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The premise that a woman's social status has intergenerational effects on her children's health has featured prominently in population science research and in development policy. This study focuses on an important case in which social hierarchy has such an effect. In joint patrilocal households in rural India, women married to the younger brother are assigned lower social rank than women married to the older brother in the same household. Almost 8% of rural Indian children under 5 years old—more than 6 million children—live in such households. We show that children of lower-ranking mothers are less likely to survive and have worse health outcomes, reflected in higher neonatal mortality and shorter height, compared with children of higher-ranking mothers in the same household. That the variation in mothers' social status that we study is not subject to reporting bias is an advantage relative to studies using self-reported measures. We present evidence that one mechanism for this effect is maternal nutrition: although they are not shorter, lower-ranking mothers weigh less than higher-ranking mothers. These results suggest that programs that merely make transfers to households without attention to intrahousehold distribution may not improve child outcomes.

Should privacy be a tradeable right? It is believed that the economic opportunities presented by the rise of the digital technologies and of the digital economy on the one hand, and of data mining capabilities on the other, need to be harnessed. It is seen as a case of missing markets by some where appropriate markets with adequate rules and regulations should be put in place. In this paper, I argue that the creating market for personal data, amounts to creating a market for trading privacy. A market for personal data/ privacy has all the characteristics of what Debra Satz (2010) characterizes as “noxious markets”. Following others including Bowles, Hausman and MacPherson and Sandel, I argue that the market for personal data should be included in the debates on moral limits to markets.

Being watched means much more than being seen. This forum investigates information flows of sensing culled from sources as diverse as temperature check and iris scans to sound and movement sensors across terrains. After Veillance discusses how these systems distribute risk unevenly and shape the lives of populations across the globe. --- Sareeta Amrute, Editor

Compared to other social sciences, it appears economists enjoy overwhelming influence in policy debates. What are the ethical concerns that should bear upon the exercise of such voice? Two forms of...

Questions of ethics in Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) in development economics need greater attention and a wider perspective. RCTs are meant to be governed by the three principles laid out in the Belmont Report, but often violated them, e.g. when local laws are flouted. In other cases, the framework of the Belmont Report itself has proved inadequate: for instance, when there are unintended outcomes or adverse events for which no-one is held accountable. Primarily using RCTs conducted in India, this paper highlights eight areas of concern. RCTs also have a disproportionate influence on shaping research agendas and on policy. Though ethical issues have been raised, there has been little engagement from the RCT community – a manifestation of its power in the profession. As current safeguards (such as oversight by Institutional Review Boards) have failed to protect human subjects, the concluding section discusses possible ways to resolve these issues.

In recent years, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and government procurement especially of paddy and wheat have been discussed widely, but these discussions have often drawn on evidence that is dated and incomplete. Consequently, such discussions have clouded the facts, resulting in a large number of factoids. According to these popular beliefs, very few farmers benefit (6% only), only large farmers benefit, and only farmers of Punjab and Haryana (and to some extent western Uttar Pradesh) benefit. In this article, we examine these three factoids and draw on multiple data sources to distil the facts. We argue that existing evidence suggests a more complex picture –(1) the MSP impacts 13(16)% paddy(wheat) sellers; (2)the geographies of procurement have expanded to new states including notably, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, and (3) Although, at the national level, there is a large farmer bias, this doesn’t imply exclusion of small and marginal farmers. In fact, majority of the beneficiaries are marginal and small farmers on both the extensive and the intensive margins. Further, we find substantial heterogeneity by states. Haryana for instance has a bias in favour of small and marginal farmers. We conclude that debates on the MSP and procurement must therefore take into account the changed geography of procurement and the profile of sellers and recognize the diversity of experiences with procurement across states.

The use of information technology (IT) in public administration is seen as a significant tool for improving efficiency, transparency and accountability and in popular rhetoric, and is often heralded as a necessary and sufficient condition for this. We study the use of various forms of IT such as computerization, public management information systems (MIS), a digital ID and biometrics in two welfare programmes in India. Using publicly available administrative data, we look at some performance metrics of welfare programmes, try to understand whether and which IT intervention has been beneficial to programme implementation and comment on the extent to which IT has fulfilled its potential to enhance transparency. We find, as others have earlier, that there is no automatic link between the use of IT and enhanced transparency or accountability, and the use of IT may reinforce existing power imbalances. We argue for unbundling IT interventions in their evaluations.

The Aadhaar project which aims to provide all residents in India with a unique identity number requires much more attention from sociologists of India. There are several areas of research where sociologists can help: one, the implications of new technologies of surveillance for (a) privacy and (b) society; two, the repercussions of the desire for social ordering and control and technocratic solutionism for people in their interactions with the state demands fuller sociological study. This brief note attempts to outline some of the issues that call out for enquiry.

Summary There has been a major expansion of social security programs in India during the last 15 years or so, along with wider recognition of economic and social rights. This paper discusses five programs that can be seen as partial foundations of a possible social security system for India: school meals, child care services, employment guarantee, food subsidies, and social security pensions. The record of these programs varies a great deal between Indian states, but there is growing evidence that they make an important contribution to human well-being, and also that the achievements of the leading states are gradually spreading to other states as well. Much scope remains for extending these efforts: despite the recent expansion, India’s social security system is still very limited in international perspective. The paper also discusses some general issues of social policy in India, such as the arguments for universalization versus targeting and the value of a rights approach to social security.

This paper presents a broad-brush assessment of the public distribution system in six of India’s poorest states soon after the National Food Security Act came into force. Important gains have been made, including broader coverage, lower targeting errors, accelerated PDS reforms, and greater political commitment to food security. In four of the six reference states, the PDS seems to be doing reasonably well, but the last two (Bihar and Jharkhand) still have a long way to go. Even in the leading states, much remains to be done to achieve the purpose of the Act – ending food insecurity.

Aadhaar, India's ambitious biometric ID project, was portrayed as one that would enhance India's welfare efforts by promoting inclusion and reducing corruption. From being a voluntary ID, it has become de facto compulsory for most welfare programmes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Public Distribution System (PDS). Despite early warnings of its limited role in its stated objected, successive government's have ramped up its use. Using a variety of data sources, this paper reviews the impact of Aadhaar on welfare programmes. Far from being inclusive and reducing corruption, Aadhaar is becoming a tool of exclusion, with little evidence of an impact on corruption in NREGA, PDS and pensions, etc. The government's estimates of savings are examined, but these do not stand scrutiny. What passes as 'savings' is often the result of denial of legal entitlements for lack of Aadhaar. In that sense, the Aadhaar project undermines the right to life.

This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data from a survey of over 1200 rural households in nine Indian states to explore the arguments for and against cash and in-kind (in this case, food) transfers. When respondents were asked to think about, argue, and ‘choose’ between the two, two-thirds of the respondents expressed a preference for food. Rather than the choice made by respondents, the focus here is on understanding the reasons behind their choice, as explained by beneficiaries themselves. Two main findings emerge. First, some arguments corroborate existing theory (e.g., paternalism, fungibility), but others (e.g., self-control, transition costs) are not incorporated in existing theory on the advantages of in-kind transfers. Second, context is important. Most importantly, respondents’ reported preferences were associated with the benefits they were experiencing under the status quo: where the PDS performed better at distributing food, respondents were more likely to report preferring food to cash transfers. The contention of traditional theory that cash is superior fails to factor in contextual concerns.

This article studies the effectiveness of India's Public Distribution System (PDS) as a food security intervention, using field survey data collected by the author in Rajasthan. Utilisation is low, and many households purchase wheat from the market at higher prices before exhausting PDS quotas. This ‘puzzle of under-purchase’ is analysed by extending the dual-pricing model to account for supply-side (for example, diversion) and demand-side (for example, transaction costs) constraints. Primary and secondary data as well as field observations suggest that under-purchase is mainly due to supply constraints. I also find that the PDS affects the composition (away from more nutritious ‘coarse cereals’), rather than level, of cereal consumption.

The National Food Security Act (NFSA) was passed in the Lok Sabha on 26 August, 2013 and by the Rajya Sabha on 2 September, 2013. The debate on the NFSA tended to be exclusively focussed on the Public Distribution System (PDS) though, in fact, the new law attempts to take a “life-cycle approach” to food security. It includes the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme which is aimed at children under the age of 6 years, the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme for school-going children in the 6–14 years age group and maternity entitlements for pregnant women, along with the PDS. Under the PDS, two-thirds of the population will be covered—75 % in rural areas and 50 % in urban areas.

Crime in India an annual publication of the Government of India presents district-level data on a range of crimes such as murder rape kidnapping theft burglary and arson. This study uses this annual data to explore the links between murder rates at the district level and socioeconomic variables with special attention given to the correlation between murder rates and female-male ratio. Regression analysis showed three significant patterns: 1) murder rates bear no significant relation to urbanization or poverty; 2) education appears to exercise a moderating influence on criminal violence; 3) the strongest correlate of the murder rate is the female-male ratio. Although this connection between female-male ratios and murder rates need further examination it is clear that there is a strong link between gender relations and criminal violence. In terms of the relationship between murder rates and socioeconomic variables such as urbanization poverty and literacy no significant association has been found.

[E]ntrenched class interests and social inequalities rooted in religion, caste, and gender have made the transition slow and uncertain.