Questioning the government by the elected representatives on the floor of the house, irrespective of political ideology, is a fundamental feature of parliamentary democracy. In this paper, using data from the 15th and 16th Lok Sabha (LS), we study the performance of Member of Parliaments (MPs)...

The net impact of development interventions can depend on the availability of close substitutes to the intervention. We analyze a randomized trial of an innovative anti-poverty program in South India which provides “ultra-poor” households with inputs to create a new, sustainable livelihood....

This paper recommends that India's public health funding must focus on ‘public goods' in health – primary and preventive care, vaccination and sanitation among others. Improved governance and management is absolutely critical for actual delivery of health services – the Tamil Nadu Medical...

Free and fair elections are cornerstones of democracy. In India, electronic voting machines (EVMs) were introduced with the objective of reducing electoral fraud. We exploit the phased roll-out of the EVMs in state assembly elections to study its impact on electoral fraud, democracy, and...

Violence in childhood is a serious health, social and human rights concern globally, there is, however, little understanding about the factors that explain the various forms of violence in childhood. This paper uses data on childhood violence for 10,042 individuals from four countries. We report...

This paper recommend that the Indian Government:Promote financial savings of poor households through innovative product design that matches their specific needs. Bring indigenous 'bottom-up' financial institutions such as registered Chit Funds, and the extensive postal network into the fold of...

Notwithstanding the sizeable economic and social gains made by India over the last two decades, the pernicious, often invisible, challenge of maternal and child undernutrition remains a national public health concern. This undermines the assumption that economic growth is in itself a sufficient...