4 March 2020: One Hundred Homes - A Visual Survey of India

Jeffrey Hammer
Economists Without Borders(ECWB) and NCAER

Organised by
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi

Abstract:
“One hundred homes” illustrates with pictures, videos, 360 shots, and family descriptions what people who are the respondents of the standard government surveys look like in real life. It organizes the one hundred visual essays according to the results of a household consumption survey that are used by researchers, statisticians and policy makers to bring out the richness of life under the numbers.

Date: March 4, 2020
Time: 04:00 P.M.

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

Note:
Those who are interested may please confirm your participation at latha.balasubramanian@nipfp.org.in

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26 February 2020: One Hundred Homes

Jeffrey Hammer

Fireside Chat
Govindraj Ethiraj, Jeff Hammer, Evan Wexler

Organised by:
Aksha (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)

Abstract:
A first-of-its-kind visual survey of people's lives across 100 homes representing the various income levels in India.

Date: February 26, 2020
Time: 06:30 P.M.

Venue:
Seminar Hall, First Floor
Kamaladevi Complex, Annexe Building
India International Centre,
40, Max Mueller Marg, Lodhi Estate,
New Delhi-110003(INDIA)

Note: RSVP: hariom@teamworkarts.com

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24 February 2020: When Diseases Reinvent Urban Space

Samuel Benkimoun
Université Paris-1 and Centre for Science and Humanities (CSH)

Organised by
Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH)

Abstract:
The ongoing epidemic of Coronavirus showcases the absolute need to monitor properly the spatiality of diseases in terms of case distribution and environmental context. Such a spatial analysis is necessary to be able to apprehend the determinants of the disease’s spread. The disciplinary field of health geography aims to identify the spatial characteristics that influence the emergence of disease outbreak and make certain territories more vulnerable than others. Yet while geographical factors influence the spread of diseases, analysing this very diffusion of diseases also reveals significant information about a territory’s spatial dynamics.

This presentation will focus on the case of dengue fever—whose burden is globally estimated at 390 million infections per year according to WHO—in the city of Delhi. I will attempt to show how the case of dengue invites us to rethink urban space and question the notion of “cities” as complex and dynamic systems of flows with constantly changing boundaries. This is due to the fact that diseases are not confined to administrative perimeters but move where infected people go. Recently, dengue has also been brought into the public political debate, with the campaign by the Delhi government entitled “#10Hafte10Baje10Minute”. Delhi citizens were exhorted to get rid of mosquito breeding sites (i.e. the vectors of dengue transmission) by devoting 10 minutes each week to inspecting their own houses and surrounding areas. Such an objective of dengue eradication raises questions regarding the priority focus of public policy. At what scale should health policy be implemented, and on which geographical areas should it focus? This is particularly relevant given the frenetic urban growth that the city of Delhi experiences.

To support this analysis, we will rely on a very unique dataset provided by Facebook in the frame of its “Data for Good Project”. This data gives an accurate record of users’ mobility across all of Northern India. Combined with other data sources such as Census data, dengue cases records from sentinel hospitals, or satellite imagery on urban settlement, this data will allow us to conduct geospatial analysis at a suburban level and present various indicators and cartographies depicting a broader picture of Delhi’s urban context regarding the dengue issue.

Date: February 24, 2020
Time: 05:00 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Room (Ground Floor)
Centre for Science and Humanities (CSH),
2, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road,
New Delhi - 110 011

Note:
For registration, RSVP mentioning your full name to:
neeru.gohar@csh-delhi.com

Location:

4 March 2020: Missing Women

Siwan Anderson
University of British Columbia

Organised by
Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Delhi Center on collaboration with IWWAGE

Chair:
Yamini Atmavilas, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Abstract:
In developed countries, given similar conditions and care, women tend to live longer than men. By contrast, there is an extreme demographic deficit of women in many parts of the developing world. Estimates suggest that there are up to 200 million women who are “demographically” missing due to gender discrimination. This talk will explore the age at which these women are “missing”, where in the developing world they are located, which disease environments are most relevant, and cultural factors that might contribute to this alarming female deficit. It will also point to some policy changes that can help to ameliorate this extreme gender discrimination.

Date: March 4, 2020
Time: 03:30 P.M.

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

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13 February 2020: The "My Name is Khan" Effect: Unexpected Celebrity Destigmatization and Pharmaceutical Demand Spillovers

Anindya S. Chakrabarti
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

Organised by
The Centre for Development Economics and Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics

Abstract:
Can unexpected celebrity destigmatization cause demand spillovers in pharmaceutical markets? We provide causal evidence on this question using the econometric context of the release of a highly successful Bollywood movie, My Name is Khan (MNIK) in India whose protagonist Rizwan Khan had Aspergers Syndrome (AS). Using a difference in differences setting, we leverage the timing of release of MNIK in India and examine its impact on drugs consumed in India for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) of which AS is a subset. In our baseline estimations, our treated group were medicines that were atypical antipsychotics and our control group were typical antipsychotics. Controlling for all else in the average region, the growth rate of milligrams sold of atypical antipsychotic molecules on an average increased by atleast 2.8 percent after the release of MNIK compared to growth rate in sales of the average typical antipsychotic molecule in the market. These results are robust across alternative specifications that control for unobserved heterogeneity at the molecule-region or region-time level, also while employing a synthetic control strategy, an alternative control group and sharpened sample windows. Associatedly relative to the control markets, we also observe a variety expansion in products in our treated markets by more than 20 percent, spike in absolute number of physician prescriptions and expansion of product varieties being prescribed in the market by clinicians. Our findings contribute to prior work examining the impact of celebrity engagement and endorsement through educational entertainment and media technologies. We conclude discussing managerial and policy implications of our results.

Date: February 13, 2020
Time: 03:05 P.M.

Venue:
New Seminar Room no. 116, First Floor
Department of Economics,
Delhi School of Economics,
New Delhi-110007(INDIA)

Location:

5 February 2020: Emerging ICT Policies and Regulations

V. Sridhar
International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore

Moderator
Rajesh Bansal, Carnegie India

Organised by:
Carnegie India

Abstract:
The convergence of various technologies, ubiquity of the Internet, emergence of app economy, and pervasiveness of social media have caused a paradigm shift in the information and community technology (ICT) industry. This poses several policy and regulatory challenges in the areas of industry structure, market power of firms, pricing of products and services, interconnection of networks, radio spectrum management, intellectual property rights, data privacy and security. In his recent book, Emerging ICT Policies and Regulations: Roadmap to Digital Economies, V. Sridhar provides a comprehensive overview of ICT regulation that integrates its complex technology, economics, and policy dimensions. Join us for a discussion with V. Sridhar on the policy and regulatory challenges posed by the expanding digital economy, based on the book.

Date: February 5, 2020
Time: 10:30 A.M.

Venue:
Conference Room,
Carnegie India,5th Floor,
C5, Edenpark,
Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg,
New Delhi-110016 (India)

Location:

29 January 2020: A Glass Half Full: Changes in Indian Standards of Living since 2012

Sonalde Desai,
NCAER & University of Maryland

Discussant:
Partha Mukhopadhyay, Centre for Policy Research,

Abstract:
The National Sample Survey (NSS), the flagship survey providing information on standards of living in India, has recently come under criticism as the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) chose not to release the results of the 2017-18 NSS Consumption Expenditure Survey. The NSSO has noted that the data quality for this survey is unreliable. One of the challenges facing the interpretation of consumption data over this period is the difficulty in disentangling long-term, secular changes in consumption expenditure from the short-term shock caused by the November 2016 demonetisation, which led to a cash shortage and is believed to have adversely affected the incomes of small businesses, informal workers, and others dependent on cash, and therefore their consumption. In her paper, Desai uses data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) to provide an independent assessment of changes in living standards for 4,828 households in the states of Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand during 2011-12 and 2017, and compares these to the changes in living standards between 2004-05 and 2011-12, based also on the IHDS.

Date: January 29, 2020
Time: 02:00 P.M.

Venue:
T1 102, NCAER India Centre,
National Council of Applied Economic Research
Parisila Bhawan, 11, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi-110002(INDIA)

Note:
For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org or on +91-11-2345-2722.

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