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This paper presents evidence of gender peer effects in high schools in India using new administrative data. Identification of gender peer effects is achieved by exploiting variation induced by idiosyncratic changes in gender composition across cohorts within schools, in addition to controlling for past scores. The proportion of female classmates in a student's cohort has a sizeable positive effect on the test scores of both male and female students. We find that peer effects vary non-linearly with the proportion of female students. Finally, we provide suggestive evidence on plausible mechanisms. We show that achievement spillovers are not the main driver of positive gender peer effects. Using a supplemental dataset, we show that a greater proportion of female students leads to an improved classroom environment in the context of Indian schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender gaps in skills exist around the world but differ remarkably among countries. This paper uses a unique data set with more than 20,000 adolescents in rural India to explore gender gaps in cognitive and noncognitive skills. We find that boys have considerable advantages over girls on several indicators of cognitive and noncognitive skills that remains robust to a wide range of controls and specification choices. We also examine the correlates of cognitive and noncognitive outcomes, paying close attention to socioeconomic status (SES) and pro-female gender attitudes. We find a steep positive gradient in SES as well as for pro-female gender attitudes, with stronger associations between the SES gradient and skills. Further, high socioeconomic status and more pro-female gender attitudes are both strongly correlated with reducing the gender gap in cognitive and noncognitive outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We estimate macroeconomic shocks using a medium scale new Keynesian model for India. • Our smoothed estimates of shocks mimic the actual transition of the economy during 1997–2019. • We find that the interest rate remained contractionary during 2013–16 despite falling inflation, characterized as policy error. • If supply side shocks (adverse productivity or mark-up) dominate, such policy errors tend to occur. • Such large-scale policy error can disrupt financial intermediation by creating bad assets in the banking sector. In the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis, the monetary policy in India became accommodative as in other major economies, but the policy subsequently turned highly contractionary despite falling inflation, which we characterize as policy errors. Government expenditure also had similar pattern. This paper therefore estimates a medium scale New Keynesian model (with earnings and assets based collateral constraint) to explore the impact of such policy errors on Indian business cycles, capturing the prevailing narrative on both monetary and fiscal policies along with the actual inflation scenario. Our smoothed estimates of mark-up, productivity, interest rate and government expenditure shocks mimic the actual transition of the economy, with both policy shocks moving together in a similar pattern in the post crisis period. We find that the interest rate policy was highly contractionary during 2013-2016 which led to significantly lower output. We rationalize that if supply side shocks (adverse productivity or mark-up) dominate, such policy errors tend to occur, suggesting that policy makers need to pay attention to the sources of inflation in a developing economy while setting demand-management policies. Given the current pandemic as more of a adverse supply shock, similar policy errors are likely to occur if interest rate responds to this type of inflationary shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lack of information about health risks may limit the adoption of improved nutrition and other new healthy behaviors. This paper studies the effect of a nutrition-information intervention on household dietary behavior, hemoglobin levels, and cognitive outcomes of children in rural India. Using experimental data and a regression discontinuity design that exploits the exogenous cutoff of hemoglobin level for anemia, we find statistically insignificant treatment effects on dietary improvements, child health, and cognitive outcomes of children. Our findings suggest that light-touch nutrition information alone, even when parents are informed about the health risk of their children, may not induce adoption of healthy behaviors. Our findings also imply that factors other than information might constrain households in making nutritional investments for their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has the world's biggest and arguably most aggressive employment-based affirmative action policy for minorities. This paper exploits the institutional features of a federally mandated employment quota policy to examine its causal impact on the economic lives of the two distinct minority groups (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes). My main finding is that a 1-percentage point increase in the employment quota for Scheduled Castes increases the likelihood of obtaining a salaried job by 0.6-percentage points for male Scheduled Caste members residing in the rural sector. The employment quota policy has no impact for Scheduled Tribes. Contrary to popular notion, I do not find evidence of "elite-capture" among the Scheduled Castes – the impact is concentrated among members who have completed less than secondary education. Consistent with the employment results, I find that the policy improved the well-being of Scheduled Castes members in rural areas who have completed less than secondary education. Finally, the impact of the employment quota policy varies by state characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endogamy or intra-caste marriage is one of the most resilient of all the caste based practices in India. Even in 2011, the rate of inter caste marriages in India was as low as 5.82%. In this paper we explore whether education has any relationship with this age-old practice of marrying within one's own caste. Using a nationally representative data set, the Indian Human Development Survey, we find that, in sharp contrast with the findings in the existing literature on out-marriages in the Western countries, education levels of the spouses themselves do not have any association with the likelihood of their own marriage being an inter caste one. However, couples with a more educated mother of the husband have a significantly higher probability of being in an inter caste marriage. One standard deviation increase in the years of education of the husband's mother is associated with a 10.16% increase in the probability of inter caste marriage over the sample mean. Our analysis highlights the importance of recognizing the institution of arranged marriages in any analysis of Indian marriage markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We experimentally examine gender differences in the behavior of leaders. • Women leaders are more likely to deviate negatively from what they propose. • This deviation is salient in specific social environments. • We argue this is due to the different costs of leadership between genders. • The social environment can be a barrier to female leaders' effectiveness. Using data from two sets of experiments conducted in rural India, this paper finds that relative to men, women assigned to be leaders contribute less than what they propose in a public goods game. We examine whether this behavior is influenced by the social environment. We find that female leaders deviate negatively from their proposals more frequently than males, when the gender of the leader is revealed and in villages with a female head assigned through an exogenous affirmative action policy. Women leaders anticipating lower economic and social costs for their actions compared to male leaders are potential explanations for observed gender differences in behavior. Our results suggest that the social environment can influence the behavior and the potential effectiveness of female leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the returns to household income due to improved access to electricity in rural India. We examine the effect of connecting a household to the grid and of the quality of electricity, defined as hours of daily supply. The analysis is based on two rounds of a representative panel of more than 10,000 households. We use the district-level density of transmission cables as instrument for the electrification status of the household. We find that a grid connection increases non-agricultural incomes of rural households by about 9% during the study period (1994–2005). However, a grid connection and a higher quality of electricity (in terms of fewer outages and more hours per day) increases non-agricultural incomes by about 28.6% in the same period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates whether the religious identity of state legislators in India influences development outcomes, both for citizens of their religious group and for the population as a whole. Using an instrumental variables approach derived from a regression discontinuity, we find that increasing the political representation of Muslims improves health and education outcomes in the district from which the legislator is elected. We find no evidence of religious favoritism: Muslim children do not benefit more from Muslim political representation than children from other religious groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]