Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Electoral Manipulations, Economic Policies And Voting Behavior In India, Harini Letha Kannan

Economics Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes voting behavior and presence of political cycles in India. While such exercises have been carried out extensively in the context of developed countries and established democracies, there have been few studies on similar behavior in developing countries and new economies. The focus on India in this study may provide valuable insight into this literature in an area that has been largely ignored. Our findings suggest that political manipulation of taxes, grants and expenditures are prevalent at both the national and sub-national levels; though they are tempered by the nature of partisanship. However, while these manipulations may be …

Path To Financial Inclusion: The Success Of Self-Help Groups-Bank Linkage Program In India, Sivakumar Venkataramany, Balbir B. Bhasin

WCBT Faculty Publications

Financial inclusion has been a major theme in both industrialized and developing economies in the era of financial globalization. When microcredit institutions have received limited success in many countries, microfinance is being used in India for the purpose of accomplishing universal financial inclusion. This paper recognizes the overwhelming efforts of the Government of India and focuses on the success of the linkage between commercial banks and self-help groups (SHGs). The SHGs comprising predominantly women groups help in the social cause of alleviation of poverty, increase of sustainability, reduction of vulnerability, improvement of capacity building and help the weaker sections build …

Farmers’ Willingness To Adopt Agricultural Best Management Practices To Control Nonpoint Source Pollution In The Lower Bhavani River Basin, Tamilnadu, India, Sacchidananda Mukherjee

Sacchidananda Mukherjee

The role of stakeholders and their voluntary participation in agri-environmental management in general and water resources conservation in particular is a new area of research, at least for a developing country like India. This study attempts to understand the factors influencing farmers’ willingness to adopt agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) to protect groundwater from nonpoint sources of pollution. Based on long term groundwater nitrate concentration and source(s) of irrigation six villages selected in the Lower Bhavani River Basin, Tamilnadu and detailed questionnaire survey (face-to-face interviews) has been carried out among 395 farm households. The results of binary choice Probit models …

Does The Journal Impact Factor Help Make A Good Indicator Of Academic Performance?, Sudhanshu K. Mishra

Sudhanshu K Mishra

Is journal impact factor a good measure of research merit? This question has assumed a great importance after the notification of the University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2009 on September 23rd 2009. Now publication of research papers/articles in reputed journals has become an important factor in assessment of the academic performance of teachers in colleges and universities in India. One of the measures of reputation and academic standard (rank or importance) of a journal is the so-called …

Rescuing The Doha Development Round: Role Of India And China In Multilateral Trade Governance, Suparna Karmakar

Suparna Karmakar

This paper examines the changing contours of the engagement of developing countries in the global trade regime, with special reference to the important role India and China can play in the 21st century WTO system of trade governance.

It argues that emerging developing countries today need to pick up the leadership mantle and play a constructive role in furthering the cause for multilateral trade integration. This will be in the larger interests of protecting their international market access as well as the much needed domestic reforms.

The paper tries to identify the role and responsibilities of emerging hegemonic powers like …

Professional And Trade Associations In A Nascent And Formative Sector Of A Developing Economy: A Case Study Of The Nasscom Effect On The Indian Offshoring Industry, Nir Kshetri, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

As important sources that shape institutional structures in an economy, professional and trade associations play significant roles in bringing and legitimating institutional changes. This paper examines the roles of professional and trade associations' impacts on institutions associated with a nascent and formative sector of a developing economy. In empirical terms, the paper offers an in-depth case study of India's National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) on institutional changes related to the offshoring industry. The NASSCOM case shows that under appropriate conditions, professional and trade associations represent an alternative to the state in shaping the industry landscape.

Consumer Behavior And Competition In Retailing (A Short Note), Mohammad Amin

Mohammad Amin

Drawing on a small but growing literature, this note argues that consumer behavior may be as important as firm behavior for the level of competition in consumer industries such as retailing. We use data on 1.948 retail stores in India and contribute to the literature in three ways. First, we find that the number of non-workers in the household, a proxy for time cost of shopping, has a large effect on competition. Moving from the city with the least to the most number of non-workers increases competition by 84% of its mean level. Second, as suggested in the literature, we …

An Exploratory Study Of Financial Remittances Among Non-Resident Indians In The United States, Rupayan Gupta, S Aaron Hegde

Business Faculty Publications

Remittances by immigrants and temporary workers of Indian origin in industrialized countries are a growing part of India’s economy. In this exploratory study we examine the social and economic characteristics affecting the remittance pattern of working households (or families) of Indian origin residing in the United States. As most previous studies have been undertaken at the macroeconomic level, our main contribution lies in identifying the household level factors that may influence remittances. Using an online and a mail-in survey of 39 households we find some of the significant factors affecting remittances. We also validate some of the remittance related policies …

Relations Of Production And Modes Of Surplus Extraction In India: An Aggregate Study, Amit Basole, Deepankar Basu

Economics Department Working Paper Series

This paper uses aggregate-level data, as well as case-studies, to trace the evolution of some key structural features of the Indian economy, relating both to the agricultural and the informal industrial sector. These aggregate trends are used to infer: (a) the dominant relations of production under which the vast majority of the Indian working people labour, and (b) the predominant ways in which the surplus labour of the direct producers is appropriated by the dominant classes. This summary account is meant to inform and link up with on-going attempts at radically restructuring Indian society.

Women Head Of The Village Councils And Water Borne Diseases, Ambrish A. Dongre

Ambrish A Dongre

This paper examines the relation between prevalence of water- borne diseases and gender of the head of the village councils by exploiting a `natural experiment' in local governance in India. A constitutional amendment in early 1990s ensured that only women could be the head in at least one- third of the village councils selected randomly. Utilizing a unique sample survey, we show that having a woman as the council head seems to have no effect on the prevalence of water borne diseases. But if we look into the sub- categories of the women council heads, we find that the women …