Publication Page Archive

The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the tourism industry across the world. Be it aviation or hospitality, transportation, tour operators or eateries, every activity related to tourism was adversely affected by the pandemic in an unprecedented manner. India saw the first severe impact during the first quarter of 2020-21 when the tourism industry...   Read More

Do temporary labor supply programs cause physicians to move to and stay in undesirable areas? To what extent do these programs improve the health of the elderly and non-elderly population in those areas? I investigate these questions by studying state and local loan repayment programs for new eligible physicians which were rolled out over the...   Read More

I investigate how allowing lower tuition for undocumented students at public colleges improves education outcomes, and changes institutional pricing patterns. I use administrative data and a residual method to quantify the actual number of undocumented students at school level in the pre-reform period. Exploiting the reforms staggered adoption across states and time, as well as...   Read More

This paper examines strategic trade policy for differentiated network-goods oligopolies under alternative scenarios when there is export-rivalry between two countries. We demonstrate that, in the absence of managerial delegation, the optimal trade policy entails an export tax (subsidy) if network externalities are weak (strong). However, when price competition is combined with managerial delegation, the opposite...   Read More

This article discusses son preference in India, encompassing both differential investment in sons and a fertility preference to have sons. Regarding differential investment, I focus on child health, where the evidence shows that gender gaps in inputs and outcomes have narrowed in recent years. Nonetheless, girls remain disadvantaged in important ways, and making health services...   Read More

We study the fiscal health of state electricity distribution companies (discoms) in India and its bearing on the supply of electricity. India has, in a policy landmark, lately achieved near-universal household electrification, in large part through Central funding of infrastructure totaling Rs. 5 lakh crores as well as state bailouts totaling Rs. 35 lakh crores...   Read More

Installation, maintenance in renewable energy will create jobs, even as energy transition poses challenges. COP28 emphasised that transitioning from fossil fuels in energy systems is required in a just, orderly and equitable manner. The path of decarbonisation requires shift to low-carbon options. Demand-side management measures like production and supply chain adaptation or improving energy efficiency...   Read More

The attention the archipelago is receiving must be leveraged through strategic marketing campaigns, both by government and private stakeholders. Lakshadweep, a uni-district and the smallest Union Territory of India, is getting attention like never before after Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted pictures of his “exhilarating experience” during his visit to the UT, early this month. In a matter...   Read More

If universities are to remain home to creativity, they must embrace both radical thinking and scepticism toward received wisdom. This is important not just for humanities and social science but also for science and engineering. In recent weeks, two American university presidents, Claudine Gay from Harvard and Liz Magill from the University of Pennsylvania, resigned...   Read More

Facing unprecedented socio-economic challenges, the financial system must act decisively to preserve its vital economic role. 2024 will be a make-or-break year for the financial sector. It will rise to the challenge of a changing world or fall into irrelevance and chronic stress. The fate of finance and the global economy hangs in the balance....   Read More