Dilip Mookherjee
Dilip Mookherjee is Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for Economic Development at Boston University. He received his PhD from the London School of Economics in 1982, and has previously taught at Stanford University and the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. His research interests include development economics, contract and organization theory. Recent projects on South Asian countries include agricultural supply chains; microfinance and financial development, land acquisition laws, land reforms, decentralization, and deforestation. He is Lead Academic of the IGC India Central Program, and has been past-President of BREAD. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and has been recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Mahalanobis Memorial Medal of the Indian Econometric Society.
Content by Dilip Mookherjee
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Data Item
Data: Potato Traders in West Bengal: A Survey of Contractual Relations and Market Structure
Our study consists of a pilot survey of a random sub-set of phorias (middlemen) and larger traders who operate in 72 villages of West Medinipur and Hugli districts and their corresponding potato markets. Our goal is to understand the nature of contractual relations between farmers and phorias on the one hand, and between phorias and wholesale traders that they sell to on...
28 Feb 2019
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Publication - Project Report
Community origins of industrial entrepreneurship: Theory and historical evidence from India
16 Nov 2017 | Bishnupriya Gupta, Dilip Mookherjee, Kaivan Munshi, Mario Sanclemente
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Blog post
An economist’s view on recent domestic and world events
Dilip Mookherjee spoke to Hindu Business Line at length on a variety of issues including demonetisation, the upcoming Budget, and the Trump Presidency’s impact on the world economy. Excerpts: What are your views on the recent demonetisation exercise? Yes I’m struck by the audaciousness of the move, I don’t know how well planned it was. In terms of motives one can...
13 Feb 2017 | Dilip Mookherjee
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Project
Community origins of industrial entrepreneurship: Theory and historical evidence from India
The transition from agriculture to trade and the subsequent transition from trade to manufacturing are key stages in the development process. In countries where a substantial manufacturing sector exists, a few small communities often dominate it. Our objective in this project is to examine, theoretically and empirically, the role played by community networks in the...
14 Jun 2016 | Bishnupriya Gupta, Kaivan Munshi, Dilip Mookherjee
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Blog post
A new approach to microfinance
Traditional microcredit has had limited success at enabling farmers to expand the cultivation of risky but profitable cash crops. A new approach that uses local intermediaries and aligns their incentives with farmer profits could generate better outcomes for agricultural production and incomes
15 Dec 2014 | Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee, Alberto Motta, Sujata Visaria
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Blog post
(Mis)Leading attack on MNREGA
Despite high profile calls for phasing out the India government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), analysis by IGC economists suggests the argument is based on exaggerating the costs of the programme and down-playing the benefits. The case highlights the need for evidence based research to inform public policy
17 Nov 2014 | Dilip Abreu, Pranab Bardhan, Maitreesh Ghatak, Ashok Kotwal, Dilip Mookherjee, Debraj Ray
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Blog post
MNREGA: Populist leaky bucket or anti-poverty success?
The world’s largest workfare programme – MNREGA – formed the backbone of the Indian United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s anti-poverty programme, and may well represent its most important legacy. While the programme was far from perfect, it was much more effective than other existing schemes Nine years ago, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)...
13 Oct 2014 | Dilip Mookherjee
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Publication - Working Paper
Why the left front lost West Bengal: Poor Governance or Enhanced Accountability Standards?
10 Oct 2014 | Pranab Bardhan, Dilip Mookherjee, Sandip Mitra
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Publication - Policy Brief
Political Clientelism and Government Accountability in West Bengal: Theory and Evidence (Policy Brief)
10 Oct 2014 | Dilip Mookherjee, Pranab Bardhan
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Project
Political Clientelism and Government Accountability in West Bengal: Theory and Evidence
Many developing countries are decentralizing delivery of public services to local governments in the hope this will enhance accountability of service providers. To what extent is it actually succeeding? As highlighted by the 2004 World Development Report, this issue has become highly relevant in large parts of the developing world, given widespread evidence of serious...
4 Sep 2014 | Dilip Mookherjee, Pranab Bardhan, Sandip Mitra
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Project
Middleman Margins, Credit and Information Constraints: Potato Markets in West Bengal, India
Credit and information constraints are particularly acute for farmers in developing countries, and can have a strong impact on their productivity. This project studies pass-through of fluctuations of retail prices to farm-gate prices in the context potato cultivation in West Bengal, India. The primary focus is on credit and information constraints faced by potato farmers...
4 Sep 2014 | Dilip Mookherjee, Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra, Sujata Visaria
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Publication - Working Paper
Potato Traders in West Bengal: A Survey of Contractual Relations and Market Structure
1 Mar 2013 | Dilip Mookherjee
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Publication - Policy Brief
Political Clientelism and Government Accountability in West Bengal: Theory and Evidence (Policy Brief)
1 Dec 2012 | Pranab Bardhan, Dilip Mookherjee
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Publication - Working Paper
Political Clientelism and Government Accountability in West Bengal: Theory and Evidence (Working Paper)
2 Nov 2012 | Pranab Bardhan, Dilip Mookherjee
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Project
Potato Traders in West Bengal: A Survey of Contractual Relations and Market Structure
Credit and information constraints are particularly acute for farmers in developing countries, and can have a strong impact on their productivity. This project studies pass-through of fluctuations of retail prices to farm-gate prices in the context potato cultivation in West Bengal, India. The primary focus is on credit and information constraints faced by potato farmers...
1 Aug 2012 | Dilip Mookherjee
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Publication - Policy Brief
Potato Traders in West Bengal: A Survey of Contractual Relations and Market Structure (Policy Brief)
1 Jun 2012 | Dilip Mookherjee, Sujata Visaria, Pushkar Maitra, Alberto Motta, Sandip Mitra
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Publication - Working Paper
Asymmetric Information and Middleman Margins (Working Paper)
1 Mar 2012 | Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee, Maximo Torero, Sujata Visaria
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Publication - Working Paper
Intermediated Loans: A New Approach to Microfinance (Working Paper)
1 Mar 2012 | Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee, Alberto Motta, Sujata Visaria
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Publication - Policy Brief
Intermediated Loans: A New Approach to Microfinance (Policy Brief)
1 Mar 2012 | Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee, Alberto Motta, Sujata Visaria
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Publication - Working Paper
Land Acquisition for Business and Compensation of Displaced Farmers (Working Paper)
1 Oct 2011 | Maitreesh Ghatak, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee
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Publication - Policy Brief
Land Acquisition for Business and Compensation of Displaced Farmers (Policy Brief)
1 Oct 2011 | Maitreesh Ghatak, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee
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Project
Case study on successful land acquisitions in Bihar
Over the last few years, large-scale land acquisitions of farmland for business in Africa, Latin America, and Asia have often made headlines because of controversies concerning compensation paid to displaced farmers. This has led to political strife, often leading to the abandonment of profitable projects, thereby dealing a blow to the development process. The issue of...
1 Jan 2011 | Maitreesh Ghatak, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee
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Project
Land Acquisition for Business and Compensation of Displaced Farmers
Over the last few years, large-scale land acquisitions of farmland for business in Africa, Latin America, and Asia have often made headlines because of controversies concerning compensation paid to displaced farmers. This has led to political strife, often leading to the abandonment of profitable projects, thereby dealing a blow to the development process. The issue of...
1 Apr 2010 | Maitreesh Ghatak, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee