Publications
“Intergenerational Effects of Improving Women's Inheritance Rights: Evidence from India" (with Shreyasee Das). Oxford Development Studies, Forthcoming. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2021.1899154
"Political Reservation for Women and Delivery of Public Works Program” (with Shreyasee Das). February 2018. Review of Development Economics, 22 (1): 203 -219. https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12336
“Women's Inheritance Rights, Household Allocation and Gender Bias” (with Shreyasee Das). May 2017. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 107 (5), 150-153. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20171128
“Raising Consumption through India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.” August 2017. World Development, 96, 245 - 263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.03.010
“Short Distance Standoff Raman Detection of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Adulterated with Canola and Grapeseed Oils” October 2016. Applied Spectroscopy: 0003702816681796.
Revise and Resubmit
"Reassessing the Relationship between Women's Empowerment and Fertility: Evidence from India" (with Shreyasee Das). Under Review. (Previously titled "Women's Inheritance Rights and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from India.")
Works in Progress
“Caste, Political Reservation and India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme”
In India political reservation is one of the methods used to carry out affirmative action for minorities. Reservation involves setting aside a fraction of the electoral districts for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates where political parties can only field candidates from these groups. In this paper I use household level data from the National Sample Survey along with the data on reservation of the State Assembly seats for SC and ST candidates to analyze the impact of the Indian National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) for minorities. I use a difference-in-difference-in-difference framework to study the differential impact of NREGS on minority household consumption for districts that have reservation relative to districts that have no reservation. I find that household consumption increases by 23 percent in the reserved districts (relative to the non-reserved districts) in the treatment districts (relative to the control districts) in 2006-07.
"Water Allocation Rules and Health Outcomes: Evidence from India" (with Shreyasee Das)
This paper examines the effects on health outcomes of the 1976 Krishna Water Dispute decision that reallocated the waters of the Krishna River amongst the three riparian states, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Since allocation rules often dictate how shared river water is redistributed among the states, some parties may lose while others may win in the agreement. This change in access to water can affect the quantity and quality of water that household receive in the impacted areas. This in turn may impact health outcomes, including children’s anthropometric measures and women’s health. Using the changed water allocation rules for the Krishna Basin as a natural experiment, our paper employs a difference-in-differences approach using National Family Health Survey data to assess these long-term health outcomes. The paper will also explore the effects of the newer 2010 allocation rules of the Krishna Basin.
"Improved sanitation and its role in gender equality: Evidence from the Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan" (with Shreyasee Das & Upasak Das) [working title]
"Immunization for All? The Social Determinants of Immunization in India"
"The Role of Polygamy in Family Size and Fertility Decisions" (with Shreyasee Das)