Development, Distribution, and Markets

Description

This volume is a testament to the breadth and policy relevance of development economics today. It grapples with questions on how to design anti-poverty policies and under what conditions we can expect them to be successful. It concentrates on programmes and policies for India and covers international experience with cash transfer programmes. The work in this area applies core theoretical insights to policy discussions surrounding poverty measurement, income inequality, rural unemployment, and compares alternative growth strategies in terms of their impact on poverty and inequality. The book closes with chapters that trespass the boundaries of economics and enter the territory of politics, to engage urgent concerns of the day that are the basis of much dispute and debate. The essays are collected under three broad themes-anti-poverty policies; land, labour, and financial markets; and political economy.

About the author

Kaushik Basu is Carl Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics at Cornell University. Eric Verhoogen is Professor, Department of Economics and School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. Sudipto Mundle is Distinguished Fellow at National Council for Applied Economic Research, New Delhi . Maitreesh Ghatak is Professor of Economics and Director, Development Economics Programme, STICERD, London School of Economics and Political Science. Kenneth Kletzer is Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Table of contents

Introduction

Part A: Anti-Poverty Policies

1. Anti-Poverty Programs in India: Past, Present, and Future
Dilip Mookherjee
2. Is a Decentralized Right-to-Work Policy Feasible?
Martin Ravallion
3. When Are Cash Transfers Transformative?
Bruce Wydick
4. Improving Health Care Delivery in India
Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo
5. The India Fund
Parikshit Ghosh and Debraj Ray

Part B: Labour, Land, and Financial Markets
6. A Note on Evaluating Growth Processes
Bhaskar Dutta
7. Employer Power, Labour Saving Technical Change, and Inequality
Nancy H. Chau and Ravi Kanbur
8. Property Rights and Productivity of Resource Allocation in Developing Countries 
Maitreesh Ghatak
9. Financial Inclusion: Concepts, Issues, and Policies for India
Nirvikar Singh

Part C: Political Regimes and Economic Development
10. Aggregation, Ideology, and the Social Ordering of Caste
Rohini Somanathan
11. Enlightened Autocrats: Lessons from Bold Experiments in the Lands of Islam
Jean-Philippe Platteau
12. China's Belt and Road Initiative: Hopes and Bumps along the Road
Gerard Roland

References
About the Editors and Contributors