A nationally representative Indian panel data set is used to estimate systems of equations which account for endogeneity of grants received by villages. The estimates explore the factors that determine the levels of employment generating, social welfare, untied grants; the impacts of these...

Mumbai, one of the few largest cities in India, faces the challenges of continuing as economic powerhouse as well as maintaining the quality of life of its citizens. Civic infrastructure and its provision are important to support economic development as well as to enhance quality of life....

In this study, we examine how efforts taken by states to combat corruption act as a mediator in the relationship between fiscal decentralization and regional income disparities. Fiscal decentralization may affect regional disparities via access to funding, but corruption could limit the ability...

In this paper, I examine the impact of fiscal decentralization on state-level economic growth in India. There is little empirical evidence testing for a non-uniform impact of fiscal decentralization within a country. I build a social development index (SDI) to characterize 15 Indian states into...

Using panel data models, we analyze the flypaper effects-whether intergovernmental fiscal transfers or states' own income determine expenditure commitments - on ecological fiscal spending in India. The econometric results show that the unconditional fiscal transfers, rather than the states' own...

Using panel data models, we analyze the flypaper effects — whether intergovernmental fiscal transfers or states’ own income determine expenditure commitments — on ecological fiscal spending in India. The econometric results show that the unconditional fiscal transfers, rather than the...

This paper evaluates the effects of encouraging the selection of local politicians in India via community-based consensus, as opposed to a secret ballot election. While secret ballot elections prevent vote capture by guaranteeing voter anonymity, consensus-based elections may improve welfare by...

In this study an attempt has been made to assess the potential of land as a municipal financing tool in four Indian cities, to enable better public service delivery and attainment of the MDGs. The institutional arrangements for land use are fragmented in India's cities between the urban...

This paper empirically constructs the fiscal performance index for Indian states by using nine separate indicators reflecting different dimensions of fiscal performance of the states. Finance Commissions also use fiscal performance for fund allocations but they use only single indicator based...