Researchers Publication

Aadhaar linkages of individuals and bank accounts already exist. If residential information in the Aadhaar database can be efficiently structured this would allow for geographic targeting. The US Congress acted expeditiously in late March to provide relief on account of the COVID-19 to poor and middle-class individuals and to stimulate the economy by enacting a...   Read More

No one would have ever thought or anticipated that Covid-19 would shake the world to such an extent that it is impacting and perhaps changing and re-defining every aspect of our lives. It also proved that no country is invincible no matter how developed rich and powerful and it demolished the notion that these nations...   Read More

Our goal should be to achieve a low cost of capital for Indian firms which calls for liquid and efficient markets accessible to all investors Many firms require capital in tiding over the pandemic. In recent months large amounts of portfolio capital have come into the country helping to fill this need. This includes an...   Read More

Cutting logistics costs and complying with exacting European product standards will go a long way in boosting shipments India is the EU's ninth largest trading partner with 2.4 per cent of the bloc’s overall trade. Bilateral trade (in both goods and services) touched €115 billion in 2017. EU exports to India have grown from €24.2...   Read More

A Retrospective on H1: 2020-21. In the September Quarterly Review of the Economy NCAER had forecasted that GDP would contract in H1: 2020-21 although the rate of contraction would moderate in Q2: 2020-21 compared to Q1: 2020-21.   In such times cost-cutting is a common response of firms.  These typically take two forms — (i) layoffs:...   Read More

Media News: Surjit S Bhalla & Abhinav Motheram  The more academic American Association for Public Opinion Research’s (AAPOR) postmortem report on the 2016 election polls recognised that state polls ‘clearly underestimated Trump’s support in the Upper Midwest’. India 2014. Britain 2016. The US 2016. India 2019. And now the US 2020. What do the above five...   Read More

Dr. Tarujyoti Buragohain NCAER surmises that high prices of horticulture products due to lack of necessary infrastructure and quality are the major constraint for India in the export market. Moreover diversifying into organic and value added horticulture products may help improve export prospects. IBT: How have India’s horticulture exports progressed in the global market over...   Read More

The Lead Bank Scheme of the RBI involves a ‘lead bank’ in each district of India that coordinates financial services in the district and a ‘convenor bank’ in each state that monitors these activities of the lead banks in the state. Analysing quarterly district-level data on credit disbursement for 2004-2019 this article finds that in...   Read More

It's time to address the root cause of the 1992 stock market scandal - a conflict of interest in RBI's many roles The release of a recent Sony LIV series on the Harshad Mehta financial markets scandals that rocked India in the early 1990s has triggered chintanam on an event that perhaps led to some...   Read More

The urban poor is still finding it difficult to return to work. Targeting social safety nets towards them is necessary as the economy struggles to recover. While COVID-19 continues its assault on human lives the Indian economy after the devastation in the wake of the lockdown is showing signs of recovering. Data from a variety...   Read More

Informational asymmetry among consumers producers gives each economic agent an incentive to cheat. The latest NCAER’s (National Council of Applied Economic Research) forecast has indicated that YoY growth will remain negative through Q2 Q3 and Q4 at -12.7% -8.6% and -6.2% respectively. For the year as a whole 2020-21 GDP will decline by -12.6%. It...   Read More

The new MPC has done well but it would take game-changing reforms for our economy to regain its pre-covid trend growth The new monetary policy committee (MPC) which submitted its first report last Friday has started well. Faced with an unprecedented crisis a steep gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of 24% in the first quarter...   Read More