Empirical Development/Political Economy
How Do Voters Respond to Welfare Programs vis-a-vis Infrastructure Programs? Evidence for Clientelism in West Bengal, with Pranab Bardhan, Sandip Mitra, and Anusha Nath, Quantitative Economics, 2024. Online Appendix.
Decentralized Targeting of Agricultural Credit Programs: Private versus Public Intermediaries, with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra and Sujata Visaria, Journal of European Economic Association, 2024. Clientelistic Politics and Pro-Poor Targeting: Rules versus Discretionary Budgets, with Anusha Nath, World Development, 2023. Political Clientelism and Capture: Theory and an Application, with Pranab Bardhan, Indian Economic Review, 2023. Community Origins of Industrial Entrepreneurship in Pre-Independence India with Bishnupriya Gupta, Kaivan Munshi and Mario Sanclemente, Journal of Development Economics, 2022.
Evaluating the Distributive Impacts of a Micro-Credit Intervention', with Pushkar Maitra, Sandip Mitra and Sujata Visaria, Journal of Development Economics, 2022.
Industrial Clusters, Networks and Resilience to the Covid-19 Shock in China with Ruochen Dai, Yingyue Quan and Xiaobo Zhang,
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2021, 183, 433-455.
Credit Rationing and Pass-Through in Supply Chains: Theory and Evidence from Bangladesh with Shahe Emran, Forhad Shilpi and Helal Uddin, American Economic Journal: Applied, 2021, 13(3), 202-236.(Online Appendix)(2016 Survey Results)
Property Rights and Gender Bias: Evidence from Land Reform in West Bengal with Sonia Bhalotra, Abhisekh Chakravarty and Francisco Pino, American Economic Journal: Applied, 2019, 11(2), 205-37.
Financing Smallholder Agriculture: An Experiment with Agent-Intermediated Microloans in India, with Sandip Mitra, Pushkar Maitra, Alberto Motta and Sujata Visaria, Journal of Development Economics, July 2017, 127, 306-337.
Forest Degradation and Economic Growth in Nepal 2003-2010, with Jean-Marie Baland and Francois Libois. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 5(2), April 2018, 401-439.
Middleman Margins and Asymmetric Information: An Experiment with Potato Farmers in West Bengal (Appendix) with Sandip Mitra, Maximo Torero and Sujata Visaria, Review of Economics and Statistics, 100(1), March 2018.
Evolution of Land Distribution in West Bengal 1967--2003: Role of Land Reform and Demographic Changes, with Pranab Bardhan, Mike Luca and Francisco Pino, Journal of Development Economics, 2014.
State-Led or Market-Led Green Revolution? Role of Private Irrigation Investment vis-a-vis Local Government Programs in West Bengal's Farm Productivity Growth, with Pranab Bardhan and Neha Kumar. Journal of Development Economics, 2012.
The Distributive Impact of Reforms in Credit Enforcement: Evidence from Indian Debt Recovery Tribunals, with Ulf Lilienfeld-Toal and Sujata Visaria. Econometrica, March 2012.
Subsidized Input Programs and Agricultural Performancs: A Farm-Level Analysis of West Bengal's Green Revolution with Pranab Bardhan, American Economic Journal: Applied Microeconomics, October 2011.
Forests to the People: Decentralization and Forest Degradation in the Indian Himalayas, with JM Baland, P Bardhan, and S. Das, World Development, 2010.
Impact of Political Reservations in West Bengal Local Governments on Anti-Poverty Targeting, with Pranab Bardhan and Monica Parra Torrado, Journal of Globalization and Development, 2010.
Determinants of Redistributive Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Land Reforms in West Bengal, India, with Pranab Bardhan. American Economic Review, 2010.
The Environmental Impact of Poverty: Evidence from Firewood Collection in Rural Nepal with Jean-Marie Baland, Pranab Bardhan, Sanghamitra Das and Rinki Sarkar, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2010.
Pro-Poor Targeting and Accountability of Local Governments in West Bengal, Journal of Development Economics 2006, with Pranab Bardhan
Tax Administration Reform and Taxpayer Compliance in India, International Tax and Public Finance 2004, with Arindam Das-Gupta, Shanto Ghosh
Distributive Impact of Privatization in Latin America: An Overview of Four Country Studies, Economia 2003, with David McKenzie
Inequality, Control Rights and Rent-Seeking: Sugar Cooperatives in Maharashtra, Journal of Political Economy 2001, with Abhijit Banerjee, Kaivan Munshi and Debraj Ray
Contract and Organization Theory
Regulatory Mechanism Design with Extortionary Collusion, with Masatoshi Tsumagari, Journal of Economic Theory (Working Paper Version)
A Theory of Progressive Lending with Dyotona Dasgupta, Games and Economic Behavior, 2022.
Consulting Collusive Experts with Alberto Motta and Masatoshi Tsumagari, Games and Economic Behavior, May 2020. Online Appendix
Mechanism Design with Communication Constraints with Masatoshi Tsumagari, Journal of Political Economy, October 2014. Working paper version, October 2012.
Incentives in Hierarchies, for Handbook of Organizational Economics, R.Gibbons and J. Roberts, Ed., Princeton University Press, 2013.
Decentralization, Hierarchies and Incentives: A Mechanism Design Perspective, Journal of Economic Literature, June 2006
The Organization of Supplier Networks: Effects of Delegation and Intermediation, Econometrica 2004, with Masatoshi Tsumagari
Incentives and Coordination in Hierarchies, Advances in Theoretical Economics 2001, BE Press Journals, with Stefan Reichelstein
Theoretical Development/Inequality/Political Economy
Revisiting the Eswaran-Kotwal Model of Tenancy with Maitreesh Ghatak, Studies in Microeconomics, 2024.
Growth, Automation and the Long Run Share of Labor, with Debraj Ray, Review of Economic Dynamics, 2021, https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.red.2021.09.003 (Supplementary Appendix)
Welfare Rationales for Conditionality of Cash Transfers, with Stefan Napel, Journal of Development Economics, 151, 2021 ( Working Paper Version 2019)
A Theory of Interactions Between MFIs and Informal Lenders, with Alberto Motta, July 2016, Journal of Development Economics.
A General Equilibrium Analysis of Personal Bankruptcy Law with Ulf Lilienfeld-Toal, Economica, 2016, 83:31-58.
Middleman Margins and Globalization with Pranab Bardhan and Masatoshi Tsumagari, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2013. Earlier version click here.
Land Acquisition for Industrialization and Compensation for Displaced Agents with Maitreesh Ghatak, Journal of Development Economics, 2014.
A Theory of Occupational Choice with Endogenous Fertility, with Silvia Prina and Debraj Ray. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2012.
Poverty and Disequalization, with Debraj Ray, Journal of Globalization and Development, 2010.
Social Interactions and Segregation in Skill Accumulation, with Stefan Napel and Debraj Ray, Journal of European Economic Association, 2010.
The Political Economy of Debt Bondage, with Ulf Lilienfeld-Toal, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2010.
Inequality and Markets: Some Implications of Occupational Diversity, with Debraj Ray, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2010.
Aspirations, Segregation and Occupational Choice with Stefan Napel and Debraj Ray. Journal of European Economic Association, 2010.
A Dynamic Incentive-Based Argument for Conditional Transfers with Debraj Ray, Economic Record, September 2008.
Communitarian versus Universalistic Norms with Jonathan Bendor, Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2008
Intergenerational Mobility and Macroeconomic History Dependence, Journal of Economic Theory, 2007, with Stefan Napel
Decentralisation and Accountability in Infrastructure Delivery in Developing Countries, Economic Journal 2006, with Pranab Bardhan
Decentralizing Antipoverty Program Delivery in Developing Countries, Journal of Public Economics 2005, with Pranab Bardhan
Theory versus Empirics in Development Economics: A Symposium, Economic and Political Weekly 2005, with contributions by Abhijit Banerjee, Pranab Bardhan, Kaushik Basu and Ravi Kanbur
Satisficing and Selection in Electoral Competition, Quarterly Journal of Political Science 2006, with Jonathan Bendor and Debraj Ray
Persistent Inequality, Review of Economic Studies 2003, with Debraj Ray
Is Equality Stable? American Economic Review 2002, with Debraj Ray
Contractual Structure and Wealth Accumulation, American Economic Review 2002, with Debraj Ray
Capture and Governance at Local and National Levels, American Economic Review 2000, with Pranab Bardhan
Behavioral Game Theory
Reinforcement Learning in Repeated Interaction Games, Advances in Theoretical Economics 2001, BE Press Journals, with Jonathan Bendor and Debraj Ray
Aspiration-Based Reinforcement Learning in Repeated Interaction Games: An Overview, International Game Theory Review 2001, with Jonathan Bendor and Debraj Ray
Other Publications
The Tale of the Two Asian Tigers: Comparative Development of Selected Provinces of China and India since 1980, in E.Alvi and W.C. Huang (edited), Emerging Giants and Lessons for Development: China, India and their Different Paths to Progress, WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2024.
Acquiring Land from Traditional Communities: Bottlenecks, Misallocation and Second-Best Consequences, with Maitreesh Ghatak, Oxford Open Economics, 2023.
Decentralised Targeting of Transfer Programmes: A Reassessment, in J.P. Faguet and S. Pal (edited), Decentralised Governance: Crafting Effective Democracies Around the World, LSE Press, 2023.
Clientelistic Politics and Economic Development: An Overview, with Pranab Bardhan, in J-M Baland, F. Borguignon, J-P Platteau and T. Verdier (edited), The Handbook of Economic Development and Institutions, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2020.
Political Decentralization, Annual Reviews of Economics, 2015.
Changing Voting Patterns in Rural West Bengal: Role of Clientelism and Local Public Goods, with Pranab Bardhan, Sandip Mitra and Anusha Nath, Economic and Political Weekly, March 15 2014.
Political Participation, Clientelism and Targeting of Local Government Programs: Results from a Rural Household Survey in West Bengal, India with Pranab Bardhan, Sandip Mitra and Abhirup Sarkar, in Is Decentralization Good for Development? edited by Jean-Paul Faguet, Oxford Univ Press, forthcoming
Accountability of Local and State Governments in India: An Overview of Recent Research, Indian Growth and Development Review, 2014.
Forest Degradation in the Himalayas: Determinants and Policy Options, with Jean-Marie Baland and Sanghamitra Das, in S. Barrett, K-G. Maler and E. Maskin (edited), Environment and Development Economics: Essays in Honour of Sir Partha Dasgupta, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Land Acquisition and Compensation in Singur: What Really Happened? with Maitreesh Ghatak, Sandip Mitra and Anusha Nath, Economic and Political Weekly, May 25, 2013.
Impact of Minority Reservations on Targeting in West Bengal Local Governments with Pranab Bardhan and Monica Parra Torrado, in Arpita Dhar (ed), Some Contemporary Issues in Development and Growth Economics, Allied Publishers and Jadavpur University, 2010.
Local Democracy and Clientelism: Implications for Political Stability in Rural West Bengal, with Pranab Bardhan, Sandip Mitra and Abhirup Sarkar, Economic and Political Weekly, Feb 28 2009.
Decentralization, Corruption and Government Accountability: An Overview, with Pranab Bardhan, in Susan Rose-Ackerman (ed.) International Handbook of the Economics of Corruption, Edward Elgar Co, 2006
Managing the Environmental Consequences of Growth: Forest Degradation in the Indian Mid-Himalayas, with JM Baland, P Bardhan, S. Das and R. Sarkar, India Policy Forum 2006-07, Volume 3 (SAGE: Brookings Institution and National Council of Applied Research, New Delhi)