India

How political connections shield firms during an economic crisis

Political connections helped firms secure scarce credit, delay payments, boost investments, and grow faster following the major economic crisis in India due to demonetisation.

Institutions & Political Economy

Yutong Chen Gaurav Chiplunkar Sheetal Sekhri Anirban Sen Aaditeshwar Seth

Published

01.05.25

Do carbon offsets work? Evidence from the world’s largest offset programme

Carbon offset programmes allow polluters to pay others to reduce emissions on their behalf. In theory, this can achieve the same emissions reductions at a lower cost, but only if the payment actually incentivises the recipient to cut emissions. If of...

Energy & Environment

Raphael Calel Jonathan Colmer Antoine Dechezleprêtre Matthieu Glachant

Published

15.04.25

Guaranteed employment in India actually reduced female labour force participation

A governmental employment-guarantee programme designed to provide economic security to rural households in India has unintentionally reduced women’s labour force participation—deepening gender disparities within households. By guaranteeing employment...

Labour Markets

Jorge Luis García

Published

09.04.25

Pedalling towards gender equality and empowerment

In Bihar, India and in rural Zambia, the government introduced programmes to address gender gaps in education by providing adolescent girls with bicycles for their commute to school. Discussing the immediate and long-term impacts of these initiatives...

Education

Vagisha Pandey Sahil Pawar Nishith Prakash

Published

14.03.25

Protecting girls at school: How sanitation infrastructure can reduce sexual violence

In India, over 30% of reported rape cases involve victims under 18, with girls particularly at-risk. Legal reforms and cultural shifts are essential, but slow to implement. Could school toilets provide a short-term solution to the problem?

Health

Pei Gao Aditi Kothari Yu-Hsiang Lei

Published

07.03.25

Can inclusive institutions balance the development-biodiversity trade-off?

Infrastructure expansion into forests substantially degrades biodiversity. Yet, institutions that centre the voices of forest-dependent communities during project planning can help mitigate species loss.

Energy & Environment

Raahil Madhok

Published

04.03.25

mother and child, depicting child-rearing

The challenges of improving parenting practices at scale

Home visitation and group meeting parenting programmes have improved child development in low- and middle-income countries, but are too expensive to be delivered at large scale. Evidence from India shows that a programme using automated phone calls w...

Education

Irma Arteaga Andreas de Barros Alejandro J. Ganimian

Published

25.03.25

Can political representation boost forest conservation?

Despite fears that devolving control over forest resources to local communities may accelerate deforestation and worsen the climate crisis, the large-scale transfer of political power to India’s historically marginalised Scheduled Tribes significantl...

Energy & Environment

Saad Gulzar Apoorva Lal Benjamin Pasquale

Published

13.01.25

Rural road infrastructure empowered women in India

The construction of rural roads improved women's empowerment by reducing mobility restrictions, fostering progressive norms, increasing girls' educational enrolment and enhancing female agency. However, challenges remain in finding ways to enhance wo...

Infrastructure

Bharti Nandwani Punarjit Roychowdhury

Published

09.01.25