Research

Working Papers

Intergroup Contact and its Effects on Discriminatory Attitudes: Evidence from India  [WIDER Working Paper 42/2021, R&R at Economic Development and Cultural Change]
Featured in:  WIDERAngle Newsletter, Opinion Science Podcast 

Abstract: The contact hypothesis posits that having diverse neighbors may reduce one's intergroup prejudice. This hypothesis is difficult to test, since individuals self-select into neighborhoods. Using a slum relocation program in India that randomly assigned neighbors, I examine the effects of exposure to other caste neighbors on trust and attitudes towards members of other castes. Combining administrative data on housing assignment with original survey data on attitudes, I find evidence corroborating the contact hypothesis. Exposure to more neighbors of other castes increases inter caste trust, support for inter caste marriage, and the belief that caste injustice is growing. I explore the role of friendships in facilitating these favorable attitudes. The findings shed light on the positive effects of exposure to diverse social groups through close proximity in neighborhoods

Technology in Agriculture and Religious Conflict [submitted]

Abstract: I examine the effect of the Green Revolution on religious riots in India between 1957 and 1985. Using an instrumental variable framework on a district level panel dataset, I find that riots are longer after the Green Revolution is introduced, with a 1% increase in the duration of a riot. Employing alternative measures of riot intensity and incidence, I find suggestive evidence of an overall increase in religious conflict after the introduction of mechanization via the Green Revolution. I show that the Green Revolution reduces the opportunity cost of engaging in conflict by reducing the demand for labor in agriculture due to mechanization.  My findings shed light on the unintended consequences of technology in agriculture as well as the mechanisms through which this technology influences ethnic conflict.

 Work in Progress

'School's out, Lunch's out? The Effect of Summer Break on Student's Body Size' (with Claire Kang) 

Abstract: School meal programs in the US have been shown to improve nutritional intake and test scores. The onset of summer break reduces the operative scale of these programs, which may mitigate some of the positive effects of these programs. We use data from National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to examine the effect of a short-term unavailability of school lunch on the height and weight of students aged 12-17 from low socio-economic status (SES) families. Exploiting the random timing of survey month, we employ a difference-in-difference strategy to identify the summer effect on students who are eligible to school lunch program. We show that summer break, July and August, has significantly positive effect on the probability of overweight, while post summer break, September and October, does not have the similar effect. Moreover, low SES students aged 13 to 17 are less likely to skip meals. The results suggest the increase in becoming overweight during summer break may be driven by the difference in nutrition and calories of meal content when the school lunch program is absent. 

'Smartphone Ownership, Economic Empowerment and Women's Property Rights: Experimental Evidence from Malawi' (with Philip Roessler, Tanu Kumar, Peter Carroll, Boniface Dulani and Daniel Nielson) Pre Analysis Plan

Abstract: One of the most important technological advances over the last quarter-century has been the global diffusion of mobile phones. Yet, important inequities in digital rights persist. In many low-income countries, women are significantly less likely to own smartphones than men. We report the results of a large-scale randomized controlled trial (n=1,500) in Blantyre, Malawi that aims to better understand the causal impact of reducing the mobile gender gap and effective strategies to bolster women’s property rights over smartphones. We target our intervention to married women who at the outset of the study did not own a mobile phone. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: individual smartphone treatment; couples smartphone treatment; cash; and control. We are thus able to identify the effects of mobile connectivity on women’s economic well-being, household bargaining, and empowerment, benchmarked to the cash equivalent value of the smartphones. In the couples’ treatment, women participants received the handsets, but their husbands were also invited to the phone distribution to take part in a training program designed to increase acceptance of women’s use of smartphones, property rights over the device, and men’s public recognition of those rights in front of other community members. Drawing on data collected 9 months after the intervention, we estimate the impact of smartphone ownership and couples’ training on women’s household bargaining power, empowerment, and community beliefs about the rights of women to own and use smartphones. Our research thus provides important insights into the influence of socio-political factors on the effects of digital technologies in low-income countries—and mechanisms to strengthen digital rights for women. 

'Unintended health consequences of mandatory retirement age in India' (with Mevlude Akbulut-Yuksel and Shreyasee Das) 

'Water Allocation Rules and Health Outcomes: Evidence from India' (with Shreyasee Das and Nayana Bose)

Pre Doctoral Dissertation

'Slum Resettlement Policies and the Short Run Impact on Livelihoods'

Abstract: This thesis examines the short run impact of slum resettlement programs on erstwhile slum dwellers. The impact of such programs is studied through a primary survey conducted in two resettlement sites in the city of Pune, the second largest city in the state of Maharashtra and the eighth largest city in India. It is found that resettlement from the residence to a peripheral location in the city has adverse implications for employment, income and access to basic services in the short run, with women and children being affected more than men. An ex ante approach to the issue of resettlement and a more participatory approach has been suggested.

Media Writing

Menstrual Hygiene Day: Urban-Rural Divide Persists in Sanitary Products' Usage (with Madhulika Khanna)