Working papers 

Global Evidence on Urban Resilience and Adaptation to Flood Risk (New draft!) (submitted)

with Matthew Kahn, Rajat Kochhar, Somik Lall, and Vaidehi Tandel 

Earlier version: Adapting to Flood Risk: Evidence from a Panel of Global Cities NBER working paper 

- Media: VoxEU & World Economic Forum

Cited by: New Data and Insights in Regional and Urban Economics, by Ran Abramitzky, Leah Platt Boustan & Adam Storeygard

Essential reading for BREAD-IGC Virtual PhD Course on Environmental Economics lecture on sea level rise by Clare Balboni & Allan Hsiao 

Relaxing Floor Area Ratio: Housing Supply & Affordability in India (new draft!) (submitted)

with Geetika Nagpal

- Media  Mention(s):   The Economist (March 2026)

(In)formal Living: India's dual urban housing supply elasticities

with Arnab Dutta and Richard K Green. 

Published work

Do Mandatory Disclosures Squeeze the Lemons? The Case of Housing Markets in India (with  Tandel, V.,  Nanda A., &  Agnihotri N.)

Journal of Public Economics (2025), 247, 105395. 

- VoxDev

Do urban regulations exacerbate rural-urban inequality? Evidence from rent control in India  (with A Dutta and R K Green) 

Journal of Economic Geography, forthcoming.  

  - Older Brookings India working paper here. 

    - Media:- Livemint, Outlook Business 

Is land use deregulation enough to deliver housing? The case of institutional frictions in India (with A Dutta and R K Green) 

Real Estate Economics , forthcoming. 

  Edwin Mills Best Paper Award (AREUEA)

Building networks: Investigating the quid pro quo between local politicians & developers (with Tandel, V.  and Tabarrok, A.)

Journal of Development Economics (2023) , 164.  

- VoxDev

Women's right to property and the quantity-quality trade-off of children: Evidence from India (with Tandel, V.,  Dutta, A., and Narayanan, A )  

Journal of Population Economics (2023), 36, 2967-3003. 

Insecure property rights and the housing market: Explaining India’s housing vacancy paradox (with Green, R. K., and Patranabis, S.)

Journal of Urban Economics (2022), 131C. 

 Infrastructure, enforcement and COVID-19 in Mumbai slums (with Tandel, V. , Patranabis, S., Bettencourt, L. and Malani, A.)

Journal of Regional Science (2022), 62(3), 645-669.

 - Brookings Impact blog.

 - Media Mention(s): Financial Times, Straits Times, BMJ Opinion, Hindustan Times, LiveLaw,  Livemint

Too slow for the urban march: Litigations and the real estate market in Mumbai (with Tandel, V. , Tabarrok, A., and Ravi, S.)

Journal of Urban Economics (2021), 123, 1-14. 

 - Brookings working paper (2019).

   - Media Mention(s):  Financial Times (2019, 2025)

Decline of rental housing in India: the case of Mumbai (with Tandel, V., Patel, S., Pethe, A., and Agarwal, K.).

Environment and Urbanization (2016), 28(1), 259-274. 

- NYU Marron Institute working paper here

- Media   Mention(s):      Livemint 

Land-based Financing in Metropolitan Cities in India: The Case of Hyderabad and Mumbai (with V Phatak)

Urbanisation (2016), 1(1), 31-52.

Re-thinking urban planning in India (with Pethe, A., Nallathiga, R., & Tandel, V. )

Cities (2014), 39, 120-132. 

Vulnerabilities of Institutional Checks in Indian Federalism: The Case of the Adarsh Society Scam (with Tandel, V., Libeiro, S. J., & Marpakwar, C.)

India Review (2014), 13(2), 112-128.

Anatomy of ownership and management of public land in Mumbai (Pethe, A., Tandel, V., & Libeiro, S.)

Environment and Urbanization Asia (2012), 3(1), 203-220.

Understanding issues related to polycentric governance in the Mumbai metropolitan region (with Pethe, A., & Tandel, V.)

Public Finance and Management (2012), 12(3), 182-203.

Economics of Affordable Housing in Indian Cities: The Case of Mumbai 

Environment and Urbanization Asia (2011) 3(1): 221-235.

Selected Papers in Progress

Public housing and social outcomes in urban India (data collection in progress)

with Geetika Nagpal and Vaidehi Tandel

(Funding secured from IGC Cities 2024)

Creative Destruction: Evidence from India’s Real Estate Sector (draft available on request)

with Nirupama Kulkarni and Amartya Prem Rajamalla 

Other Publications 

Emerging Challenges of Metropolitan Governance in India (with A Pethe)

Economic and Political Weekly 2017, 52(27), 55-65.

What Urbanisation Reforms Owe K C Sivaramakrishnan  (with V Tandel)

Economic and Political Weekly 2017, 52(22), 27-29.

Real Estate Prices in Mumbai: Does the Metro Rail Have an Impact? (with Tandel, V., Pethe, A., Phatak, V., & Risbud, S. )

Economic and Political Weekly (2014), 55-61

Unravelling the Anatomy of Legal Corruption: Focusing on 'Honest Graft' by Politicians (with Pethe, A., & Tandel, V.)

Economic and Political Weekly (2012), 55-62.

- Media Mention(s):   Economic Times, Hindustan Times

Assessing the Mumbai metropolitan region: A governance perspective (with Pethe, A., & Tandel, V.)

Economic and Political Weekly (2011), 187-195.