Sahil Gandhi - Research

Published work

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.

- Media Mention(s): Financial Times

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.

Working papers

Do Mandatory Disclosures Squeeze the Lemons? The Case of Housing Markets

with Vaidehi Tandel, Anupam Nanda, and Nandini Agnihotri

R&R, Journal of Public Economics

Do urban regulations exacerbate rural-urban inequality? Evidence from rent control in India

with Arnab Dutta and Richard K Green

R&R (2nd round), Journal of Economic Geography

- Older Brookings India working paper here.

- Media:- Livemint

Adapting to Flood Risk: Evidence from a Panel of Global Cities

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

- NBER working paper

- Media: VoxEU & World Economic Forum

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

with Arnab Dutta and Richard K Green (Submitted).

Scaling heights: Affordability implications of zoning deregulation in India

with Geetika Nagpal

- Media: Marginal Revolution

Can property rights improve access to private toilets in slums?

with Shaonlee Patranabis (Submitted).

Papers in progress

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

with Geetika Nagpal and Vaidehi Tandel

(Funding secured from IGC Cities 2024)

Developer Incentives and Slum Rehabilitation (administrative data collected)

with Geetika Nagpal and Nick Tsivanidis

Other Publications

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

Economic and Political Weekly 2017, 52(22), 55-65.

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