Publications

Affirmative Action and Statistical Discrimination in Career Progression: Caste and Careers in India

Journal of Labor Economics — 2026

Gender-Specific Transportation Costs and Female Time Use: Evidence from India’s Pink Slip Program

with Kerem Cosar, Devaki Ghose, and Yutong Chen
Economic Journal — 2026

Do Political Connections of Firms Matter During Economic Crisis?

with Gauravn Chiplunkar, Yutong Chen, Airben Sen, and Aaditeshwar Seth
Journal of Development Economics — 2025

Repelling Rape: Foreign Direct Investment Empowers Women

with Sonal Pandya and Tianshu Li
Journal of Politics — 2024

Economics of Drought

with Eric Edwards and Leslie Sanchez
Annual Review of Resource Economics — 2024

The Curse of Plenty: The Green Revolution and the Rise in Chronic Disease

with Kartini Shastry
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics — 2024

Access to Colleges, Human Capital, and Empowerment of Women

with Md Amzad Hossain and Pooja Khosla
Journal of Human Resources — 2024

Information Bypass: Using Low-Cost Technological Innovations to Curb Leakages in Welfare Programs

with Mritunjay Nilgode and Sisir Debnath
Journal of Development Economics — 2023

The Impact of Covid-19 Containment Lockdowns on MSMEs in India and Resilience of Exporting Firms

with Yutong Chen, Sisir Debnath, and Vishal Sekhri
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization — 2023

Water in Scarcity, Women in Peril

with Md Amzad Hossain
Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists — 2023

Access to Toilets and Violence Against Women

with Md Amzad Hossain and Kanika Mahajan
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management — 2022

Agricultural Trade and Depletion of Groundwater

Journal of Development Economics — 2022

Prestige Matters: Wage Premium and Value Addition in Elite Colleges

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics — 2020

Media coverage: The Economist, AEA Chart of the Week, The Ken

The Spillovers of Employment Guarantee Programs on Child Labor and Education

with Tianshu Li
World Bank Economic Review — 2020

Informal Monitoring and Enforcement Mechanisms in Public Service Delivery: Evidence from the Public Distribution System in India

with Sriniketh Nagavarapu
Journal of Development Economics — 2016

Media coverage: Wall Street Journal, Ideas for India

Adoption of Water-Saving Infrastructure in Agriculture: The Case of Laser Levelers

with Nathan Larson and Rajinder Sidhu
Water Resources and Economics — 2016

Dowry Deaths: Response to Weather Variability in India

with Adam Storeygard
Journal of Development Economics — 2014

Media coverage: UVA Today, Phys.org, Calcutta Telegraph

Intergenerational Consequences of Early Age Marriages of Girls: Effect on Children’s Human Capital

with Sisir Debnath
Journal of Development Studies — 2014

Wells, Water and Welfare: Impact of Access to Groundwater on Rural Poverty and Conflict

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics — 2014

Public Provision and Protection of Natural Resources: Groundwater Irrigation in Rural India

(Dissertation Version)
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics — 2011

Plugging PDS Pilferage: A Study of an SMS-based Monitoring Project

with Sriniketh Nagavarapu
Economic and Political Weekly — 2014

Caste-Based Clustering of Land Parcels in Two Villages in Uttar Pradesh

Economic and Political Weekly (Review of Rural Affairs) — 2012

Sustaining Groundwater: Role of Policy Reforms in Promoting Conservation in India

India Policy Forum — 2012–13