Publications:
Alcohol Prohibition, Social Environment and Learning: Evidence from India (with Ather Hassan Dar, Deeksha and Sarani Saha) [accepted, Review of Economics of the Household. [ABDC journal ranking A]]
We study the effects of alcohol prohibition on children’s learning outcomes. We exploit a plausibly exogenous change in the availability of alcohol in the Indian state of Bihar, which implemented a state-wide ban on the manufacturing, sale, transport and consumption of alcohol. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we find that the ban reduced alcohol consumption and improved learning outcomes of school-going children in Bihar. The results are plausibly driven by improvements in the child’s social environment—-lower neighborhood crime and lower domestic violence — induced by the alcohol ban.
The Working Paper Version was circulated as "Alcohol Prohibition, Home Environment and Learning: Evidence from India"
Link to Working Paper Version: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4958902
Fertility Outcomes and Parental Well-being in Later Life: Evidence from India (with Bilal Ahmad Bhat and Esha Chatterjee) [Journal of Development Economics, Volume 177 October 2025, 103535 [ABDC journal ranking A*]]
We study the effect of fertility outcomes on parental well-being in post-reproductive ages. The context is India, where the gender of the firstborn is plausibly random, and parents with firstborn daughters end up having more daughters. For both women and men, we find that having a firstborn daughter leads to lower subjective life satisfaction and an increase in labor supply in their post-reproductive years. We present suggestive evidence that these results are plausibly driven by greater financial stress associated with marrying off daughters, and, for women, by the long-term effects of abortion and lower autonomy in households with firstborn daughters.
Link to journal article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103535
The Intergenerational Effects of Marital Transfers: Evidence from India (with Bilal Ahmad Bhat) [accepted, Journal of Human Resources, [ABDC journal ranking A*]]
We study the intergenerational effects of marital transfers in India. We use exogenous variation in dowry amounts induced by stronger anti-dowry laws introduced in 1985. The new legal regime reduced dowries substantially and increased domestic violence against women. We find that children born to mothers exposed to the reform have a 0.24 standard deviation lower height-for-age z-score and about 0.41 fewer years of completed schooling. These results are plausibly driven by increased domestic violence against mothers and lower household wealth on account of reduced dowries.
Link to SSRN Working Paper [Old Version]: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4217995
Link to journal pre-print: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.1022-12589R1
Intergenerational effects of affirmative action in higher education: Evidence from India (with Pragati) [Economics Letters, Volume 244, Article 112010, November 2024 [ABDC journal ranking A]]
We study the intergenerational effects of affirmative action in higher education on children’s nutritional outcomes. Our context is India, where we exploit a policy-induced introduction of reservation of seats in higher education for the socially disadvantaged Other Backward Classes. We find that children of exposed mothers are less likely to be stunted. The effect is more pronounced for daughters. Higher levels of education and greater autonomy amongst treated mothers plausibly drive these results.
Link to journal pre-print: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4944180
Link to published version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112010
The Great Indian Demonetization and Gender Gap in Health Outcomes: Evidence from Two Indian States (with Md. Nazmul Ahsan) [Economics and Human Biology, Vol. 53, Article 101369, April 2024 [ABDC journal ranking A]]
We utilize the timing of India’s 2016 demonetization policy to examine whether a negative macroeconomic shock disproportionately affects women’s health outcomes relative to men’s. Our empirical framework considers women as the treated group and men as the comparison group. Using data from the National Family Health Survey-4 and a household fixed effects model, we find that the induced income shock leads to a 4% decline in hemoglobin for women as compared to the pre-demonetization level. This corresponds to a 21% increase in the gender gap in hemoglobin. The result is further validated with an event study and a variety of robustness checks. An examination of food consumption suggests that this pattern is possibly driven by a widening male-female gap in the consumption of iron-rich foods.
Link to published version: doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101369
Mother's Widowhood and Children's Education: Evidence from India (with Pragati) [Economics Letters, Vol. 232, Article 111316, November 2023 [ABDC journal ranking A]]
We study the impact of mother’s widowhood on children's education in India. Using nationally representative panel data, we find that children of mothers who transition into widowhood complete 0.40 additional standardized years of education as compared to their same-age peers. This effect is higher for daughters than sons. Greater maternal autonomy and a higher willingness to co-reside with daughters in old age amongst widowed women may plausibly explain these results.
Link to published version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2023.111316
Working Papers:
Dowries, Debts and Children’s Learning Outcomes: Evidence from India (with Bilal Ahmad Bhat, Sarani Saha Gargi Sarkar) [R&R, Journal of Development Studies, [ABDC Journal ranking A]]
Large sums of dowry (marital transfers from the bride to the groom) customarily paid in Indian weddings make daughters' marriages very expensive. We show that households that have more daughters are more likely to have incurred a debt, reflecting financial strain plausibly induced by the obligation to bear high marriage expenses. This financial strain is mirrored in worse learning outcomes amongst children in households that have a large number of daughters and report being in debt. The results appear to be driven by lower consumption expenditure and greater maternal labor supply in households that incur debts and have firstborn daughters. Consistent with strong son-preference in India, we present suggestive evidence that girls' learning outcomes are more adversely affected than that of boys.
Link to Working Paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6085606
Crimes against Women and Migration: Evidence from India (with Bilal Ahmad Bhat)
Barriers to migration lead to intersectoral misallocation of resources in developing countries. In this paper, we provide novel evidence that having a large number of daughters may act as a barrier to migration in India, the context of the study. Families with firstborn daughters end up having more daughters, and are 20% less likely to have an out-migrant. We provide suggestive evidence that this is driven by the imperative to have male members around to protect daughters. Our results suggest that improved law and order and more security for women may improve efficiency of intersectoral allocation, and foster GDP growth.
Technological Changes, Social Norms and Fertility Choices (with Helu Jiang and Nikita Sangwan)
We study the impact of a dramatic improvement in agricultural technology (also known as the Green Revolution) on sex ratio in rural India -- a setting characterized by patrilocal marriage. Since married daughters do not make substantial material contributions to their natal families, a higher wage rate translates into an increase in the returns to having a son vis-à-vis a daughter. Our empirical estimates suggest adoption of the new technology exacerbates male-biased fertility stopping behaviours. To shed light on mechanisms, we construct a life-cycle model featuring endogenous sequential fertility choices in a patrilocal setting. Quantitative results suggest that Green Revolution can account for about 55% of the increase in male-bias in the population sex ratio. Counterfactual exercises indicate that a formal social security system may play an important role in reducing the male-bias in population sex ratio.
[Draft coming soon]