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Blog post
Overcoming barriers to access and agency for women entrepreneurs in India
Despite various policies aimed at fostering women entrepreneurship in India, few women-led businesses reach the same scale as their male counterparts. Traditional gender roles often inhibit women’s agency, risk-taking, and decision making in business, thereby necessitating policies that are specifically aimed at helping women achieve their entrepreneurial potential. In...
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News Item
In memory of Professor Ashok Kotwal
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ideas for India’s Editor-in-Chief Professor Ashok Kotwal on 28 April 2022. Prof Kotwal played an integral role in founding Ideas for India (I4I) in 2012, IGC’s key platform for contributing to the policy discourse in India. He also served as the Lead Academic for IGC’s India Bihar programme from 2015-2017, which...
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Blog post
Addressing gender-based violence through public health: Evidence from India
The framing of violence against women as a public health issue allows for more robust multi-disciplinary interventions through the healthcare sector and necessitates analysis of the sector’s capacity to recognise, intervene, and prevent GBV. Gender-based violence (GBV) is recognised as a complex health problem rooted in patriarchal social norms and the economic...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Gender-based violence, empowerment, and public health: Towards a model of complex interventions in Bihar
Gender-based violence still affects women’s daily lives and their opportunities for work and social mobility in India. This study aims to understand the complex dynamics of gender-based violence (GBV) in Bihar. This is a mixed-methods pilot study examining the structural determinants of gender-based violence and empowerment. Through data from multiple sources, the...
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Blog post
She wins: Electing women in ethnically divided societies
The Indian Constitution reserves at least 33% of seats in rural local governments for women, and Bihar is among the nine states that have opted for 50% reservation. However, women remain heavily underrepresented at the state and central levels. This note investigates how gender interacts with caste, political campaigns, and experiences of discrimination, to shape...
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Blog post
How cleaner cookstoves and fuels could benefit women’s health and the environment
With lesser access to financial resources and greater domestic responsibilities, women face the brunt of the climate change crisis. In particular, women are more affected by indoor air pollution caused by unclean cookstoves or fuel. In this post, Sharma and McDonough discuss the evidence around research efforts in India to promote the uptake of cleaner alternatives for...
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Blog post
Easing contracting frictions with machines: Evidence from India
Mechanisation standardises output and lowers supervision needs for hired labour, freeing owners’ families to engage in profitable off-farm activities A long-standing tradition in economics argues that an essential condition for economic development is the adoption of technologies that increase agricultural productivity, thereby making workers available for other...
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Blog post
Escaping the subsidy-quality trap in India’s retail electricity market
Reducing power prices for commercial and industrial consumers can help utilities raise revenue and enhance service quality across the system In many parts of the developing world, public utility companies providing services like electricity, water, transportation, and sanitation find themselves in a political-economic equilibrium characterised by poor service quality...
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Blog post
Rank and peer effects in higher education: Evidence from India
A more selective academic environment benefits female students along multiple dimensions but male students fail to take advantage of this exposure College education is an important milestone in life. Consequently, there is acute pressure to enrol in more selective colleges as they are expected to provide better teachers, infrastructure, brand value, networking...
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Blog post
Environmental relocation and firm outcomes
Industrial relocation policies have become increasingly popular as a policy tool to combat pollution in the developing world. Using Economic Census data from 2005 and 2013, this article examines the impact of an industrial relocation policy in Delhi, and shows that relocation caused a long-term change in the location and concentration of firms. The data also indicate...