Available on SSRN

Abstract: India has experienced a persistent imbalance in the ratio of female to male births. Although this ratio has improved in recent years, causal evidence on how policy interventions have shaped this improvement remains limited. I assess whether a nationwide government intervention contributed to this change. Exploiting the phased rollout of the reform across administrative units, I find that early-implementing units experienced a 1.5 percentage point increase in the probability of a female birth, equivalent to approximately 15 additional female births per 1,000 births over a five-year period. For second- and higher-order births, where preference for sons is more pronounced, the estimated effect is larger at 2.1 percentage points. The findings suggest that the reform contributed to the recent improvement in the female-to-male birth ratio in India. 

Status: Under review. 

Manuscript available upon request 

Abstract: I assess the firm-level effects of a 2016 reform introduced by the Indian government to enhance competitiveness and employment in the apparel manufacturing sector. The reform combined fiscal incentives with labor regulation changes and emphasized gender-inclusive growth. I find increases in investment in plant and machinery of approximately 30%-50% over the three-year implementation period, although these estimates are statistically imprecise. The investment response appears to operate primarily through the intensive margin. Drawing on the institutional context, I discuss how implementation constraints and the alignment between policy design and sectoral employment practices may shape employment outcomes.

Status: Under review. 

Manuscript available upon request 

Available as National Institute of Public Finance and Policy Working Paper No. 381 

Abstract: This is a study of tax morale in India. The concept of tax morale or the citizens’ attitude towards tax compliance is vital for the design and implementation of fiscal policy. Tax morale can foster voluntary compliance and hence support the enforcement and deterrence-driven approaches of the tax agencies. However, limited literature regarding the tax morale of Indian citizens is available. The present paper tries to bridge the gap by analyzing the available data for India from the 5 waves of the World Values Survey (1990-2014). Treating tax morale as a dependent variable, this study estimates the factors influencing it. We show that the trust in government, parliament, and civil services positively affects the tax morale of Indian citizens. The correlation between trust in the legal system and tax morale was also positive but not significant. Among the socio-economic variables, education improves the intrinsic motivation of individuals towards tax compliance. Interestingly, the full-time/salaried persons have lower tax morale as compared to the self-employed employees. This finding has important policy implications, given that the full-time/salaried class contributes a significant share of the total taxes paid by the individual taxpayers in India. 

Korgaonkar, C. N. (2022). “Honoring the Honest: A Review of Reward Systems for Compliant Taxpayers.” Taxalogue e-Journal, Issue No. 9, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi. 

Korgaonkar, C. N., and Gokhale, Y. (2008). “Stakeholders’ Analysis for Conservation and Management of Samaspur Bird Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh.” In T. V. Ramachandra (Ed.), Environment Education for Ecosystem Conservation (pp. 45–67). Bangalore: Capital Publishing Company.