This paper presents a simple model to show how distributional concerns can engender social conflict. They have a two period model, where the cost of conflict is endogenous in the sense that parties involved have full control over how much conflict they can create. We find that anticipated future...

Recognising the dearth of detailed analyses of economic and environmental performance of traditional water harvesting systems (TWHS) meant exclusively for domestic use, this paper enquires into the relevance and explores possible modernisation/revival of talavas (tanks) in two villages of...

This study was undertaken to assess farmers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for various climate-smart interventions in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. To assess farmers’ choices and their WTP for the potential climate-smart technologies and other interventions, scoring was used...

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://ipl.econ.duke.edu/bread/papers/working/366.pdf].

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 economic policies and exploit the staggered timing of the introduction of elections for causal...

Various issues related to delays and cost overruns in publically funded infrastructure projects are investigated. The study is based on, by far, the largest data-set of 850 projects across seventeen infrastructure sectors. The focus is on the causal factors behind time and cost overruns. [CDE WP...

The executive summary reports on major findings from a survey conducted among a random sample of 1,054 Singaporeans and Permanent Residents aged 18 to 65. Focus is on views of public policies in three areas, namely, political participation, social capital and trust and provision of public goods...

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 effects on different policies of increasing local leader accountability, taking into account that...

In this paper, four categories of existing resource-mobilization options are examined, including (1) transportation levies; (2) currency and financial transaction taxes; (3) capitalization of IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDRs); and (4) the sale, mobilization, or capitalization of IMF gold....

A simple theory is developed which formally describes how charities can resolve the information asymmetry problems faced by small donors by working with large donors to generate quality signals. To test the model, two large-scale natural field experiments were conducted. In the first experiment,...