In a model where cooperation is beneficial, but subject to cheating, and is supported by trigger strategy punishments in a repeated game, we explore the relationship between the nature of cooperation (size and composition of coalitions) and underlying inequality in the distribution of private...

Where such behaviors as risk-taking and hard work are not subject to complete contracts, some distributions of assets (for instance the widespread use of tenancy) may preclude efficient contractual arrangements. In particular, the distribution of wealth may affect: (a) residual claimancy over...

The old growth theory influenced the theory of economic development in several ways. Starting with the basic HarrodDomar structure of capacity growth, development economists paid attention to the constraints posed by savings and the efficiency with which savings are utilized. Growth theory has...

This chapter presents a discussion on alternative approaches to development economics and focuses on the three major approaches that can be classified as neoclassical, Marxist, and structuralist-institutionalist. The chapter focuses on a few, highly selective, areas of enquiry with a brief,...

In this paper we note that the institutional context (and therefore the structure of incentives and organization) in developing and transition economies is quite different from those in advanced industrial economies, and this necessitates the literature on decentralization in the context of...

This two-part paper provides a theoretical framework for appraising trade-offs between alternative methods of delegating authority over the delivery of public services, on the targeting and cost-effectiveness of public spending programs in developing countries. Authority over these programs has...

In this essay we argue that the key barriers to interdisciplinary work between economists and anthropologists are differences of methodology and epistemology--in what the two disciplines consider important to explain and how they evaluate the criteria for a good explanation. The essay is an...

This paper estimates respective roles of private investments in irrigation and local government programs (land reforms, extension services, and infrastructure investments) in the growth of farm productivity in West Bengal, India between 1981-95. Using a farm panel from a stratified random sample...

This paper assesses the relation between living standards and forest degradation in the Indian mid-Himalayas, and related policy issues. The analysis is based on detailed household, village and ecology surveys in a sample of 165 villages in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh. Our prior fieldwork...