Recent Publications
Zeeshan, Z., and Md Tajuddin Khan (2026). Participative Pricing, Food Affordability, and Nutritional Adequacy: Evidence from India. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 1-18.
Gupta, T., Md Tajuddin Khan, and Negi, D. S. (2025). Agriculture, Electrification and Gendered Time Use in Rural Bangladesh. Energy Economics, 108827.
Md Tajuddin Khan, and Zeeshan, Z. (2025). Digital Infrastructure and Gender Gaps in Labor Force Participation Across Developing Economies. Discover Sustainability.
Tyagi, M., Hussain, M. A., Kumar, D., Md Tajuddin Khan (2025). Flushed with Success: How Participation in Social Schemes Influences Toilet Adoption in Rural India. Journal of Biosocial Science, 57(2): 315-329.
Arshad, A., et al. and Md Tajuddin Khan (2025). Quantifying Groundwater Risk Associated with Physical and Anthropogenic Vulnerabilities across Coastal Aquifer of the Mekong Delta. Earth Systems and Environment, 1-29.
Alcohol Prohibition and Violence against Women: Quasi-experimental Evidence from India (Job market paper)
This paper examines the causal impact of Bihar’s 2016 alcohol prohibition policy on alcohol consumption and violence against women using a quasi-experimental framework. Leveraging three rounds of the India National Family Health Survey (NFHS 2005–06, 2015–16, and 2019–21), we employ a Difference-in-Differences (DID) design comparing Bihar with neighboring states Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh, which did not impose alcohol bans. To reinforce identification, we test and confirm parallel pre-policy trends, implement an event-study specification, and apply the Honest DID approach to obtain bias-corrected confidence intervals. The analysis reveals that the prohibition policy led to a nearly 50 percent reduction in male alcohol consumption, driven primarily by declines in beer, wine, and hard-liquor intake. Correspondingly, the likelihood of emotional and sexual violence against women declined by 40–50 percent, while physical violence remained unaffected. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy’s effects were stronger in rural and interior districts, and among households with less-educated heads. Robustness checks, including randomization inference and alternative control groups, confirm that the findings are not driven by sampling variability or model dependence. While prohibition reduced alcohol use and improved women’s safety in the short run, it also imposed substantial fiscal costs and spurred illicit liquor markets. These results underscore that prohibition can yield meaningful welfare gains for women but remains an unsustainable long-term strategy without complementary interventions.
Health Impacts of Agricultural Fires In India: Economic Valuation and Disease Burden Estimates (with Harounan Kazianga)
Agricultural crop-residue burning (ACRB)—widespread across India's Indo-Gangetic plains, where farmers burn rice and wheat residue after harvest—is a major source of air pollution, which contributes to over 1.6 million premature deaths annually and poses particular risks to infants. This paper estimates the causal effect of ACRB on infant mortality and the associated economic disease burden. Combining nationally representative district-level panel data on infant mortality (2002–2020) with high-resolution MODIS satellite fire data, I find that a rise in mean fire counts is associated with a 10–12 percent increase in infant mortality, an effect that remains consistent when fire intensity is measured by fire radiative power. These estimates imply over 60,000 infant deaths attributable to crop-residue burning and indicate that eliminating the practice could save approximately USD 9.3 billion annually. I further show that the adoption of combine harvesters intensifies burning and that existing regulation has had almost no effect in curbing it. To identify a workable remedy, I analyze a primary survey of more than 2,000 households on burning practices and willingness to adopt the Happy Seeder, a climate-smart alternative to burning. Using a choice-experiment valuation, I estimate farmers' willingness to accept compensation for safe residue disposal at approximately INR 4,500 per acre (about USD 55). Building on this, I propose Coasean, incentive-based solutions—such as Happy Seeder rental subsidies or a 2.5–5 percent premium on paddy harvest prices as practical mechanisms to internalize the externality and reduce ACRB.
Revisiting India’s Nutrition Puzzle: How Income and Prices Shape Dietary Choices and Nutrition Intake (with Harounan Kazianga)
In this paper, we address India’s long-standing “calorie consumption puzzle,” the paradoxical decline in calorie and protein intake despite rising incomes. Using the Quadratic Almost-Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) on household consumption data from 1987–2012, we analyze how prices and incomes shape food demand. We find that diets have shifted from cereals toward higher-value and fat-rich foods, with rural households displaying greater price sensitivity to pulses, nuts, and dairy products. The results highlight how economic development alters dietary structure and the affordability of nutrition, providing insights for food and health policy in transitioning economies. Together, these studies demonstrate how policy interventions, environmental conditions, and market dynamics jointly shape welfare outcomes, forming the empirical foundation of my research agenda.