We examine whether measures of audit quality are able to measure the quality of audit in banks. We make use of a unique setting where the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provided an accurate measure of asset quality in banks. We first attempt to establish that the RBI revealed asset quality is a...

We ask whether machine learning algorithms improve the efficiency of screening of the loan officers, and thereby help expand access to formal credit. We obtain loan application level data from an Indian bank. To overcome the selective labels problem, we exploit the incentive driven within...

We examine the Indian bank asset quality review, which doubled the declared loan delinquency rate. Relative economic stability during the exercise and the absence of a capital backstop together make it unique. We find that the expected reduction in information asymmetry does not automatically...

We compare an in-kind subsidy, a workfare program, and an unconditional cash transfer in India based on the sensitivity of the insurance provided by each program against local economic shocks. We find that transfers under the in-kind subsidy contract when the beneficiaries are faced with local...

Programs to direct finance to small firms are ubiquitous. We study their real-side effects for target firms, exploiting the discontinuities in eligibility in such a program in India. We show that small firm lending programs can slow real growth. Several robustness, placebo, heterogeneity, and...

Although the impact of social ties on credit markets has been studied, the possibility of contagion through social ties remains unexplored. Examining the Indian caste system and the group loan structure, we find that social ties could turn shocks into a contagion within credit markets: a drought...

Although court judgments on economic issues are frequent, their impact remains understudied. Unlike laws, studied extensively by law and finance literature, they are not publicly debated, not passed by legislators, and do not always factor in economic implications. Studying an unexpected verdict...