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2745 items in total found

Working Papers | 2023

Tracing Economic Policies to Ancient Indian Economic Ethics

Satish Y. Deodhar

Science without history is like a man without memory. The colossal history of India stores many ideas on economic ethics and public policy which have been forgotten in the course of time. This paper is an attempt to bring to the fore, contributions from ancient Indian treatises. In this context, the paper briefly summarizes alternative economic ideas such as communism, capitalism, and the holistic approach of ancient Indian writings. I discuss the idea of the welfare brick for an individual consisting of three dimensions – Purusharthas, Ashramas, and Varnas. Given the contours of the welfare brick, next I discuss the concept of state and its economic policies, followed by coverage of markets, prices, interest rates, and credit. Thereafter, I delve into treatment of land, property rights, and guilds and unions, with special attention to labour relations covered in Arthashastra and Shukranitisara. The penultimate section summarises the economic advice author of Shukrantisara offers to the head of a household. Finally, in concluding comments, I bring out the relevance of ancient Indian writings for modern times –both for pedagogy and economic policies.

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Working Papers | 2023

Do firms respond to commitments on climate change? Impact of COP21 on investment intensity

Pramendra Singh Tank, Sanjay Kumar Jain and Balagopal Gopalakrishnan

In the Paris Climate Agreement (COP21), countries pledged to restrict global warming to 1.5-2.0 degrees Celsius by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We examine whether firms respond to the commitments made by countries in the period following the agreement. Using cross-country data with 68,471 firm-year observations and a policy experiment approach, we find that manufacturing firms domiciled in countries with ex-ante higher GHG emissions per capita reduce their capital expenditure intensity after COP21. We also find that the market valuations of such firms are substantially depressed compared to those firms located in countries with low GHG emissions per capita. The findings suggest that climate policy uncertainty and transition risks have likely contributed to the heterogeneous firm response across countries. The insights from our study contribute to a relatively novel literature that assesses the impact of the global climate agreement on capital expenditure intensity and market valuation. 

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Working Papers | 2023

New age digital media consumption: An exploratory study based in India

Rajat Sharma and Vikash Gautam

Digitalisation continually changes the way societies conceptualise the role of the state in regulation and supervision of markets. India is graduating from a command-and-control model of economic and regulatory oversight of traditional industries, to a light-touch one for new industries. However, such an approach requires considered assessments of user/consumer perceptions towards the government and industrial inventions and behavioural responses while they plan to engage in digital consumption of the three

markets. Accordingly, a large survey of 2000 users and app-data of over 20.58 lakhs users was collected and analysed to assess the perception and behaviour of users of digital markets. 

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Working Papers | 2023

Gold in household portfolios during a pandemic: Evidence from an emerging economy

Oindrila Chatterjee, Balagopal Gopalakrishnan, and Sanket Mohapatra

This paper examines how Indian households allocate their savings portfolio across gold, financial assets, and cash during the COVID-19 crisis. Our study relies on an extensive household survey in 142 districts across 21 states in India conducted during the 2020-2021 financial year. We find that the portfolio allocation of households in districts with a higher incidence of COVID-19 shifted towards gold during the pandemic compared to households in other districts. The shift towards gold is accompanied by a shift away from financial assets and other assets (primarily cash). A similar shift towards gold is observed for districts that experienced the most adverse economic impact--as measured by lower night-time lights intensity--during the pandemic. Households in districts with greater banking access and better health infrastructure show a smaller shift towards gold. A panel estimation with normal and COVID-19 period surveys confirms the baseline results. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the role of economic crisis in shaping the financial decisions of households. 

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Working Papers | 2023

COVID-19 pandemic intensity, migration status, and household financial vulnerability: Evidence from India

Sanket Mohapatra, and Akshita Nigania

The COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted many households across the world. Recent studies on the pandemic have focused on its impact on income, consumption, and poverty of households, but not directly on their financial well-being. Building on the prior literature on measures of financial vulnerability, this paper analyses the heterogeneous effects of COVID-19 on household financial vulnerability based on the geographical variation in the intensity of the pandemic in India and households’ migration status. Using a difference-indifferences approach and coarsened exact matching, we find a larger increase in household financial vulnerability in Indian districts that are more exposed to COVID-19 and those that experience a greater decline in night-time lights (a proxy for economic activity) compared to households in other districts. We also find that households with an out-migrant, particularly those with a female head, experience lower financial vulnerability during the pandemic, likely due to the financial contribution of migrants. However, financial vulnerability during COVID-19 is substantially higher for households that had an out-migrant in the prior period but not during the pandemic, with a larger effect observed for female-headed households. The findings of this paper contribute to a better understanding of the varied effects of the pandemic on households.

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Working Papers | 2023

गाय आधारिक उन्नति (गौ)* : उन्नत तकनीक के इस्तेमाल से गाय आधारित अर्थव्यवस्था का आधुनिकीकरण

Gaurav Kumar Kapadia, Amit Garg, Pradeep Kumar Mishra, Nishank Krishna and Aparjita Mishra

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Working Papers | 2023

Gold in household portfolios during a pandemic: Evidence from an emerging economy

Oindrila Chatterjee, Balagopal Gopalakrishnan, and Sanket Mohapatra

This paper examines how Indian households allocate their savings portfolio across gold, financial assets, and cash during the COVID-19 crisis. Our study relies on an extensive household survey in 142 districts across 21 states in India conducted during the 2020-2021 financial year. We find that the portfolio allocation of households in districts with a higher incidence of COVID-19 shifted towards gold during the pandemic compared to households in other districts. The shift towards gold is accompanied by a shift away from financial assets and other assets (primarily cash). A similar shift towards gold is observed for districts that experienced the most adverse economic impact--as measured by lower night-time lights intensity--during the pandemic. Households in districts with greater banking access and better health infrastructure show a smaller shift towards gold. A panel estimation with normal and COVID-19 period surveys confirms the baseline results. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the role of economic crisis in shaping the financial decisions of households.

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Working Papers | 2023

Disciplining Orders Under the National Financial Reporting Authority Framework: Stepping into a Strict Liability Regime

M P Ram Mohan and Vishakha Raj

The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) was established to fill a gap in the oversight of auditors by independent regulatory bodies. Prior to the establishment of the NFRA, only the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), a self-regulatory body could bar auditors from practicing in the event that they had engaged in professional misconduct. This regime began to change as auditors engaged with public firms, bringing the securities regulator into the mix as well. The decisions of ICAI and SEBI have not followed a consistent approach. A finding of misconduct is often accompanied by a finding of gross negligence and the latter does not have a uniform definition. The NFRA, being a nascent authority has only begun to issue orders against auditors over whom it has jurisdiction. Its orders are based on the same substantive law relating to professional misconduct of auditors as the ICAI, however, NFRA orders have shown more consistency in their approach and outcome. This paper examines the decisions of the NFRA from 2020 till December 2022 and posits that the consistency in its approach has been achieved by developing a no-fault regime for auditors.

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Working Papers | 2023

Tests to Determine Employer-Employee Relationships in India: Looking towards the Future?

M. P. Ram Mohan and Sai Muralidhar K.

The underpinning of an employee’s social security benefits is an employer-employee relationship. Workers are traditionally classified as employees (contract of service) or independent contractors (contract for service). Over the years, Indian courts relied on the control, integration and multifactor tests to determine the correct nature of employment contracts. The paper explores the evolution of these tests and examines whether the standards of the burden of proof in classification disputes require modification. The authors then dissect the efficacy of the current multifactor tests in emerging platforms and gig economies by looking at standard form contracts signed by a popular food delivery platform in India. Finally, the ability of newly enacted labour codes, particularly the Code on Social Security 2020, to address the classification conundrum and its consistency with precedents is explored.

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Working Papers | 2023

Unlocking the Power of Accelerators: The Crucial Role of Institutions in Boosting New Venture Performance

Pramendra Singh Tank

Accelerators are becoming popular in helping new ventures succeed. However, current research on their impact on new venture performance does not consider the role of institutional environment. This paper examines the importance of institutions and assesses the impact of accelerators on new venture performance using a generalized difference-in-differences technique on a worldwide accelerator database. The study finds that while accelerators positively impact revenue and equity funding, however the impact is higher in countries with strong institutions. The study highlights the significance of institutions in assessing the impact of accelerators on new ventures, contributing to nascent research in this area.

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