Research

Works in progress

1. “Market Power, Informality and Firm Life-Cycle”
   (with Samiran Dutta)

2. “Monopsony Power in Network-based Labour Markets”
   (with Frederic Denker and Pietro Geuna)

3. “Optimal Heterogenous Minimum Wages”
   (with David Margolis)

4. “Democracy or Plutocracy? Politican Wealth & Citizen Welfare”
   (with Nitin Bharti, Lucas Chancel and Thomas Piketty)

5. “Mother, Child and the Economy: Evidence from India's Demonetization Shock”
   (with Laura Ahlborn)

6. “Planetary Habitability, Global Convergence and Structural Transformation, 2030-2100”
   (with Lucas Chancel, Cornelia Mohren, Moritz Odersky, Thomas Piketty)

Working papers

1. “Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922-2023: The Rise of the Billionaire Raj”, 2024, WIL WP 2024/09 (R&R at World Bank Economic Review)
   (with Nitin K. Bharti, Lucas Chancel and Thomas Piketty)

6. • Press brief: WID.world

   • Interviews: Ravish Kumar, Mojo Story

   • Indian media: Business Standard, Deccan Chronicle, Economic Times, Hindu, Hindustan Times [1] [2], India Today, Indian Express [1] [2], LiveMint, Newsclick, Scroll.in, Telegraph, & others. 

   • Global media: AP, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg [1] [2], CNN, El Economista, Fortune, France 24, Global Times, Guardian, Les Echos, New York Times, Reuters, Statista, Straits Times, Time

2. “Missing the Poor, Big Time: A Critical Assessment of the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey”, 2021, SocArxiv

6. • Media: BQPrime,  LiveMint, New Indian Express, Scroll.in

3. “A comparable series of Tax Revenue Foregone”, May 2020, IIMA Working Paper No. 2020-05-03
   (with Reetika Khera)

Peer-reviewed journal articles

1. “Large and unequal life expectancy declines during the COVID-19 pandemic in India in 2020”, 2024, Science Advances, 10 (29)
   (with A. Gupta, M. Banaji, P. Gupta, P. Hathi, R. Kashyap, V. Paikra, K. Sharma, N. Sudharsanan and S. Vyas) [Slides]

   • Media: Al Jazeera, BBC, Behan Box, Business Standard,  Deccan Herald, Indian Express, LiveMint, New Scientist

2. “Weighty evidence? Poverty estimation with missing data”, 2024, Studies in Microeconomics (Special Issue in memory of Ashok Kotwal)
   (with Jean Drèze)

   • Summary blog: Ideas for India

   • Media: Indian Express, Hindustan Times

3. “Food and Social Security at the Margins: The Parhaiyas of Jharkhand”, 2023, Economic and Political Weekly (Special Article), 58 (4) 

   • Media: The Hindu, IndiaSpend 

4. “Maternity Entitlements in India: Women's Rights Derailed”, 2021, Economic and Political Weekly (Special Article), 56 (47)
   (with Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera)

   • Media: Economic Times, LiveMint, The Week, News Click

5. “Aadhaar and Food Security in Jharkhand: Pain Without Gain?”, 2017, Economic and Political Weekly (Special Article), 52 (50)
   (with Jean Drèze, Nazar Khalid and Reetika Khera)

   • Media: New York Times, Live Mint, Indian Express

Book chapters

1. “Food Security Policy and Reforms in the Public Distribution System”, 2022, In: R. Ramakumar (ed.), "Distress in the fields: Indian Agriculture After Economic Liberalization" (New Delhi: Tulika Publishers)

2. “The Covid-19 Crisis and People's Right to Food”, 2021, In: Jain, Yogesh and Sara Nabia (eds.), "Covid-19: A view from the margins" (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers)
   (with Jean Drèze)

   • Summary blog: Ideas for India

   • Media: Business Standard, Deccan Chronicle, India Spend, Money Control, News Click, FiftyTwo.in, Scroll.in

3. “Aadhaa(r) Adhura Welfare: A Critical Assessment”, 2019, In: Azad, Rohit, Shouvik Chakraborty, Srinivasan Ramani & Dipa Sinha (eds.), “A Quantum Leap in the Wrong Direction?” (New Delhi: Orient Blackswan) 

   • Reviews: The Hindu, Business Line, Economic and Political Weekly, Frontline

Non-refereed articles & Policy reports

1. “Towards Tax Justice & Wealth Redistribution in India: Proposals Based on Latest Inequality Estimates”, 2024, Economic and Political Weekly (Special Article), 59 (21)
   [Also published in The India Forum and as a WIL Issue Brief]
   (with Nitin K. Bharti, Lucas Chancel and Thomas Piketty) 

   • Press brief: WID.world

   • Media: Business Standard,  Business World, Economic Times, Indian Express, News Minute, News18, Outlook, Scroll.in, Times of India, The Wire.

2. “Balancing corruption and exclusion: Comment on the response”, 2020, Ideas for India
   (with Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera)

3. “Balancing corruption and exclusion: A rejoinder”, 2020, Ideas for India
   (with Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera)

4. “A review of coverage of the Public Distribution System”, 2020, Ideas for India
   (with Reetika Khera)

   • Media: Business Standard, FiftyTwo.in, The Leaflet

5. “Covid-19 relief: Are Jan Dhan accounts the right choice for cash transfers?”, 2020, Ideas for India

   • Media: Live Mint, Vox 

6. “Covid-19 and Aadhaar”, 2020, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW Engage), 55(17)
   (with Reetika Khera)

7. “EdTech in India: Lessons from Early Stages of EdTech Lab”, 2019, IDinsight and Central Square Foundation
   (with Rob Sampson, Doug Johnson, Hannah Barton, Ruchika Joshi, Madhav Seth and Marc Shotland)

8. “Pension Tension: Aadhaar and Social Assistance in Jharkhand”, 2018, Economic and Political Weekly (Insight), 53(36)
   (with Rishabh Malhotra)

   • Media: BBC 

9. “Well Done ABBA? Aadhaar and the Public Distribution System in Hyderabad”, 2017, Economic and Political Weekly (Web Exclusives), 52(7)
   (with Srujana Bej & Mrityunjay Pandey) 

   • Media: Live Mint