Thursday, December 19, 2013

10-11 January 2014: Conference on Political Imaginaries: Rethinking India’s Twentieth Century

Organised by:
American Institute of Indian Studies

Conference Schedule

Abstract:
Scholarly re-evaluations of the political in India’s twentieth century have been prompted in relation both to new contemporary realities and new historical research. These have resulted in, at least, two critical re-appraisals. The first is the challenge to the still dominant nation-state imaginary that informs studies of this period. The latter has resulted in drowning out, or rendering anachronistic, other political imaginaries. Nowhere, perhaps, is this more apparent than in the equation of decolonization with the creation of the nation-state or in the subsumption of anti-colonialism in nationalism. One set of questions that we explore, therefore, is the variety of political imaginaries of the empire and nation and of citizenship and subject that animated politics in late colonial India. The second major re-appraisal comes from new appreciation of the particular post-colonial forms of democracy that sit uneasily with the genealogy of liberal democracy in the West. This challenge is best captured in Partha Chatterjee’s re-reading of democracy not as “government of the people,” as republican cliché would have it, but, rather, as “the politics of the governed.” By this token, then, squatters on public lands or illegal users of water and electricity are not tangential to the understanding of proper democratic politics; but, rather, in making use of democratic politics to make their demands heard, these groups represent examples of democratic forms in post-colonial societies. This expanded understanding of democratic politics is the second major theme of the conference.

Date: January 10-11, 2014
Time: 09:00 A.M.

Venue: January 10, 2014
Seminar Hall#3
India International Centre,
Indian International Centre
40, Max Mueller Marg,
New Delhi-110003(INDIA)

Location:

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Venue: January 11, 2014
Seminar Hall
Nehru Memorial Museum and Library,
Teen Murthi House
New Delhi-110011(INDIA)

Location:

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4-5 January 2014: Two day academic conference - Are Markets Moral? In a Free Enterprise System, Do Justice and Virtue Win or Lose?

Organised by:
Centre for Civil Society and the LeFrak Forum and the
Symposium on Science, Reason, & Modern Democracy, Michigan State University
in partnership with Friedrich Naumann Foundation

Conference Program

Registration Fees:
• INR 5000 ($ 85) for international delegates
• INR 2500 ($ 45) for Indian delegates
• INR 1500 ($ 25) for students in India

Date: January 4-5, 2014

Venue:
Gulmohar Hall,
India Habitat Centre
Lodi Road,
New Delhi – 110 003(INDIA)

Note:
For more information contact: Baishali; Email: baishali@ccs.in ; Tel: +91 85273 87708

Location:

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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

17 December 2013: Diet quality, child health and food policies in developing countries

Alok Bhargava
School of Public Policy, University of Maryland  

Abstract:
While the importance of diet quality for improving child health is widely recognized, the roles of environmental factors and absorption of nutrients for children’s physical growth and morbidity have not been adequately integrated into a policy framework. Moreover, nutrient intakes gradually affect child health so that it is helpful to use alternative tools for evaluation of short-term interventions versus long-term food policies. This article emphasizes the role of diet quality reflected in the intakes of nutrients such as protein, calcium, and iron for children’s physical growth; vitamins A and C are important for reducing morbidity that can hamper growth. Children’s growth and morbidity affect their cognitive development that is critical for future supply of skilled labor and for economic growth. Evidence on these issues from countries such as Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Philippines and Tanzania is discussed. The supply of nutritious and animal foods is appraised from the viewpoint of improving diet quality. It is suggested that Pigouvian type taxes on unhealthy processed foods consumed by the affluent in developing countries can raise revenues for subsidizing livestock production for improving diets of the poor.

Date: December 17, 2013
Time: 03:30 P.M.

Venue:
NCAER Conference Room A
National Council of Applied Economic Research
Parisila Bhawan, 11, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi-110002(INDIA)

Location:

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Note:
Please join us for high tea after the seminar. For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org or on 011-2345-2669.

Monday, December 16, 2013

17 December 2013: Public Space, Territorial Breaches and Emotions: Passengers in the Metro

Martin Aranguren
EHESS, Paris

Abstract:
A basic dimension of face-to-face interaction in public places is territoriality. Drawing on ethology, anthropologist Edward T. Hall and sociologist Erving Goffman called attention to the cultural norms that govern interpersonal distance in everyday encounters, pointing out the emotional nature of territorial breaches (e.g., being vehemently jostled by a stranger). On the other hand, emotion research has become more sensitive to naturalistic studies of emotional processes in real-life situations. Emotions are not just private “feelings”, but also observable patterns of interaction with the environment that transform situations.

The workshop will present the results of a study conducted in the Paris subway metro, based on a novel methodology for studying territoriality and emotions in crowded settings. Among others, the protocol uses field observation and describes passenger’s facial behaviour with the anatomically-based Facial Action Coding System and conducts sequential analysis. The same protocol will be used in a study of the Delhi Metro, to examine the extent to which emotional patterns related to territorial violations in crowded situations vary across cultures. This includes the appraisal of a breach, i.e., the class of events that are perceived as territorial violations, as well as the consequent interactional management of perceived territorial violations. Do Delhi metro passengers respond emotionally to territorial breaches in the same way as users of the Paris subway?

Date: December 17, 2013
Time: 03:45 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall
Centre for Policy Research,
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi–110021(INDIA)

Note:
For further information, please contact: Jayani Bonnerjee at jayani.bonnerjee@csh-delhi.com, Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha@cprindia.org or Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah@ird.fr

Location:

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Friday, December 13, 2013

16 Decembe 2013: The Information Economy in an Internet Age: New Paradigms for Competitiveness and Economic Growth

Hal Varian
University of California at Berkeley

Abstract:
The transformative impact of technology, innovation, and increasing access to information is becoming clearer every day - particularly with respect to economies across the world. The Internet is central to these discussions, helping change the way we communicate and engage in economic activities. Economists and public policy scholars have been increasingly engaging with the impact that the Internet is having on economic behaviour and societies, uncovering increasing amounts of data and generating new insights.

Date: December 16, 2013
Time: 11:00 A.M.

Venue:
Inspire Hall,
Le Meriden Hotel,
Windsor Place, Janpath,
New Delhi- 110 001(INDIA)

Location:

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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

12 December 2013: Predicting the Present

Hal R. Varian
University of California at Berkeley

Date: December 12, 2013
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Venue:
AMEX Room
Department of Economics,
Delhi School of Economics,
New Delhi-110007(INDIA)

Location:

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13 December 2013: Intergenerational Long Term Effects of Preschool - Structural Estimates from a Discrete Dynamic Programming Model

Lakshmi K. Raut
Social Security Administration

Abstract:
This paper formulates a structural dynamic programming model of preschool investment choices of altruistic parents and then empirically estimates the structural parameters of the model using the NLSY79 data. The paper finds that preschool investment significantly boosts cognitive and non-cognitive skills, which enhance earnings and school outcomes. It also finds that a standard Mincer earnings function, by omitting measures of non-cognitive skills on the right hand side, overestimates the rate of return to schooling. From the estimated equilibrium Markov process, the paper studies the nature of within generation earnings distribution and intergenerational earnings and schooling mobility. The paper finds that a tax financed free preschool program for the children of poor socioeconomic status generates positive net gains to the society in terms of average earnings and higher intergenerational earnings and schooling mobility.

Date: December 13, 2013
Time: 11:30 A.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room 2
Indian Statistical Institute Delhi Centre,
7, S. J. S. Sansanwal Marg,
New Delhi-110016 (INDIA)

Location:

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Thursday, December 5, 2013

10 December 2013: Mapping Urban Health Facilities – A Tool for Data Based Policy Design

Tanvir Ahmed and Ruman M. Zakaria Salam
Icddr,b, Dhaka

Date: December 10, 2013
Time: 05:30 P.M.

Venue:
GIZ Conference Room,
21, Jor Bagh,
New Delhi 110 003(INDIA)

Note:
Please confirm your participation to Suchitrita Bhattacharya at igssp@giz.de until 9th December 2013.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

11 December 2013: PRS Annual Conference on Effective Legislatures 2013 - Three Lectures on the Functioning of the Indian Parliament

Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
N K Singh
MP, Rajya Sabha representing Bihar
Baijayant 'Jay' Panda
MP, Lok Sabha representing Kendrapara (Odisha)

Abstract:
The 15th Lok Sabha has stood out for a number of wrong reasons. It has had a low number of working days, the largest percentage of time wasted to disruptions, a low number of legislations enacted, budgets passed without discussion, etc. Indeed, even in some cases such as the 2G spectrum allocation, committees such as PAC and JPC have been unable to present a clear picture and fix accountability. As we enter the 16th Lok Sabha in a few months, it is perhaps time to review and rethink the role of Parliament as an effective institution.

In this context, we are delighted to have three persons who have engaged deeply with issues related to Parliament, to give 30 minute lectures on various aspects of Parliament – as a representative body that makes laws, holds the executive accountable, and allocates the financial resources of the central government.

Date: December 11, 2013
Time: 10:00 A.M.

Venue:
Gulmohar Hall,
India Habitat Centre
Lodi Road,
New Delhi – 110 003(INDIA)

Note:
RSVP: Kusum Malik - Email: kusum@prsindia.org, Phone: +91-11-4343 4035,36

Location:

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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

4 December 2013: Whither Climate Governance? A Discussion of National, Regional and Global Developments

Welcome and Opening Remarks:
Amb. Shyam Saran, Chairman, National Security Advisory Board; Chairman, RIS and Senior Fellow, CPR

Panelists:
Michael Grubb, Chair of Energy and Climate Policy, University of Cambridge
Youba Sokona, Co-Chair, IPCC Working Group 3
Teng Fel, Associate Professor, Tsinghua University
Xolisa Ngwadia, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa
Michele Betsill, Professor, Colorado State University

Date: December 4, 2013
Time: 04:30 P.M.

Venue:
Lecture Hall 2,
India International Centre Annexe
New Delhi-110003(INDIA)

Note:
RSVP to: climate.initiative.cpr@gmail.com

Location:

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2 December 2013: The Changing Geography of Innovation

Soumitra Dutta
Cornell University, USA

Abstract:
Innovative regions grow and thrive; those that don’t stagnate or fall behind. Who is leading in the global innovation landscape, who is catching up, and who is at risk? Realizing that Innovation is the engine for national and global growth, employment, competitiveness and sharing of opportunities in 21st Century, the Government of India has declared 2010-2020 as the 'Decade of Innovation'.

Date: December 2, 2013
Time: 11:00 A.M.

Venue:
WWF India Auditorium,
172-B, Lodhi Estate,
New Delhi-110003 (India)

Location:

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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

20 November 2013: Rule by Law and Public Participation in China?

Stephanie Balme
Sciences Po research group Justice, Law and Society, China

Date: November 20, 2013
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall
Centre for Policy Research,
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi–110021(INDIA)

Location:

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Thursday, November 14, 2013

19 November 2013: India Macro Policy Review

Organised by:
Macro/Finance Group

Program

Date: November 19, 2013
Time: 09:00 A.M.

Venue:
NIPFP Auditorium (Ground Floor)
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,
18/2 Satsang Vihar Marg, Special Institutional Area,
New Delhi-110067(INDIA)

Location:

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Friday, November 8, 2013

20 November 2013: Delivering Education: How the Rise of Private Schooling Changes Everything

Jishnu Das
World Bank and Centre for Policy Research

Abstract:
Jishnu Das’s talk aims to explore educational markets in low-income countries and analyse the role and contribution of the potential of these educational markets to change policy and make our education space more effective. This talk is based on the Learning and Educational Achievement in Punjab Schools (LEAPS) project with Tahir Andrabi (Pomona College) and Asim Khwaja (Harvard).

Date: November 20, 2013
Time: 05:00 P.M.

Venue:
Constitution Club of India,
Rafi Marg,
New Delhi-110001(INDIA)

Note:
Please join us for tea at 5.00pm followed by the talk at 5:30pm. For queries, please contact Samta Arora (samta@ccs.in Tel +91-9953827773)

Location:

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Tuesday, November 5, 2013

18 November 2013: Collateral and monetary policy

Manmohan Singh
IMF

Date: November 18, 2013
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Venue:
NIPFP Auditorium
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,
18/2 Satsang Vihar Marg, Special Institutional Area,
New Delhi-110067(INDIA)

Location:

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Friday, November 1, 2013

7 November 2013: Computerized Data Collection and the Management of Survey Costs and Quality: The Use of Paradata

James Wagner and Nicole Kirgis
University of Michigan  

Abstract:
Computer assisted interviewing has allowed far greater control over the costs and quality of survey data collection. Such data collection automatically generates paradata about the collection process itself. This can be extremely useful for survey managers to control survey efficiency and costs. Field interviewers, using laptop computers or other devices, transmit raw survey data (including paradata) to the central office daily. This allows managers to monitor production inputs (e.g. interviewer hours, travel expenses) and production efficiency (e.g. hours per interview, attempts per hour). Similarly, questionnaire timing paradata, for example, can be used to identify instances where questions are completed in an extremely short period of time. Managers can intervene at various levels when interviewers display patterns of lower than expected efficiency and quality. Pilot paradata can also be extremely useful in the design of questionnaires and field operations.

Date: November 7, 2013
Time: 05:30 P.M.

Venue:
NCAER Conference Room A
National Council of Applied Economic Research
Parisila Bhawan, 11, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi-110002(INDIA)

Note:
Please join us for tea and snacks at 5 pm before the seminar. For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org or on 011-2345-2669.

Location:

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

7 November 2013: Normalizing India-Pakistan Trade Relations

Zafar Mahmood
Punjab Public Service Commission, Lahore and
Rahul Khullar
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Date: November 7, 2013
Time: 03:30 P.M.

Venue:
Gulmohar Hall,
India Habitat Centre
Lodi Road,
New Delhi – 110 003(INDIA)

Location:

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Thursday, October 17, 2013

24 October 2013: Systematic reviews: What have we learnt so far? An overview of evidence

Howard White
3ie

Abstract:
Systematic reviews have become a fashion in international development. What are they, and what are they good for? Dr White will present an introductory insight into why reviews are necessary, focusing on why meta-analysis is needed to synthesise study findings. The talk will look at key findings from a range of reviews on clean water, agricultural extension and conditional cash transfer. Strengths and limitations of systematic reviews and their alternatives will also be discussed.

Date: October 24, 2013
Time: 03:30 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room, Ground Floor
ISID Complex, Plot No. 4
Vasant Kunj Institutional Area
New Delhi- 110 070(INDIA)

Location:

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Note:
Please register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/event/8565396331
Watch the seminar live at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/internation-initiative-for-impact-evaluation

Monday, October 7, 2013

8 October 2013: Private vs. Government: New Evidence on School Performance and Implications for India’s Right to Education Act

Karthik Muralidharan
University of California, San Diego, NCAER, NBER and J-PAL  

Abstract:
Karthik will present results from the Andhra Pradesh School Choice Project—one of the most comprehensive research studies conducted on school choice and private schooling globally. Over five years the project provided lottery-based scholarships to economically-disadvantaged students to attend a private school of their choice. The project has yielded rich data on schools, teachers, households, and student performance in private and government schools. Karthik will discuss what these findings mean for the private school Clause 12 of the Right to Education Act that mandates a 25% quota in private schools for economically disadvantaged students.

Among the questions the study seeks to answer:
1) How do private and government schools systematically differ in household inputs, school facilities, teacher characteristics, teacher effort, instructional priorities, and time allocation at home and school?
2) Holding all other factors constant (including family socio-economic characteristics and pre-school and other factors that typically differ between students attending government and private schools), are private schools more or less effective than government schools?
3) How might the intake of students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds into private schools under Clause 12 affect students already in these private schools? What will be the spillover effects?
4) How does the impact of attending a private school differ based on a student’s socio-economic background, school characteristics such as the medium of instruction, and market characteristics such as the number of schools and the amount of effective school choice and competition?
5) What are the implications of these findings for implementing Clause 12? How should students be allocated to fill the 25% quota? How should private schools be regulated?

Date: October 8, 2013
Time: 05:30 P.M.

Venue:
Constitution Club of India,
Rafi Marg,
New Delhi-110001(INDIA)

Location:

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Note:
Please join us for tea at 5.30pm and thereafter for the Lecture at 6pm. For queries, please contact Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org or on 011-2345-2669

Friday, October 4, 2013

8 October 2013: Power Sector Reforms: The Journey of Improving Governance and Rural Supply

Ashish Khanna
The World Bank

Abstract:
By the late 1990s the technical and financial performance of the power sector in India had deteriorated to the point where the Government of India had to step in to bail out the state utilities, almost all of which were vertically integrated State Electricity Boards (SEBs). Considering that the dismal performance of state utilities reflected internal and external shortfalls in governance, the new Electricity Act of 2003 mandated the unbundling and corporatization of the SEBs, along with the establishment of independent regulators, as a means of bringing about a more accountable and commercial performance culture with concomitant results in terms of improving the performance of utilities. A decade later another financial restructuring plan, four times the amount of restructuring undertaken a decade back with increased ramifications on private and financial sector, was finalized and rolled out in 2013.

What has been the experience with corporatization and reform experience in states? How does the key issue of agricultural and rural supply experience fit in within the overall reform story?

Ashish Khanna, Lead Specialist and India Energy Team Leader of World Bank, would be sharing his own experience of working across ten states over last 13 years on reform related issues. The presentation (30 minutes followed by discussion) would also capture the outputs of recent work undertaken by World Bank on different approaches followed by states in managing rural supply, and broader lessons on corporatisation of state utilities and regulatory reforms at state power sector.

Date: October 8, 2013
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall
Centre for Policy Research,
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi–110021(INDIA)

Location:

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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

24 September 2013: Urban Sanitation: Assessing Priorities and Options

Meera Mehta
CEPT University, Ahmedabad

Abstract:
Little is known about the outcome of significant government investments being made in urban water and sanitation sector in India. To address this, a Performance Assessment System (PAS) Project was initiated at CEPT University in 2009to develop a sustainable system for monitoring of performance outcomes of urban water and sanitation services. Development and implementation of a sustainable system for the past four years in 419 cities in Gujarat and Maharashtra has enabled state and local governments to track service level outcomes. This experience has shown that assessing urban sanitation requires different benchmarks than those suggested under Service Level Benchmarks (SLB) Initiative by MoUD. For example the reality of urban India is that while 80% of households have access to on-premise toilets, only 30% are connected to a sewerage system, which often lack functional treatment facility. A majority depends on on-s ite systems, but this is not included in the assessment.Thus, an outcome based framework rather than a technology based one is needed.

To address these issues, a framework for city wide sanitation assessment has been developed for the entire value chain of sanitation, including grey water, storm water as well as solid waste. To ensure sustainability, financing is also considered in assessing sanitation options. Using this framework, the PAS Project has supported development of plans for four cities in Maharashtra to assess a range of options and their implications on service levels and local finances for capital funding and operations. These plans demonstrate that desired service levels can be achieved with investments that are affordable by municipalities and suggest wider policy implications for financing of sanitation.

Date: September 24, 2013
Time: 03:45 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall
Centre for Policy Research,
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi–110021(INDIA)

Note:
For further information, please contact: Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah@ird.fr or Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha@cprindia.org

Location:

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Friday, September 13, 2013

23 September 2013: Launch of Urbanization beyond Municipal Boundaries- Nurturing Metropolitan Economies and Connecting Peri-Urban Areas in India Report

Presenters:
Tara Vishwanath, Lead Economist
World Bank
and
Somik Lall, Lead Economist
World Bank

Chair:
Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India

Discussants:
Dr. Partha Mukhopadhyay, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Studies, New Delhi                
Ms. Ireena Vittal, Co-author of the McKinsey Report on India's Urban Awakening: Building inclusive cities, Sustaining economic growth

Abstract:
The report informs policy priorities to manage India’s urbanization. Incisive analysis of the patterns of India’s urbanization derived from geo-referencing and linking various rounds of the population and economic census highlights rapid suburbanization of people and firms around the country’s largest metropolitan areas. Three areas of policy reform are put forward. First, to accommodate urban expansion, India needs to make changes to its urban planning “License Raj”. Urban planning systems across the country limit urban expansion, redevelopment, modernization and the re-purposing of older inefficient areas. Investing in India’s institutional and informational foundations can enable land and housing markets to function efficiently while deregulating land use in urban areas. To achieve this, planning for land use and planning for infrastructure must be coordinated so that densification of metropolitan areas can be accompanied by infrastructure improvements. Second, expanding and delivering better infrastructure services to improve livability. Policy makers need to institute reforms that would help providers recover costs yet reach out to poorer neighborhoods and peripheral areas. Third, strengthening physical connectivity between metropolitan hubs and their peripheries to develop areas that attract the majority of people and businesses over the medium term. Investments in network infrastructure alongside logistics improvements can facilitate the smoother movement of goods. Land policy, infrastructure services, and connectivity—coordinated improvements in this triad can help India reap dividends from improved spatial equity and greater economic efficiency that come with urbanization.

Date: September 23, 2013
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Room No. HT-1-300,
Ground Floor, Hindustan Times Building,
Kasturba Gandhi Marg,
New Delhi - 110001(INDIA)

Location:

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Note:
Please confirm your participation to Lorraine Ghosh at lghosh@worldbank.org

Friday, August 30, 2013

17 September 2013: New Companies Act

M. S. Sahoo
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India and
and Pratik Datta
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy

Programme:
3.00 pm to 4.15 pm"What is in the new Companies Act - A review” by Mr. Pratik Datta
4.15 pm to 5.00 pm"New Companies Act and its implications" by Mr. M. S. Sahoo

Date: September 17, 2013
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall, Ground Floor (R&T Building)
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,
18/2 Satsang Vihar Marg, Special Institutional Area,
New Delhi-110067(INDIA)

Location:

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Monday, August 26, 2013

27 August 2013: Statistical Externalities and the Labour Market in the Digital Age

Ananya Sen
University of Toulouse

Abstract:
We examine whether a reduction in the cost of applying for jobs that leads to an increase in the number of candidates applying for jobs at a firm, may make the firm worse off. We build a model where there is worker heterogeneity and firms can choose to screen workers at a cost. In equilibrium, a reduction in application costs can lower firm payoffs by raising the number of applications from workers who, on average, are of lower quality than those who apply when application costs are high. An additional candidate can impose a negative externality on the firm by adversely affecting the statistical quality of its candidate pool. We discuss applications to the phenomenon of attention congestion through advances in digital technology.

Date: August 27, 2013
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room 2
Indian Statistical Institute Delhi Centre,
7, S. J. S. Sansanwal Marg,
New Delhi-110016 (INDIA)

Location:

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Friday, August 16, 2013

19 August 2013: Buying Votes Vs. Supplying Public Services: Political Incentives to Under-invest in Pro-poor Policies

Stuti Khemani
World Bank

Abstract:
This paper uses unique survey data to provide, for the first time in the literature, direct evidence that vote buying in poor economies is associated with lower provision of public services that disproportionately benefit the poor. Various features of the data and the institutional context allow the interpretation of this correlation as the equilibrium policy consequence of clientelist politics, ruling out alternate explanations (such as, for example, poverty driving both vote buying and health outcomes). The data come from the Philippines, a country context that allows for measuring vote buying during elections and services delivered by the administrative unit controlled by winners of those elections. The data reveal a significant, robust negative correlation between vote buying and the delivery of primary health services. In places where households report more vote buying, government records show that municipalities invest less in basic health services for mothers and children; and, quite strikingly, as a summary measure of weak service delivery performance, a higher percentage of children are severely under-weight. Such evidence on political incentives has implications for the design of transparency and accountability policies that are currently in vogue in international development programs.

Date: August 19, 2013
Time: 11:30 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall - 2
Centre for Policy Research,
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi–110021(INDIA)

22 August 2013: Direct Benefit Transfers in India: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Varad Pande
Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India and
Rajesh Bansal
Unique Identity Authority of India, Governemnt of India

Abstract:
The Indian Government has launched an ambitious project to provide direct payments of benefits and services to residents, based on the biometric authentication system Aadhaar, which has already enrolled more than 40 crore Indian residents. The programme has the potential to transform delivery of public services in India, improving targeting and generating fiscal savings. The Talk will focus on the strategic thinking and design of the project, its current status, and an assessment of the implementation challenges.

Date: August 22, 2013
Time: 12:30 P.M.

Venue:
Second Floor Conference Room
The World Bank,
70 Lodi Estate,
New Delhi-110003(INDIA)

Location:

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Note:
Please confirm your attendance by email to Savita Dhingra (sdhingra1@worldbank.org) by Wednesday, August 21st.

Monday, August 12, 2013

16 August 2013: Real Effective Exchange Rate and Manufacturing Sector Performance: Evidence from Indian firms

Anubha
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

Abstract:
We explore the impact of Real Exchange Rate changes on the performance of Indian manufacturing firms over the period 2000-2012. Our empirical analysis shows that real exchange rate movements have a significant impact on Indian firms' performance through the cost as well as the revenue channel. The impact depends upon the share of imports & exports along with the degree of market power as reflected in the time varying firm level mark up. However, presence of overvaluation negates the beneficial effects of exchange rate appreciation operating through the lower input cost channel. The same cannot be said about the 'price competitiveness' effect working through the export channel.

Date: August 16, 2013
Time: 11:30 A.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room 2
Indian Statistical Institute Delhi Centre,
7, S. J. S. Sansanwal Marg,
New Delhi-110016 (INDIA)

Location:

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Monday, August 5, 2013

7 August 2013: What is public about public health? Evidence from three Indian sanitation studies

Jeffrey S. Hammer
NCAER and Princeton University

Abstract:
Why is good quality health care so hard to deliver? That environmental conditions are major determinants of health is fairly well established worldwide. This seminar will present the results of three research projects that make the case for treating sanitation as an extremely high priority for Indian policymakers if they wish to attain their stated goal of better health for the Indian rural and urban public. The research to be presented will include:

1) an interstate comparison of sanitation and curative care;
2) a randomized control trial of the Total Sanitation Campaign in rural Maharashtra; and
3) preliminary results of a study of urban infrastructure and health in Delhi’s slums

Date: August 7, 2013
Time: 03:30 P.M.

Venue:
NCAER Conference Room 1
National Council of Applied Economic Research
Parisila Bhawan, 11, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi-110002(INDIA)

Location:

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Note:
Please join us for high tea after the seminar and to view a special exhibit, The Promise of NCAER, in the NCAER Lobby. For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org or on 011-2345-2669

6 August 2013: Politics and Local Economic Growth: Evidence from India

Sam Asher and Paul Novosad
Harvard University

Abstract:
Does politics have an impact on local economic outcomes? Using a regression discontinuity design built around close elections in India from 1990-2005, we examine the local economic effects of one form of political favoritism: the benefit of having a local politician who is aligned with the party in control of the state government. We show that private sector employment in politically aligned constituencies grows by 1.7 percentage points more per year than in non-aligned constituencies. We find no effect on government employment or supply of public infrastructure. Stock prices show 12-15% positive cumulative abnormal returns when an aligned candidate wins the constituency where a firm is headquartered, suggesting that political alignment is a net benefit to both local labor and capital. Finally, we use international survey data to classify industries by their dependence on (i) government bureaucracy, (ii) direct transfers in the form of procurement, and (iii) external finance. We find the effect of political alignment is largest in industries that depend most on government officials, with no significant effect of dependence on credit or procurement. The results suggest that state politicians can control the enforcement of regulation, with important economic consequences.

Date: August 6, 2013
Time: 12:30 P.M.

Venue:
Second Floor Conference Room
The World Bank,
70 Lodi Estate,
New Delhi-110003(INDIA)

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Note:
Please confirm your attendance by email to Aarti Nanda (ananda@worldbank.org) by Monday, August 5th.

Friday, August 2, 2013

2 August 2013: Cycling to School: Increasing Secondary School Enrollment for Girls in India

Nishith Prakash
University of Connecticut

Abstract:
We study the impact of an innovative program in the Indian state of Bihar that aimed to reduce the gender gap in secondary school enrollment by providing girls who continued to secondary school with a bicycle that would improve access to school. Using data from a large representative household survey, we employ a triple difference approach (using boys and the neighboring state of Jharkhand as comparison groups) and find that being in a cohort that was exposed to the Cycle program increased girls' age-appropriate enrollment in secondary school by 40% (a five percentage point gain on a base enrollment rate of thirteen percent) and also reduced the gender gap in age-appropriate secondary school enrollment by 40%. Parametric and nonparametric decompositions of the triple-difference estimate as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school show that the increases in girls’ secondary school enrollment were significantly greater in villages where the nearest secondary school was further away, suggesting that a key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the 'distance cost' of school attendance induced by the bicycle. We find that the Cycle program was more cost effective at increasing girls' enrolment than comparable conditional cash transfer programs in South Asia, suggesting that the coordinated provision of bicycles to girls may have generated externalities beyond the cash value of the program, such as improved safety from girls cycling to school in groups and changing social norms regarding female secondary school participation.

Date: August 2, 2013
Time: 11:30 A.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room 2
Indian Statistical Institute Delhi Centre,
7, S. J. S. Sansanwal Marg,
New Delhi-110016 (INDIA)

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Thursday, July 25, 2013

31 July 2013: EasyPaisa: Launching the Largest Mobile Money Service in Pakistan

Nadeem Hussain
Tameer Microfinance Bank

Abstract:
EasyPaisa, the largest mobile money service in Pakistan, has 5 million users, in a country where 89% of the population is unbanked. The service is owned and operated by a unique partnership of Telenor (a mobile network operator) , and Tameer Bank (financial service provider). In addition to a mobile account through which the user can remit money, Easy Paisa offers utility bill pay, and receipt of government benefits. This talk, by Nadeem Hussain, CEO and founding partner of EasyPaisa, will describe the role of technology, agent networks, regulation, and knowledge of customer needs, all of which contributed to the growth of this service.

Date: July 31, 2013
Time: 12:30 P.M.

Venue:
Second Floor Conference Room
The World Bank,
70 Lodi Estate,
New Delhi-110003(INDIA)

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Note:
Please confirm your attendance by email to Aarti Nanda (ananda@worldbank.org) by Tuesday, July 30th.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

23 July 2013: Networks, Commitment, and Competence: Caste in Indian Local Politics

Kaivan Munshi
Brown University

Abstract:
This paper widens the scope of the emerging literature on economic networks by assessing the role of caste networks in Indian local politics. We test the hypothesis that these networks can discipline their members to overcome political commitment problems, enabling communities to select their most competent representatives, while at the same time ensuring that they honor the public goods preferences of their constituents. Using detailed data on local public goods at the street level and the characteristics of constituents and their elected representatives at the ward level over multiple terms, and exploiting the random system of reserving local council seats for caste groups, we fi nd that caste discipline results in the election of representatives with superior observed characteristics and the provision of a signifi cantly greater level of public goods. This improvement in political competence occurs without apparently diminishing leaders’ responsiveness to the preferences of their constituents, although the constituency is narrowly de fined by the sub-caste rather than the electorate as a whole.

Date: July 23, 2013
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room (First Floor)
Department of Economics,
Delhi School of Economics,
New Delhi-110007(INDIA)

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Monday, July 15, 2013

16 July 2013: Indian Policy Forum 2013 Lecture - India: The Way Forward

Raghuram Rajan
Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India

Abstract:
The Indian Policy Forum is a joint venture of NCAER, The National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi and the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Its objective is to promote rigorous research on Indian economic policy with commissioned papers, an annual conference leading to a published volume, and the annual IPF Lecture. The IPF is entering its 10th year.

Date: July 16, 2013
Time: 06:30 P.M.

Venue:
Multipurpose Hall, New Wing
Indian International Centre
40, Max Mueller Marg,
New Delhi-110003(INDIA)

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By Invitation:
RSVP: Geetu Makhija - gmakhija@ncaer.org

Monday, July 8, 2013

11 July 2013: Role of Payments Infrastructure in Social Security

Nitin Chaudhary
Micro Pension Foundation

Date: July 11, 2013
Time: 06:00 P.M.

Venue:
GIZ Conference Room,
21, Jor Bagh,
New Delhi 110 003(INDIA)

Note:
Please confirm your participation to Suchitrita Bhattacharya at igssp@giz.de until 10th July 2013.

Friday, July 5, 2013

5 July 2013: PHDCCI National Seminar on Indian Financial Code - The Time Has Arrived

Organised by:
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi

Abstract:
The financial sector in India is currently governed by more than sixty legislations along with a plethora of rules and regulations. This has led to a lot of ambiguity in the legal framework applicable for doing business in the country. The problem gets compounded by the fact that many of these legislations were enacted more than sixty years ago, with objectives and purposes that are largely not in sync with the realities of the present day globalised competitive world creating inefficiencies in addressing critical emerging issues in an increasing dynamic, complex and interconnected financial world.

Realising the need to address these issues and for formulating a legal framework geared up to facilitate growth of the financial sector in the future, the Government of India set up the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) on March 2011 under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd.) B.N. Srikrishna. The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) submitted its report on March 22, 2013 to the Hon’ble Finance Minister. The Government has set up FSLRC Cell for implantation of the recommendations of FSLRC in Ministry of Finance and has invited comments/suggestion on the report of the FSLRC by July 15, 2013.

Agenda

0915-0945      Registration of Delegates
Inaugural Session
0945-0950Welcome AddressMr. Suman Jyoti Khaitan, President, PHDCCI
0950-1000Theme AddressMr. Prithvi Haldea, Chairman, PHDCCI Capital Markets Committee
1000-1020IFC-The Overarching PrinciplesDr. Ajay Shah, Professor, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy
1020-1045Address by Chief GuestMr. Arvind Mayaram, Secretary, Dept.of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance
1045-1055Q&A
1055-1100Concluding Remarks and Vote of Thanks    Mr. Sharad Jaipuria, Sr. Vice President,
PHDCCI
1100-1115Tea Break
Business Session
1115-1130Talk 1: Regulatory Governance in FSLRC Mr. Shashank Saksena, Director, Dept. of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance
1130-1145Talk 2: Financial Regulation in FSLRCMr. Suyash Rai, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy
1145-1200Talk 3: Macro Finance in FSLRCProf. Ila Patnaik, Professor, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy
1200-1215Talk 4: Capital Market in FSLRCMr. Ashishkumar Chauhan, Managing Director & CEO, BSE Ltd.

Date: July 5, 2013
Time: 09:15 A.M.

Venue:
PHDCCI Auditorium,
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
PHD House, 4/2 Siri Institutional Area,
August Kranti Marg,
New Delhi 110016 (INDIA)

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Monday, June 17, 2013

20 June 2013: The Role of Insurance Companies in Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Way Ahead to Universal Health Coverage (UHC)

Anthony Jacob
Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company Limited

Date: June 20, 2013
Time: 06:00 P.M.

Venue:
GIZ Conference Room,
21, Jor Bagh,
New Delhi 110 003(INDIA)

Note:
Please confirm your participation to Suchitrita Bhattacharya at igssp@giz.de until 19th June 2013.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

21 June 2013: Trade Hyperglobalization and its Future?

Arvind Subramanian
Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) and Center for Global Development (CGD)

Abstract:
The paper documents a number of key features about the trade since the mid-1990s including hyperglobalization, the dematerialization of globalization, reflected in the growing importance of services trade, the democratization of globalization, whereby openness has been embraced widely, criss-crossing globalization (the similarity of North-to-South trade and investment flows with flows in the other direction), the rise of a mega-trader (China), and the proliferation of regional trade agreements and the imminence of mega-regional ones. It discusses the proximate and deeper challenges confronting the trading system in this regard, outlines the kind of cooperation that will be required to sustaining globalization, and the role that India needs to play in this regard.

Date: June 21, 2013
Time: 06:00 P.M.

Venue:
ICRIER Conference Room,
Core 6A, 4th Floor,
India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road,
New Delhi – 110 003(INDIA)

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

5 June 2013: Is India Hedged Against Systemic Risk?

Gurbachan Singh
Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi

Abstract:
India has large twin deficits, high prices of some real assets, and (less talked about) fragile financial interdependence between banks and the government. These are all ingredients of systemic risk. However, India so far has had a reasonably good record of avoiding financial crises. This is due to five mitigating factors: (a) financial repression in banks, (b) unanticipated jumps in the inflation rate, (c) somewhat regular bailouts, (d) misplaced confidence, and (e) good GDP growth. The first three factors have persistent and arguably high costs. The fourth factor is not a reliable “hedge” against systemic risk. Finally, growth can camouflage the problem, but is not a structural solution. The paper suggests the need to reduce vulnerabilities and the role of costly or unreliable mitigating factors. It suggests a set of consistent and far reaching policies that are long-term in nature.

Date: June 5, 2013
Time: 03:30 P.M.

Venue:
NCAER Conference Room
National Council of Applied Economic Research
Parisila Bhawan, 11, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi-110002(INDIA)

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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

21 May 2013: Drivers of India's Monetary Policy

Urjit R. Patel, Deputy Governor
Reserve Bank of India

Date: May 21, 2013
Time: 12:30 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall
Centre for Policy Research,
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi–110021(INDIA)

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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

6 May 2013: Growth Challenges facing Policymakers Today

Danny Leipziger
George Washington University

Abstract:
The policy environment within which countries are currently operating is a constrained one with joblessness and low growth pervading the advanced economies. The challenges of generating growth among emerging and developing countries are thus different than in the past. This has led many to suggest changing growth paradigms and a revised view on the role of the government. Danny Leipziger will share his perspectives on the policy challenges that countries are facing and the difficulties of avoiding the middle income trap and dealing with significant shifts in the nature of global demand.

Date: May 6, 2013
Time: 03:30 P.M.

Venue:
NCAER Conference Room
National Council of Applied Economic Research
Parisila Bhawan, 11, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi-110002(INDIA)

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Note:
Please join us for tea after the seminar. For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org or on 011-2345-2669.

Monday, April 15, 2013

17 April 2013: Women's Status and Children's Height in India: Evidence from Joint Rural Households

Dean Spears
Princeton University

Abstract:
Children in India are puzzlingly short relative to their level of economic development. Stunting among Indian children is important because childhood height predicts adult human capital and health. One candidate explanation for why Indian children are so short is the very low social status of Indian women who, as mothers, feed and care for children in the early life period that largely determines their height. However, the literature lacks a well-identified test of this conjecture. This paper applies a novel strategy to identify an effect of women's status on children's height. Anthropological and demographic literature suggest that within joint Indian households, women married to older brothers have higher intra-household status than women married to younger brothers. We study children of these women: children of higher ranking daughters-in-law are taller, on average, than children of lower ranking daughters-in-law in rural Indian joint households. We provide empirical evidence that lower ranking daughters-in-law indeed have lower status in joint households and rule out several competing explanations for our findings.

Date: April 17, 2013
Time: 12:30 P.M.

Venue:
Second Floor Conference Room
The World Bank,
70 Lodi Estate,
New Delhi-110003(INDIA)

Location:

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Note:
Please confirm your attendance by email to Jyoti Sriram at jsriram@worldbank.org by tuesday April 16.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

15 April 2013: Workers Without Borders? Culture and the Political Economy of Temporary versus Permanent Immigration

Sanjay Jain
Cambridge University

Abstract:
This paper examines the role of cultural factors in driving the politics, size and nature (temporary versus permanent migration) of migration policy. We demonstrate that there exists a broad political failure that results in inefficiently high barriers restricting the import of temporary foreign workers, while admitting an inefficiently large number of permanent migrants, to fill a labor shortage. Strikingly, we show that countries that are poor at cultural assimilation may be better positioned to take advantage of temporary foreign worker programs than more culturally diverse and tolerant countries. In some circumstances, relaxing restrictions on the mobility of temporary migrant workers across employers has the potential to raise host country welfare, even though it increases migrant wages and lowers individual firms' profits. We also demonstrate the existence of multiple equilibria: some countries have mostly temporary migration programs and see a low degree of cultural assimilation by migrants, while other countries rely more on permanent migrants and see much more assimilation.

Date: April 15, 2013
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room (First Floor)
Department of Economics,
Delhi School of Economics,
New Delhi-110007(INDIA)

Location:

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

10 April 2013: Learning to Invest: The Behaviour of Retail Investors in the Indian Equity Market

Tarun Ramadorai
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

Date: April 10, 2013
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Venue:
NIPFP Auditorium
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,
18/2 Satsang Vihar Marg, Special Institutional Area,
New Delhi-110067(INDIA)

Location:

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

4 April 2013: Women's Status and Children's Height in India: Evidence from Joint Rural Households

Diane Coffey
Princeton University

Abstract:
Children in India are puzzlingly short relative to their level of economic development. Stunting among Indian children is important because the same early life health insults that influence childhood height also influence adult human capital and health. One candidate explanation for why Indian children are so short is the very low social status of Indian women who, as mothers, feed and care for children in the early life. However, the literature lacks a well-identi fied test of this conjecture. Our paper applies a novel strategy to identify an effect of women’s status on children’s height. Anthropological and demographic literature suggest that within joint Indian households, women married to younger brothers have lower intra-household status than women married to older brothers. We study the children of these women: children of lower ranking daughters-in-law are shorter, on average, than children of higher ranking daughters-in-law in rural Indian joint households. We provide empirical evidence that lower ranking daughters-in-law indeed have lower status in joint households and rule out several competing explanations for our findings.

Date: April 4, 2013
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room (First Floor)
Department of Economics,
Delhi School of Economics,
New Delhi-110007(INDIA)

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Friday, March 22, 2013

26 March 2013: Dirty but Comfortable? : Everyday state’s view of waste water in Delhi’s informal settlements

Anna Zimmer
University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Abstract:
Delhi’s informal settlements suffer from lack of access to solid waste and waste water collection infrastructure, resulting in day to day exposure of residents to waste water. This presentation explores the views and attitudes of the everyday state – the government employees and political representatives in frequent interaction with residents – regarding this issue. While these actors have specific insights in the workings of government that make problem solving in informal areas difficult, they also blame inhabitants of informal settlements for the situation to a large extent. Often, it appears as if their view of residents in informal settlements is that “they are comfortable living in a dirty place”! Differences exist however between attitudes towards slums (jugghi-jhompri clusters) and unauthorised colonies. The aim of this presentation therefore is to identify commonalities, but also shed light on the distinct positions of both types of settlements and their residents in the urban fabric.

Date: March 26, 2013
Time: 03:45 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall
Centre for Policy Research,
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi–110021(INDIA)

Note:
For further information, please contact: Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah@ird.fr or Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha@cprindia.org

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

25 March 2013: Efficacy of Monetary Policy Rules for India

Deepak Mohanty
Reserve Bank of India

Abstract:
In this paper I estimate three alternative forms of Taylor Rule for India. In view of the increasing market orientation of monetary policy with the repo rate emerging as the single policy rate to signal the stance of monetary policy, I leave with the thought whether conditions are appropriate for a move towards a rule based monetary policy in India.

Date: March 25, 2013
Time: 03:15 P.M.

Venue:
Economics Lecture Theatre
Department of Economics,
Delhi School of Economics,
New Delhi-110007(INDIA)

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Monday, March 18, 2013

21 March 2013: Technological Change and Political Mobilization: Evidence from North India

Nishant Chadha
Shiv Nader University

Abstract:
This paper empirically examines the role played by a technological change in Indian agriculture (adoption of High Yielding Variety [HYV] seeds) in the political mobilization of cultivators in Northern India in 1970s and 1980s. Using panel data from the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) from 1962-1989, I fi nd that the districts that had the largest impact of the green revolution also had the biggest increase in the vote share of the Bhartiya Lok Dal (BLD), a newly formed peasant party. This change is accompanied by a fall in political fractionalization, even as e ffective political competition increased over the period. I hypothesize that technology adoption consolidates rural votes by aligning the policy preferences of previously disparate rural groups. Examination of public good provision shows that an increase in the vote share of the BLD in a district is associated with an increase in the proportion of villages in the district that have a school (at all levels).

Date: March 21, 2013
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room (First Floor)
Department of Economics,
Delhi School of Economics,
New Delhi-110007(INDIA)

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

11 March 2013: The Identification Problem: Some Solutions and Some Applications

Esther Duflo
MIT

Date: March 11, 2013
Time: 10:00 A.M.

Venue:
Lecture Theatre
Department of Economics,
Delhi School of Economics,
New Delhi-110007(INDIA)

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

5 March 2013: Intellectual Property, Competition Law, and Economic Development - What Balance Works for Developing Countries?

Eleanor Fox
New York University School of Law

Abstract:
All over the world, a “war” has erupted between advocates of strong intellectual property protection and advocates of strong competition law that would trump IP rights and bring more and cheaper medicines, smart phones and tablets to the market. These battles are playing out in commissions and courts in the European Union and the United States. The presentation will explain the patent/antitrust wars and how they are playing out, and will address the question – what principles and perspective will best serve developing countries?

Date: March 5, 2013
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Room (First Floor)
Department of Economics,
Delhi School of Economics,
New Delhi-110007(INDIA)

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1 March 2013: Can Institutions be Reformed from Within? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment with the Rajasthan Police

Esther Duflo
MIT

Abstract:
Institutions in developing countries, particularly those inherited from the colonial period, are often thought to be subject to strong inertia. This study presents the results of a unique randomized trial testing whether these institutions can be reformed through incremental administrative change. The police department of the state of Rajasthan, India collaborated with researchers at US and Indian universities to design and implement four interventions to improve police performance and the public's perception of the police in 162 police stations (covering over one-fifth of the State's police stations and personnel): (1) placing community observers in police stations; (2) a freeze on transfers of police staff; (3) in -•service training to update skills; and (4) weekly duty rotation with a guaranteed day off per week. These reforms were evaluated using data collected through two rounds of surveys including police interviews, decoy visits to police stations, and a large-scale public opinion and crime victimization survey, the first of its kind in India. The results illustrate that two of the reform interventions, the freeze on transfers and the training, improved police effectiveness and public and crime victims' satisfaction. The decoy visits also led to an improvement in police performance. The other reforms showed no robust effects. This may be due to constraints on local implementation: the three successful interventions did not require the sustained cooperation of the communities or the local authorities (the station heads) and they were robustly implemented throughout the project. In contrast, the two unsuccessful interventions, which required local implementation, were not systematically implemented.

Date: March 1, 2013
Time: 11:30 A.M.

Venue:
Auditorium Hall
Indian Statistical Institute Delhi Centre,
7, S. J. S. Sansanwal Marg,
New Delhi-110016 (INDIA)

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