Author Archives: admin

IFMR bags ASSOCHAM’s award for Best Institute Serving Social Cause-CSR 2016

IFMR LEAD was awarded the Best Institute Serving Social Cause-CSR by ASSOCHAM. … Read More

A Conversation on Development with Kaushik Basu – Part 2

Parikshit Ghosh

Parikshit Ghosh (Associate Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics) speaks with Kaushik Basu (Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, World Bank and former Chief Economic Adviser, Government of India) on issues ranging from the use of economic knowledge in … Read More

A Conversation on Development with Kaushik Basu- Part 1

Parikshit Ghosh

Parikshit Ghosh (Associate Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics) speaks with Kaushik Basu (Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, World Bank and former Chief Economic Adviser, Government of India) on issues ranging from the change in World Bank’s mission … Read More

‘Mobile’izing Agricultural Advice: Technology Adoption, Diffusion and Sustainability

Shawn A. Cole, A. Nilesh Fernando

In this paper, the authors examine the role of management in agricultural productivity, by evaluating a mobile-phone based agricultural advice service provided to farmers in India. Demand for advice is high; and advice changes practices, increasing yields in cumin (28%) … Read More

Adaptation to Persistent Drought & Groundwater Depletion: Evidence from Karnataka

Ram Fishman, Veeramalla Prakash, K. Raju

This report presents findings from a study that seeks to address the gap in literature on the combined impacts of the multi-year drought and continuing groundwater depletion afflicting Karnataka on various household outcomes; and the adaptation strategies adopted by farmers … Read More

Does Women’s Banking Matter for Women? Evidence from Urban India

Erica Field, Jose Martinez, Rohini Pande

In many developing countries, women are prevented to take full advantage of the benefits of living in an urban area. In India, while one of every two men participates in the labor market, it is the case just for one … Read More

Natural Calamities and Social Safety Programs

Arpita Khanna, Diksha Singh

This factsheet presents evidence from a recent IFMR LEAD, BIGD, IGC feasibility study on utilizing a mobile money platform to deliver cash transfers to vulnerable populations, in Northwest Bangladesh.

Open Government Data and Evidence-based Socio-economic Policy Research In India: An Overview

Larquemin, A, Buteau, S, Mukhopadhyay, JP

Public entities are one of the main producers of socio-economic data around the world. The Open Government Data (OGD) movement encourages these entities to make their data publicly available in order to improve transparency and accountability, which are the two … Read More

Understanding the Advice of Commissions-motivated Agents: Evidence from the Indian Life Insurance Market

Santosh Anagol, Shawn Cole, Shayak Sarkar

In this paper, authors share findings from a series of field experiments to evaluate the quality of advice provided by life insurance agents in India. Agents overwhelmingly recommend unsuitable, strictly dominated products, which provide high commissions to the agent. Agents … Read More

Jan Dhan Yojana: Just Another Empty Vessel Making Noise?

Mridulya Narasimhan

On 28th August 2014, the Indian government launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), yet another flagship project with an aim to ensure affordable financial services and complete financial inclusion. Under the programme each account holder is covered by life … Read More