Research

Publications:

1. Raghunathan, K., Mahmoud, M., Heckert, J. et al (2025). Do Estimates of Women’s Control over Income and Decisionmaking Vary Across Nationally Representative Survey Programs?. Social Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-025-03605-x  

2. Kumar, N., K. Raghunathan, A. Quisumbing, S. Scott, P. Menon, G. Thai, S. Gupta, C. Nichols, and the WINGS study team (2024). Women improving nutrition through self-help groups in India: Does nutrition information help? Food Policy, 128, 102716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102716 

3. Narayanan. S, K. Raghunathan, A. Christopher (2024). Beyond the Consumer Food Price Index Measuring the Cost of a Healthy Diet in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 59(32):48-56. 

Coverage: The Wire, Hindustan Times Terms of Trade, Hindustan Times op-ed, The Hindu op-ed

4. Raghunathan, K. (2024). Andaleeb Rahman and Prabhu Pingali: The Future of India’s Social Safety Nets: Focus, Form, and Scope. Indian Economic Review.

5. Quisumbing, A., R. Meinzen-Dick, G. Seymour, J. Heckert, E. Myers, and the GAAP2 for pro-WEAI Study Team (2024). Enhancing agency and empowerment in agricultural development projects: A synthesis of mixed methods impact evaluations from the Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project, Phase 2 (GAAP2). Journal of Rural Studies 108(May 2024): 103295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103295 (Minor contribution as member of the GAAP2 Study Team).

6. Headey, D., K. Hirvonen, H. Alderman, S. De Pee, K. Raghunathan (2024). Diet Affordability: Understanding the High Cost of Healthy Diets. In 2024 Global Food Policy Report: Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

7. Headey, D., F. Bachewe, Q. Marshall, K. Raghunathan, and K. Mahrt. (2024). Food prices and the wages of the poor: A cost-effective addition to high-frequency food security monitoring. Food Policy, 125, 102630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102630 

8. Chowdhury, S., Md. N. B. Khaled, D. Mallick, K. Raghunathan, and S. Rashid (2024). Resilience of Social Transfer Programs to Large Unexpected Shocks. The Journal of Development Studies. 

9. Quisumbing, A., J. Heckert, H. Malapit, R. Meinzen-Dick, K. Raghunathan, G. Seymour, S. Faas, and E. Myers (2023). Gender and Food Systems: Avenues for Transformation? Chapter 9 in Ulimwengu, J. M., Kwofie, E.M., and Collins, J. (Eds.) 2023. African Food Systems Transformation and the Post-Malabo Agenda. ReSAKSS 2023 Annual Trends and Outlook Report. Kigali and Washington, DC: AKADEMIYA2063 and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

10. Narayanan, S., K. Raghunathan, S. Rashid, and A. Winter-Nelson. 2023. Lessons from a Time of Upheaval: COVID-19 in South Asia. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 45(4): 2078–2093.

11. Raghunathan, K., M. Alvi, M. Sehgal (2023). Ethnicity, information and cooperation: Evidence from a group-based nutrition intervention. Food Policy, 120, 102478. 

12.  Raghunathan, K., N. Kumar, S. Gupta, T. Chauhan, A. K. Kathuria, P. Menon (2023). Learning together: Experimental evidence on the impact of group-based nutrition interventions in rural Bihar. World Development, 168, 106267. 

13. Raghunathan, K., N. Kumar, S. Gupta, G. Thai, S. Scott, A. Choudhury, M. Khetan, P. Menon, A. Quisumbing (2023). Scale and Sustainability: The Impact of a Women’s Self-Help Group Program on Household Economic Well-Being in India. The Journal of Development Studies, 59(4), 490-515. 

14. Chowdhury, S. K., Md. N. Bin Khaled, K. Raghunathan, S. Rashid, H. Dearlove (2022). A major food transfer program in Bangladesh fell short during the COVID-19 pandemic. In COVID-19 and global food security: Two years later, eds. John McDermott and Johan Swinnen. Part Three: Nutrition, Health and Social Programs, Chapter 22, Pp. 132-134.

15. Scott, S., S. Gupta, P. Menon, K. Raghunathan, G. Thai, A. Quisumbing, V. Prasad, A. Hegde, A. Choudhury, M. Khetan, C. Nichols, N. Kumar (2022). A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of a Nutrition Behavior Change Intervention Delivered Through Women’s Self-Help Groups in Rural India: Impacts on Maternal and Young Child Diets, Anthropometry, and Intermediate Outcomes. Current Developments in Nutrition, 6 (6), https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac079.

16. Quisumbing, A., J. Heckert, S. Faas, G. Ramani, K. Raghunathan, H. Malapit and the pro-WEAI for Market Inclusion Study Team (2021). Women’s empowerment and gender equality in agricultural value chains: evidence from four countries in Asia and Africa. Food Security, 13, 1101–1124. 

17. Raghunathan, K., S. Desai (2021). Working with Women's Groups to Improve Nutrition in India. Economic and Political Weekly. Volume 56 (5), pp 17-21.

18. Kumar, N., K. Raghunathan, A. Arrieta, A. Jilani. S. Pandey (2021). The power of the collective empowers women: Evidence from self-help groups in India. World Development, 146, 105579. 

19. Raghunathan, K., D. Headey, A. Herforth (2021). Affordability of Nutritious Diets in Rural India.  Food Policy, 99, 101982. 

Coverage: Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Wire.

20. Raghunathan, K., S. Kannan, A. R. Quisumbing (2019). Can women's self‐help groups improve access to information, decision‐making, and agricultural practices? The Indian case. Agricultural Economics, Volume 50, pp 567-580.

21. Chakrabarti, S., K. Raghunathan, H. Alderman, P. Menon, P. Nguyen (2019). India’s Integrated Child Development Services programme; equity and extent of coverage in 2006 and 2016. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Volume 97, Issue 4, pp 270-282. 

Coverage: Indian Express, The Economic Times, The Hans India, MediBulletin, Down to Earth, The New Indian Express.

22. Kumar, N., K. Raghunathan, A. Arrieta, A. Jilani, S. Chakrabarti, P. Menon, A. R. Quisumbing (2019). Social networks, mobility, and political participation: The potential for women’s self-help groups to improve access and use of public entitlement schemes in India. World Development, Volume 114, pp 28-41.

23. Chakrabarti, S., K. Raghunathan, S. P. Scott, A. Kishore (2019). Effects of iron- and folic acid-fortified wheat dispersed through India’s public distribution system on anemia in pregnant women. Maternal and Child Nutrition, Volume 15, Issue 1. 

24. Raghunathan, K., S. Chakrabarti, R. Avula, S. S. Kim (2017). Can conditional cash transfers improve the uptake of nutrition interventions and household food security?  Evidence from Odisha’s Mamata Scheme. PLoS ONE.

Coverage: News Deeply, Let’s Talk Development, BusinessStandard, IndiaSpend.

25. Kumar, N., S. Scott, P. Menon, S. Kannan, K. Cunningham, P. Tyagi, G. Wable, K. Raghunathan, and A. R.  Quisumbing (2017).  Pathways from women's group-based programs to nutrition change in South Asia: A conceptual framework and literature review. Global Food Security, Volume 17, pp 172-185.

26. Raghunathan, K, S. Chakrabarti, H. Alderman, P. Menon (2017). Deploying the Power of Social Protection to Improve Nutrition: What will it take? Economic and Political Weekly, Volume 52, Issue 46.

Work in progress:

1. Ray, S., K. Raghunathan, A. Bhanjdeo, J. Heckert. 2024. Can farmer collectives empower women and improve their welfare? Mixed methods evidence from India. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2267. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151877 

2. Kosec, K., J. Kyle, S. Narayanan, K. Raghunathan, S. Ray. 2024. Claim-making under India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA): Barriers and opportunities for women’s voice and agency over asset selection. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2247. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. 

3. Ahmed, A. U., J. Hamadani, Md. Z. Hassan, M. Hidrobo, J. Hoddinott, B. Koch, K. Raghunathan, S. Roy. Post-program impacts of transfer programs on child development: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2090. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134946 

Permanent working papers:

4. Heckert, J., K. Raghunathan, E. Myers, G. V. Ramani, S. Faas, N. Ferguson, et al. 2023. Development of a Women’s Empowerment metric for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WE-WASH). IFPRI Discussion Paper 2207. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137008 

5. Takeshima, H, K. Raghunathan, K. Kosec (2022). Climate change and women’s voice and agency beyond the household: Insights from India. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2148. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136475 

Policy writing and reports:

1. Takeshima, H., J. Kyle, K. Kosec, K. Raghunathan. 2024. Gender and age gaps in voice & agency in community governance: The value of female local political representation in India and Africa South of the Sahara under intensifying conflicts and climate uncertainty. Policy Note August 2024. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.  

2. Karachiwalla, N, K. Kosec, J. Kyle, S. Narayanan, K. Raghunathan. 2022. Women's voice and agency in choosing assets: A new study on MGNREGA in India. Project Note December 2022. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136479  

3. Chowdhury, S, Muhammad N. Bin Khaled, K. Raghunathan, S. Rashid. 2021. Public food transfers during a pandemic: Insights from Bangladesh. IFPRI Brief February 2021. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896294080 

4. Gupta, S, N. Kumar, P. Menon, K. Raghunathan. 2019. Engaging women’s groups to improve nutrition: Findings from an evaluation of the Jeevika multisectoral convergence pilot in Saharsa, Bihar. Washington, DC: World Bank.