Publications

  1. "Delegation and Decentralization: Reform Ideas for Bihar's Economic Transformation", Journal of Asian Development Research, March 2021 [paper]

  2. "Political Economy of Reform", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance, January 2020 [paper]

  3. "If politics is the problem, how can external actors be part of the solution?"(with Shantayanan Devarajan), In Kaushik Basu and Tito Cordella (Eds.) Institutions, Governance and the Control of Corruption, International Economic Association Series, Palgrave, 2018 [paper][in French in Revue d'économie du développement, 2015/4 (Vol. 23), p. 5-42.]

  4. “The Government Response to Informed Citizens: New Evidence on Media Access and the Distribution of Public Health Benefits in Africa,” (with Philip Keefer), 2016, World Bank Economic Review, 30(2): 233 - 267

  5. “Buying Votes versus Supplying Public Services: Political Incentives to Under-invest in Pro-Poor Policies,” 2015, Journal of Development Economics, 117:84-93

  6. “Mass Media and Public Education: The Effects of Access to Community Radio in Benin.” (with Philip Keefer), Journal of Development Economics, 109: 57-72.

  7. “Political Capture of Decentralization: Vote buying through grants to local jurisdictions”, In Is Decentralization Good for Development? Perspectives from Academics and Policy Makers, Edited by Jean-Paul Faguet and Caroline Pöschl (eds.), Oxford University Press, August 2015

  8. “Can Civil Society Overcome Government Failure in Africa?” (with Shantayanan Devarajan and Michael Walton), World Bank Research Observer, 2013.

  9. “Political Economy of Infrastructure Spending in India,” In Chetan Ghate (Ed.), Handbook of the Indian Economy, Oxford University Press, 2012

  10. “Pitfalls of Participatory Programs: Evidence from a randomized evaluation in education in India,” (with Abhijit Banerjee, Rukmini Banerji, Esther Duflo, and Rachel Glennerster), American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2010, 2(1): 1-30.

  11. “When do legislators pass on “pork”? The Role of Political Parties in Determining Legislator Effort,” (with Phil Keefer), American Political Science Review, 2009, 103(1): 99-112.

  12. “Participation in a School Incentive Program in Karnataka,” (with Sharon Barnhardt and Dean Karlan), Journal of Development Studies, 2009, 45(3): 369-390

  13. “The Politics of Partial Decentralization” (with Shanta Devarajan and Shekhar Shah), In Ehtisham Ahmad and Giorgio Brosio (Eds.) Effectiveness of Decentralized Strategies and Outcomes, Edward Elgar, January 2009

  14. “Party Politics and Fiscal Discipline in a Federation: Evidence from the States of India”. Comparative Political Studies, June 2007, 40 (6): 691-712

  15. “Can Information Campaigns Raise Awareness and Local Participation in Primary Education?” (with Abhijit Banerjee, Rukmini Banerji, Esther Duflo, and Rachel Glennerster), Economic and Political Weekly, April 14, 2007, 42(15): 1365-1372

  16. “Does Delegation of Fiscal Policy to an Independent Agency Make a Difference? Evidence from Intergovernmental Transfers in India.” Journal of Development Economics, March 2007, 82(2): 464-484

  17. “Can Information Campaigns Overcome Political Obstacles to Serving the Poor?” In The Politics of Service Delivery in Democracies: Better Access for the Poor, Shanta Devarajan and Ingrid Widlund (Eds.), Expert Group on Development Issues, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden, 2007

  18. “Can Delegation Promote Fiscal Discipline in a Federation? Evidence from fiscal performance in the Indian states”, In Institutions and Norms in Economic Development, Mark Gradstein and Kai Konrad (Eds.), MIT Press: Cambridge, USA, 2007

  19. “Local Government Accountability for Health Service Delivery in Nigeria.” Journal of African Economies, June 2006, 15(2): 285-312

  20. “Decentralization and Service Delivery” (with Junaid Ahmad, Shantayanan Devarajan, and Shekhar Shah). In Handbook of Fiscal Federalism, Edited by Ehtisham Ahmad and Giorgio Brosio, 2006, Edward Elgar Publishers

  21. “The Political Economy of Fiscal Equalization Transfers.” In Fiscal Capacity Equalization and Intergovernmental Transfers, Edited by Roy Bahl, Jorge Martinez and Robert Searle, 2006, Springer Publications

  22. “Democracy, Public Expenditures, and the Poor” (with Philip Keefer). World Bank Research Observer, Spring 2005, 20:1-27

  23. “Political Cycles in a Developing Economy: effect of elections in the Indian States.” Journal of Development Economics, February 2004, 73(1): 125-54.

  24. “Why do the Poor Receive Poor Services?” (with Philip Keefer). Economic and Political Weekly, February 2004, 39(9): 935-43.