines)...

by F Ted Tschang | On 25 Oct 2011

Emigration of Women Domestic Workers from Kerala: Gender, State Policy and the Politics of Movement

Restrictions imposed by the Government of India on the emigration of women in ‘unskilled’ categories such as domestic work are framed as measures intended to protect women from exploitation. Specia...

by Praveena Kodoth | On 24 Oct 2011

Does Greater Autonomy Improve Performance? Evidence from Water Service Providers in Indian Cities?

The efficiency of urban water supply in 27 Indian cities are analyzed using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Cities are grouped by the management structure of their water utilities. Utilities with g...

by Shreekant Gupta | On 24 Oct 2011

Gender, Governance and Women’s Rights in South Asia

This study focuses on gender equality and democratic governance in the five largest states of the South Asian region, namely, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Beginning with a general...

by Seema Kazi | On 20 Oct 2011

What is driving the Indian middle class towards electoral politics? Evidence from Delhi

Neighborhood Associations have assumed an important role in public policy decision making as the principal voice of the middle class across urban India. In recent years, these associations have sought...

by Poulomi Chakrabarti | On 20 Oct 2011

Environmental Journalism in South Asia

Book review 'The Green pen: Environmental Journalism in India and South Asia' by Keya Acharya and Frederick Noronha (eds) Sage, 2010, page 312, Rs 395.

by Vrijendra | On 19 Oct 2011

Discount Rate for Health Benefits and the Value of Life in India

This study contributes to the literature by estimating discount rate for environmental health benefits and value of statistical life of workers in India. The discount rate is imputed from wage-risk...

by K. R. Shanmugam | On 19 Oct 2011

Who Drives Change? Comparing the Evolution of Domestic Climate Governance in India and South Africa

This paper compares and contrasts the nature and scope of change in the domestic climate governance of India and South Africa between 2007 and 2010. It uses an actor-centered approach to analyze the d...

by Babette Never | On 18 Oct 2011

Size-class and Returns to Cultivation in India: A Cold Case Reopened

This paper investigates the relationship between returns to cultivation per hectare and size-class of land cultivated in India, using unit level data from the 59th round National Sample Survey, 2003....

by Sarthak Gaurav | On 18 Oct 2011

Transactions Matter but They Hardly Cost: Irrigation Management in the Kathmandu Valley

This study estimates the transaction costs entailed in maintaining Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS) in Nepal based on a case study of 60 irrigation systems in the Kathmandu valley. It analyz...

by Ram Chandra Bhattarai | On 18 Oct 2011

Does Participatory Development Legitimise Collusion Mechanisms? Evidence from Karnataka Watershed Development Agency

While examining participatory development projects, existing contributions have demonstrated how aid resources are often captured by local elites. This paper hypothesises that another possible source...

by G.Ananda Vadivelu | On 18 Oct 2011

Report on Socio Economic Status of the Women Domestic Workers- A Diagnostic Study in Five Major Townships: Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Berhmpur, Ssmbslpur and Rourkela of Orissa

Women workers In India constitute one third of the total workforce. Majority of these women are engaged in the un-organized sectors such as agriculture, construction, domestic services etc. The over...

by Bharat Jyoti BJ | On 18 Oct 2011

Draft of the Proposed National Sports Legislation

A bill to provide for development of sports in India, coordination of national teams for participation in international events, fair and transparent functioning of autonomous sports bodies and welf...

by Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs YAS | On 17 Oct 2011

An Economic Policy and Legal Analysis of The Micro Finance Institutions (Development & Regulation) Bill, 2011

In response to the Second Micro Finance Crisis in Andhra Pradesh, which took place in October 2010, the Ministry of Finance has pro- posed a new Micro Finance Institutions (Development & Regulation) ...

by Shubho Roy | On 17 Oct 2011

From Monasteries to Multinationals (and Back): A Historical Review of the Beer Economy

This article reviews beer production, consumption and the industrial organization of breweries throughout history. Monasteries were the centers of the beer economy in the early Middle Ages. Innovation...

by Eline Poelmans | On 14 Oct 2011

Knowledge Flows and Capability Building in the Indian IT Sector: A Comparative Analysis of Cluster and Non-Cluster Locations

In this study, a comparative analysis of the role of knowledge flows in capability formation among firms in the Indian Information Technology sector (IT sector) across cluster and non-cluster location...

by Rakesh Basant | On 13 Oct 2011

Global Economic Crisis: Impact and Restructuring of the Services Sector in India

The Indian economy has shown considerable resilience to the global economic crisis by maintaining one of the highest growth rates in the world. The services sector accounted for around 88 per cent of...

by Abhijit Das | On 13 Oct 2011

Gender Dimensions: Employment Trends in India, 1993-94 to 2009-10

This paper examines some of the explicit as well as not so explicit trends in relation to women’s employment in India from 1993-94 till 2009-10 and argues that they indicate a grave and continuing...

by Indrani Mazumdar | On 10 Oct 2011

Populations at Risk: Other End of Youth Bulge

While there is much written on the youth bulge in developing countries, little is being done to address the problems of the elderly. And yet demographically, it is this section that is showing high gr...

by Lakshmi Priya | On 10 Oct 2011

Localization, Globalization and Networks of foreign Subsidiaries

This research is about multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their subsidiaries abroad. The specific focus of the research is on the foreign subsidiaries? local embeddedness, global integration and m...

by Filip De Beule | On 10 Oct 2011

One Hundred years of Economic Change in Bengal: Re-visiting the Economic Life of a Bengal District

Through the use of secondary data, field visits and focus group discussions, this study explores the dynamics of the evolution of the economic life in Greater Faridpur over the last 100d years (1910-2...

by Selim Raihan | On 04 Oct 2011

Draft Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011

A bill to consolidate and amend the law relating to the scientific development and regulation of mines and minerals under the control of the Union. URL:[http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2011/sep/d2...

by Ministry of Mines GOI | On 03 Oct 2011

Food, Hunger and Ethics

Management of hunger has to look into issues of availability, accessibility and adequacy. Posing it from an ethical perspective the paper argues out in favour of right to food. But, for this to happe...

by Srijit Mishra | On 30 Sep 2011

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict

The Optional Protocol (OP) on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict was ratified by India on November 30, 2005, and is in effect since December 30, 2005. This is t...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 29 Sep 2011

Workshops Without Walls: Broadening Access to Science around the World

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astrobiology Institute (NAI) conducted two “Workshops Without Walls” during 2010 that enabled global scientific exchange—with no travel require...

by Betul K Arslan | On 28 Sep 2011

Cross-LoC trade in Kashmir: From Line of Control to Line of Commerce

This study examines how business entities and individuals in Jammu and Kashmir view trade transactions with the other side and perceptions about the economic viability of Cross-LoC trade. More speci...

by Altaf Hussain Kira | On 28 Sep 2011

Understanding Inflation and Controlling It

Inflation management is one of the hardest tasks an economic policymaker has to undertake. It appears, at first sight, that one can rely entirely on commonsense to carry out this task. But that will b...

by Kaushik Basu | On 28 Sep 2011

Labour Market in Urban Agglomerations: A case from an Indian Global City

The study explores different aspects of employment and labour market prevalent in large in UAs, in particular global cities. To capture the role of labour market in urban agglomeration, particularly...

by G.D Bino Paul | On 27 Sep 2011

Civil Service and Military Pensions in India

The New Pension System in India and the progress that has been made since its introduction in 2004 is described. It then identifies the challenges ahead. It also documents the state of military pens...

by Renuka Sane | On 26 Sep 2011

Does the System of Rice Intensification Outperform Conventional System? A Case Study of Gujarat

The paper examines the farm level performance of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method of paddy cultivation as against the traditional method. The role of NGOs in raising awareness among farmers...

by Jharna Pathak | On 22 Sep 2011

Estimates of Workers Commuting from Rural to Urban and Urban to Rural India: A Note

The paper provides estimates of workers residing in rural (urban) India and commuting to urban (rural) areas for work. These estimates are based on National Sample Survey Organisation’s survey of Emp...

by S. Chandrasekhar | On 19 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

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography

The Optional Protocol (OP) to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography was ratified by India on September 16, 2005. This is t...

by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development | On 16 Sep 2011

Pakistan: 10 Year Banking Strategy Paper for the Banking Sector Reforms

This paper maps out a strategy for banking sector reforms over the next decade. It is formulated by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and is centered on reforms involving the SBP. But the Banking Secto...

by State Bank of Pakistan SBP | On 15 Sep 2011

The National Food Security Bill, 2011

A Bill to provide for food and nutritional security, in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices, for people to live a life with dign...

by Department of Food and Public Distribution Fcamin | On 14 Sep 2011

Agrofuels – A Boost of Energy for the Mekong Region?

This background paper seeks to brief readers on the extent of the development, production and consumption of agrofuels, particularly liquid fuels for transport, in the Mekong region. The area of focu...

by Rebeca Leonard | On 12 Sep 2011

The Land Acquisition Bill: A Critique and a Proposal

The new Bill on land acquisition recently tabled in Parliament is well intentioned but seriously flawed. Its principal defect is that it attaches an arbitrary mark-up to the historical market price to...

by Maitreesh Ghatak | On 12 Sep 2011

Vital Stats: Parliament in Monsoon Session 2011

In performance terms, the house fell significantly short of its initial plan. Proceedings were marred by disruptions – first on the issue of corruption and the detention of Anna Hazare, and later on t...

by Rohit Kumar | On 09 Sep 2011

Evolution of Property Rights Regimes in the Groundwater Economy of India-Constraints on Moving Towards a Common Property Regime

The paper paper reviews the 'model' central and state government bills, pertaining to groundwater, through a conceptual framework and discusses the Andhra Pradesh experience in the developing governme...

by G.Ananda Vadivelu | On 30 Aug 2011

Infrastructure Investment and Regional Economic Growth: A Case Study of Maharashtra

The study initially reviews the infrastructure facilities for the 33 districts of Maharashtra for one year i.e.1999-2000. Using this, the extent of disparities between these regions is found. Further...

by A M Swaminathan | On 29 Aug 2011

Comparison between the Lokpal Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha and the Jan Lokpal Bill

A note comparing the key features of the Lok Pal Bill, 2011 introduced on August 4, 2011 and the Bill prepared by civil society representatives in the Joint Drafting Committee. URL:[http://www.prsind...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 26 Aug 2011

The Jan Lokpal Bill, 2011

Bill to establish an independent authority to investigate offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 to detect corruption by expeditious investigation and to prosecute offenders and to ensu...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 26 Aug 2011

Objects and Accomplishments of Participatory Irrigation Management Programme in India: An Open Pair of Scissors

Participatory irrigation management programme as a prelude to irrigation management transfer to users is being set up by many states for over five years now. Though it is recognized that the governm...

by R Parthasarathy | On 25 Aug 2011

Darwin’s Theory of Descent with Modification, versus the Biblical Tree of Life

There is a need to reappraise the different concepts like the 'Tree of Life', and what Darwin meant by them, and how he used the terms. The Tree of Life example is not the only case where Darwin's wor...

by David Penny | On 23 Aug 2011

Reforms in Indian Agro-processing and Agriculture Sectors in the Context of Unilateral and Multilateral Trade Agreements

In this paper, the potential impacts of trade and investment-related policy reforms on India’s agro-processing sector is explored. The direct effects of policy reforms within the processing sector, an...

by A. Ganesh-Kumar | On 22 Aug 2011

Tackling Malnutrition: What can Targeted Nutritional Interventions Achieve?

A key queestion is: which groups should receive priority in a situation of constrained resources? Ideally the twin dangers of leaving out malnourished groups from the purview of the policy, and cov...

by Gopalakrishna Kumar | On 17 Aug 2011

Multidimensional Indices of Achievements and Poverty: What Do We Gain and What and What Do We Lose?

Poverty and well-being are multidimensional. Nobody questions that deprivations and achievements go beyond income. There is, however, sharp disagreement on whether the various dimensions of poverty...

by Nora Lustig | On 11 Aug 2011

Bond Market Development in Asia: An Empirical Analysis of Major Determinants

This study attempts to identity the major determinants of bond market development in Asian economies, through examining its relationship with selected key financial and economic factors, and to provid...

by Biswa Nath Bhattacharyay | On 10 Aug 2011

Indian Education System – Issues and Challenges

The role played by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the banking system in India in strengthening education system. Realizing the importance of education for the economic development and the overall liv...

by Chakrabarty K C | On 10 Aug 2011

Darwin in Mind: New Opportunities for Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary Psychology (EP) views the human mind as organized into many modules, each underpinned by psychological adaptations designed to solve problems faced by our Pleistocene ancestors. It...

by Johan J Bolhuis | On 09 Aug 2011

Historical Analysis Or Honest Reflection?

Review of Lost Years of the RSS by Sanjeev Kelkar; Sage India, New Delhi 2011, pp. 392, Rs 350.

by Nikhil Govind | On 05 Aug 2011

Televangalism and Popular Religiosity

Review of McDonaldisation, McGospel and Om Economics By Jonathan D. James; Sage, Delhi; 2010, Pp. xxvii + 232, Rs. 596, hb.

by Rudolf C. Heredia | On 05 Aug 2011

Financial Inclusion in India: A case-study of West Bengal

The study seeks to examine the extent of financial inclusion in West Bengal. It is observed from the study that although there has been an improvement in outreach activity in the banking sector, the...

by Sadhan Kumar Chattopadhyay | On 03 Aug 2011

Efficiency and Productivity Growth in Indian Banking

This paper attempts to examine technical efficiency and productivity performance of Indian scheduled commercial banks, for the period 1979-2008. A model is constructed using multiple output/multiple i...

by S S Rajan | On 03 Aug 2011

Chronic Poverty in South West Madhya Pradesh: A Multidimensional Analysis of its Extent and Causes

The structuralist perspective envisages poverty, especially in rural India, as a long duration phenomenon. Over time, most of the structural features of poverty have remained more or less intact. As a...

by Amita Shah | On 02 Aug 2011

Draft National Competition Policy for India

National Competition Policy is necessitated, as an overarching Policy framework, in continuation of the 1991-reforms, to infuse greater competition across sectors, and unleash fuller growth potential...

by Ministry of Corporte Affairs GOI | On 01 Aug 2011

Government Mediated Program on Intensifying Industry-Academia Linkages for Human Resource Development; Experinces of an Innovative Model from TIFAC

The importance of academia- industry linkages for development of an economy is well recognized. With a view to make the higher technical education relevant, by forging and catalyzing functional link...

by Jancy Ayyaswamy | On 26 Jul 2011

THE LOKPAL BILL, 2011

A bill to provide for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for matters connected therewith. URL:[http://www...

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 19 Jul 2011

Shocks, Economic Growth and the Indian Economy

This paper analyses the impact of domestic and external shocks on the Indian economy. A macro-modelling framework is developed that evaluates the impact of two domestic shocks (rainfall shortfall an...

by B B Bhattacharya | On 15 Jul 2011

Inter-State Imbalances in Essential Services: Some Perspectives

This paper analyzes the inter-state imbalances in three major sectors of the economy, namely, education, health and family welfare, and water supply and sanitation for fifteen major states. It uses...

by C Bhujanga Rao | On 14 Jul 2011

The Impact of Feminine Identity and Soft Influence Tactics on Leadership Style

Using sex identity theory, the paper studies the impact of feminine identity and soft influence tactics on leadership styles, specifically task oriented and participative. Earlier researchers have doc...

by Asha Kaul | On 13 Jul 2011

Primary School Teachers: The Twists and Turns of Everyday Practice

The paper examines the role played by of classroom environment in the development of a teacher. The paper studies the concept of 'teacher development' in India. URL:[http://www.eruindia.org/files/Tea...

by Vimala Ramachandran | On 08 Jul 2011

Media and Much Else

Review of Political Economy of Communications in India: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Pradip Ninan Thomas; Sage, India; 2010, Rs 650.

by Vrijendra | On 07 Jul 2011

Detection and Forecasting of Islamic Calendar Effects in Time Series Data: Revisited

This paper is an attempt to revisit the pioneering work of Riazuddin and Khan (2002). A complete business cycle has been elapsed (2002-2010) since their study, so there is need to review the results ...

by Syed Kalim Hyder Bukhari | On 05 Jul 2011

A Study on Gender Based Violence in Kerala

The paper presents gender-based violence and theories its causes and correlates; it then reviews global information on the prevalence of gender-based violence against women and its health consequences...

by SAKHI Women's Resource Centre SAKHI | On 05 Jul 2011

Commons And Community: Evidence From Southwestern Tribal Belt Of Madhya Pradesh

Sah and Shah (2003) have shown that the incidence of poverty in the South-Western tribal belt of Madhya Pradesh is alarmingly high. About three fifths of the households in this tribal belt were catego...

by D.C. Sah | On 04 Jul 2011

The Electric Energy-Water Nexus: Managing the Seasonal Linkages of Fresh Water Use in Energy Sector for Sustainable Future

The fast growing demand for fresh water-coupled with the need to protect the environment has made many areas of India and the rest of the World vulnerable to water shortages for various uses of the ...

by Perini Praveena Sri | On 29 Jun 2011

Loss of Load Probability of a Power System: Kerala February 2010

By virtue of the vital nature of electric power, both to our economic and personal well being, a power system is expected to supply electrical energy as economically as possible, and with a high deg...

by N. Vijayamohanan Pillai | On 22 Jun 2011

Has China and India Become More Innovative Since the Onset of Reforms in the Two Countries?

China and India are definitely on a higher economic growth path, although the contribution of technology to economic growth is still not very clearly estimated. There is evidence to show that innova...

by Sunil Mani | On 21 Jun 2011

Challenges and Opportunities in a Trillion Dollar Economy

The Indian economy reached the trillion US dollar GDP milestone in 2007 and joined other countries of the trillion dollar club, namely, the US, UK, Japan, Germany, China, France, Italy, Spain, Canada,...

by Chakrabarty K C | On 21 Jun 2011

India - Reforming Farm Support Policies for Grains

The objective of this study is to analyze some of the recent reforms proposed in the operation of government buffer stocks and provision of price support to wheat and rice farmers in India. Based o...

by Shikha Jha | On 17 Jun 2011

Macroprudential Policies: Indian Experience

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been using macroprudential polices, more notably the countercyclical policies, since 2004 as a toolkit for ensuring financial stability though it had used them sporadic...

by Anand Sinha | On 16 Jun 2011

Quantitative Methods and Public Policy

This paper is about quantitative methods and public policy and how they shaped the author's professional career. Although it may look like a professional autobiography, it is much more. [PP-062-00B]...

by T. Krishna Kumar | On 14 Jun 2011

Finding the Meaning of the Word ‘Livelihood’

Livelihood has many meanings. To many it is that which gives you a source of income. Yet it is only when livelihoods come to mean sustainable ways of living that we will move towards an alternative...

by Collin Furtado | On 13 Jun 2011

Book Review: CSR: A Profitable Concept

Review of Corporate Social Responsibility: Past, Present and Future by Sanjay Kumar Panda; The Icfai University Press; 373pp, 2008.

by Subhash Mohanti | On 12 Jun 2011

Non-financial Reporting – What, Why and How - Indian Perspective

The importance of non-financial reporting in the overall assessment of a company's performance, its risk-return trade off is steadily gaining ground, both globally and in India. [Address by Dr K. C...

by Chakrabarty K C | On 10 Jun 2011

Challenges in Implementation of Large-scale IT Projects

Most governments experience problems when implementing large-scale IT projects. Budgets are exceeded, deadlines are over-run and the quality of the infrastructure is often below the agreed standard. T...

by iGovernment. in | On 09 Jun 2011

Beyond Bullets and Bombs: Fixing the U.S. Approach to Development in Pakistan

In a new CGD report, U.S. and Pakistani development experts urge a substantial revamp of the U.S. approach to Pakistan, saying that U.S. efforts to build prosperity in the nuclear-armed nation with a...

by Nancy Birdsall | On 02 Jun 2011

Community Forestry in Nepal Management Rules and Distribution of Benefits

In the last decade, far reaching policy reforms in Nepal have allowed local communities to regain control over the management of vast tracts of lands. Community forestry is widely believed to be a maj...

by Bhim Adhikari | On 01 Jun 2011

New SME Financial Access Initiatives: Private Foundations’ Path to Donor Partnerships

In recent years, a number of private foundations and organizations have launched ambitious initiatives to support promising entrepreneurs in developing countries, on both a for-profit and not-for-prof...

by Ben Leo | On 01 Jun 2011

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Developing Countries’ Terms of Trade

This paper first shows that important economic arguments in favor of the Prebisch- Singer hypothesis of falling terms of trade of developing countries have implicitly relied on the role of multinat...

by Konstantin M. Wacker | On 20 May 2011

What Determines the Academic and Professional Participation of Economists?

A casual overview of rankings of economics departments and economists conducted by Internet Documents in Economics Access Service (IDEAS) would reveal that economists of some countries participat...

by S.K. Mishra | On 17 May 2011

Impact of Mobile Phones on College Activities

The college environment has totally altered with the extensive use of mobile phones. What is the nature of this change? What is the nature of use of different categories such as students, teachers an...

by Omkar Khandekar | On 16 May 2011

Tribute: Vasant Gupte, May 1927 – September 2010

Vasant Gupte would have been 84 this May. These tributes, one by his family and the second by his comrades and colleagues, celebrate his life and life philosophy.

by Girija Gupte | On 16 May 2011

Towards Open and Equitable Access to Research and Knowledge for Development

Unequal access to and distribution of public knowledge is governed by Northern standards and is increasingly inappropriate in the age of the networked “Invisible College”. Academic journals remain the...

by Leslie Chan | On 14 May 2011

Bengal Diary: On the Eve of Change: SMS Updates of a West Bengal Tour, April 2011

A tour of West Bengal on the eve of the elections and the results, April 19 – 27, 2011, recorded by a young journalist-in-the-making in a collection of SMS messages.

by Kranti S. Bhatewara | On 13 May 2011

Impact and Sustainability of SHG Bank Linkage Programme

Microfinance programmes are known for their potential to generate income and employment and alleviate poverty in developing countries. They are considered for an important approach to poverty alleviat...

by National Council of Applied Economic Research | On 13 May 2011

National Environment Policy

The National Environment Policy, 2006 is the out come of extensive consultations with experts indifferent disciplines, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, State Governments, Industry Associa...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests | On 12 May 2011

Study on Abolition of Child Labour

This study was taken up with the students of Economics department, few active members of NGO – Pratham and a teacher incharge, the author, during March 2008. This study focuses on the child labour i...

by Poonam Singh | On 09 May 2011

India at 75: Towards Inclusive Growth through Labour Market Reforms

The policy of free hiring and firing, leading to a high labour turnover is in nobody’s interest: employers lose industrially accumulated useful skills while workers lose jobs and incomes. Yet job secu...

by Snehal Barai | On 09 May 2011

History in Bengali Literature: A Study of Selected Bengali Novels

Great novelists through their writings placed the history of the Indian national and social awakening movement in literature.The context of this article is great three novels of three great littérat...

by Sarmistha Ghoshal | On 09 May 2011

The Wrong War

In a week when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that combating inflation is now its primary focus, it is important to ask: is RBI fighting yesterday’s war, instead of peering into the future t...

by T.N. Ninan | On 08 May 2011

What do you want from us?

In the past three years, two journalists for El Diario have been killed by drug-cartels and since 2000 more than 64 journalists have been killed throughout the country. The armed conflict between orga...

by Rocio Gallegos | On 08 May 2011

Growing Business or Development Priority? Multilateral Development Banks’ Direct Support to Private Firms

Direct support to private firms in developing countries constitutes a large and growing share of multilateral development banks’ financial activities. This trend contrasts with the advice MDBs gave de...

by Guillermo Perry | On 05 May 2011

Order of Business or The 4th Session of the National Assembly

This paper presents the agenda of the fourth session of the National Assembly of Bhutan. URL: [http://www.nab.gov.bt/publication/104TH%20SESSION%20AGENDA.pdf]

by National Assembly of Bhutan | On 05 May 2011

An Irreversible Gain in Freedom of Expression

In this World Press Freedom Day editorial, the authors explore the events taking place in the Middle East and North Africa and the positive outcomes for freedom of expression the peoples' revolutions...

by Martti Ahtisaari Ahtisaari | On 04 May 2011

Customs Tariff Reform

This paper talks about the customs tariff reforms in India that have come down significantly over the last decade. The 'peak' customs duty rate for instance has progressively come down from around 150...

by Arvind Virmani | On 03 May 2011

National Budget Making: Bottom Up Approach and Inclusiveness

National Budget of the country is the annual program of the Government's expenditure and income for a fiscal year. In a developing economy like Bangladesh, the national annual budgets reflect the gove...

by Atiur Rahman | On 03 May 2011

Report of the Task Force on Plantations Sector

Today there is no credible alternative facility available to a grower to meet the risks of price movements and the art of price risk management is unknown to the small growers. (In this entire report,...

by Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI | On 02 May 2011

Tripura Budget 2011-12

Budget speech of Finance Minister.

by Government of Tripura | On 27 Apr 2011

Has India Emerged? Business Cycle Stylized Facts from a Transitioning Economy

This paper presents a comprehensive set of stylised facts for business cycles in India from 1950 - 2009. India's business cycle in the pre 1991 economy is compared with the post 1991 Indian economy,...

by Ila Patnaik | On 27 Apr 2011

Characteristics and Patterns of Intergenerational Poverty Traps and Escapes in Rural North India

The paper examines the poverty status of 4,198 households resident in 18 villages of Rajasthan, India, at four points of time between 1977 to 2010 using retrospective methodology known as Stages of Pr...

by Anirudh Krishna | On 20 Apr 2011

Do Local Elections in Non-Democracies Increase Accountability? Evidence from Rural China

Unique survey data is used to study whether the introduction of local elections in China made local leaders more accountable towards local constituents. A simple model is developed to predict the e...

by Monica Martinez Bravo | On 18 Apr 2011

Indian Gendercide: A Great Threat to Security

The result of 2011 census of India is almost all heartening. Literacy is up; life expectancy is up; family size is stabilizing. But there is one grim exception- India’s already skewed infant sex rati...

by Gursharan Singh Kainth | On 15 Apr 2011

A Policy Reponse to the Indian Micro-finance Crisis

Recent events in India have brought a fresh focus upon the problem of regulation in the field of micro-finance. This paper delineates the three distinct aspects where government needs to play a role...

by Renuka Sane | On 13 Apr 2011

Our Tahrir Square

The government has alienated the public through months of scandal on a scale not seen till now. URL:[http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-our-tahrir-square/431532/]

by T.N. Ninan | On 13 Apr 2011

Corruption Cases against Government Officials

The agitation led by Anna Hazare has focussed on the formation of a Lok Pal to address the issue of corruption. Some data on the existing systems of identifying and prosecuting cases of corruption a...

by Rohit Kumar | On 13 Apr 2011

Medical Negligence: Law and Interpretation

The paper examines the concept of negligence in medical profession in the light of interpretation of law by the Supreme Court of India and the idea of the ‘reasonable man’. [WP No. 2011-03-03]. URL:...

by Anurag K Agarwal | On 13 Apr 2011

Comments from HAQ:Centre for Child Rights

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011

by HAQ Centre for Child Rights HAQCRC | On 08 Apr 2011

The Lokpal Bill, 2010

A bill to provide for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption aganist public functionaries and for matters connected therewith.

by IRIS India IRIS | On 08 Apr 2011

Issues Related to the Lok Pal Bill

In January 2011, the government formed a Group of Ministers, chaired by Shri Pranab Mukherjee to suggest measures to tackle corruption, including examination of the proposal of a Lok Pal Bill.

by Kaushiki Sanyal | On 08 Apr 2011

Assam: Alienating the Natives

The issue of Bengali speaking Muslims has been brought up in Assam time and over again and this point has also been used at the time of elections to polarize the communities along religious lines.

by Ram Puniyani | On 05 Apr 2011

Organic Crops or Energy Crops? Options for Rural Development in Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic

The agricultural sectors of developing Asian countries are experiencing two important new developments: the growth of organic agriculture (OA) and the increasing use of land to grow energy crops...

by Anil Markandya | On 01 Apr 2011

Budget 2011-12, Delhi

Budget speech by finance minister. URL: [http://delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/21d1f280463783518436871b84a2a7b0/CM+Speech+-+PRINT.pdf?MOD=AJPERES].

by Government of Delhi | On 30 Mar 2011

Cabinet Approves Bill to Protect Children Against Sexual Crimes

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a watershed bill to protect children below the age of 16 against sexual offences, aimed at speedy trail through special courts and having a legal regime at par w...

by Chetan Chauhan | On 26 Mar 2011

The Protection Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011

Current Status of the Bill: Pending URL:[http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/children%20against%20sexual%20offences.pdf].

by Parliamentary Research Service PRS | On 25 Mar 2011

Hot Topics for the Future of PRC and Hong Kong, China

At the end of 2004, the macroeconomic balance in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) raises some interesting options. The external sector enjoys a huge surplus, with significant increases in the cu...

by Toshiki Kanamori | On 25 Mar 2011

Policy Responses to the Spatial Dimensions of Poverty

This paper discusses policy responses to the spatial dimensions of poverty. [CPRC Working Paper 168] URL: [http://www.chronicpoverty.org/uploads/publication_files/WP168%20Higgins-Bird-Harris.pdf]

by Kate Higgins | On 24 Mar 2011

‘Spatial Poverty Traps: What Are They and What Can Be Done About Them?'

This paper demonstrates how urban spatial poverty traps exist in developing countries and makes the case for including an urban focus to spatial poverty analysis and policy responses. It frames this w...

by Ursula Grant | On 23 Mar 2011

It’s Here, the Privatisation of Higher Education in India

Apart from the sweeping change in the nature of academics itself, the university system is being remoulded in the image of the private sector – with silent, atomised workers, bitchy and competitive to...

by Sunalini Kumar | On 22 Mar 2011

Union-Firm Bargaining Under Alternative Pay Schemes: Does Performance Related Pay Fair Better?

This paper compares and contrasts equilibrium outcomes under right-to-manage bargaining (RTM) and efficient bargaining (EB) corresponding to two alternative pay schemes, fixed wage vis-a-vis piece-r...

by Rupayan Pal | On 22 Mar 2011

Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia and Latin America: Is there a People’s Republic of China Effect?

In recent years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has emerged as the world’s largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI). Many analysts and government officials in the developing world...

by Busakorn Chantasasawat | On 22 Mar 2011

Do Interest Rates Matter? Credit Demand in the Dhaka Slums

The advent of microfinance lending in the last two decades has been hailed as a key development in the fight against poverty. The New York Times (1997), for example, on its editorial page, has promote...

by Rajeev Dehejia | On 17 Mar 2011

Budget 2011-12, Punjab

Budget speech by Finance minister. URL:[http://punjabgovt.nic.in/departments/Budget/budget/budget.htm].

by Government of Punjab | On 16 Mar 2011

DHR panel on ‘guidelines for accreditation of health research organizations’ submits report

March 15, 2011: The 16-member Dr Rajinder Kumar committee, constituted by the Department of Health Research to evolve guidelines for accreditation of health research organisations has submitted its re...

by | On 15 Mar 2011

Report of the Committee constituted to evolve Guidelines for Accreditation of Health Research Organizations

The Secretary, DHR, constituted a Committee under the chairmanship of Rajinder Kumar, Retired Professor of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore to evolve guidelines for accreditation of health resea...

by Department of Health Reserach DHR | On 15 Mar 2011

Knowledge Management policy for Health - Service, Education and Research

Knowledge Management (KM) envisages capturing, creating, sharing and managing knowledge.The implementation of any KM policy in Health sector will have essential ingredients and processes for improving...

by Department of Health Reserach DHR | On 15 Mar 2011

Poverty and Fertility: Evidence and Agenda

This paper explores how poverty affects childbearing patterns in the contemporary developing world. In considering the association between poverty and fertility, we explore one measure of economic s...

by Sajeda Amin | On 14 Mar 2011

Track Record of Microfinance for the Poor

Major investments have been made in developing microfinance in Asia with reducing poverty as one of the frequently stated objectives. A variety of institutional forms of microfinance are being introdu...

by Richard Meyer | On 14 Mar 2011

State of Environment Report

In the global context of State of the Environment (SoE) Reporting, India is probably unique. Over the last two decades, the Indian SoE reporting experience has ranged from grassroots initiatives li...

by Ministry of Environment and Forests GOI | On 11 Mar 2011

The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation

Microcredit has spread extremely rapidly since its beginnings in the late 1970s, but whether and how much it helps the poor is the subject of intense debate.This paper reports on the first randomize...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 10 Mar 2011

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Gender Budget 2011-12

The Corporation has decided to implement various schemes for females within the framework of its obligatory and discretionary functions as laid down in the M.M.C. Act. A step towards it, is a separat...

by Municipal Commissioner BMC | On 07 Mar 2011

Preservation of Lakes in the City of Bangalore

The Karnataka High Court, while hearing a public interest litigation on the state of lakes and waterbodies in and around Bangalore, constituted a ten-member commitee under the chair of the high court...

by N. K Patil | On 04 Mar 2011

Teacher Absence as a Factor in Gender Inequalities in Access to Primary Schooling in Rural Pakistan

Public-sector education in many countries in western and southern Asia, including Pakistan, is characterized by separate schools for boys and girls at the primary and secondary levels. In this paper...

by Sharon Ghuman | On 25 Feb 2011

Will it be Different this Time?

All proposals and policy measures in the forthcoming Budget may best be summed up as efforts to improve the sustainability of growth. Specific objectives are likely to be lowering inflation and defici...

by IRIS India IRIS | On 22 Feb 2011

Explaining the incidence of catastrophic expenditures on health care: Comparative evidence from Asia

Out-of-pocket (OOP) financing of health care leaves households exposed to the risk of unforeseen expenditures that absorb a large share of the household budget. Here, they explain variation in the inc...

by Eddy van Doorslaer | On 21 Feb 2011

Family Suicide in Kerala : An Explorative Study into Pattern , Determinants and Consequences

The paper is a study of the family suicide cases in Kerala. The aim of the study is to gather information about demographic details, method adopted and causes of suicides that happened in Kerala durin...

by K Praveenlal | On 16 Feb 2011

Indian Economy: Selected Methodological Advances

This paper develops tools to examine selected major issues in the Indian economy. The study computes the potential growth rate of the economy and the agricultural sector, extends the analysis of fisca...

by Mathew Joseph | On 11 Feb 2011

Games the State Plays: A Follow-up Report on the Violations of Workers’ Rights in Commonwealth Games Related Construction Sites

The Commonwealth Games have been an eye opener in several ways. Behind the glitz of fancy stadiums, hotels, and apartments, lies the murky and sensitive death knell of a large majority of people whose...

by People's Union for Democratic Rights PUDR | On 10 Feb 2011

Book Review: Last Man First

The late LC Jain’s new book titled Civil Disobedience: Two Freedom Struggles, One Life (The Book Review Literary Trust, Delhi, 2011, Rs. 375) illustrates how corruption has become the norm and ‘India...

by Nandana Reddy | On 10 Feb 2011

The Global Economic Crisis after One Year: Is a New Paradigm for Recovery in Developing Countries Emerging?

The economic downturn and recession, which spread across the globe following the US sub-prime mortgage crisis in September 2008, has become the dominant news topic of the past year. One year into the...

by Wim Naudé | On 09 Feb 2011

Moving from Them to Us: Challenges in Reframing Violence Among Youth

This paper describes framing and the challenges particular to the context of violence prevention, with the goal of moving youth violence from being understood primarily as a criminal justice issue dea...

by Lawrence Wallack | On 09 Feb 2011

Valuing the Environment in Developing Countries: Modeling the Impact of Distrust in Public Authorities’ Ability to Deliver on the Citizens’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Environmental Quality

This paper employs the choice experiment method to estimate local  citizens’ valuation of a public intervention which proposes to improve the  quality of an important environmental resource, namel...

by Ekin Birol | On 09 Feb 2011

Resolutions of the Sixth Session of the First Parliament of Bhutan

The following bills were resolved to be passed with corrections: The Child Care and Protection Bill; Penal Code Amendment Bill; Anti Corruption Act 2010; and others

by Jigme Tshultim | On 08 Feb 2011

Sustaining Employment and Equitable Growth: Policies For Structural Transformation of The Indian Economy

Broad ranging economic reforms were introduced in the Indian economy in the early 1990s. Yet there was no evidence of a statistical break in the rate of growth of the Indian economy during the ninet...

by Arvind Virmani | On 08 Feb 2011

Global South, Sephis e-magazine, Vollume 7:1, 2011

List of Contents Articles Arindam Samaddar, Prabir Kr. Das and Stephen R. Morin, 'Technology Adoption and its Constraints: The Cascading Effects in Two West Bengal Villages' Erick Tejada Sanchez, '...

by SEPHIS | On 07 Feb 2011

The Global Economic Crisis and Rebalancing Growth in East Asia

Since the beginning of the second quarter of 2009, Asia has staged an impressive recovery. The People’s Republic of China (PRC), Indonesia, Republic of Korea, and Singapore grew by an average annua...

by Yung Chul Park | On 07 Feb 2011

Ageing, Socio-economic Disparities and Health Outcomes: Some Evidence from Rural India

Employing data from Census 2001and the NSS 52nd and 60th rounds, this study examines the following: (i) inter-state variations in the distribution of rural aged by three broad social groups and a host...

by Moneer Alam | On 02 Feb 2011

Draft National Health Research Policy

The Indian Council of Medical Research, an autonomous agency within the Ministry of Health, was the apex organization responsible for guiding, supporting and conducting medical research in the c...

by Indian Council of Medical Research ICMR | On 30 Jan 2011

Report of the Sub-Committee of the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India to Study Issues and Concerns in the MFI Sector

While this growth is impressive, a number of studies both in India and abroad have questioned whether growth alone is effective in addressing poverty and what the adverse consequences of a too rapid g...

by Reserve Bank of India | On 30 Jan 2011

Poverty Eradication / Alleviation in North East India : An Approach

The NEC Shillong has assigned the National Institute of Rural Development, North Eastern Regional Centre (NIRD-NERC), Guwahati to prepare a report on “Poverty Eradication in the North Eastern Region...

by Ministry for Development of the North East (DONER) | On 28 Jan 2011

Presence of Foreign Banks in India

This discussion paper on the form of presence of foreign banks in India has been prepared taking into account, inter-alia, the lessons learnt from the recent global financial crisis and the practice...

by Reserve Bank of India | On 26 Jan 2011

Monitoring and Evaluation Reform under Changing Aid Modalities: Seeking the Middle Ground in Aid-Dependent Low-Income Countries

This paper grew out of our bewilderment with the insouciance with which some in the donor community seem ready to abandon accounting for the use of aid. If one listens to the rhetoric surrounding...

by Nathalie Holvoet | On 20 Jan 2011

Should Shrimp Farmers Pay Paddy Farmers? The Challenges of Examining Salinisation Externalities in South India

There has been growing concern over conversion of coastal rice paddies to shrimp farms. This study estimates the external cost of shrimp-induced salinity on crop production by comparing two villages i...

by L. Umamaheswari | On 13 Jan 2011

Economic Reforms and Infrastructure Spending: Evidence from China and India

This paper examines the country specific effect of policy reform on infrastructure spending in China and India. In China we have examined how marketization and decentralization has affected the co...

by Pinaki Chakraborty | On 10 Jan 2011

Taking Doctors Where the Ultra Poor are: Assessment of the Panel Doctor Scheme of CFPR/TUP Programme

To facilitate access of ultra poor households to qualified allopathic care, especially for moderate-tosevere and chronic morbidities, the Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction/Targeting the ...

by Syed Masud Ahmed | On 10 Jan 2011

What Accounts for China’sTrade Balance Dynamics?

This paper proposes a structural VAR model which extends the frameworks of Hoffmaister and Roldós (2001) and Prasad (1999). The model is then used to analyse the sources of China’s trade balance flu...

by Yin Zhang | On 07 Jan 2011

Measuring the Quality of Life across Countries: A Sensitivity Analysis of Well-being Indices

This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of interrelationships among the determinants of the quality of life (QOL). They show that various measures of well-being are highly sensitiv...

by Tauhidur Rahman | On 28 Dec 2010

Profitability of BRAC-financed Projects: A Study of Seven Microenterprises in Matlab

The basic objective of this study was to look at the profit rates made by VO members once they have made investments in projects financed through BRAC loans. BRAC’s twin objectives of employment and ...

by Hassan Zaman | On 28 Dec 2010

The Economy of Thiruvananthapuram

The major objectives of the paper is to:- * to locate the Thiruvananthapuram district in the economic map of the State; *to document the structural and sectoral transformation of the district; *to...

by Oommen M A | On 22 Dec 2010

Integration of the Ultra Poor into Mainstream Development: How Effective is CFPR?

This paper aimed to understand the dynamics of participation of the TUP (Targeting the Ultra Poor) members of CFPR (Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction) phase I in the financial market sin...

by Raniya Shams | On 16 Dec 2010

Hygiene, Sanitation, and Water: Forgotten Foundations of Health

Health evidence confirms that the burden of disease associated with inadequate Hygience, Sanitation, Water (HSW) is overwhelmingly (although not exclusively) carried by the poor and disadvantaged...

by Jamie Bartram | On 16 Dec 2010

NGOs’ Strategies and the Challenge of Development and Democracy in Bangladesh

The paper argues that while Bangladesh is reported to have more NGOs per capita than other developing countries, those organisations have gradually abandoned social mobilising and collective action...

by Naila Kabeer | On 14 Dec 2010

People’s Republic of China and its Neighbors: Partners or Competitors for Trade and Investment?

The very rapid economic growth of the People’s Republic of China (henceforth PRC), its dramatic success in world export markets and its heavy receipts of foreign direct investment (FDI) have generat...

by John Weiss | On 10 Dec 2010

At Different Speeds: Policy Complementarities and the Recovery from the Asian Crisis

This paper begins with a short review and discussion of the literature on policy complementarities and their implications in terms of (sustainable) growth strategies and the possible emergence of a ne...

by Bruno Rocha | On 09 Dec 2010

Composite Indices of Human Well-being: Past, Present, and Future

This paper surveys the various composite well-being indices that have been inter-country assessments over the last 40 or soy ears, including the well known Human Development Index (HDI). A number of...

by Mark McGillivray | On 03 Dec 2010

Inequality, Corruption, and Competition in the Presence of Market Imperfections

In this paper they analyze the relation between inequality, corruption and competition in a developing economy context where markets are imperfect. They consider an economy where different types o...

by Indranil Dutta | On 02 Dec 2010

When index dissemination goes wrong: How fast can traders add and multiply?

This paper studies an episode of dissemination of wrong stock index values in real time due to a software bug in the Indian Nifty index futures market on the morning of January 18, 2006. The episod...

by Jayanth R Varma | On 01 Dec 2010

How Can Donors Create Incentives for Results and Flexibility for Fragile States? A Proposal for IDA

International Development Association (IDA) donors and others operating a country performance-based allocation system face two difficult problems: how to strengthen incentives to produce and document...

by Alan Gelb | On 29 Nov 2010

Quality of Official Development Assistance Assessment

In 2010, many questions have come up regarding the actual practices of different donors— those over which they have control and those that are likely to affect their long-run effectiveness in term...

by Nancy Birdsall | On 26 Nov 2010

Regional Sources of Growth Acceleration in India

Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were the major contributors to the growth acceleration in India after 1991-92. Although the Regional Disparity may increase tempor...

by Ravindra H. Dholakia | On 25 Nov 2010

Aid Effort and its Determinants

The paper empirically explores the factors that could have accounted for the generally declining aid effort (defined as the generosity ratio, or the share of GDP given as aid) of bilateral donors ov...

by Jeffery I. Round | On 24 Nov 2010

Cross-country Diffusion of the Internet

This paper investigates the factors which determine the diffusion of the Internet across countries. The Gompertz model of technology diffusion is estimated using data on Internet hosts per capita for...

by Sampsa Kiiski | On 23 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

Food Balance Sheet of Kerela

This paper is a look at the food balance sheet of Kerela, the extent of undernutrition and malnutrition in Kerela. For ths purpose, 57 items of food normally available in the State were taken into acc...

by P.G.K. Panikar | On 19 Nov 2010

India's Twelfth Finance Commission:A View from Kerala

The focus of the paper is to review the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Twelfth Finance Commission with special reference to Kerala. It also critically examines the emphasis on fiscal deficit reduct...

by K. P. Kannan | On 18 Nov 2010

Arab-Related Bilateral and Multilateral Sources of Development Finance: Issues, Trends, and the Way Forward

This article analyses the organizational structure as well as the characteristics of development finance provided by Arab donor countries. This is done with a comparative view in relation to wester...

by Eric Neumayer | On 17 Nov 2010

Barriers to Expansion of Mass Literacy and Primary Schooling in West Bengal: Study Based on Primary Data from Selected Villages

This paper examines factors affecting literacy and access to school education in West Bengal, India, and reports the results of a binomial probit model estimated with primary data from ten villages...

by V. K. Ramachandran | On 16 Nov 2010

Social Responsibility of Indian Microfinance: A Critical Review

This paper discusses the issue of social responsibility of Indian microfinance using two theoretical streams from business social responsibility research – stakeholder theory and social contract the...

by Tara S Nair | On 15 Nov 2010

Turning on a pin

It is not unknown for politicians to enter office with one set of assumptions, or worldview, and adopt an altogether different one shortly after assuming office. The most recent example is Nick Clegg,...

by T.N. Ninan | On 15 Nov 2010

Living Standard and Economic Growth: A Fresh Look at the Relationship Through The Nonparametric Approach

The relative role of economic growth vis-a-vis public action in raising living standards in developing countries has been a point of contention for quite some time now. The arguments on both sides a...

by Indrani Chakraborty | On 12 Nov 2010

Impact of Trade Liberalization on Returns from Land: A Regional Study of Indian Agriculture

Trade liberalization, by aligning domestic prices with world prices, is envisaged to bring welfare gains to a country. In the case of Indian agriculture, owing to the vastness and diversity of the s...

by Nilabja Ghosh | On 11 Nov 2010

The Asian Development Bank Loan for Kerala (India): The Adverse Implications and Search for Alternatives

The privileging of internal resources over external finance is not only the most democratic but also the most politically desirable option. The implications of the ADB loan for Kerala is situated ag...

by K. Ravi Raman | On 09 Nov 2010

The WTO Agreement on Rules of Origin: Implications for South Asia

From neutral trade policy devices employed to identity country of origin of commodities, the rules of origin are emerging as protectionist tools. Nation-states, as they are increasingly denied of co...

by K N Harilal | On 09 Nov 2010

Production and Grain Drain in two inland Region of Orissa

Based on a multi-sited based ethnography conducted during August 95 through February 96 in two inland tribal regions of Orissa the study tries to identify temporal and spatial specifications in terms...

by Srijit Mishra | On 08 Nov 2010

Import and Domestic Production of Capital Goods From Substitution to Complementarity

Structural Adjustment is aimed at altering the Incentive framework for private enterprise so as to bring it to the centre stage of domestic economic activity. The prime mover for investment and grow...

by D. Narayana | On 08 Nov 2010

Age Structural Transition and Economic Growth: Evidence from South and Southeast Asia

Age structural transition is a process and a consequence of shifting age structure from a young aged population to old aged population. It is well known that economic growth in the East Asian countr...

by K. Navaneetham | On 04 Nov 2010

The Yuan’s Exchange Rates and Pass-through Effects on the Prices of Japanese and US Imports

This paper estimated the pass-through effects of yuan’s exchange rates on prices of the US and Japanese imports from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Empirical results show that, a 1% nominal app...

by Yuqing Xing | On 04 Nov 2010

Prospects for Regional Cooperation between Latin America and the Caribbean Region and the Asia and Pacific Region: Perspective from East Asia

The Asia and Pacific region and Latin America and Caribbean region are two regions divided not only by vast geographic distance, but also by disparities in economics, politics, culture, and history. M...

by Erlinda M. Medalla | On 04 Nov 2010

Informalization of Industrial Labour in India: Are labour market rigidities and growing import competition to blame?

Since the 1980s, there has been increasing informalization of industrial labour in India. It has taken two forms: rising share of the unorganized sector in manufacturing employment and informalizatio...

by Bishwanath Goldar | On 03 Nov 2010

Financial Turmoil in the Banking Sector and the Asian Lamfalussy Process: The Case of Four Economies

This paper investigates the prevailing financial regulatory structures and impact of the current financial turmoil on banking performance in four Asian economies: the People's Republic of China (PRC);...

by Chen-Min Hsu | On 03 Nov 2010

Rebalancing Growth in the Republic of Korea

The current account surplus of the Republic of Korea (henceforth Korea) increased significantly in the immediate recovery period after the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis. Since then the surplus has...

by Joonkyung Ha | On 03 Nov 2010

India's IT Export Boom: Challenges Ahead

Given the manifold ways, in which the information technology could contribute to human welfare, the developing countries have invested in Information Technology (IT) as a short cut to prosperity. I...

by K.J. Joseph | On 01 Nov 2010

Human Capital and Development: A Tale of Two Cities--Software Sector in Hyderabad and Bangalore

This paper discusses the factors that promote clusters and the role of clusters in the generation and spread of human capital The analysis in the paper is based on a comparative study of software fir...

by V. N. Balasubramanyam | On 29 Oct 2010

Does Change in S & T Explain Dynamics in Human Capital? An enquiry into Emerging Trends in Nursing Labour Market

We examine why it is important to consider seemingly autonomous but more embedded socio-political-economic aspects in assessing the impact of changes in Science and Technology (S&T) on human capital...

by Bino Paul G.D | On 29 Oct 2010

Impact of Remittances on Poverty in Developing Countries

Remittances are increasingly becoming an important source of external financing for the developing countries. For some of the developing countries, it forms almost 40-50% of their GDP. Though there is...

by Rashmi Banga | On 29 Oct 2010

When Globalization Meets Urbanization: Labor Market Reform, Income Inequality, and Economic Growth in the People’s Republic of China

The development path that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been following during the past thirty years has led to both internal and external economic imbalances, and is now greatly challenged...

by Ming Lu | On 29 Oct 2010

ASEAN Open Skies and the Implications for Airport Development Strategy in Malaysia

“Open Skies,” in general, refers to the liberalization of aviation markets that can be pursued on a bilateral, regional, or multilateral basis. At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)...

by Siew Yean Tham | On 29 Oct 2010

The Rhetoric of Disagreement in Reform Debates

This paper is about the discursive aspects of reform debates, more particularly about their rhetorical forms. In the debates on economic reforms in India, communities of scholars seem to have been t...

by Achin Chakraborty | On 28 Oct 2010

India's 1990-91 Crisis: Reforms, Myths and Paradoxes

For most people the story of Indian reforms starts in the nineties, following the BOP crisis of 1990-91. There was a detectable increase in the rate of growth of the Indian economy in the 1980s aris...

by Arvind Virmani | On 26 Oct 2010

The Republic of Korea’s Economy in the Swirl of Global Crisis

This paper argues that the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) is not immune to global crises, but that a more than proportional response of gross domestic product to global crises does not seem to be...

by Dongchul Cho | On 25 Oct 2010

Report of the Evaluation Study on Hill Development Programme in Assam and West Bengal

The major objectives of the current evaluation study was to understand the approach and strategy for the implementation of Hill Area Development Programme (HADP) and analyze the "impact‟ of the...

by Planning Commission, India | 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

Global Production Networks and the People’s Republic of China’s Processing Trade

This paper unveils a systematic pattern in the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) processing trade. In a cross-section of the PRC’s provinces, the average distance traveled by processing imports (...

by Alyson C. Ma | On 18 Oct 2010

Liberalization of Capital Inflows and the Real Exchange Rate in India: A VAR Analysis

The East Asian crisis of 1997-98 and the Mexican crisis of 1994 generated much concern among policy analysts regarding the role of macroeconomic policies in the management of capital inflows. A seri...

by Indrani Chakraborty | On 14 Oct 2010

Economic Reforms and Industrial Performance: An Analysis of Capacity Utilisation in Indian Manufacturing

This paper examines the performance of Indian manufacturing sector in terms of economic capacity utilization (CU), over 1974-1998. An attempt is also made to understand the impact of policy changes,...

by E. Abdul Azeez | On 14 Oct 2010

A Campaign for No UID-Till Complete Transparency, Accountability and People’s Participation

A press conference was arranged which was against the Unique Identity Card (UID) project of Government of India. The panel discussed about the project that the potential to transform the state-citize...

by Shambhu Ghatak | On 08 Oct 2010

Fiscal Policy Issues in Korea after the Current Crisis

This paper examines fiscal policy issues in the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) after the 2009 global financial crisis, including the timing of fiscal policy responses, the effectiveness of expans...

by Kiseok Hong | On 07 Oct 2010

Games the State Plays: A Follow–up Report on the Violations of Workers' Rights in CWG-related Construction Sites

For the last few years , a massive amount of construction work has been going on in various parts of Delhi for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) to be held in October this year. PUDR tried to conduct a fac...

by People's Union for Democratic Rights PUDR | On 01 Oct 2010

India as a Global Leader in Science: A Vision for India

In the next two decades, India is likely to become an economically prosperous nation and move significantly towards being a far more inclusive society, with the bulk of its population gaining acces...

by Science Advisory Council to PM SAC to PM | On 01 Oct 2010

Social Ties and the Job Search of Recent Immigrants

This paper is an attempt to fill the knowledge of the role played by network in the labor market assimilation of immigrants and the mechanisms through which networks affect the labor market outcomes o...

by Deepti Goel | On 30 Sep 2010

Comparative Risk Aversion When the Outcomes are Vectors

Pratt (1964) and Yaari (1969) contain the classical results pertaining to the equivalence of various notions of comparative risk aversion of von Neumann- Morgenstern utilities in the setting with re...

by Sudhir A. Shah | On 27 Sep 2010

Politics for winners

The Gandhi mother-son duo and the prime minister have come down on two sides of the land acquisition/environment debate. Manmohan Singh is focused on delivering 9 per cent economic growth; he sees a c...

by T.N. Ninan | On 24 Sep 2010

GATS : Domestic Regulations versus Market Access

The paper highlights the dilemma faced by developing countries in balancing market access rights with the need to regulate service providers, in light of the ongoing negotiations under Article VI:4 of...

by Suparna Karmakar | On 24 Sep 2010

Lessons from PPPs of Indian Railways and Way Forward

The Indian Railways (IR) have grand plans. They would like to leapfrog to a higher growth trajectory during 2010-20. Towards this, they would like to see a total investment of Rs 14,00,000 crores (cr...

by G. Raghuram | On 23 Sep 2010

Act, Support and Protect: South Asia Forum for Ending Violence Against Children

Seven girls and five boys from six countries in South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives,Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) took part in the Regional Children's Consultation for the first South Asia...

by Ravi Karkara | On 21 Sep 2010

Women's Work in the Post Reform Period: An Exploration of Macro Data

Development within the framework of economic reforms is often equated to growth rates which are highlighted as the only solution to all problems – be it poverty, unemployment or inequalities based...

by Neetha N | On 21 Sep 2010

India in the Global and Regional Trade: Determinants of Aggregate and Bilateral Trade Flows and Firms’ Decision to Export

This paper contributes to two strands of literature on empirical models of trade flows and trade policy. The first and the older strand is that of gravity models of bilateral trade flows going back...

by T.N. Srinivasan | On 20 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

Ayodhya: Masjid-Mandir Dispute: Towards Peaceful Solution

The present article examines the Babri Mazjid-Ram Janambhumi dispute. It analyzes background of the dispute, its perceptions and the path to peace and reconciliation in the future.

by Ram Puniyani | On 15 Sep 2010

Evasion at the top

The government gave out some interesting numbers on Monday. The revenue secretary told a news conference that nearly 96 per cent of the 32.5 million who pay income tax reported a taxable income of und...

by T.N. Ninan | On 14 Sep 2010

Intellectual Property Protection and the Licensing of Technology to Developing Countries

In this paper, the influence of stronger intellectual property protection on technology transfer into developing countries via licensing is analyzed. Using panel data for the post-TRIPs period 1995-20...

by Sunil Kanwar | On 09 Sep 2010

Who Leaves and Who Returns? Deciphering Immigrant Self-Selection from a Developing Country

Existing research examining the self-selection of immigrants suffers from a lack of information on the immigrants’ labor force activities in the home country, quotas limiting who is allowed to enter t...

by Randall K. Q. Akee | On 09 Sep 2010

Economic Governance of MFIs: Inside the Black Box

This paper investigates a relationship between economic governance and the dual objectives of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs): poverty reduction and financial viability. Using an unbalanced pan...

by Thankom Arun | On 06 Sep 2010

Managing Knowledge, Creating Networks and Triggering Innovations for Sustainable Agriculture

In this paper, the author discuss the major knowledge gaps, stress the importance of peer learning and building upon farmers’ own innovations and suggest new initiatives for transforming extension s...

by Anil. K Gupta | On 25 Aug 2010

Earnings Instability and Earnings Inequality in Urban China: 1989–2006

This paper investigates the evolution of earnings inequality in urban China from 1989 to 2006. After decomposing the variance of log of earnings into transitory and permanent two parts, we find that...

by Zhong Zhao | On 23 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

Experience of the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Scheme: are there lessons for NREGS?

This paper notes that while the NREGS has potential to reduce the intensity of poverty for the large mass of rural poor, the number of days of work provided and the level of the wage rate remain criti...

by Amita Shah | On 17 Aug 2010

Do Professionals Choke Under Pressure?

High rewards or the threat of severe punishment do not only provide incentives to exert high levels of effort but also create pressure. Such pressure can cause paradoxical performance effects, namel...

by Thomas J. Dohmen | On 06 Aug 2010

Asia and the IMF

This lecture series begins with a discussion of the reforms that have undertaken in the IMF since the mid-1990s, and particularly since the start of the Asian economic crisis. It concludes with a disc...

by Stanley Fischer | On 04 Aug 2010

'Cause I'm the taxman

This piece is a discussion of the pros and cons of incomes tax, and the people who administer it, initiated on the occasion of Income Tax Day.

by T.N. Ninan | On 03 Aug 2010

Addressing Extreme Poverty in a Sustainable Manner: Evidence from CFPR programme

BRAC initiated an innovative programme known as Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction (CFPR) in 2002 to address the extreme poverty in Bangladesh. Impact assessment studies on the first pha...

by Narayan C Das | On 02 Aug 2010

Hydrogen Energy For Indian Transport Sector: A Well-To-Wheel Techno-Economic and Environmental Feasibility Analysis

With the alarming rate of growth in vehicle population and travel demand, the energy consumption has increased significantly contributing to the rise of GHG emissions. Therefore, the development of a...

by P. Balachandra | On 30 Jul 2010

Quantifying the Impact of Chikungunya and Dengue on Tourism Revenues

Health economists have traditionally quantified the burden of vector-borne diseases (such as chikungunya and dengue) as the sum of the cost of illness and the cost of intervention programmes. The obje...

by Dileep V. Mavalankar | On 21 Jul 2010

Regional Responses To The Southeast Asian Economic Crisis: A Case Of Self-Help Or No Help?

The currency crises of the 1990s, particularly the one that hit Southeast Asia since the devaluation of the Thai baht on July 2, 1997, are suggestive of the relevance and pervasiveness of contagion...

by Chang Li Lin | On 21 Jul 2010

Morbidity Costs of Vehicular Air Pollution: Examining Dhaka City in Bangladesh

This study estimates the morbidity costs of reduction in air pollution in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, using the Cost-of-Illness (COI) approach. COI is defined as the sum of lost earnings due t...

by Tanzir Chowdhury | On 19 Jul 2010

International Outsourcing Hurdles in Value-added Services

International Outsourcing has been traditionally looked upon as a low end cost effective servicing option to take advantage of the cost arbitrage that exists across countries. Of late, many outsourcin...

by Arindam Banerjee | On 15 Jul 2010

State in Religion: Preamble to Pogrom

India is a secular state in which all faiths enjoy freedom of worship. The concept of secularism is implicit in the Preamble to our Constitution, which declares the resolve of the people to secure to...

by Garima Gupta | On 15 Jul 2010

Censorship: Free Dump of Expression

For a country to be a democracy, certain things are expected to be in place, such as freedom of expression and little or no censorship. While one person would find it perfectly acceptable to publici...

by Garima Gupta | On 15 Jul 2010

Unintended consequences?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seems to have decided, somewhat belatedly, to fight for its own autonomy. Well, it’s better late than never, and there is much to recommend in the suggestion by RBI to...

by T.N. Ninan | On 14 Jul 2010

Indian takeover regulation – under reformed and over modified

The takeover of substantial number of shares, voting rights or control in a listed Indian company attracts the provision of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations 1997. T...

by Sandeep Parekh | On 14 Jul 2010

Assessing the Changing Employment Profiles in the Telecom Sector: Implications for Education and Training

Telecom sector in India has been growing very fast and changing very rapidly in service delivery mechanisms used, target segments addressed, technogical platforms for service delivery etc. Global...

by Rekha Jain | On 13 Jul 2010

Overview of School Education in Delhi

This paper presents an overview of school education in Delhi. [Working Paper No. 0068]

by Soumya Gupta | On 13 Jul 2010

Bridging the Gap: Improving Clinical Development and the Regulatory Pathways for Health Products for Neglected Diseases

There has been tremendous progress over the last decade in the development of health products for neglected diseases. These include drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria and tuberculosis, whi...

by Thomas J. Bollyky | On 08 Jul 2010

Licenses to Open a School: It’s All About Money

In Delhi, 14 lakh children are out of school. So why is there a shortfall in the supply of schools? Does the government help to better the situation? Why or Why not? In the light of these mind-boggl...

by Mayank Wadhwa | On 07 Jul 2010

Supply Response of Indian Farmers: Pre and Post Reforms

This study estimates supply response for major crops during pre and post reform periods using Nerlovian adjustment cum adaptive expectation model. Estimation is based on dynamic panel data approach wi...

by G. Mythili | On 06 Jul 2010

Microfinance Engagements of the ‘Graduated’ TUP Members

This study takes a look at the beneficiaries who were selected at the first round in 2002 to explain various dimensions of their engagement with microfinance. With a lower borrower-member ratio and re...

by Munshi Sulaiman | On 02 Jul 2010

Why is Dead DEDA Still Alive?

The paper discuses and analyzes the present state of affairs of the Delhi Energy Development Agency (DEDA).

by Arjun Bhattacharya | On 30 Jun 2010

How Would an Appreciation of the Yuan Affect the People's Republic of China's Surplus in Processing Trade?

Enormous trade surpluses are problematic for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the rest of the world. They primarily stem from processing trade. This paper investigates how exchange rate ch...

by Willem Thorbecke | On 30 Jun 2010

Sex Workers and Condom Use-the Political Economy of HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh

A study was undertaken in Madaripur brothel to understand condom use reality within the social context of the commercial sex workers' (CSW) lives in brothel and to critically analyze BRAC's HIV/AIDS...

by Raihana Karim | On 29 Jun 2010

A Bad Hair Day

The procedure for obtaining a license for operating in local commercial areas is a hair-raising tale in itself. First the individual needs to apply to the Deputy Health Officer of the Department of...

by Nandita Markandan | On 29 Jun 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

Kisan Credit Card

Provision of timely and adequate credit has been one of the major challenges for banks in India in dispensation of agricultural and rural credit to the farmers. Constant innovation is required in or...

by Danish Faruqui | On 24 Jun 2010

How Does a Single Professional Issue Become Social Movement Discourse? Case of Lawyers’ Movement in Pakistan

This paper explores the modification of a discourse in the context of emergence of social movement from a single issue professional campaign through a framework of Habermasian communicative action the...

by Muhammad Anwar | On 22 Jun 2010

Aid, Debt Relief and New Sources of Finance for Meeting the Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have lofty expectations regarding the impact of official development aid. Are these expectations valid? This paper surveys the literature on aid and growth...

by Tony Addison | On 21 Jun 2010

Quality and Coordination of Official Development Aid in Pakistan

Pakistan has historically received large volumes of aid but it has also faced an increasingly difficult task of aid coordination. In 2007, Pakistan received more than U.S.$2.2 billion in Official Deve...

by Abdul Malik | 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

Public Works Department Delhi Government

Public Works Department is engaged in planning, designing, construction and maintenance of government assets in the field of built environment and infrastructure development. This paper talks about...

by Sabith Ullah Khan | On 16 Jun 2010

Parking Space for the Poor: Restrictions Imposed on Marketing and Movement of Agricultural Goods in India

Agricultural markets in India have been regulated since 1928 with the inception of the "Royal Commission of Agriculture." Policy intervention in agriculture was virtually absent till the Bengal Fam...

by Mayank Wadhwa | On 16 Jun 2010

Impact Assessment of CFPR/TUP: A Descriptive Analysis Based on 2002-2005 Panel Data

This paper looks at the overall performance of the CFPR/TUP programme using the 2002 baseline survey and 2005 repeat survey. All the topics covered in this study could be analysed more deeply, but tha...

by Mehnaz Rabbani | On 15 Jun 2010

Tragedy as farce

One of Marx’s more commonly quoted aphorisms is that “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce”. There are few countries where that could be truer than India—as the Bhopal case shows....

by T.N. Ninan | On 14 Jun 2010

Capital Adequacy Regime in India: An Overview

In this paper an analytical review of the capital adequacy regime and the present state of capital to risk-weighted asset ratio (CRAR) of the banking sector in India has been presented. In the curre...

by Mandira Sarma | On 14 Jun 2010

Providing Microfinance and Social Space to Empower Adolescent Girls: An Evaluation of BRAC’s ELA Centres

Lately there has been a surge in the variety of approaches to assist the adolescents, specially the girls, in building up their lives and livelihoods. With financial assistance from Nike Foundation,...

by Rizwana Shahnaz | On 10 Jun 2010

Non-Tariff Measures Affecting India’s Textiles and Clothing Exports: Findings from the Survey of Exporters

This paper reports findings from the survey of India’s textiles and clothing exporters. The survey method has been used to identify and assess the impact of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) and the Cost of...

by Gordhan K Saini | On 09 Jun 2010

East and West: The Twain Shall Meet: A Cross-cultural Perspective on Higher Education

This paper seeks to explain certain cultural differences that may have contributed to this imbalance between the Indian and American higher education systems.[W.P. No. 2009-04-03]

by Tejas A. Desai | On 08 Jun 2010

Commercialisation of Microfinance in India: A Discussion on the Emperor’s Apparel

The paper looks at the growth and commercialization of microfinance in India. It starts out be looking at how the commercial microfinance has evolved internationally by discussing two specific ex...

by M S Sriram | On 08 Jun 2010

Transcending Boundaries: Indian Nurses in Internal and International Migration

This paper discusses the case of Indian nurses who take up their profession as part of a family strategy, where planning for education and migration are intrinsic to the whole process. In effect, th...

by Sreelekha Nair | On 03 Jun 2010

The Importance of Being Wanted

We identify birth wantedness as a source of better child outcomes. In Vietnam, the year of birth is widely believed to determine success. As a result, cohorts born in auspicious years are 12 percent l...

by Quy-Toan Do | On 02 Jun 2010

The (Indispensable) Middle Class in Developing Countries; or, The Rich a the Rest, Not the Poor and the Rest

In this paper an argument is made that the concept of inclusive growth should go beyond the traditional emphasis on the poor (and the rest) and take into account changes in the size and economic c...

by Nancy Birdsall | On 31 May 2010

Which Asia?

Is Asia a cohesive analytical unit in any practical sense?

by T.N. Ninan | On 17 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

Women Safety in Delhi

This paper attempts to question the state of ‘women community” at large with situation depicting the growing rate of crime, oppression and subjugation which is historically unprecedented and its re-...

by Chitra Mishra | On 03 May 2010

The Flight from Defence to Civilian Space: Evolution of the Sectoral System of Innovation of India’s Aerospace Industry

India is one among the few developing countries that have sought to establish an aerospace industry. The industry has two components, namely aeronautical and astronautic. The sectoral system of inn...

by Sunil Mani | On 30 Apr 2010

Impact of ASEAN-India FTA on India’s Plantation Commodities: A Simulation Analysis

The present study attempts a quantitative assessment of the impact of recently signed ASEAN-India FTA (AIFTA) for selected plantation commodities (coffee, tea and pepper) in India. Partial equilibri...

by C. Veeramani | On 20 Apr 2010

Preventing Road Deaths—Time for Data

The editors stress the impact of inadequate road safety on global health, in both developed and low- and middle-income countries. "Research into the risk factors for injury from road traffic crashes,...

by PLoS Medicine | On 08 Apr 2010

'Bed and Board' in Lieu of Salary: Women and Girl Children Domestics in Post Partition Calcutta (1951-1981)

The present study attempts to see how a particular labour market, that is, domestic service, a traditionally male domain, became segregated both by gender and age in post partition West Bengal (WB) a...

by Deepita Chakravarty | On 25 Mar 2010

The Impact of the Commonwealth Games 2010 on Urban Development of Delhi -An Analysis with a Historical Perspective from Worldwide Experiences and the 1982 Asian Games

The paper raises some hard questions that need to be answered before one can conclude that events such as Common Wealth Games has a positive effect on the host community. Can the financial requirement...

by Vinayak Uppal | On 23 Mar 2010

Industrializing West Bengal? : The Case of Institutional Stickiness

The paper discuses the role played by institutional behavior in determining the policy outcomes of a state. Apart from secondary data the paper is also based on information collected from selected sta...

by Deepita Chakravarty | On 19 Mar 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

Budget 2010-2011

Budget speech 2010-2011 by Pranab Mukherjee

by Pranab Mukherjee | On 26 Feb 2010

Female Work Participation and Gender Differential in Earning in West Bengal

Female work participation in West Bengal is one of the lowest among all the states in India. However, it varies widely across the state’s 341 blocks. An analysis of some block level characteristics...

by Indrani Chakraborty | On 26 Feb 2010

MDG-Based Poverty Reduction Strategy for West Bengal

The purpose of this paper is to examine the poverty situation in West Bengal in a multidimensional framework and to explore possible strategies towards reduction of poverty in the state, keeping in...

by Achin Chakraborty | On 22 Feb 2010

What Determines the Success and Failure of ‘100 Days Work’ at the Panchayat Level? A Study of Birbhum District in West Bengal

West Bengal is not among the best performing states with regard to NREGA. The performance of all districts in the state is not equally discouraging. Some districts, in fact, have done well in gener...

by Subrata Mukherjee | On 19 Feb 2010

Many Worlds of Dak Vachan: Proverbial Knowledge and the History of Rain and Weather

This paper is about deconstructing the middle class perception of the domain of the ‘folk’ in this region. With these questions, the paper sets out an agenda for writing the history of rain and weat...

by Sadan Jha | On 16 Feb 2010

Analysing Catastrophic OOP Health Expenditure in India: Concepts, Determinants and Policy Implications

The present paper attempts to modify definition of catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure by characterising it based on consumption of necessities. Catastrophic health expenditure is defined as...

by Rama Pal | On 11 Feb 2010

The Development of Sports Medicine in Twentieth Century Britain

If it had not been for the vision and tenacious dedication of early pioneers, the difficulties encountered in the creation of the specialty of sport and exercise medicine may not have been overcome....

by L Reynolds | On 06 Feb 2010

Migration of Health Care Professionals from India: A Case Study of Nurses

The study attempts to examine why there is staff shortage of health care professionals especially the nurses in India and the impact of such migration on services like emergency preparedness, quality...

by Ann Issac | On 04 Feb 2010

Transparency and Accountability in Employment Programmes The case of NREGA in Andhra Pradesh

Based upon several field visits to the state of Andhra Pradesh to observe and analyse the social audit process initiated by the Government of Andhra Pradesh under the National Rural Employment Guaran...

by Neera Burra | On 04 Feb 2010

Negotiating the Terms of A New Social Contract: Private Companies, Civil Society and the State in India

A detailed analysis of the stakes and dynamics at play in the public, civil and self-regulation of companies in India is offered. With the rapid growth and modernization of the country as the backdro...

by Damien Krichewsky | On 02 Feb 2010

Microfinance and the Millennium Development Goals in Pakistan: Impact Assessment Using Propensity Score Matching

Using data from a survey of clients of a microfinance bank, Khushhali Bank, in 2005, the study revisited the survey data and found that despite the Bank’s strict poverty-targeting program used in cl...

by Sununtar Setboonsarng | On 25 Jan 2010

The Dynamic Relationship between Price and Trading Volume: Evidence from Indian Stock Market

This study investigates the nature of relationship between price and trading volume for 50 Indian stocks. Firstly the contemporaneous and asymmetric relation between price and volume are examined. T...

by Brajesh Kumar | On 25 Jan 2010

Productivity of Pesticides in Vegetable Farming in Nepal

This paper examines the effectiveness of damage control mechanisms to reduce crop losses from agricultural pests. It uses data from a sample of Cole crop (Cauliflower and Cabbage) growing households...

by Ratna Kumar Jha | On 22 Jan 2010

Book Review: Microfinance-Is it a means of Empowering Women?

Multiple Meanings of Money: How Women See Microfinance by Smita Premchander, V. Prameela, M. Chidambaranathan, L. JeyaseelanSage publication, 2009, Pp 264, Rs. 595/-

by Sanchita Das | On 20 Jan 2010

Why India Choked when Lehman Broke

India has an elaborate system of capital controls which impede cap- ital mobility and particularly short-term debt. Yet, when the global money market fell into turmoil after the bankruptcy of Lehman...

by Ila Patnaik | On 19 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

Social Security Nets for Marine Fisheries

This paper attempts to explain the provision of social security in the fisheries sector of Kerala State in south India. It enumerates the salient achievements and the problems faced by the state in pr...

by John Kurien | On 14 Jan 2010

Working with Existing Systems: Lessons from INHP

Engaging and strengthening the ICDS and Health programs of the government was a major approach of the two component projects under the RACHNA program, INHP-II and Chayan. Of the two, the INHP interve...

by CARE India | On 24 Dec 2009

A Marketing Scheme for Making Money off Innocent People: A User’s Manual

Firms often give away free goods with the product that they sell. Firms often give stock options to their top management and other employees. Mixing these two practices—giving stock options to consu...

by Kaushik Basu | On 15 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

Women’s Experience in New Panchayats: The Emerging Leadership of Rural Women

This paper presents some of the findings of our recent study on women’s representation and participation in panchayats. Some of the findings of the study (Buch; 1999) of women in panchayats after the...

by Nirmala Buch | On 04 Dec 2009

Has India Become More Innovative Since 1991? Analysis of the Evidence and Some Disquieting Features

There is a strong feeling among especially the West that India is becoming very innovative. The study will take the reader through the empirical evidence on whether this is indeed the case since the...

by Sunil Mani | On 03 Dec 2009

Himalyan Glaciers

A detailed historical review of the research to date spanning more than 50 years, and includes a perspective on the impact of climate change on the glaciers. The Ministry invites comments on the Paper...

by V K Raina | On 30 Nov 2009

Access and Mobility for the Urban Poor in India: Bridging the Gap Between Policy and Needs

Indian cities are characterised by rapid growth in human as well as motor vehicle populations. Although the poor benefit the least from motor vehicle activity, they bear the brunt of its impacts. The...

by Madhav Badami | On 26 Nov 2009

Regional Analysis of Gender-Related Development: Districts of Western India

In this paper the diverse dimensions of gender development are examined using individual indicators for the districts of the western region of India. The western region for the purpose of this study...

by Preet Rustagi | On 24 Nov 2009

Innovation through Long-distance Conversations? Lessons from Offshoring-based Software Clusters in Bangalore

This paper is aganist the popular assertion regarding the links between innovation and clustering and it is found that the main sources of knowledge transfer and innovation among key firms in Bangalor...

by Aya Okada | On 23 Nov 2009

Track Record of Financial Institutions in Assisting the Poor in Asia

A variety of institutional forms of microfinance are being introduced in Asia including by the ADB-and financial institutions pursue different objectives, so it is difficult to assess how well micro...

by Richard L Meyer | On 13 Nov 2009

A Profession on the Margins: Status Issues in Indian Nursing

This joint paper attempts an unusual collaborative approach that offers an understanding of the problems that registered nurses of India have faced. Through this paper, the problem of ‘social status’...

by Sreelekha Nair | On 10 Nov 2009

Book Review: A New Synthesis on the Renaissance Hospital

The Renaissance Hospital: Healing the Body and Healing The Soul by John Henderson. New Haven Yale University Press, 2006. xxxiv + 458 pp. $60.00 (cloth).

by Brian Nance | On 05 Nov 2009

Delegation and Emission Tax in a Differentiated Oligopoly

How product differentiation as well as strategic managerial delegation affects optimal emission tax rate, environmental damage and social welfare, under alternative modes of product market competiti...

by Rupayan Pal | On 04 Nov 2009

The Deluge of Debt: Understanding the Financial Needs of Poor Households

This paper is about the financial lives of poor households. It examines the different sources of income and expenditure of the poor households residing in a coastal settlement in Kerala. The method...

by B. S. Suran | On 29 Oct 2009

Environmental Sector China: From Major Building Site to Growth Market

China’s economy is booming at the expense of its environment. The country’s resource efficiency is nowhere near the level of western nations. Per unit of gross domestic product China consumes more tha...

by Eric Heymann | On 22 Oct 2009

Climate Change and China: Technology, Market and Beyond

The paper discusses the impacts of climate change to the environment of China and most especially to the livelihood of Chinese people there. It analyzed the Chinese government’s position and enumerate...

by Dale Jiajun Wen | On 16 Oct 2009

The Pilot Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Project (MNCH) at Nilphamari: Profiling the Changes During 2006-07

BRAC health programme (BHP) initiated a pilot maternal, neonatal and child health project (MNCH) in Nilphamari in 2006 to improve the health status of women of reproductive age including neonates an...

by Shahnawaz Mohammad Rafi | On 15 Oct 2009

Rectifying the Anti-politics of Citizen Participation

Can ‘participatory’ approaches to development constitute a viable strategy for promoting citizenship? This paper addresses this question by scrutinising the equivocal reaction of a peasant community...

by Katsuhiko Masaki | On 13 Oct 2009

How Sapient is Homo Economicus? The Evolutionary Origins of Trade, Ethics and Economic Rationality

The paper argues that economism and, in particular, the individual drive to maximize utility and amass profit are not enough to ensure the efficient functioning of an economy; and that even for elemen...

by Kaushik Basu | On 09 Oct 2009

Kerala Fights Clock in ASEAN Free-Trade Deal

The paper discusses the impacts of free-trade policy on the agricultural exports of Kerala.

by Ranjit Devraj | On 08 Oct 2009

Rural Health Services at Cross-Roads: Insights from Gujarat

The objective of the paper is to i) understand and document the morbidity profile, ii) examine utilisation of health services, and iii) estimate approximate expenses on health care by th...

by Ratnawali Sinha | On 07 Oct 2009

Poverty Vs Inequality

Are economic reforms and the greater role of markets responsible for growth being anti-poor and anti-equality, or is it the failure of governance in poverty-ridden states like Bihar and Jharkhand that...

by T.N. Ninan | On 22 Sep 2009

Survival Lessons Water Management Traditions in the Central-Western Himalayas

India is home to fantastic water harvesting traditions that have evolved over millennia. The central western Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are no exceptions to these traditions....

by People's Science Institute PSI | On 21 Sep 2009

The Afghan Economy After the Election

There were many challenges involved in the conduct of the elections. For example, the people had to cast votes among 16 presidential candidates (2 candidates withdrew two days before the elections) i...

by Manabu Fujimura | On 17 Sep 2009

State-Led or Market-Led Green Revolution? Role of Private Irrigation Investment vis-a-vis Local Government Programs in West Bengal’s Farm Productivity Growth

This paper estimates respective roles of private investments in irrigation and local government programs (land reforms, extension services, and infrastructure investments) in the growth of farm prod...

by Pranab Bardhan | On 14 Sep 2009

Do Remittances Impact the Economy? Some Empirical Evidences from A Developing Economy

The study attempts to examine the impact of remittances on macroeconomic activities (private consumption and investment) and its implications on economic growth in India for the period from 1966-67 to...

by Hrushikesh Mallick | On 01 Sep 2009

Analyzing Industrial Water Demand in India: An Input Distance Function Approach

This study investigates the water demand of Indian manufacturing plants. It adopts an input distance function approach and approximates it by a translog form. Duality between cost function and input d...

by Surender Kumar | On 17 Aug 2009

Developing The Indian Debt Capital Markets: Small Investor Perspectives

This paper argues that with the recent economic reforms, an efficient and active debt market, particularly in long-term private debt instruments, is essential for the country to realize the full bene...

by Pronab Sen | On 13 Aug 2009

A Model of Market Clearing Exchange Rates

This paper formulates a model of exchange rate determination that describes the market processes by which the foreign exchange markets are cleared and international receipts of countries are brought...

by Rajas Parchure | On 06 Aug 2009

Peasant Classes, Farm Incomes and Rural Indebtedness: An Analysis of Household Production Data from Two States

The paper attempts to appraise the extent of the constraint of credit relations on agricultural production and its differential impact across peasant classes. Additionally, the analysis of the structu...

by Arindam Banerjee | On 04 Aug 2009

Clean Water Should Be Recognized as a Human Right

Access to clean water should be declared a basic human right for three reasons. First, access to clean water can substantially reduce the global burden of disease caused by water-borne infections. Sec...

by PLoS Medicine | On 09 Jul 2009

Self-help Co-operatives, Deposit Mobilisation and Supply of Credit

The paper is aimed at exploring as to how such co-operatives (i) function and deal with members while delivering micro finance; (ii) mobilise funds, and (iii) get shaped and reshape the contents of me...

by Gagan Bihari Sahu | On 09 Jul 2009

Report of the Internal Working Group on Debt Management

Establishing a debt management office would consolidate all debt management functions in a single agency, and be the catalyst for wider institutional reform and transparency about public debt. It is i...

by Ministry of Finance | On 04 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

Emerging Contours of Financial Regulation: Challenges and Dynamics

The paper attempts to analyse the emerging contours of regulation of financial institutions with an emphasis on the emerging challenges and dynamics. [Paper prepared for Financial Stability Review of...

by Rakesh Mohan | On 29 Jun 2009

Is the BDP Ultra Poor Approach Working? Survey of Some Key Issues

The objectives of this paper are to assess the knowledge retention on IGA training, and to explore the quality of participation in financial and non-financial services by the BDP ultra poor. We found...

by Proloy Barua | On 25 Jun 2009

Crime, City and Space: A Case of Mumbai Megapolis

The present study has been an attempt to examine spatial distribution of various forms of crimes in Mumbai city (Municipal Corporation) and find out their correlates. More specifically the attempts ha...

by Abdul Shaban | On 23 Jun 2009

City, Crime and Space: A Case of Mumbai Megapolis

The present study has been an attempt to examine spatial distribution of various forms of crimes in Mumbai city (Municipal Corporation) and find out their correlates. More specifically the attempts ha...

by | On 23 Jun 2009

Financing Strategy for Achievement of the MDGs and Implementation of the Tenth Five Year Plan

This report presents an analysis of the strategy required to generate the required resources for investment in various services necessary to achieve the MDGs. The analysis attempts to quantify the fis...

by M. Govinda Rao | On 20 Jun 2009

Offshoring and Unemployment: The Role of Search Frictions and Labor Minority

In this paper, in order to study the impact of offshoring on sectoral and economy wide rates of unemployment, we construct a two sector general equilibrium model in which unemployment is caused by sea...

by Devashish Mitra | On 16 Jun 2009

Financial Development and Velocity of Money in Bangladesh: A Vector Auto- Regression Analysis

The study uses co-integration and vector auto-regression (VAR) techniques to identify the determinants of income velocity of money (VM) in Bangladesh, covering both narrow and broad money. The study o...

by Md. Akhtaruzzaman | On 15 Jun 2009

Regulatory Structure Under EC Competition Laws: Lessons for India

Competition law is different from other branches of law. It is not about the fairness or morality to be instilled in the actions which mark societal behaviour. Instead the rules of competition reflect...

by Tarun Jain | On 14 Jun 2009

Goods and Services Tax for India

The paper contours of a feasible design of VAT in India. It also takes on board the various alternatives proposed. It looks at the issues that need resolution and the options available for resolving t...

by R.Kavita Rao | On 12 Jun 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

Does the Currency Regime Shape Unhedged Currency Exposure?

This paper examines how unhedged currency exposure of firms varies with changes in currency exibility. A sequence of four time-periods with alternating high and low currency volatility in India prov...

by Ila Patnaik | On 11 Jun 2009

A New Debt Crisis? Assessing the Impact of the Financial Crisis on Developing Countries

This report is intended as a wake-up call to anyone who thinks the developing world debt crisis has been resolved. In fact, it assesses fears of a new debt crisis, more serious than before, spreading...

by Sarah Edwards | On 11 Jun 2009

Mexican Swine Flu—A New Threat to Humanity

The article provides information pertaining to the recent outbreak of "swine flu", which has spread beyond Mexico and the US. The present study shows that the outbreak has lot to do with industrial fa...

by Shambhu Ghatak | On 09 Jun 2009

Anthropology and Bioethics: Linking Knowledge Production and Professional Regulation

The paper revolves around Anthropology and Ethical Guidelines: from a stand alone code to everyday disciplinary practice [NCRM]

by Maya Unnithan Kumar | On 06 Jun 2009

Initiatives of NGOs in Kutch Region

Many NGOs occupy a space between public and private sector organisations, and the papers in this special issue demonstrate that the mechanisms required for effective accountability by these NGOs are u...

by Kalpana C Satija | On 06 Jun 2009

The Relationship Between Socio-Economic Status and Malaria: A Review of the Literature

Malaria is frequently referred to as a disease of the poor or a disease of poverty. A better understanding of the linkages between malaria and poverty is needed to guide the design of coherent and eff...

by Eve Worrall | On 03 Jun 2009

Corruption Dynamics: The Golden Goose Effect

Development scholars view corruption as a leading cause of persistent poverty in less development countries. The paper mainly studies dynamic incentives for corruption in one of the world’s largest pu...

by Paul Niehaus | On 03 Jun 2009

Making the Punishment Fit the Crime or Taliban Justice? Optimal Penalties without Commitment

This paper argues that graduated penalties observed in most legal systems may be an attempt to direct law enforcement efforts towards crimes that are socially more harmful, thereby achieving better de...

by Parikshit Ghosh | On 03 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

Women’s Work in the Post Reform Period: An Exploration of Macro Data

An important aspect that is often highlighted in the context of economic reforms, is the translation of labour market changes into defining or redefining gender relations and empowerment of women. In...

by Neetha N | On 03 Jun 2009

Interactions between Policy Assumptions and Rural Women’s Work –A Case Study

This paper is mainly concerned about the approaches to rural women’s development and an understanding of their work roles in the planning strategies. Changes in the economic and social participation o...

by Kumud Sharma | On 03 Jun 2009

Liberalization with Endogenous Institutions: A Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Reform in Africa, Asia and Europe

Thirty years ago, a vast share of the poor and the middle income countries were heavily state-controlled. The effects of the liberalizations in the 1980s and 1990s differed strongly between regions in...

by Johan F.M. Swinnen | On 02 Jun 2009

Imputation Methods for Handling Item-Nonresponse in the Social Sciences: A Methodological Review

Missing data are often a problem in social science data. Imputation methods fill in the missing responses and lead, under certain conditions, to valid inference. This article reviews several imputatio...

by Gabriele Beissel Durrant | On 02 Jun 2009

Do Social Clauses in Generalized Systems of Preferences Advance the Cause of Women?

While in the era of globalization, millions of women got paid employment in labour-intensive industries in developing countries, they still face precarious working conditions. Women rights violations...

by Franziska Humbert | On 01 Jun 2009

An Evaluation Study of NSS in India 2008-09

This paper is an evaluation study of NSS in India wherein a study is conducted to learn Volunteer strength in Andhra Pradesh from 1969-1994; Year wise Targets and Achievements of Chandigarh Regional C...

by Tata Institue of Social Sciences TISS | On 31 May 2009

ALBA Venezuela’s answer to “free trade”: the Bolivarian alternative for the Americas

The paper provides a detailed scan of the position of each of the major ALBA countries in turn, plus Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. While Argentina and Brazil are beginning to get involved in ALBA acti...

by David Harris | On 31 May 2009

Gender and Modern Supply Chains in Developing Countries

The rapid spread of modern supply chains in developing countries is profoundly changing the way food is produced and traded. In this paper we examine the gender implications in modern supply chains. W...

by Miet Maertens | On 29 May 2009

Contribution of the Unorganised sector to GDP Report of the Sub Committee of a NCEUS Task Force

The task of the Sub-committee was to review the existing methodologies for estimating the contribution of unorganised/informal sector to GDP and suggest measures to facilitate direct estimation. The G...

by NCEUS NCEUS | On 28 May 2009

If Technology is like Word, Institutions are like Grammar: Institutional Context of Technological Innovations and Knowledge Systems at Grassroots.

Many developing countries have taken interest in learning from the Honey Bee Network experience for replicating the model. In a UNESCO conference, the author was asked to identify the key steps that n...

by Anil K Gupta | On 27 May 2009

Performance and Development Effectiveness of the Sardar Sarovar Project

The study was undertaken with the objective to review and analyse the costs and benefits of the Sardar Sarovar Dam at this stage, when efforts are being made to complete the last leg of the dam, rai...

by Tata Institue of Social Sciences TISS | On 26 May 2009

Summary of the Welcome Remarks by Dr.Bimal Jalan, Governor, at the 11th C.D. Deshmukh Memorial Lecture

Dr. Bimal Jalan, Governor gave a welcome remark to Prof. Charles Goodhart on his 11th C. D. Deshmukh Memorial Lecture on 'Whither Central Banking ?' This paper revolves around Dr. Jalan's summary and...

by Dr Bimal Jalan | On 21 May 2009

PRC-Latin America Economic Cooperation: Going beyond Resource and Manufacturing Complementarity

Despite the rapid development of economic interaction between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, their trade and investment ties are still in their...

by Masahiro Kawai | On 20 May 2009

Himalayan Journal of Development and Democracy Vol 3:1, 2008

Papers and Proceedings of The Third Annual Himalayan Policy Research ConferenceSession Chairs and Discussants Session 1A: Conflict Resolution and Democratic Transitions Chair: Christopher Can...

by Vijaya R. Sharma | On 19 May 2009

Measurement of Employment And Unemployment in India : Some Issues

This paper offers a review of the concepts and definitions used in the NSS Employment-Unemployment Surveys (EUS, for short) which have remained virtually unchanged since they were introduced in the NS...

by K. Sundaram | On 15 May 2009

Mapping Indian Districts Across Census Years, 1971-2001

The Indian states have been the standard unit of analysis for research on India that uses official data sources. For many empirical questions, states are a natural starting point because state governm...

by Hemanshu Kumar | On 15 May 2009

Manager’s Perceptions of the Impact of Foreign Direct Investment Liberalizations: Information Technology Firms in India

Firms differ in the effects that foreign direct investment liberalizations have on their businesses, and in the responses they make to adjust to the liberalized business environment. In this study th...

by Stanley Nollen | On 15 May 2009

Agricultural Impact of Climate Change: A General Equilibrium Analysis with Special Reference to Southeast Asia

Capitalizing on the most recent worldwide estimates of the impacts of climate change on agricultural production, this paper assesses the economic effects of climate change for Southeast Asian countrie...

by Fan Zhai | On 14 May 2009

No Through Road: The Limitations of Food Miles

The focus of this paper is on food miles issues associated with the import of products from developing countries. As the concept of food miles has been an issue in organic agriculture since before the...

by Els Wynen | On 14 May 2009

Global Burden of Disease Measures for Depression - Time for a Rethink

This paper reassesses the nature of the epidemiological evidence underpinning one of the Global Burden of Disease topics: the estimate for the global burden of depression. Specifically, we look at the...

by Petra Brhlikova | On 14 May 2009

The Asian “Noodle Bowl”:Is It Serious for Business?

A lively debate is taking place over the impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on East Asia's business between those who view the agreements as a harmful Asian "noodle bowl"—i.e., overlapping regiona...

by Masahiro Kawai | On 13 May 2009

The Two Waves of Service-Sector Growth

This paper will hopefully provide an important methodological tool for all researchers who may be attempting to analyze and explain the growth of the service sector and its share in the Indian GDP o...

by Barry Eichengreen | On 08 May 2009

Gender and Innovation in South Asia

To understand how gender, women’s rights and citizenship intersect with innovation in SouthAsia, one must begin by considering some of the main features of life for South Asian women, about a half of...

by Sujata Byravan | On 06 May 2009

You Can Get There From Here..

This inaugural piece addresses a fundamental problem of communication – how to effectively talk about an issue. It’s not as simple as it seems. Its always known that people did not always “hear” what...

by Joseph Grady | On 05 May 2009

Globalisation Produces Good Outcomes, Enhance Them: Prof Bhagwati

This paper talks of good outcomes of Globalisation which needs to be further inproved wherein Institutional response mechanisms should be designed to address any problems that may arise in specific ar...

by Jagdish Bhagwati | On 03 May 2009

Promoting Sustainable Agriculture: Experiences from India and Canada

Agriculture sector, world over, has experienced a phenomenal growth since the mid-twentieth century. The growth, driven by Green Revolution technology, has made a significant dent on aggregate supply...

by Amita Shah | On 02 May 2009

Agricultural Impact of Climate Change: A General Equilibrium Analysis with Special Reference to Southeast Asia

Capitalizing on the most recent worldwide estimates of the impacts of climate change on agriculture production, this paper assesses the economic effects of climate change for Southeast Asian countries...

by Fan Zhai | On 01 May 2009

Social Protection for Informal Workers: Insecurities, Instruments and Institutional Mechanisms

This paper presents a broad definition of social protection to include basic securities, such as income, food, health and shelter, and economic securities including having income generating productive...

by Jeemol Unni | On 01 May 2009

Economic Growth, Governance and Voting Behaviour: an Application to Indian Elections

The focus of this paper is on the potential economic factors underlying voter behaviour in a democracy. It develops a simplified model based on economic theory (welfare & conditional probabilities)...

by Arvind Virmani | On 28 Apr 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

Press Freedom: World Review:June-December 2008

Attacks on journalists throughout the world -- by organised crime groups in Latin America, autocratic regimes in the Middle East, repressive governments in Africa and by combatants in war zones -- pos...

by World Association of Newspapers WAN | On 28 Apr 2009

The Potential of Media: Dialogue, Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation

The media has a demonstrated ability in fostering mutual understanding by communicating across divides, thus bringing competing narratives together into a shared story. This ambivalence presents an op...

by UNESCO UNESCO | On 28 Apr 2009

Supporting Youth at Risk: A Policy Toolkit for Middle-Income Countries

Youth at risk can be defined as individuals between the ages of 12 and 24 who face “environmental, social, and family conditions that hinder their personal development and their successful integration...

by World Bank | On 25 Apr 2009

China’s Socialist Market Economy: Lessons for Democratic Developing Countries

The paper’s focus is on successful Chinese policies that can be emulated by other countries to an extent (within certain bounds) which mentined in the article. The author is not trying to draw lesson...

by Arvind Virmani | On 22 Apr 2009

Sri Lanka Budget 2009

2009 Budget speech

by Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka | On 20 Apr 2009

Looking at the Unborn: Historical Aspects of Obstetrics Ultrasound

The ability to image the fetus and its associated structures has revolutionized the clinical management of pregnancy. The obstetric ultrasound scanner had its major origins in a programme of research...

by E.M Tansey | On 17 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

Reserve Bank of India Platinum Jubilee Celebrations - Governor’s Address to Staff

The main question that the Governor is asking to the RBI staff is "how can I do my job better so that I can make a positive difference to the country?"

by Duvvuri Subbarao | On 08 Apr 2009

Vote-Buying and Reciprocity

In this paper, how social preferences overcome the commitment problems implicit in vote-buying is examined. Data used for the study is a survey information on vote-buying experienced in a 2006 munici...

by Frederico Finan | On 03 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

Budget 2009-10, Orissa

Budget speech of finance minister

by Orissa Government | On 13 Mar 2009

Moving Beyond the Privatisation Debate: Different Approaches to financing Water and Electricity in Developing Countries

In today’s developing world the vast majority of water and electricity services are provided by public utilities. Rather than asking “who should provide the services”, the authors adopt a financing po...

by Daniel Platz | On 09 Feb 2009

Science Commons: Towards Free and Open Knowledge Systems

The free/open source software movement is an economic, social and political movement that has triggered a new recognition of the importance of open knowledge systems, especially in developing countrie...

by Shambhu Ghatak | On 06 Feb 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

Does Timing of Elections Instigate Riots? A Subnational Study of 16 Indian States, 1958-2004

Whether timing of the elections leads to riots or not within India. In other words, does timing of elections instigate riots? Using time series crosssectional data for 16 major Indian states for the...

by Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati | On 09 Jan 2009

The Economic Impact of Forest Hydrological Services on Local Communities: A Case Study from the Western Ghats of India

Building upon a larger research project at four sites in the Western Ghats of peninsular India, this study examines the link between stream flow, agricultural water use and economic returns to agric...

by SHARACHCHANDRA LELE | On 02 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

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

Inside the Family A Report on Democratic Rights of Women

The report highlights the following aspects: 1. the inability of the legal system to recognise the unique unequal , 2. position of women; 3. the perception of women as peripheral to economic develo...

by PUDR Peoples Union for Democratic Rights | On 01 Dec 2008

The Role of Fiscal and Monetary Policies in Sustaining Growth with Stability in India

This paper focuses on the role of fiscal and monetary policies in the evolution of the Indian economy over the years, with particular attention being given to the reforms undertaken in these policies...

by Rakesh Mohan | On 28 Nov 2008

Issues Before the Thirteenth Finance Commission

The paper argues that irrespective of the wording of the Terms of Reference (ToR), the Commission would do well to focus on its primary task of recommending transfers to serve the objective of equit...

by M.Govinda Rao | On 06 Oct 2008

Measuring the Value of Life and Limb: Estimating Compensating Wage Differentials Among Workers in Chennai and Mumbai

Policy makers confronted with the need to introduce health and safty regulations often wonder how to value the benifites of these regulations. One way that a monetory value could be placed on reductio...

by S. Madheswaran | On 06 Oct 2008

Carrying Over: Analysing Female Utopias and Narratives of Education from 17th-century France to 18th-century Britain and 20th Century India

The paper carries the reader across and over great spans of space and time, with an Indian feminist woman academic journeying back to seventeenth-century ancien regime France, to 1770s Scotland, to 17...

by Bagchi B | On 01 Oct 2008

On the Economics of Higher Education in India, With Special Reference to Women

The paper investigates the role of economic factors in the enrolment decision at the higher education level in India. The study concludes that the rate of participation of women is in a disadvantage...

by Sugeeta Upadhyay | On 29 Sep 2008

Another Commission is Not Enough:Ram Harri Shrestha and the Corrosive Impact of Impunity on Nepal's Unsteady Peace.

Neplal's maoists initiated the process of crippling the institution of parliamentary dempcracy by giving primacy to military meanse over the political. Mainstream parties, unable to resist petty polit...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 29 Sep 2008

A New Era of World Hunger?- The Global Food Crisis Analyzed

This paper is an account of the main streams discussed in an international conference, held in New York in April 2008, organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Global Policy Forum, which cons...

by James A. Paul | On 24 Sep 2008

Impact of Organized Retailing on the Unorganized Sector

The study has indicated how consumers and farmers benefit from organized retailers. The study has also examined the impact on intermediaries and manufacturers. The results are indicative of the mega-a...

by Mathew Joseph | On 23 Sep 2008

How Participatory is Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM)? A Study of Water User Associations (WUAs) in Andhra Pradesh

It is argued that the reason for the ills of irrigation management is the alienation of farmers from the process of planning and implementation. Often 'lack of political will' is identified as the ma...

by V. Ratna Reddy | On 23 Sep 2008

Food Processing in Andhra Pradesh Opportunities and Challenges

The study is taken up in the state of Andhra Pradesh with the following objectives: 1. To study the opportunities and challenges in processing of rice, fruits and vegetables, oilseeds and livestock...

by S.Mahendra Dev | On 17 Sep 2008

Can Insurance Reduce Catastrophic Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure

It is argued that for households below poverty line any expenditure on health is catastrophic as they are unable to attain the subsistence level of consumption. Thus, zero percent is taken as a thres...

by Rama Joglekar | On 15 Sep 2008

Educational Attainment of Youth and Implications forIndian Labour Market: An Exploration through Data

The link between education and labour market has a profound intellectual lineage, spanning across schools. An integrating view shared by these perspectives is the significance of education as a pivo...

by G.D Bino Paul | On 10 Sep 2008

Human rights in retreat

Is there not a worse situation today than during the Emergency? There was no colonization of the country by the foreign powers, with agriculture, industry, education, defense, health and trade being a...

by P.B. Sawant | On 05 Sep 2008

Protocol on Prevention,Rescue, Repatriation and Rehabilitation of Trafficked & Migrant Child Labour

The draft protocol provides practical guidelines to key stakeholders on crucial issues relating to prevention, rescue, repatriation and rehabilitation of trafficked and migrant child labour. Comment...

by Ministry of Labour and Employment MoL&E | On 30 Aug 2008

Another Look at Renewables on India’s Sagar Island

Much existing literature champions renewables implementation on India’s Sagar Island as an unqualified rural electrification success story. Photovoltaic (PV) and wind systems put in place by the West...

by Sam Shrank | On 25 Aug 2008

Offending, Shocking, Disturbing - A Free Press Right? The Annual Press Freedom Round Table Proceedings

There is a tremendous amount of media freedom problems in the world, and there is also a certain time travel backwards in many parts of the world. It is not only true in the new democracies, where we...

by World Association of Newspapers WAN | On 19 Aug 2008

Fiscal Policy and Economic Reforms

A practitioner’s perspective of fiscal policy, and economic reforms.

by Y V Reddy | On 14 Aug 2008

Corruption, Default and Optimal Credit in Welfare Programs

In this paper a dynamic model of subsidized credit provision is presented to examine how asymmetric information exacerbates inefficiency caused by corruption. Though designed to empower the underprivi...

by Bibhas Saha | On 11 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

Willingness to Pay for Improved Sanitation Services and its Implication on Demand Responsive Approach of BRAC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme

This study aimed to provide some insights into sanitation-related strategies taken by the BRAC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Programme from an economic point of view. The aim of this report i...

by Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj | On 06 Aug 2008

Factors Influencing the Performance of Indian and Chinese Software Firms

This paper analyses the determinants of growth and profit behaviour of the Chinese and Indian IT Software firms.

by N.S. Siddharthan | On 30 Jul 2008

Shifting Cultivation and its Alternatives in Bangladesh: Productivity, Risk and Discount Rates

This study evaluates the economic feasibility of replacing shifting cultivation (Jhum) with settled agriculture and new soil conservation technology based on an assessment of the farmers’ risk and cor...

by M. A. Monayem Miah | On 29 Jul 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

Constitutionalising Panchayats: The Response of State Legislatures

This article is an attempt to look at debates in the light of the Assemblies' tryst with panchayats. It should be noted that it is not an evaluation of what transpired in the state Assemblies. In view...

by Girish Kumar | On 03 Jul 2008

Drivers and Effects of Internationalising Innovation by SMEs

This paper investigates the drivers and the effects of the internationalisation of innovation activities in SMEs based on a large data set of German firms covering the period 2002-2007. Globalisation...

by Anja Schmiele | On 01 Jul 2008

Process, People, Power and Conflict: Some Lessons from a Participatory Policy Process in Andhra Pradesh, India

A large body of empirical literature highlights the need for stakeholder participation within the context of policy change and democratic governance. This makes intuitive sense and may appear to be a...

by Vinod Ahuja | On 19 Jun 2008

The UN scam on human trafficking: No protection for the victims

On 8th March, United Nations agencies, governments and non-governmental organisations across the world celebrated “International Women’s Day”. But in the United Nations Human Rights Council there was...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 18 Jun 2008

The Sectoral System of Innovation of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

The paper undertakes a detailed mapping out of the sectoral system of innovation of India's pharmaceutical industry. The industry is one of the most innovative industries in the Indian manufacturing s...

by Sunil Mani | On 15 Jun 2008

SEPHIS e-Magazine Global South, Volume 3: No.4: April 2008

Debolina Dutta and Oishik Sircar: From Sex Worker to Entertainment Worker: Strategic Politics of DMSC Madhurima Mukhopadhyay: Virginity Lost and Regained: Hymenoplastic Honour in Urban India Nandit...

by SEPHIS | On 15 Jun 2008

Interest Rate Modeling and Forecasting in India

The interest rate is a key financial variable that affects decision of consumers, businesses, financial institutions, professional investors and policymakers. Timely forecast of interest rates can the...

by Pami Dua | On 13 Jun 2008

Why Education? Analyzing the Benefits for Former Child Labourers

This report engages questions and connections of considerable contention, such as typical justifications for child labor, governmental policies and their impact on child labor, M.V.F.’s strategy for t...

by David Ledet | On 11 Jun 2008

India’s Energy Security

The paper examines teh current energy demand of India and the implications of future levels and patterns of energy use in India. [FES Briefing Paper 14 ]

by Leena Srivastava | On 06 Jun 2008

How can electoral success be sustained by a ‘lagging development’ regime?

Left coalition ruled West Bengal for uninterrupted three decades. The study reveals that despite ruling for such a long period the state still lags behind in eradication of problems like poverty, as c...

by Arup Maharatna | On 04 Jun 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

Hindi Periodicals: The Little Tradition

How is it that India’s leading language does not even have a national magazine, commercial or otherwise, worth its name but can yet support a number of literary periodicals with readerships running...

by mahmood farooqui | On 28 May 2008

Environmental Toxicology: The Legacy of 'Silent Spring'

The transcript of a Witness Seminar held by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, London on March 12, 2002. Edited by D A Christie and E M Tansey. Rachel Carson’s 'Silent Spr...

by Wellcome Witness WW Seminars | On 15 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

In the Balance: Press Freedom in South Asia 2007-2008

The challenges for journalists and the media community in South Asia encompass a range of factors that indicate the level of press freedom in any country: Physical attacks, threats and questionable le...

by Sukumar Muralidharan | On 04 May 2008

Medical Ethics Education in Britain, 1963-1993: Volume 31

Medical ethics did not become a recognized subject in the syllabus of Britain's medical schools until 1993. This Witness Seminar transcript records the development of international ethical codes, the...

by The Wellcome Trust Centre for History of Medicine WTC UCL | On 02 May 2008

Clinical Research in Britain, 1950–1980: Volume 7

The growth of clinical research in the UK since the Second World War is examined, including the 1953 Cohen Report and the subsequent creation of the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Research Board....

by The Wellcome Trust Centre for History of Medicine WTC UCL | On 02 May 2008

Liberation, May 2008

New Mineral Policy 2008 Quota Verdict CPI(M) Coimbatore Congress SPECIAL FEATURE Democracy in S Asia: Nepal Mandate Post-Poll Pakistan Bhutan Polls and Other features.

by Liberation | On 24 Apr 2008

Seeking Knowledge Initiatives in Agriculture: Staving Off a Collapse

While sections of the central ministry of agriculture might recognize that major developments in the sector can only come about now with drastic and comprehensive changes little is being done to revol...

by Prabhakar Tamboli | On 14 Apr 2008

Draft Report of the Committee on financial Sector Reforms

The financial sector has built capabilities such that, with appropriate policy changes, it can grow tremendously, both domestically and internationally. the report touches upon two reasons for financi...

by Raghuram G. Rajan | On 14 Apr 2008

Ethics in Indian Journalism: The Context for the Discussion

The rapid growth of the Indian media has occurred in a regulatory vacuum. Nor are there are accepted standards on the exercise of the free speech right in the Indian media. In this draft discussion no...

by Sukumar Muralidharan | On 11 Apr 2008

Report on SAHR Fact Finding Mission to the North and East of Sri Lanka to Assess the State of Displaced Persons

This report on the state of displaced persons in the North and East of Sri Lanka analyses the security condition and concerns of those who live in makeshifts and camps in conflict affected areas. It p...

by South Asians for Human Rights SAHR | On 11 Apr 2008

India, Democracy and the Press

The impressive growth of the Indian media is largely taking place outside of the voting classes, ensuring that the media are not playing a significant public service role. Ultimately, the author sugge...

by James Mutti | On 11 Apr 2008

Popular Perceptions of Emerging Influences on Mortality and Longevity in Bangladesh and West Bengal

Although new environmental and pathological threats to human survival and longevity have been documented, relatively little is known about how these threats are perceived in the popular imagination. D...

by Sajida Amin | On 09 Apr 2008

Innovation and Growth: Role of the Financial Sector

A brief overview is provided about India’s long-term growth performance. Then an attempt is made to set out the conditions for successful innovations. To assess the role of innovations in the Indian...

by Rakesh Mohan | On 03 Apr 2008

Consultation Paper on Policy Guidelines for Television Audience Measurement (TAM)/ Television Rating Points (TRP)

Reliability of audience measurement reports both from the perspective of viewers and competitive relations between broadcasters have been of concern to the Regulators in most countries. Internationall...

by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI | On 01 Apr 2008

Goa Budget 2008-09

Budget presented by Goa finance minister for the year 2008-09.

by Goa Government | On 01 Apr 2008

West Bengal Budget 2008-09

Budget and Annual Financial Statement for the year 2008-09.

by West Bengal Government | On 25 Mar 2008

The Case for Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Last fall, the United Kingdom issued a major government report on global climate change directed by Sir Nicholas Stern, a top-flight economist. The Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Chan...

by Kenneth J. Arrow | On 24 Mar 2008

A Comparative Study on Private Consumption Expenditure Estimates in India

Traditionally private consumption expenditure estimated by the two agencies differed. Factors attributed to the differences include coverage, reference time frames and concepts and methods of estimati...

by Joice John | On 20 Mar 2008

A Sugar Policy for India Comment on D R Gadgil

D.R. Gadgil, wrote at length about the need for a long-term sugar policy and its efficient implementation is needed in India. What is the current relevance of his ideas?

by Aparna Mitheel Jaikar | On 13 Mar 2008

Brief Report of the National Seminar on 'Feeding the Child'

The problematic areas in child feedoing, particularly the poor infrastructure for the Anganwadis was highlighted. The consensus was that despite all these shortcomings there must be an expansion of A...

by Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute SSMI | On 13 Mar 2008

Information Technology and Productivity: Evidence From India's Manufacturing Sector

An attempt is made at addressing the question about how has India fared in terms of harnessing this technology for enhancing manufacturing productivity. issue by analyzing an unpublished data set on...

by K.J. Joseph | On 10 Mar 2008

Access and Utilisation of Health Care Services in Urban Low-income Settlements in Surat, India

This paper investigates a range of aspects including socio economic status,morality, morbidity requiring inpatient as well as outpatient care, health care-seeking behavior etc.

by Akash Acharya | On 10 Mar 2008

Police Firing on Adivasis in Gujarat: Report of Fact Finding Committee, PUCL Gujarat

Report of the committee of concerned citizens formed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Gujarat to enquire into the facts related to the police firing on the Adivasis demonstration on t...

by Ghanshyam Shah | On 02 Mar 2008

Islam at the Ballot Box

So far, no Islamist party has managed to win a majority of the popular vote in any of the Muslim countries where reasonably clean elections are held. If anything, the Islamist share of the vote has be...

by Amir Taheri | On 24 Feb 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

Environmentally Sound Technologies for Sustainable Development of China and India

The paper compares policy responses of China and India to the global requirements of trade and environment regimes as well as the domestic compulsions are compared.

by Sankar U | On 11 Feb 2008

Speech of the Finance Minister at the Annual Economic Editors’ Conference

Shows how the macro economic variables of Indian Economy are performing.

by P Chidambaram | On 11 Feb 2008

Estimating the Economic Benefits of Arsenic Removal in India: A Case Study from West Bengal

People living in almost fifty percent of the districts in West Bengal are exposed to arsenic contaminated water. The economic costs imposed by arsenic-related health problems are estimated. Data from...

by Joyashree Roy | On 08 Feb 2008

Release Dr. Binayak Sen: Health Human Right and Development Activist--Prisoner of Conscience in Chhatisgarh, 2007-08

Dr. Binayak Sen – paediatrician, public health professional and civil liberties activist – was arrested by the Chhattisgarh police on 14th May 2007 at Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Asked by the Superintende...

by Medico Friend Circle | On 07 Feb 2008

Health and Millennium Development Goal 1: Reducing Out-of-pocket Expenditures to Reduce Income Poverty - Evidence from India

The first of the eight Millennium Development Goals is to halve extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. In India, thirty two and a half million people fall below the national poverty line by making out-of...

by Charu C. Garg | On 07 Feb 2008

The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007

A bill to provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason, and for mat...

by Lok Sabha | On 07 Feb 2008

Consultation Paper on Issues Arising out of Plethora of Tariff Offers in Access Service Provision

This consultation paper discusses the various issues arising out of the plethora of tariff offers in the access segment and the need to address the consumer issues arising out of it. [All the stakehol...

by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI | On 31 Jan 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

Visible Hand: Public Policy nd Economic Growth in the Nehru Era

This paper investigates the relationship between the policy regime and growth during 1950-64 termed here ‘the Nehru era’. While there exist valuable early appraisals of the period, access to new data...

by Pulapre Balakrishnan | On 28 Jan 2008

Book Review: Visualizing Children: Images and Imagination

Review of Erika Langmuir Imagining Childhood. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. 256 pp. Illustrations, notes, index. $55.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-300-10131-7.

by Loren Lerner | On 15 Jan 2008

Book Review: Public Memory and Cultural Politics in Sri Lanka

Militarizing Sri Lanka: Popular Culture, Memory and Narrative in the Armed Conflict by Neloufer de Mel; Sage, New Delhi, 2007; pp. 329, Rs. 475.

by Pramod K. Nayar | On 14 Jan 2008

Pulling the Strings of China’s Internet

Three years ago Yahoo!, Intel, Nokia and Ericsson, formed the Beijing Association of Online Media (BAOM) ostensibly to ensure a check on media content especially pertaining to pornography, etc. Today...

by David Bandurski | On 10 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

Advice for Ms Gandhi

Congress party has to find out why the aam aadmi has deserted the party? There are some advice to Sonia Gandhi which she will not get from her advisors.

by T.N. Ninan | On 31 Dec 2007

Early Childhood Education

Early childhood education is a widely accepted term to describe a program aimed at providing all round development for children between ages of 2 and 6 years. It paves the way for effective learning....

by Sonawat Reeta | On 25 Dec 2007

Understanding Gujarat Elections: What Does it Portend for Indian Democracy?

With the re-election of Narendra Modi and the BJP will the current disarray in the party give way to strong optimism to strive for power at the centre?

by Ram Puniyani | On 24 Dec 2007

‘Inclusive Citizenship’ for the Chronically Poor: Exploring the Inclusion-Exclusion Nexus in Collective Struggles

The promotion of ‘inclusive citizenship’, through which the disadvantaged engage in collective struggles for justice and recognition, has been attracting growing attention as a solution to chronic p...

by Katsuhiko Masaki | On 19 Dec 2007

Book Review: Foucault's Re-Examination of Disciplinary Power in Psychiatry

Review of Michel Foucault. _Psychiatric Power: Lectures at the College de France, 1973-1974_b. Translated by Graham Burchell. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. $28.95 (cloth).

by Tiffany F. Jones | On 17 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 Success Story

India's economic reforms are evaluated.

by T.N. Ninan | On 26 Nov 2007

Customer Centricity and the Reserve Bank

The Reserve Bank, as the regulator of the banking sector, has been actively engaged, from the very beginning, in the review, examination and evaluation of customer service in the banks. It has been re...

by Leeladhar V | On 26 Oct 2007

Non Deliverable Foreign Exchange Forward Market: An Overview

Recognising the growing activity in the non deliverable forward (NDF) market in the recent years, the paper attempts to present a detailed analysis of the NDF market with special focus on Indian rupee...

by Sangita Misra | On 22 Oct 2007

Scissors Crisis

As the rupee has climbed against the dollar, the impact on big firms, small and medium sized software firms, are outlined. There is a “scissors crisis” of revenue under downward pressure because of ch...

by T.N. Ninan | On 22 Oct 2007

Report on National Mineral Policy

Even after five years of after the liberalisation of the investment regime India has failed to attract FDI to come to the mining sector. In the last decade, many developing countries have significantl...

by Planning Commission, India | On 18 Oct 2007

A Hostage in Office

What is the position of the Prime Minister among his Cabinet colleagues after signing the nuclear deal with the US?

by T.N. Ninan | On 15 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

Combining Methodologies for Better Targeting of the Extreme Poor: Lessons from BRAC’s CFPR/TUP Programme

To assess the effectiveness and draw lessons from the targeting strategy used in a new BRAC programme called Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction-Targeting the Ultra Poor (CFPR/TUP) that aim...

by Imran Matin | On 09 Oct 2007

Inter-firm differences in FII portfolio investment in India

This paper has the objective of analysing the determinants of FII investment in firms in high-tech corporate sectors like automobiles, drugs and pharmaceuticals, IT software and IT hardware for the pe...

by B.L. Pandit | On 08 Oct 2007

Managing Change in the Nuclear Industry: The Effects on Safety

The nuclear industry is going through a period of unprecedented change. The changes arise from the political and business environment in which the industry must operate, and from within the industry i...

by International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group INSAG | On 08 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

Inititaing Public Debate on Reforms in Higher Education

Idea on National Knowledge Commission, what it is and what are they trying to accomplish, ask for the audience support, understanding and also talk about the need for major reforms in University educa...

by Sam Pitroda | On 05 Oct 2007

Capital Inflows, Financial Repression and Macroeconomic Policy in India since the Reforms

Since the early 1990s the Indian economy has seen a considerable relaxation of controls, as a consequence of which it has witnessed unprecedented growth. This is especially remarkable in the external...

by Partha Sen | On 04 Oct 2007

Position Paper on National Focus Group on Teaching of Mathematics

In the vision of the Group, school mathematics takes place in a situation where: (1) Children learn to enjoy mathematics, (2) Children learn important mathematics, (3) Mathematics is a part of childre...

by R. Ramanujam | On 01 Oct 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

The Reserve Bank and the State Governments: Partners in Progress

The States, relative to the Centre, have taken the centre-stage in the reform process since the areas of highest national priority now fall essentially within the purview of the States. The unique and...

by Y V Reddy | On 26 Sep 2007

Consultation Paper on Issues Relating to Mobile Television Service

The key to making mobile TV a reality lies in combining traditional broadcast standards with features specific to handheld devices: mobility, smaller screens and antennas, indoor coverage, and relianc...

by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI | On 24 Sep 2007

Holding Companies in Banking Groups

RBI seeks comments from the public for this paper. Comments may be sent to the Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Banking Operations and Development, Reserve Bank of India, Central Office,...

by Reserve Bank of India | On 19 Sep 2007

Impact of Preventive Health Care of Indian Industry and Economy

The empirical evidence on the relationship between preventive health care and labour productivity and corporate profitability is examined. Recommendations are offered for policymakers and corporate ma...

by Alka Chadha | On 18 Sep 2007

Post-Autistic Economics Review: Issue No.43, September 15, 2007

Growing inequality in the neo-liberal heartland George Irvin ................................................................................. 2 - Science, ideology and development: Is there a ‘Sust...

by PAER Post Autistic Economic Review | On 16 Sep 2007

Broadcasting Services Regulation: Draft of Proposed Bill

The Broadcast media is a powerful purveyor of ideas and values and plays a pivotal role in not only providing entertainment but also disseminating information, nurturing and cultivating diverse opin...

by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting MIB | On 16 Sep 2007

The Railway Accident: Trains, Trauma and Technological Crisis in Nineteenth Century Britain

The railway accident as an agent of traumatic experience occupies an important place in the history of mid- and late-nineteenth-century medical and medico-legal discourses over trauma and traumatic di...

by Ralph Harrington | On 06 Sep 2007

Should NABARD be Micro Finance Regulator?

NABARD is a key participant in the micro finance sector and has been closely associated with one of the two prevailing modes i.e. SHG-bank linkage mode of delivery of micro finance services. The devel...

by Mukul Asher | On 04 Sep 2007

RBI Annual Report for 2006-07

Annual report of RBI for the year 2006-07

by Reserve Bank of India | On 31 Aug 2007

Human Rights Violations Against Sexuality Minorities in India

This report is located in the twin contexts of the global movement for recognition of sexuality minority rights and the increasing assertiveness of sexuality minority voices at the local level. It exa...

by PUCL Karnataka | On 27 Aug 2007

The Contribution of Services Liberalisation to Poverty Reduction: What Role for the GATS?

There are various conceivable links between services liberalization and poverty reduction, including the efficiency effects associated with increased competition in intermediate (infrastructural) serv...

by Rolf Adlung | On 27 Aug 2007

Sustainability of Indian Agriculture: Towards an Assessment

This paper presents a systemic framework to look at the prospects for sustainability of Indian agriculture. The framework is based on trends, indicators and assessment by experts spanning three domain...

by V.M. Rao | On 27 Aug 2007

Report of the Inter-ministerial Task Force on Convergence of Securities and Commodity Derivative Market

With the abolition of prohibition on forward trade in all the commodities at the beginning of 2003, the commodity derivativesmarket has been totally liberalized. The Ramamoorthy Committee set up by SE...

by Ministry for Consumer Affairs,Food and Public Dist MCAFP | On 26 Aug 2007

The Value of Biodiversity in India’s Forests

This paper attempts to value the biodiversity functions of India’s natural ecosystems and suggest a method to adjust national (GDP) and state income (GSDP) accounts. The main objectives of this stud...

by Haripriya Gundimeda | On 26 Aug 2007

Fostering Opportunities to Learn At An Accelerated Pace: Why Do Girls Benefit Enormously?

A major challenge in achieving universal education lies in ensuring that girls who have missed the school bus or simply got off the bus too early, can realise their right to quality, basic education....

by Vimala Ramachandran | On 22 Aug 2007

Demand and Supply Factors in the Determination of India's Disaggragated Manufactured Exports: A Simultaneous Error-Correction Approach

An investigation of the demand and supply factors underlying the long-term behaviour of India’s disaggregated manufactured exports. An imperfect substitutes demand-supply model of export determination...

by Saikat Sinha Roy | On 20 Aug 2007

Public Health Policy Making and Drug Industry: Issues in Knowledge Legitimation

The political economy of the pharmaceutical industry defines truth significantly, if not substantially and wholly, in medicine as much as does dominant medical practice. This mediated wisdom of medici...

by S Srinivasan | On 19 Aug 2007

Pesticide Use in the Rice Bowl of Kerala: Health Costs and Policy Options

The pesticide use in Kuttanad, India, an ecologically sensitive area often referred to as the rice bowl of Kerala is examined. Using primary data collected from pesticide applicators and farm labor, t...

by Indira Devi P | On 17 Aug 2007

On the Relevance of the Median Voter to Resource Allocation amongst Jurisdictions

Allocation of local public good over three jurisdictions with individuals with heterogeneous tastes, in a model with democratic institutions and majority rule. The nature of electoral uncertainty, the...

by Santhanu Gupta | On 16 Aug 2007

Predicting Indian Business Cycles: Leading Indices for External and Domestic Sectors

This paper evaluates the real-time performance of the growth rate of the DSE-ECRI Indian leading index for exports for predicting cyclical downturns and upturns in the growth rate of Indian exports. T...

by Pami Dua | On 14 Aug 2007

Tal Makeshift Camp: No One Should Have to Live Like This

There seems to be no place for the stateless Rohingya people fleeing discrimination and persecution in their own country, Myanmar. They run away from a country that does not recognize them as citizens...

by Médecins Sans Frontières MSF | On 11 Aug 2007

ACHR Weekly Review: Pakistan: The Land of Religious Apartheid and Jackboot Justice

On 14 August 2007, the United Nations Committee on the International Convention Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD Committee) is tentatively scheduled to examine the situation of...

by Asian Centre for Human Rights ACHR | On 11 Aug 2007

The Micro Financial Sector (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2007: Legislative Brief

While the Bill promotes the activities of MFOs, there are differing opinions on the cost efficiency of the MFO model. �� NABARD is designated as the regulator of the micro financial s...

by Kaushiki Sanyal | On 08 Aug 2007

The Micro Financial Sector (Development and Regulation)Bill 2007

The Micro Financial Sector (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2007 seeks to promote the sector and regulate micro financial organisations (MFO). 􀂐 National Bank for Agriculture and Rural D...

by Ministry of Law | On 08 Aug 2007

Better Than the Rest

India’s good economic performance and friendlier ties with important countries that have been either distant or hostile, is achieved by a leader with whom the country can feel at ease. But Dr. Manmoha...

by T.N. Ninan | On 06 Aug 2007

Essays: Monetary Policy: Satisfy China’s Demand for Money

A talk with Nobel economics laureate Robert Mundell on how Beijing can keep the yuan’s value fixed and still avoid inflation. China’s high balance of payments surplus and pressure on the yuan could be...

by Hugo Restall | On 04 Aug 2007

FEER: The June 2007 issue

Satisfuy China's Demand for Money by Hugo Restall Monetary Policy: China’s Last Option: Let the Yuan Soar by Michael Pettis Stop the Specter of a Rising Rupee by Vivek Moorthy Hong Kong’s Arreste...

by FEER | On 04 Aug 2007

Working Draft for Revised Medical Curriculum: Paraclinical: Pharmacology

At the end of the course the learner will be able to understand the general principles of drug action and handling of drugs by the body in normal individuals including children, elderly, women during...

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 03 Aug 2007

Book Review: Debating India's Future

Review of: The Future of India – Economics, Politics and Governance by Bimal Jalan, Penguin books, New Delhi.

by G Narasimha Raghavan | On 03 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

Microfinance Bill: Too Many Wrinkles

A regulator should promote social entrepreneurship and tap into the considerable expertise existing in the micro-finance sector. The aim should be to lower transaction costs and generate savings in re...

by Mukul Asher | On 30 Jul 2007

Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines

This report analyzes the ITRIPS agreement. It discuses the problems and stakes, and consequences of this agreement. The report also provides case studies related to the topic and finally gives a sugge...

by Andrea Onori | On 21 Jul 2007

Parochial Politics: Ethnic Preferences and Politician Corruption

Increased voter ethnicization, defined as a greater preference for the party representing one's ethnic group, affects politician quality. If politics is characterized by incomplete policy commitment,...

by Abhijit Banerjee | On 19 Jul 2007

Governance Institutions and Development

The problem of corruption has become very important in recent thinking on development policy. But corruption is only a part of the more general issue of economic governance, and of more general policy...

by Avinash K Dixit | On 17 Jul 2007

Economic Reforms, Capital Inflows and Macro Economic Impact in India

The effects of the inflows of private foreign capital on some major macroeconomic variables in India are analyzed using quarterly data for the period 1993-99. Cointegration test and The Granger Causal...

by Indrani Chakraborty | On 11 Jul 2007

Think Productivity

Export growth and rate of increase in bank credit have slowed down, oil prices are very high, becasuse of the interest rate hike, housing demand has reduced. Even though Sensex has crossed 15000, GDP...

by T.N. Ninan | On 10 Jul 2007

Higher Education in Public Institutions: How Do We Stem the Slow Rot?

Higher education in state funded universities has quietly deteriorated over the past decades. Little effort is being made to change the structure of education, its content or even the processes by wh...

by P.S. Neelam | On 07 Jul 2007

Trade and Economic Arrangements Between India and South Asia in the Context of Regional Construction and Globalisation

The different arrangements and groupings involved between India and South- East Asia are presented. The multi-faceted relations between them is asked in institutional terms, but also in normative term...

by Laurence Henry | On 06 Jul 2007

Questioning the Power of Resilience:Are Children Up To the Task of Disrupting the Transmission of Poverty?

The development and application of the concept of resilience as a tool for examining the ways in which young humans are able to overcome the negative outcomes of poverty and prevent its transfer withi...

by Jo Boyden | On 06 Jul 2007

Book Review: Discourses on Women’s Movement: Theory and Action

Review of Writing the Women’s Movement: A Reader Edited by Mala Khullar; Zuban (in collaboration with EWHA Women’s University Seoul).

by Veena Poonacha | On 05 Jul 2007

Conceptualizing Economic Marginalization

What exactly is 'economic marginalization'? How should one conceptualize it, and what are the implications of such conceptualization? Economic marginalization can be conceptualized as outcome or as p...

by Ravi Kanbur | On 05 Jul 2007

Handbook on Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 and Rules and Amendments

A law to prevent sex determination tests was passed in Maharashtra known as Maharashtra Regulation of Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1988. In 1994 the the Parliament enacted the Pre-Natal Diagn...

by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare H & FW | On 05 Jul 2007

Medico Friend Circle Bulletin, 320-321, DEcember 2006-March 2007

Public Health Education in India -Ritu Priya 1 Public Health Education in India - Some Reflections -Ravi and Thelma Narayan 4 A Few Additional Issues for Discussion at the MFC Meet -Anant Phadke 19 ...

by Medico Friend Circle | On 04 Jul 2007

The Changing Face of Occupational Medicine

Work related accidents are a major cause of death and disability. Occupational health is not a minority interest but one that must involve all of society. One important industry where the consumers e...

by PLoS Medicine | On 03 Jul 2007

Improving Delivery of Programmes Through Administrative Reforms

India is showing signs of poor delivery of governance. In almost all states people perceive bureaucracy as wooden, disinterested in public welfare and corrupt. It must be recognized that improvement i...

by Naresh C. Saxena | On 02 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

Book Review: The Intersection of Race and Class in the Segregated South

Review of Thomas J. Ward Jr.'s Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South. University of Arkansas Press, 2003.

by James Seymour | On 29 Jun 2007

Impact of U.S. Federal Interest Rate and Movement of MSCI on Indian Capital Markets

The relationship between Indian macro-economic factors and economic growth has been analyzed by a number of empirical studies. This paper re-examines the sources of variability in the Indian economy f...

by Bharat Chadha | On 26 Jun 2007

Reading Sraffa: The Philosophical Underpinnings of Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities

It is argued that that both the Sraffians’ interpretation based on the classical notion of centre of gravitation as well as the neoclassical interpretation based on the supposedly implicit assumption...

by Ajit Sinha | On 26 Jun 2007

Agrarian Scenario in Post-reform India:A Story of Distress, Despair and Death

Indian agriculture today is under a large crisis. An average farmer- household’s returns from cultivation would be around one thousand rupees per month. The state of the vast majority of small and mar...

by Srijit Mishra | On 22 Jun 2007

Industrial Growth in Kerala: Trends and Explanations

The study traces the trends in industrial growth against the backdrop of the overall economic growth in Kerala under the influence of the ongoing economic reforms and evaluates it against the performa...

by KK Subrahmanian | On 14 Jun 2007

Last Chance to Save the Planet! IPCC Report and After

The message from the IPCC Reports is simple: climate change must be tackled immediately in order to save the planet. And it will not cost the earth to do so. In the months to come all nations will be...

by D. Raghunandan | On 11 Jun 2007

Economic Reforms And Entry Barriers In Indian Manufacturing

Analysis is made to the extent of barriers to entry in Indian manufacturing by empirically quantifying the height of these barriers. Econometric estimation of the height of the barriers for 1991 and 1...

by M Suresh Babu | On 28 May 2007

Humanism: The Essence of Civil Liberties

Humanism is defined to mean: any system which puts human interests and the mind of man paramount; non-religious philosophy based on liberal values; tendency to civilise; and compassion. Tarkunde satis...

by J. S. Verma | On 28 May 2007

Taking More Than a Fair Share? The Migration of Health Professionals from Poor to Rich Countries

The international migration of health workers, especially of physicians and nurses but also increasingly of other health workers, has become a major global health concern. Most of the migration of hea...

by Delanyo Dolvo | On 23 May 2007

Limits of Modern Epidemiological Models: What are the Alternatives?

Modern epidemiology has, by and large, been based on a narrow model of biomedicine and behaviour modification. It fails to answer, for instance the following questions: Why certain populations are inf...

by Vijay Kumar Yadavendu | On 15 May 2007

In Conversation with Mohammed Yunus

In Mumbai to open an office of the Grameen Foundation, Professor Yunus spoke on the growing role of microfinance in the global economy, the challenges the sector faces in moving from the informal t...

by Kala Rao | On 14 May 2007

Time to Mainstream Micro-Pensions in India

The paper has argued that to expand coverage of micro-pensions, social entrepreneurship (along with social responsibility) will be needed by the financial sector, including the MFIs, insurance compani...

by Mukul Asher | On 08 May 2007

Pension Liabilities of the Central Government: Projections and Implications

The commonly held belief that the Central government pension bill has the potential to reach an unsustainable level does not appear to be based on any realistic assessment of such liabilities in the...

by Pronab Sen | On 25 Apr 2007

Microfinance And Gender Equality: Are We Getting There?

This paper examines the benefits that accrue to households by financial empowerment of women, but also laments the need for more radical approaches to counter what might seem like inertia to fully eng...

by Irene KB Mutalima | On 17 Apr 2007

Budget 2007-08

Budget Speech by Finance Minister Dr. Asim Kumar Das Gupta

by West Bengal Government | On 03 Apr 2007

Wheat Marketing and its Efficiency in India

The study examines the marketing of wheat in India, focusing on the private marketing system, the marketing efficiency and quality. Wheat is now a major food staple in India, crucial to India’s food e...

by Vasant P Gandhi | On 14 Mar 2007

WTO Agreements and Indian Agriculture: Retrospection and Prospects

By the end of 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) will complete its five years of existence. At that time, re-negotiation on Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) will also begin. It is time to take a retros...

by Satish Y Deodhar | On 14 Mar 2007

Consuming Lives, Consuming Landscapes:Interpreting Advertisements For Cafédirect Coffees

This paper explores the marketing strategies of Cafédirect, a company that pays a guaranteed price for coffee to Latin American and African producers and sells it to UK consumers. Based on a visual a...

by Caroline Wright | On 12 Mar 2007

Public Expenditure on Education : A Review of Selected Issues and Evidence

The role of education in economic development has been recognised for quite some time in mainstream economic literature. Divergence between the private and social rate of return from education is th...

by Anit Mukherjee | On 02 Mar 2007

Child health inequities in developing countries: differences across urban and rural areas

The urban advantage in health masks enormous disparities between the poor and the non-poor in urban areas of Sub Saharan Africa. Specific policies geared at preferentially improving the health and nu...

by Jean-Christophe Fotso | On 23 Feb 2007

Health System in India: Crisis and Alternatives

The objective of universal access to good quality, appropriate healthcare, envisaged over half a century ago at the dawn of Independence, today remains unrealised. Public health haseffectively remaine...

by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan | On 16 Feb 2007

When it Rains on the Sand Dunes

A desert journey, from a pool where both humans and camels drank, to a bavadi then to a water tap in Khaba village has some valuable lessons about the ground realities of the social forces around wate...

by Meera Baindur | On 16 Feb 2007

Teenage Motherhood, Child Survival and Child Health: Evidences from National Family Health Survey, India

In the light of United Nation's specific programme of Child Survival and Safe Motherhood (CSSM), the subject of ‘teenage motherhood’ has been gaining special attention. This is because, the very env...

by Satyajeet Nanda | On 12 Feb 2007

Outcome of the review of the trends in receipts and expenditure in relation to the budget at the end of the second quarter of the financial year 2006-2007

This mid-year review reports developments in the economy in the first half of 2006- 07, with a particular focus on Central Government finances, outlining the performances in the real sector, economi...

by Ministry of Finance | On 06 Feb 2007

Book Review: This is Water: The Ethics of Memory

This review of Avishai Margalit's The Ethics of Memory (Harvard University Press, 2004. New York) explores the ethical significance of memory and forgetting, with special reference to the potential va...

by Jeffrey H. Barker | On 04 Feb 2007

Medico Friend Circle Bulletin, 316-317, April-June 2006

Contents: Impressions from a Rural Laboratory - Jan Swasthya Sahyog Surgical Care for Rural India – A Perspective - George Mathew Excessive Use of Screening and Diagnostic Tests - Anant Phadke ...

by Medico Friend Circle | On 01 Feb 2007

Poverty Begins at Home? Questioning some (Mis)conceptions about Children, Poverty and Privation in Female-Headed Households

Grounded in a popular stereotype that female-headed households are the ‘poorest of the poor’, it is often assumed that women and children suffer greater poverty than in households which conform with a...

by Sylvia Chant | On 30 Jan 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

Globalisation and Health

This paper, one among a series for the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan addresses the issue of the impact of globalisation on health. How has globalisation affected different countries and who are the winners an...

by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan | On 25 Jan 2007

The Writing of the Social Sciences

Doing sociology, writing sociology, is to somehow engage with the subjects of the discourse, to give voice to these subjects. It perforce means that our writing should be sensitive to these voices. Li...

by Sundar Sarukkai | On 25 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

Is It Ethical for Patients with Renal Disease to Purchase Kidneys from the World’s Poor? PLoS Medicine Debate

In many countries, the number of patients waiting for a kidney transplant is increasing. But there is a widespread and serious shortage of kidneys for transplantation, a shortage that can lead to suf...

by Tarif Bakdash | 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

We Can Work It Out - The Globalisation of ICT-enabled Services

This paper examines the relationship between the share of employment potentially affected by offshoring and economic and structural factors, including trade in business services and foreign direct inv...

by Desiree Welsum | On 12 Jan 2007

Policy, Economic Federalism & Product Market Entry: The Indian Experience

Productivity growth has long been associated with, among others, contestability of markets which, in turn, is dependent on the ease with which potential competitors to the incumbent firms can enter t...

by Sumon Kumar Bhaumik | On 11 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

India: Second NGO Shadow Report on CEDAW: Executive Summary

The 2nd and 3rd NGO Alternative Report on CEDAW -- INDIA has just been submitted to the UN CEDAW Committee and is coming up for review in January 2007 in New York. Each of the chapters in the Reports...

by National Alliance of Women | On 06 Jan 2007

Creating Development Friendly Rules of Origin in the EU

The EU Commission argues that radical changes to he origin rules will both simplify processes and make them more development friendly. Will they? There are different opinions on what Rules of Origin s...

by Christopher Stevens | On 06 Jan 2007

Is There a Global Bioethics? End-of-Life in Thailand and the Case for Local Difference

As developing countries build allopathic medical systems, what should their bioethics be? In this essay, we explore possible answers to this question, ultimately arguing that Western bioethics is insu...

by Scott Stonington | On 03 Jan 2007

The International Mobility of Technical Talent: Trends and Development Implications

This paper charts the complex dynamics of the movement of technical talent in the world economy and assesses broadly the impact of such mobility on both sending and receiving countries. Based on sec...

by Anthony P. D'Costa | On 29 Dec 2006

Fiscal Decentralisation and Local Level Gender Responsive Budgeting in Morocco: Some Observations

During the last few years there has been a significant attempt to change the status of women in Morocco. Considerable efforts have been made to incorporate mainstream gender in socio-economic policies...

by M.Govinda Rao | On 27 Dec 2006

Women’s Right To Land, Assets, And Other Productive Resources: Its Impact On Gender Relations And Increased Productivity

It is often assumed that poverty reduction would lead to gender equality. Research however, points to the opposite, namely, that increasing prosperity can have perverse gender effects . It is therefor...

by Nitya Rao | On 26 Dec 2006

Telecommunications privatisation in Taiwan: A beautiful mistake?

This paper examines the changing role of the government and market in regulating the telecommunications sector since 1996 in Taiwan. It also explores changes in the institutional framework for regula...

by Kuo-Tai Cheng | On 22 Dec 2006

Using Micro Data to Understand Better the Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty in Low Income Developing Countries: Methdological Note

Good empirical analysis of the intergenerational transmission (IGT) of poverty is challenging. This note clarifies this challenge and possible contributions by considering: (1) what estimated relati...

by Jere R. Behrman | On 20 Dec 2006

Textile and Clothing Trade with European Union: Impact of year-old EU Generalised System of Preferences

Taking into account the latest data of exports of textiles and clothing to the European Union from South Asia and China, a year-end assessment of the impact of the Generalised System of Preferences (...

by C. Satapathy | On 14 Dec 2006

System of Rice Intensification in India: Innovation History and Institutional Challenges

This report documents the history of the systems of rice intensification (SRI, for short) in India in the last few years and presents some of the institutional changes and challenges that SRI throws u...

by C. Shambu Prasad | On 06 Dec 2006

State Level Reform and Role of Research

The role of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the current stage of reform is crucial. The need for research and information collection not just at the national level but at the state-level has never...

by Vidya Pitre | On 05 Dec 2006

Emerging Megalopolis: Bangalore, From ‘Boiled Beans’ Town to Advanced IT City

Historically, Bangalore’s growth and physical spread had been dictated by the location decisions of certain important industrial, institutional and residential activities, rather than as an outcome...

by G.S. Sastry | On 04 Dec 2006

The Role of Self Help Group Bank Linkage Programme in Preventing Rural Emergencies in India

The Self-Help Emergency Prevention (SHEPherd) programme aims to use lessons from CRS/Orissa’s emergency responses in 1999 and 2001 to inspire an India-wide response to emergency prevention. The progr...

by Kim Wilson | On 03 Dec 2006

Performance Analysis of Fisherwomen Self-help Groups in Tamil Nadu

The present study attempted to assess the performance of Fisherwomen's self help groups (SHGs) in Tamil Nadu . Primary data required for the study were collected from 725 fisherwomen SHG members repr...

by R. Jayaraman | On 03 Dec 2006

Premature Mortality and Poverty Measurement

There is a glaring paradox in all commonly used measures of poverty. The death of a poor person, because of poverty, reduces poverty according to these measures. This surely violates our basic intui...

by Ravi Kanbur | On 27 Nov 2006

Children, Youth and Media Around the World: An Overview of Trends and Issues

This overview of trends and issues concerning young people and the media is based on a broad review of existing print and electronic sources, interviews with child media experts from different regions...

by Susan Gigli | On 14 Nov 2006

Prospective Study of One Million Deaths in India: Rationale, Design, and Validation Results

Over 75% of the annual estimated 9.5 million deaths in India occur in the home, and the large majority of these do not have a certified cause. India and other developing countries urgently need reliab...

by Prabhat Jha | On 31 Oct 2006

Reform of the Chinese Electric Power Market: Economics and Institutions

To power national development, the government organized electricity production and distribution as a state-owned vertically integrated utility, structured and operated under central planning. Electri...

by Chi Zang | On 25 Oct 2006

Targeting the Poorest in Microfinance: Poverty Outreach of BDP Ultra Poor Programme

Despite the general consensus that microfinance does not reach the poorest; recent evidence suggests that nearly 15% of microfinance clients in Bangladesh are among the poorest. It is from the realiza...

by Proloy Barua | On 25 Oct 2006

The China-Japan-US Triangle

The most critical factor for maintaining regional stability in East Asia over the next few decades is the relations between the three great powers in the region: China, Japan and the United States. Th...

by Ezra F.Vogel | On 24 Oct 2006

Studies on Self-Help Groups of the Rural Poor

In pursuance of a recommendation made by the Asian and Pacific Regional Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA), the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with some...

by | On 23 Oct 2006

Linking Banks and (Financial) Self Help Groups in India: An Assessment

A review of the progress and impact of the overall strategy for scaling up the SHG Bank Linkage Programme over the last decade. [Paper presented at the Seminar on SHG-bank Linkage Programme at New Del...

by Erhard. W. Kropp | On 23 Oct 2006

Using Change Rankings to Understand Poverty Dynamics: Examining the Impact of CFPR/TUP from Community Perspective

Studies of poverty dynamics relying solely on household income-expenditure surveys can yield noisy results, overestimating transient poverty and underestimating persistence of poverty, especially for...

by Munshi Sulaiman | On 23 Oct 2006

Understanding South Africa's Economic Puzzles

South Africa has undergone a remarkable transformation since its democratic transition in 1994, but economic growth and employment generation have been disappointing. Most worryingly, unemployment is...

by Dani Rodrik | On 13 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

PAER Issue No. 39, October 2006

* The Future of Economic Policy Making by Left-of-Center Governments in Latin America by Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid and Igor Paunovic (United Nations, Mexico) * Latin America: The End of an Era b...

by Post-Autistic Economics Movement | On 02 Oct 2006

Wrong focus

If business gains at the expense of other stake-holders (consumers, the tax department, farmers), economic benefits get captured by a small minority at the top of the pyramid. Even without skewed poli...

by T.N. Ninan | On 01 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

Legislative Brief: The Seeds Bill, 2004

The Seeds Bill, 2004 aims to regulate the quality of seeds sold, and replaces the Seeds Act, 1966. The proposed Act would replace the Seeds Act, 1966. The Bill seeks to update the existing Act in or...

by M. R. Madhavan | On 01 Oct 2006

Section 377 of the IPC and Queer Women in India

How do queer women then claim rights provided by the constitution and international conventions when their identity per se is not included in the legal regime and if such an inclusion might be count...

by Ponni Arasu | On 29 Aug 2006

Forms of Resistance: Postcoloniality as Critique in/of the Time That Remains

Within the context of the mere posit of resistance, who is the remnant within the time of the now? Does the remnant include the postcolonial juridical subject as the index of a cultural and political...

by Tawai Ansah | On 29 Aug 2006

Feminization of Crime: A Critical Interrogation

The issue of feminization of crime provides a vantage point in delineating the theories of crime, criminals, penology and sociology of law.

by Tapan Mohanty | On 29 Aug 2006

Victims and Villains: The construction of Female Criminality in Colonial Calcutta

This paper will examine the implications of the colonial construction of criminality for our understanding of criminology and gender today.

by Sumanta Banerjee | On 29 Aug 2006

Encountering Disability: The Making and Unmaking of DEvelopment Categories in the Third World

Abstracts of the theme: The theme of the stream would be the investigation, from a critical legal perspective, of the social and legal construction of disability from a human rights perspective.

by Shilpaa Anand | On 29 Aug 2006

Post-Liberalisation India: and the Importance of Legal Reform

The main purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the central importance of legal reform within the context of second generation reforms. Unfortunately, this area is usually seen as peripheral to...

by Sanjeev Sanyal | On 19 Aug 2006

Horizons of New Industrial Jurisprudence: A Critique of the Law and Reality

The day has arrived when the legislative machinery of the State needs to respond to the industrial and market forces. There are clear signals coming from the judiciary, which now seems to be less acti...

by Durgambini A. Patel | On 17 Aug 2006

Community Contribution for Environmental Sanitation: Myth or Reality?

Reforms in water and sanitation sector intended to make stakeholders part of the implementation process. In the process beneficiaries share partial capital cost and meet 100 per cent of operation and...

by Veerashekarappa | On 12 Aug 2006

Geodisability Knowledge Production and International Norms: A Sri Lankan Case Study

In this paper I argue that United Nations norm standard setting, as a form of geodisability of knowledge which delimits and denotes the kinds of bodies known as disabled, is a technology for reining...

by Fiona Kumari Campbell | On 28 Jul 2006

Crime and Punishment: An Analysis of Death Penalty

However despite the enuniciation of ‘rarest of rare’, there has been no decrease in the number of death sentences awarded by various courts. This essay shall attempt to chart the ‘hardening’ of the c...

by Bikram Jeet Batra | On 28 Jul 2006

Higher Education in India: The Need for Change

The paper relates the growth of higher education in India to the changing funding pattern and suggests ways to ensure that higher education remains both affordable and accessible to all. The author...

by Pawan Agarwal | On 25 Jul 2006

Research Ethics in Use of Statistical Methods*

Disagreements and confrontations are common among social scientists regarding conclusions obtained by two researchers on a similar premise. Such disagreements highlight two critical aspects of researc...

by Udaya S. Mishra | On 19 Jul 2006

Ethics of Social Research

As society develops, it is important to keep ethical problems under continuing scrutiny and debate. It should also be recognized that a productive balance is between society’s need for knowledge and i...

by Pradip Kumar Bose | On 19 Jul 2006

Keynote Address on Social Inclusion and Cohesion

A central challenge facing us here – how do we ensure that the issue of the urban poor, in particular, is given as much attention by the international community, beyond speaking about it?

by L.N. Sisulu | On 13 Jul 2006

Business Roundtable on Corporate Leadership for Sustainable Urbanization: Discussion Paper

The reality of urban development is that commerce and industry are two of its core drivers. Without the full participation of the private sector in efforts towards sustainable human settlements, the p...

by Rob Sinclair | On 13 Jul 2006

Mumbai/Shanghai: Prospects/Problems--Imitating Global, Failing Local

Do we aspire to be a ‘global’ city like Shanghai, with all the spit and polish to attract foreign investors by the drove? Or can we aim to be a city with a sustainable plan for its development – one t...

by Kalpana Sharma | On 13 Jul 2006

Data Exclusivity: Another Self-Goal and a Trade Barrier

Introducing data exclusivity would require intending generic manufacturers to conduct their own duplicate trials – a process guaranteed to add further costs. The immediate entry of competitors after e...

by S Srinivasan | On 11 Jul 2006

Data Exclusivity: Another Self-Goal and a Trade Barrier

Introducing data exclusivity would require the intending generic manufacturers to conduct their own duplicate trials – a process guaranteed to add costs. The immediate entry of competitors after exclu...

by S Srinivasan | On 11 Jul 2006

Non-equity Alliances and the Performance of Indian Software Firms

The Indian software industry has grown very rapidly for more than a decade. In this study we report the results of a multivariate statistical analysis of the determinants of sales revenue growth and p...

by N.S. Siddharthan | On 03 Jun 2006

WCD Thematic Papers I.1: Contributing Paper: Dams and Benefit-Sharing

Historically, hydropower developed in the early 1900s as a local activity with small projects supplying local communities and industry: projects had local impacts and provided local benefits. As dams...

by Joseph Milewski | On 03 Jun 2006

CSA Briefing Paper on Bt Brinjal

Bt Brinjal is being developed in India by Mahyco [Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company] and the company wants to take up large scale field trials with the permission of the regulatory authority, GEAC. N...

by Centre for Sustainable Agriculture CSA | On 03 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

Estimating the Value of Agricultural Cropland and Pasteurland in India

The main aim of this study is to develop an accounting framework that reflects the real contribution of agricultural land and pastureland to society. The more specific objectives are to: 1 estimate...

by Haripriya Gundimeda | On 23 May 2006

Implications of Rules of Origin: An Analysis

The formulation of appropriate criteria for origin determination is crucial for any country or regional trading block interested in ensuring growth and economic. Perhaps this is the single most impor...

by C. Satapathy | On 19 May 2006

Sociology in the Context of Globalisation: Issues and Challenges in India

Any exercise in mapping the current status of any social science discipline is a mammoth task, as it involves the normative concerns as well as the personal perceptions of the sociologist who treads t...

by Paramjit S Judge | On 16 May 2006

The Role of Price and cost Competitiveness in Apparel Exports, post MFA: A Review

Global outsourcing, technical change, and falling barriers to trade worldwide have transformed the structure of production and global competition in the textile and apparel industry. This sector has...

by Meenu Tiwari | On 20 Apr 2006

India’s Demographic Trends: Implications for Growth and Capital Markets

India is in a favourable demographic phase, which has the potential to increase its trend rate of growth and depth of its financial and capital markets. These effects however are not likely to be au...

by Mukul Asher | On 17 Apr 2006

Free TV

If the DMK’s seemingly outrageous promise of a free TV set makes people sit up and look at the issue from ground level up, why, we may finally tackle our subsidy problem!

by T.N. Ninan | On 09 Apr 2006

Challenges before Cultural Resistance: Methods of Intervention

Any intervention of the Left in the field of the dominant media must be guided by an adherence to politics and seek to fundamentally alter the relations of artistic production and make art more access...

by Arjun Ghosh | On 01 Apr 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

Restructuring Public Sector Hospital Services: Marginalising the Poor

The paper examines the state of public sector hospitals, how they are being compelled to transform into profit churning units through reforms, and in the process alienating poor and the underprivileg...

by Bijoya Roy | 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

Health Inequalities, Social Cohesion and Social Capital: An Exploration

This paper claims that the roots and remedies of health inequalities reflected in the major academic debates that culminated with full force towards the turn of the last century, have done little to u...

by Vijay Kumar Yadavendu | On 30 Mar 2006

India’s Post-Liberalisation Growth Experience: An Analysis by the Demand Components

This paper tries to examine the sustainability aspect of the rate of growth (rog) in recent years, designated as ‘the second phase of liberalisation’. This paper is based on the Keynesian framework wh...

by Anamitra Roychowdhury | On 29 Mar 2006

Understanding ‘Crises’ in a Traditional Industry: Case of Coir in Kerala

The paper attempts to critically analyse the issues that are an offshoot of the open market regime pursued in the industry. Intense competition between exporters for developed country suppliers along...

by I. Kalamani | On 28 Mar 2006

The Urban Siliguri and Adjacent Rural Stone Crushers

The river Balasan near Siliguri carries the natural resources like stone, sand, boulders. People live on the riverside and are involved in work like collection of stones and sand, crushing the stones...

by Somenath Bhattacharjee | On 27 Mar 2006

Chronicles of Tragedies and Harbingers of Hope: Resistance to Neo-Liberalism-- People’s Movements and Alternatives

Neo-liberal economic policies have threatened land security, security of employment opportunities and food security. In the background representatives of the peasantry have to transform themselves int...

by Vijoo Krishnan | On 26 Mar 2006

Regional and Gender Disparities in Agricultural Wages

This study on agricultural wages shows that states like West Bengal and Gujarat have performed well in providing gender equal wages to men and women. Kerala’s performance in maintaining gender equal w...

by Shambhu Ghatak | On 26 Mar 2006

Regional Diffferences in FDI Inflows: China – India Comparison

An analysis of regional differences in the flow of FDI in China and India is important as in both these countries a few regions account for the bulk of FDI inflows. There are very few studies on regi...

by N.S. Siddharthan | On 23 Mar 2006

Hans Singer: Obituary

Hans Wolfgang Singer, development economist, died on February 26 2006. Singer's best known work relates to the declining terms of trade experienced by developing countries. First published in 1949,...

by Richard Jolly | On 22 Mar 2006

The Extent of Exchange Rate Flexibility in India: Basket Pegger or Closet US Dollar Pegger?

This paper examines the degree of de facto exchange rate flexibility for India over the last two decades. While there is a diversity of methods that measure de facto exchange rate regimes, none indivi...

by Tony Cavoli | On 08 Mar 2006

An Open Letter on Dissent, Dissenters and Petrification of Politics

Why are we – people who feel that there ought to be some space for disagreement in a democratic society, and more so in a dialogue between the world's two largest democracies -- so completely, unequiv...

by Ananya Vajpeyi | On 03 Mar 2006

Role of Japan in BIMSTEC

The main objective of the paper is to explore the role of Japan in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral and Technical Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The analysis suggests that BIMSTEC-Japan cooper...

by Mukul Asher | On 26 Feb 2006

The Economic Costs of the Iraq War: An Appraisal Three Years After the Beginning of the Conflict

Many aspects of the Iraq venture have turned out differently from what was purported before the war: there were no weapons of mass destruction, no clear link between Al Qaeda and Iraq, no imminent dan...

by Linda Bilmes | On 25 Feb 2006

Liberation, March 2006

Butcher Bush, Go Back! Tribute to Bhagat Singh AIALA’s Second National Conference Review of Rang De Basanti

by CPI (ML) | On 24 Feb 2006

Some Key Issues in Policy, Pricing, Regulation, and Financing of Irrigation Development in India Today

This paper discusses the stylised problems relating to water and irrigation in India and argues tht most of the inefficeincies, misuse and environmental damage have their roots in the mispricing of wa...

by Sebastian Morris | On 24 Feb 2006

IEEMA Pre-Budget Memorandum

EEMA is however deeply concerned with regard to a few issues, particularly about the recent FTA’s with neighboring countries like Thailand, Singapore, Bangladesh and other countries. EEMA fears that,...

by Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers` IEEMA | On 16 Feb 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

Weapons of Mass Destruction? Or, of Mass Deception? Media in Iraq War and After

The close relationship, a symbiotic one, between the media and the government of the day has long existed. In the run up to the Iraq war and afterwards, the Bush Administration and legislators in t...

by Yasemin Inceoglu | On 16 Feb 2006

Indican Council of Medical Research Bulletin, Volume 34, 2004, November-December

Closing Gaps to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals: Roles

by Indian Council of Medical Research | On 08 Feb 2006

Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Subjects

Central Ethics Committee on Human Research (CECHR) was constituted under the chairmanship of Honourable Justice Shri M.N. Venkatachaliah by the then Director General, Dr. G.V. Satyavati to consider ...

by Indian Council of Medical Research | On 08 Feb 2006

Book Review: Health and Health Care in New Jersey Have a Lot of History

Review of: A State of Health: New Jersey's Medical Heritage by Karen Reeds. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 2001. Pp 142; $ 45. [Published on HNet, November 2005] A State of Health, like C...

by Sandra Moss | On 06 Feb 2006

Transition to Market and Normative Framework of Fiscal Federalism

This paper deals with the challenges of fiscal federalism in planned economies. Planned economies through their various policy instruments to control the resource allocation introduce several source...

by M.Govinda Rao | On 06 Feb 2006

SEPHIS e-journal, volume 2:2, January 2006

A number of contributions on cinema in the South. Articles on the making of a historical documentary by Gairoonisa Palekar, a student in South Africa, and on an important aspect of the movie industry...

by SEPHIS | On 02 Feb 2006

A Medium Besieged: Legitimisation of Film Censorship In Post-colonial India

The British introduced film censorship in India and fostered it as an unmitigated instrument of coercion to stifle proper dissemination of film culture among members of a subject race. Rulers of indep...

by SOMESWAR BHOWMIK | On 24 Jan 2006

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2005: Executive Summary

ASER 2005 is a citizen's assessment of the status of elementary education in rural India. Facilitated by Pratham, & executed by local groups in each district, it is the largest household survey on s...

by PRATHAM | On 20 Jan 2006

Medico Friend Circle Bulletin, 312, August - September 2005

Contents Good Practices of the “Good Practice Study”! - Dhruv Mankad 1 Disbanding the CGHS 4 Involving Self-Help Groups in Reproductive Health - Rajani Ved 9 Women’s Narratives from Kashmir-3 - Za...

by Medico Friend Circle | On 20 Jan 2006

Elementary Education: Rising Expenditure, Poor Quality: Book Review

Review of 'The Economics of Elementary Education in India: The Challenge of Public Finance, Private Provision and Household Costs' edited by Santosh Mehrotra; Sage, New Delhi; 2005, pp.328.

by P. Geetha Rani . | On 20 Jan 2006

Reproductive Health Services and Role of Panchayats in Karnataka

The paper presents an analysis of the reproductive health care services available to women in rural areas in Karnataka, and the various factors influencing them. Based on survey data on the status o...

by Poornima Vyasulu | On 19 Jan 2006

Inflation Targeting Arrangements in Asia: Exploring the rate of the Exchange rate

Since the Asian crisis it has been recognized that exchange rate and monetary policy strategies must involve a “fairly high” element of flexibility rather than a single-minded defense of a particular...

by Ramkishen S. Rajan | On 19 Jan 2006

Irrigation, Agrarian Change and Local Politics: in South Telengana, 1960-1996

This paper deals with the impact of irrigation on agrarian change and local politics in the period, 1960 to 1996 in the irrigated region of South Telengana, Andhra Pradesh. The article is based on a p...

by V. Anil Kumar | On 17 Jan 2006

Draft National Pharmaceutical Policy, 2006

In 2002 the government had formulated a new Drug Policy, but the same could not be implemented due to litigation involving it. As a consequence, the policy of 1994 continues to be in force.The pr...

by Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals | On 16 Jan 2006

Report on Second Global Symposium on Pensions , November 18-19, 2005 in Pune

Many developments have taken place over the years. With increase in life expectancy, retirement is becoming longer and traditional retirement models are under strain. Government is now showing serious...

by Anonymous | On 12 Jan 2006

Recent Social Security Reforms In Selected Asian Countries

Power Point presentation. In countries such as China, transition (and legacy) issues are a major challenge. This is also the case with civil service reforms in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Mal...

by Mukul Asher | On 12 Jan 2006

The Dynamics of Population Ageing

Power Point Presentation Fertility decline can play a role in economic development if the period of “demographic window of opportunity” is characterised by: a) More workers producing more total out...

by R. Nagarajan | On 12 Jan 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

Gautam Chattopadhyay (1924-2006): Street-fighting Historian

In tribute: Gautam Chattopadhyay's life and times.

by Kunal Chattopadhyay | On 11 Jan 2006

Sexual Harassment and Air Force Act, 1950

The recent case of Anjalli Gupta throws lateral light on the several anomalies in the Air Force Act which needs to be amended in the light of the requirements of the Supreme Court ruling on sexual har...

by Sqn Ldr B.G. Prakash | On 11 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

Consultation Paper on Issues Relating to Convergence and Competition in Broadcasting and Telecommunications

This Consultation Paper, being issued with a view to making recommendations to the Government under section 11(1)(a)(iv) of the TRAI Act, focuses on the need to bring about convergence in all aspects...

by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) | On 04 Jan 2006

The Economic Impact of AIDS Treatment: Labor Supply in Western Kenya

Using longitudinal survey data collected in collaboration with a treatment program, this paper is the first to estimate the economic impacts of antiretroviral treatment in Africa. The responses in two...

by Harsha Thirumurthy | On 30 Dec 2005

Supreme Court Judgement on Unaided Private Colleges

The Supreme Court judgement of Augutst 12, 2005 on four questions regarding higher education in unaided educational institutions including quota and fee structure. Q.1. Unaided educational instituti...

by Supreme Court of India | On 08 Dec 2005

Research Base for Control of IDDs

While technologies are crucial and necessary for public health, scientific rigour cannot be compromised to promote unproven technologies. The search for evidence has to retain the essence of the scien...

by Imrana Qadeer | On 28 Nov 2005

Hepatitis B and the Case of the Missing Women

In many Asian countries the ratio of male to female population is higher than in the West -- as high as 1.07 in China and India, and even higher in Pakistan. A number of authors (most notably Sen, 19...

by Emily Oster | On 27 Nov 2005

Agricultural Biotechnology and Biosafety in India: Expectations, Outcomes and Lessons

The concept of ‘agricultural biotechnology’ covers two main categories of activities, one of which is characterised by genetic modification using recombinant DNA techniques (GM-technology), while the...

by A. Indira | On 22 Nov 2005

Dams

The construction of large dams is one of the most costly and controversial forms of public infrastructure investment in developing countries, but little is known about their impact. This paper studies...

by Esther Duflo | On 21 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

Underground Gun Markets

This paper provides an economic analysis of underground gun markets drawing on interviews with gang members, gun dealers, professional thieves, prostitutes, police, public school security guards and t...

by Philip J. Cook | On 11 Nov 2005

Trends and Issues in Tax Policy and Reform in India

The Indian tax reform experience can provide useful lessons for many countries due to the largeness of the country with multilevel fiscal framework, uniqueness of the reform experience and difficult...

by M.Govinda Rao | On 10 Nov 2005

A sustainable and scalable approach in Indian pension reform

India is making sound progress on poverty elimination for those who can work. Poverty amongst the elderly will then become the dominant form of poverty in India, since the elderly do not work and thu...

by Ajay Shah | On 08 Nov 2005

Rebuilding China’s Social Safety Net: Why Governance Matters

China has adopted a wide-ranging program of pension reform since the late 1990s. The new pension system has replaced the pre-existing enterprise-based system. This paper analyzes the background of t...

by Minxin Pei | On 08 Nov 2005

Banking on Limited Freedom

Successive finance ministers have been calling the public sector banks “to brace for a wave of consolidation” to become global players. However, calling for world-beaters does not produce them; vision...

by Aruni Mukherjee | On 22 Oct 2005

Recent Social Security Reforms In Selected Asian Countries

There are considerable variations in the philosophy, coverage, investment policies and performance, design of schemes, governance structures, degree of professionalism and adequacy of benefits among A...

by Mukul Asher | On 11 Oct 2005

I G.Patel: Qua Economist and Policy Maker

In tribute, a brief note on the rich intellectual trajectory described by I. G. Patel

by Deena Khatkhate | On 28 Sep 2005

SEPHIS, September 2005, Volume 2, no.1

Pravit Rojanaphruk:Thainess and its History: Reflection on the Problematic Nature of Nationalism with Emphasis on the Case of Recent Violence in Pattani and other Southern-most Provinces of Thailand. ...

by SEPHIS | On 17 Sep 2005

September 2005

Minimum Employment at less than Minimum Wages Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Dancing with the US Devil Nanavati Report: Getting Away with Murder Bihar: EC order on NBWs Bombay Floods West Bengal Land Refo...

by CPI (ML) | On 16 Sep 2005

Multifunctional Agroforestry Systems In India For Livelihoods: Current Knowledge And Future Challenges

Land-use options that increase resilience and reduce vulnerability of contemporary societies are fundamental to livelihoods improvement and adaptation to environmental change. Agroforestry as a tradit...

by Deep Narayan Pandey | On 10 Sep 2005

Negotiating Reproductive Health Neds In A Conflict Situation In The Kashmir Valley

The years of turmoil in the Kashmir valley have resulted in a breakdown of the state machinery, especially the health infrastructure, with the breakdown of peripheral facilities and the migration of d...

by Zamrooda Khanday | On 10 Sep 2005

NAC Concept Paper-A Note On Agriculture And Irrigation

This note highlights the main issues and outlines the proposed action plan in respect of the following five major areas in Agriculture and Irrigation: (1) Augmentation of water resources for irrigati...

by C.H. Hanumantha Rao | On 09 Sep 2005

LIBERATION September 2005

Editorial:Minimum Employment at Less than Minimum Wages commentary: Dancing with the US Devil. Nanavati Commission Report: Getting Away With Murder EC Must Deter Criminals, and not Disenfranchise...

by CPI (ML) | On 03 Sep 2005

New Institutionalism And Legislative Governance In Indian States: A Comaparitive Study Of West Bengal And Uttar Pradesh

In contrast to behaviouralism, which held that institutions reflect the society in which they are embedded, New Institutionalists argue that institutions have an inner logic of action, enjoy autonomy...

by Sudha Pai | On 01 Sep 2005

Demographics And Global Savings Glut

There is growing evidence that demographic changes have played an important role in driving Asia’s economic transformation by generating high savings rates.In this report, the author argues that high...

by Sanjeev Sanyal | On 01 Sep 2005

Medico Friend Circle Bulletin, 312, August-September

Good Practices of the “Good Practice Study”! - Dhruv Mankad 1 Disbanding the CGHS --p 4 Involving Self-Help Groups in Reproductive Health - Rajani Ved -- p9 Women’s Narratives from Kashmir-3 - Zamr...

by Anonymous | On 30 Aug 2005

Social Science Knowledge And Its Evaluation

DISCOURSE OF BOOK REVIEWS Are there universal principles of evaluating knowledge claims? The paper situates the practice of book reviewing in the normative context. Based on a personal experince , it...

by Paramjit S Judge | On 28 Aug 2005

Infant And Under-Five Mortality In India: Levels, Patterns And Correlates

General economic growth (resulting in higher living standards), improved infrastructure, and greater child immunization coverage will be essential in lowering infant and under-five mortality rates in...

by Anil B. Deolikar | On 26 Aug 2005

Medico Friend Circle Bulletin 310, April-May 2005

Medico Friend Circle, April-May 2005, featuring Background papers for annual Theme Meet on Quality and Cost of Health Care

by Anonymous | On 24 Aug 2005

Drug Pricing: Rajya Sabha August 17, 2005

Rising drug prices and misuse of drugs: Calling Attention

by Anonymous | On 19 Aug 2005

Is Maharashtra Performing Worse Than Other States? A Comparive Study of Public Finances of Indian States

Second Generation Reforms (SGR) has become the new buzz-word around policy circles. In fact, a few governments (Central government included) have gone ahead and proclaimed that they have already initi...

by Anonymous | On 19 Aug 2005

Economic Reforms, Electrol Politics A Welfare

The introduction of economic reforms often hurts entrenched vested interests, which had prospered under state-led evelopment. For the ruling political party that introduces reforms, alienating such in...

by Ajit Karnik | On 19 Aug 2005

SAARC and India: Policy Issues hinge on Security and Democracy

The entire project of SAARC is dependent on India’s capacity to bind the neighbouring states in multiple networks of ties to promote regional cooperation. India not only shares frontiers with all the...

by Rajen Harshe | On 13 Aug 2005

American Anthropological Association

Anthropologists work in many parts of the world in close personal association with the peoples and situations they study. In a field of such complex involvements, misunderstandings, conflicts, and th...

by Anonymous | On 12 Aug 2005

Code of Ethics of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists

Code of Ethics for Practitioners and Professionals

by Anonymous | On 12 Aug 2005

BACKPAGE

The frequency with which ‘innocents’ are charged, sometimes even convicted only to be let off later is alarming. Fortunately, the Supreme Court has demanded an impartial and speedy enquiry into the Ge...

by Harsh Sethi | On 08 Aug 2005

Science And Survival

The society should have a reason to support science in the country and it is important for us to demonstrate by performance the effective role of science in improving the conditions and standards of l...

by CNR RAo | On 08 Aug 2005

Understanding Indian Society: The Relevance of Perspective from Below

Indian society is a product of long and complex historical process. The seven major events contributed to the formation of this process are Aryan `advent', the emergence of Indian Protestant religion...

by T Oommen | On 05 Aug 2005

Assessment Of Revenue And Expenditure Patterns In Urban Local Bodies Of Maharashtra

This paper is concerned with respect to asses the revenue and expenditure patterns in the various Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) in Maharashtra. The context for this is the finance commissions at the state...

by Abhay Pethe | On 05 Aug 2005

Towards Bank Financing of Urban Infrastructure

Provision of quality urban infrastructure is an area of major concern for the Indian Economy. The financing of this component of infrastructure may turn out to be a somewhat tractable problem, even in...

by Abhay Pethe | On 05 Aug 2005

Review Of The Electricity Act 2003

The Indian Electricity Sector has gone through a lot of metamorphosis. The three major acts concerning the electricity sector were the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948...

by Anay Vete | On 05 Aug 2005

Growth Of Employment And Output Of Organised Manufacturing Sector In India: An Inter State Analysis

Since economic liberalisation the states in India are making a concerted efforts to improve industrial performance in the state. On the basis of ASI data, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andh...

by G Burange | On 05 Aug 2005

Membership-Based Organizations Of The Poor: The South African Experince

The broad question this paper seeks to address is whether the notion of a membershipbased organisation of the poor (“MBOPs”) has practical application in modern day South Africa. There are some obviou...

by Jan Theron | On 31 Mar 2005

A New Practice of Labor Organizing: Community-based Organization of Migrant Women Workers in South China

With China’s access to World Trade Organization in November 2001, global competitions and local just-in-time productions became even more intense. Millions of migrant workers, in particular the young...

by Pun Ngai | On 31 Mar 2005

Internal Control Of Community Finance Institutions In Cambodia

The working paper offers a conceptual basis for action research on internal controls in community finance institutions (CFIs) in rural Cambodia. A CFI is defined as “an institution that specializes in...

by Brett Matthews | On 31 Mar 2005

Membership-Based Organizations as a Reflection of Power Structures in Rural “Community”: Experience

The analysis and reflections presented in this paper are the outcome of the authors work in various districts of rural Sindh between 1996 and 2002. The nature of this work has revolved around working...

by Themrise Khan | On 31 Mar 2005

Change And The Everyday Politics Of Community Based Organisations

Membership based organisations are an increasingly important institutional form, encountered both in the social theories we use and in the practices of people we study. An examination of these organis...

by Joseph Devine | On 31 Mar 2005

Organizations of the Poor: Conditions for success

Based on the undocumented field experiences of FAO staff working with rural institutions in developing countries and project documents produced by UN agencies, this paper provides an overview on some...

by E Crowley | On 30 Mar 2005

MBOPs and the case of Northeast Brazil The Rural Poverty Reduction Program

MBOPs and the case of Northeast Brazil The Rural Poverty Reduction Program

by Edward Bresnyan, Jr | On 30 Mar 2005

Co-operatives and the Emancipation of the Marginalized: Case Studies from Two Cities in India

This paper discusses the role of co-operatives are one of the means of emancipation of the marginalised sections of the working class. It begins with a brief outline on the industrial situation in Ind...

by Sharit Bhowmik | On 30 Mar 2005

The Influence of Organizational Structure, Membership Composition and Resources on the Survival of Poor

Membership-based organizations of the poor, to be effective, must survive. Although numerous analyses have considered the organizational factors that shape a social movement group’s risk of mortality,...

by Edward Walker | On 30 Mar 2005