Research

While the health and environmental benefits of adopting clean cooking fuel are widely documented in the literature, the immediate and direct benefit—women’s time-saving for fuel collection/preparation and cooking—has received little or no attention. Using panel data from 6 energy-poor Indian states involving about 9000 households, we test whether liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) adoption enhances women’s welfare by reducing fuel collection/preparation and cooking time and improving the overall cooking experience through a convenient and efficient cooking arrangement. We also explore the association between women’s participation in decision-making and the likelihood of LPG adoption and refill. The findings reveal that LPG adopters save time by collecting firewood less frequently and preparing fewer pieces of dung cake than non-adopters. Additionally, LPG adopters save 15 min of cooking time per day than non-adopters. Finally, LPG adoption makes the cooking experience more convenient and simpler than traditional cooking fuel. Women’s sole or joint decision-making power is positively correlated with LPG adoption and refilling LPG cylinders. These findings imply that the true social benefit of clean cooking fuel adoption is much greater than the welfare gain accrued through greenhouse gas mitigation and health benefits from cleaner air. However, these positive externalities are less likely to be internalized in fuel choice decisions in households where women do not participate in important household decision-making. 

Legislative deliberation is central to the policymaking process in parliamentary democracies. The question-answer session in parliaments allow representatives to hold the government accountable for their statements and policies. Using a novel dataset of 345,000 questions raised over 24 years in the Indian parliament, this paper studies the determinants and consequences of social policy questions in the Indian parliament. It studies how constituency preferences, social identity (gender, caste and tribe), and own interests of a parliamentarian influence the questions they raise, and the policy and political consequences of such questions. It presents three findings. First, a fixed effects model shows that the group size of elected representatives impact the preferences that they represent in parliament. Elected representatives from marginalized communities -- Scheduled Caste and Tribe -- raise questions that represent the preferences of their entire constituency. Male parliamentarians from the general community raise questions that are of importance to their own identity group. Second, using a regression discontinuity and pre-post identification strategy, the paper finds that parliamentarian identity shapes legislative priorities. Parliamentarians raise more questions about `high priority' issues for their community, and comparatively less questions regarding `low priority' issues. In addition, all parliamentarians raise questions regarding the social-sector issues they they report as their priority. Finally, it presents evidence that parliamentary questions contribute to the agenda-setting stage of development policy, and positively impacts the political ratings of individuals. Taken together, the paper presents new evidence about how constituency preferences and political identity shape substantive representation in parliament, which, in turn, positively influences the agenda-setting stage of public policy formulation and the political ratings of members of parliament.

We show that growing up in a democracy raises intergenerational mobility, using census microdata for 56 countries.  Our empirical strategy exploits within-country, across-cohort variation in childhood exposure to democracy due to the timing of a country's democratic transition (or reversal) relative to an individual's childhood years.  Greater childhood exposure to democracy raises educational attainment, and these effects are strongest for individuals with less educated parents.  Growing up in a democracy thus weakens the intergenerational correlation in educational outcomes.  These patterns are present in 85% of the countries in our dataset, and are robust to using different data and an IV strategy that is based on regional democratization waves.  We also find evidence that childhood exposure to democracy is positively correlated with longer-term outcomes such as asset ownership. Education gains are largest in middle-income countries and for upper-primary and lower-secondary attainment. We provide suggestive evidence that the mechanism behind greater social mobility and positive long-term outcomes is greater public investment in primary and secondary schooling by democratic governments.

Using a survey experiment conducted in India, we investigate how the content of textbooks impacts attitudes toward Muslims, a religious minority that has faced persistent discrimination and disadvantage. Participants were assigned to read ethnocentric, inclusive, or neutral excerpts from official school textbooks. Then, they evaluated fictitious job applicants from different religious groups. In summary, we find that textbook content matters. Exposure to inclusive narratives increased favorable ratings of Muslim applicants, relative to Hindu applicants, for lower status jobs. These effects were strongest among participants from lower castes and those educated in public secondary schools. By leveraging real curricular material in a politically salient context, our findings provide rare evidence that textbook narratives influence intergroup attitudes. More broadly, this work highlights how curriculum design–at the center of contestation in many countries–can serve as a powerful tool to foster social cohesion. 

On April 22, 2025, militants carried out an attack near the village of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. Over the next couple of weeks, tensions between India and Pakistan escalated, culminating in a 4-day war between the nuclear powers. Using a survey experiment conducted in Uttar Pradesh, we explore how changes in geopolitical tensions influenced the attitudes of Indian Hindus toward Indian Muslims and other minorities. We find that the conflict between India and Pakistan caused Hindu attitudes toward religious minorities to significantly deteriorate. Negative attitudes toward Muslims and Christians peaked after India announced nationwide preparations for a “hostile attack” but eased somewhat when India engaged in direct conflict with Pakistan. Attitudes nearly returned to baseline levels in the days following the ceasefire. Regarding theoretical mechanisms, the evidence suggests that despite any positive impacts of rallying around the flag, the negative impacts of psychological distress and group threat had dominated. Taken together, the findings underscore the vulnerability of minorities during times of national crisis