India at the GLO Global Conference 2022, December 1-3.

Events, Highlight, News, Post, Post-22

Research on India was presented in various sessions during the GLO Global Conference 2022, December 1-3. Information below. To inspect selected videos of the conference sessions see the links below.

Updated December 7, 2022.

Day 1: Thursday December 1, 2022 – 14.00 – 16.00  CET Berlin time zone!

Moderator: Michaella Vanore, UNU-MERIT & Maastricht University, Managing Editor JOPE
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14.00-15.00

  • 35 Years of JOPE: How it began – Klaus F. Zimmermann, UNU-MERIT & GLO UNU-MERIT & GLO, Editor-in-Chief JOPE
  • Remarks from the publisher: Martina Bihn, Publishing Director Journals, Business, Economics & Statistics at Springer Nature

Kuznets Prize 2023
Garima Rastogi (University of Oxford) and Anisha Sharma (Ashoka University)
Presentation of the Award: Ashwini Deshpande (Ashoka University)

DETAILS about the Prize & the Prize Winners 2023 (click the link):

2023 Kuznets Prize Awarded to Garima Rastogi & Anisha Sharma for their research on abortions in India

Day 3: Saturday December 3, 2022 – 03.30 – 05.30 CET Berlin time zone!

Improving Service Access and Delivery in India.
Organizer & Chair: Laura V. Zimmermann, University of Georgia
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Abstract: This paper revisits a part of the analysis by Banerjee et al. (2020), in which they examine the consequences of the nation-wide scale up of reforms to the funds management system (e-FMS) in India’s national workfare programme, using a two-way fixed effects specification. They report a substantial 19 percent reduction in labour expenditures. We exploit the recent literature that highlights the limitations of the TWFE estimator in the presence of staggered roll out and effect a Goodman-Bacon decomposition of the TWFE coefficient, to pinpoint sources of identifying variation. We undertake a detailed examination of subsamples of six constituent and valid DiDs based on timing of treatment that are averaged into the TWFE coefficient to identify heterogeneity in treatment effects. This disaggregated subsample analysis does not support the conclusion of any reductions in MGNREGS labour expenditures, suggesting that the TWFE coefficient based on the full sample is indeed biased.

  • Distributional Implications of Bank Branch Expansions: Evidence from India
    Kanika Mahajan

Abstract: How does financial development affect firm performance? We exploit a nationwide branch expansion policy in India targeted towards private banks to examine this question. The policy classified districts as “underbanked” if their ex-ante bank branch density was less than the national average. Extending a regression discontinuity design based on the change in districts’ underbanked status at the national average threshold, we find large increases in capital expenditures and credit growth by manufacturing establishments in underbanked districts. The increase in capital spending is driven by small and young establishments, who are also most likely to be credit constrained. An examination of mechanisms points to the improved ability of private banks to effectively screen borrowers and lend to small establishments with limited collateral, but high ex-ante returns to capital. Our findings show that financial deepening can aid in the relaxation of credit constraints in developing economies with imperfect capital and credit markets.

  • Contraceptive Usage and Fertility: What Happens When Doorstep Access Comes at a Price?
    Somdeep Chatterjee

Abstract: Contraceptive usage usually increases with easier access but evidently decreases as prices rise. We study a unique policy from India where home delivery of minimally priced contraceptives replaced the practice of acquiring contraceptives free of cost from village centers. Using a quasi-experimental estimation framework, we find that this intervention led to higher usage of contraceptives and lower fertility, potentially attributable to easier access. However, households substitute away from the priced modern contraception methods towards traditional or permanent forms of contraception, for which prices remained unchanged, reflecting a revealed preference towards costless contraception or high  fixed-cost but low variable-cost based methods. From the perspective of health care policy, while door-to-door delivery is a disruptive innovation in the market for health care which should ideally improve convenience for consumers; the actual welfare consequences remain ambiguous due to the potentially inefficient substitution patterns resulting from a highly elastic demand for these products at very low levels of price.

Abstract: Governments and NGOs have invested heavily in fighting corruption by designing anti-poverty programs that maximize transparency and accountability. We analyze whether corruption is still widespread in the context of one such program, a massive make-work scheme in India where every job spell is posted publicly online. Linking millions of administrative job records to local election outcomes, we measure how many jobs they self-deal. In the year after the election, winners of close elections receive 3 times as many workdays as losers and typical villagers. We find that corruption persists because of a gap between de jure and actual transparency. Only when citizens have tools to access information in a timely manner does corruption eventually vanish.

Single papers in various sessions:

  • Day 2: Friday December 2, 2022 – 22.30 – 24.30 CET Berlin time zone!

ASSA I: Child Outcomes. Chair: Le Wang, University of Oklahoma
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5. Vinitha Rachel Varghese (University of Illinois Chicago, vvargh2@uic.edu), “Impact Of School Consolidation On Enrollment and Achievement: Evidence From India” Personal Website

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  • Day 3: Saturday December 3, 2022 – 06.00 – 08.00 CET Berlin time zone!

Contributed Paper Session VI. Chair: Gouranga Das, Hanyang University
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Growth of Youth Population in India With and Without Jobs: Evidence from the Census and Periodic Labour Force Survey
K. Ramesh Kumar (Alagappa University)

Long way to go before they sleep: Unravelling commuting time from India’s Time Use Survey
Sila Mishra (IIT-Kanpur)

Contact-intensity, Disruptions in the Cultural Sector and Wage Inequality: A Model of Covid-19 crisis and its impacts
Sugata Marjit (Indian Institute of Foreign Trade) and Gouranga Das (Hanyang University)

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  • Day 3: Saturday December 3, 2022 – 16.00 – 18.00 CET Berlin time zone!

Contributed Paper Session VIII. Chair: Harry Patrinos (World Bank)
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The Cultural Role of Rice Cultivation in Female Workforce Participation in India Gautam Hazarika (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)

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  • Day 3: Saturday December 3, 2022 – 18.30 – 20.30 CET Berlin time zone!

ASSA IV: Labor and Urban Markets. Chair: Fan Wang, University of Houston
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2. Anjali Chandra (Fordham University, achandra7@fordham.edu), “The Roadblocks to Success: Evidence from India’s Road Construction Program” Personal Website

Ends;