This is a brief essay discussing some key aspects of the current debates on medical corruption and malpractices in India. I highlight few illustrations from recent research and argue that the falling standards of medical practice in the country is a fallout of a combination of dwindling ethical...

The southern state of Kerala in India is known for greater status of women and low gender bias in society. However, the social and human development in Kerala have not been congruent to the economic emancipation of women, and paradoxically, female labour force participation has been on the...

The paper reports findings from a quality assessment exercise based on respondents' perceptions on different domains of service quality in a comparative manner between public and private health facilities in rural West Bengal, India. Based on a sample survey, and a combination of ex-ante and...

Natural disasters can lead to significant changes in health, economic, and demographic outcomes. However, the demographic effects of earthquakes have been studied only to a limited degree. This paper examines the effect of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, which killed more than 20,000 people,...

Objective: To evaluate the quality of essential care during normal labour and childbirth in maternity facilities in Uttar Pradesh, India. Methods: Between 26 May and 8 July 2015, we used clinical observations to assess care provision for 275 mother-neonate pairs at 26 hospitals. Data on 42 items...

This paper studies the health effects of one of the world's largest demand-side financial incentive programes - India's Janani Suraksha Yojana. Our difference-in-difference estimates exploit heterogeneity in the timing of the introduction of the financial incentive programs across districts. We...

This systematic review investigates the role of economic shocks in explaining HIV transmission through risky sexual behaviors. With natural disasters and global economic shocks becoming more prevalent and HIV disproportionately affecting young women in low- and middle-income countries,...

Financial incentives are increasingly being advocated as an effective means to change health-related behaviours and improve health outcomes. There is, however, little evidence on whether financial incentives work in low-income countries, particularly when implemented at scale. This paper...