Experiment In India Research Articles

Tax-Pass-through, Pricing Strategy and Consumer Spending Dynamics: The Indian GST Experience

Measuring the consumption response to a tax regime has been a central issue in the optimal design of fiscal policy. This study leverages a large-scale natural experiment in India, the 2017 Goods-Service-Tax (GST) Reform, to quantify its impact on suppliers’ pricing strategy and consumer spending. Using scanner data on purchasing behavior of a panel of households and a triple difference design, we find a spending reduction in quantities of 0.23 percent, on average, following one percentage point increase in the GST tax. Tax elasticity is not uniform across product categories and is highest for goods in the fresh and fashion class (2.1 and 1.7, respectively). Consumers exhibit intertemporal substitution by preponing spending during the announcement period and substitute consumption across products. We also find evidence of asymmetry for tax pass-through to consumers. The tax is shifted at a lower rate in the case of tax rise, but when the tax is reduced, the elasticity of the tax exclusive price is significantly smaller than -1, resulting in a higher final price and a lower level of spending.

Boron availability in soils and its nutrition of crops under long-term fertility experiments in India

Using 12 long-term (of 15 to 42 years duration) experiments with different cropping systems under various soils and agro-climatic conditions, we studied how different (inorganic and integrated) nutrient management practices influenced boron (B) availability in soils, and its nutrition of nine crops. To this end, four nutrient management practices viz., NPK (recommended dose of N, P and K), NPK + FYM (farmyard manure), control and fallow, which were common in all the experiments, were selected and their effects on B availability in soils were tested using four commonly used methods viz., hot-CaCl2 (HCC), KH2PO4 (PDP), mannitol-CaCl2 (MCC) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) in relation to B nutrition of wheat, rice, cowpea, sorghum, sesame, mustard, groundnut, soybean and lentil. Amounts of B extracted by the four different methods followed the order HCC = HCl > MCC > PDP across the tested soils. Averaged over the extractants, long-term nutrient management practices with NPK + FYM resulted in 15% increases in available B in soil over the control, which produced 20% increase in plant tissue B concentration. Such increases with integrated (NPK + FYM) nutrient management practices maintained available B in soils and plant tissues above its critical limits that supplied adequate amounts of B for nutrition of all the tested crops grown intensively for so many years. A B balance study in six experimental sites showed a net B accumulation over time as irrigation water contained and supplied (130–296 g B ha−1 year−1) more B than removed by harvested crops. Of the four methods used, HCC was the best for assessment of availability of B in soils under long-term cultivation.

Alcohol and Self-Control: A Field Experiment in India

This paper studies alcohol consumption among low-income workers in India. In a 3-week field experiment, the majority of 229 cycle-rickshaw drivers were willing to forgo substantial monetary payments in order to set incentives for themselves to remain sober, thus exhibiting demand for commitment to sobriety. Randomly receiving sobriety incentives significantly reduced daytime drinking while leaving overall drinking unchanged. I find no evidence of higher daytime sobriety significantly changing labor supply, productivity, or earnings. In contrast, increasing sobriety raised savings by 50 percent, an effect that does not appear to be solely explained by changes in income net of alcohol expenditures.

Using Gossips to Spread Information: Theory and Evidence from Two Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract Can we identify highly central individuals in a network without collecting network data, simply by asking community members? Can seeding information via such nominated individuals lead to significantly wider diffusion than via randomly chosen people, or even respected ones? In two separate large field experiments in India, we answer both questions in the affirmative. In particular, in 521 villages in Haryana, we provided information on monthly immunization camps to either randomly selected individuals (in some villages) or to individuals nominated by villagers as people who would be good at transmitting information (in other villages). We find that the number of children vaccinated every month is 22% higher in villages in which nominees received the information. We show that people’s knowledge of who are highly central individuals and good seeds can be explained by a model in which community members simply track how often they hear gossip about others. Indeed, we find in a third data set that nominated seeds are central in a network sense, and are not just those with many friends or in powerful positions.

When does advice impact startup performance?

Why do some entrepreneurs thrive while others fail? We explore whether the advice entrepreneurs receive about managing their employees influences their startup's performance. We conducted a randomized field experiment in India with 100 high‐growth technology firms whose founders received in‐person advice from other entrepreneurs who varied in their managerial style. We find that entrepreneurs who received advice from peers with a formal approach to managing people—instituting regular meetings, setting goals consistently, and providing frequent feedback to employees—grew 28% larger and were 10 percentage points less likely to fail than those who got advice from peers with an informal approach to managing people, 2 years after our intervention. Entrepreneurs with MBAs or accelerator experience did not respond to this intervention, suggesting that formal training can limit the spread of peer advice.

Violence, Nonviolence, and the Effects of International Human Rights Law

AbstractUnder what conditions are individuals more likely to approve of human rights abuses by their governments? While various theoretical expectations have been offered about public approval of repression, many of them have not been directly tested. We analyze the effects of differing opposition tactics, differing government tactics, and legal constraints on approval of repression through a series of survey experiments in India, Israel, and Argentina. Our results indicate that violent action by opposition groups consistently increases support for government repression. In the context of contentious politics, we find that the effects of international law vary by national context. While our respondents in India were less likely to approve of their government when told the government violated international law, the same information likely increased approval of the government in our Israel experiment. The findings provide insights into the microfoundations of existing theories and suggest areas for theory refinement.

Impact of an employment guarantee scheme on utilisation of maternal healthcare services: Results from a natural experiment in India

We assess the impact of India's National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme, the world's largest workfare scheme, on healthcare utilisation – specifically maternal healthcare. The primary objective of NREG is to improve the income of rural households by guaranteeing 100 days of employment. We expect that by improving household income, thereby reducing some of the financial barriers, such as out-of-pocket payments, NREG can increase utilisation of maternal health services. Using a nationally representative household survey and a difference-in-differences approach that exploits the phased rollout of the scheme, we estimate the impact of NREG on utilisation of maternal health services: mainly deliveries at health facilities. We find that NREG did not increase overall facility deliveries, even though it led to an increase in deliveries at public facilities. There is weak evidence to suggest that deliveries at private facilities reduced due to NREG. Furthermore, sub-group analyses reveal that among poorer households, who are more likely to participate in NREG, there is a reduction in facility deliveries while home deliveries increased. Among richer households, NREG increased deliveries at public facilities. There was no impact on households belonging to marginalised castes. We conclude by discussing the possible mechanisms for these effects and its impact on equity in healthcare utilisation.

Isotope-selective laser photoionization of tin in supersonic atomic beam

The isotope 124Sn enriched to better than 50% is needed in substantial quantity as detector material for the proposed neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) experiment in India (TIN.TIN). Present work investigates isotope-selective laser photoionization scheme for 124Sn. Transition to the first excited state from the ground state lies at 286.3 nm having short lifetime (~ 5 ns) and isotope shift (IS), Δν(124–120) = 441 MHz. However, the availability of high repetition rate (kHz), narrowband tunable pulsed laser in UV with low temporal jitter is a technological impediment for achieving isotopic selectivity in this transition. An alternate three-color photoionization scheme is proposed for separation of 124Sn. Laser vaporization of tin followed by supersonic expansion in a molecular beam apparatus provided the tin atomic beam. Tin atoms were first excited to the 5p6s,3P1 state from the 5p2,3P0 ground state by a broadband pulsed dye laser (λ1 = 286.3 nm). Isotopic selectivity was achieved in the second excitation step at λ2 = 855.2 nm by a narrowband continuous wave laser. Subsequently, resonant photoionization at λ3 = 694.7 nm to a newly observed autoionizing state at 60,992.9 cm−1 provided efficient photoionization. The IS for all even and hyperfine splitting for odd isotopes have been measured for the 855.2 nm transition. A selectivity factor of 24 is achieved for 124Sn isotope. The absorption cross sections of the three excitation steps is reasonably high to have an efficient photoionization scheme.

Period Poverty, Informed Choice and Consumer Preference: Evidence from a Field Experiment in India

A combination of commercial interests, cultural constraints and illiteracy have shaped the period product markets in the Global South such that disposable pads have gained in popularity but relatively little is known about reusable innovations that could support the goal of eradicating period poverty sustainably and equitably. This work examines how asymmetric information in this market affects consumer choices by drawing on a field experiment and survey with 277 women from low-income households in India. Through a careful consideration of the cultural context and policy backdrop in which decisions on menstrual products and practices are made we draw two key conclusions. First, we find that consumers are effectually denied all agency over choice of period product and are forced to select disposable pads, frequently at aberrant consequences for themselves and their environments. Such ‘perverse selection’ is manifested as a relational bond with disposables grounded in emotional and habitual cues. This poses a serious challenge to the introduction of reusables. Second, we demonstrate that ‘informed choice’ is a viable policy tool with potential to steer the menstrual product market in a beneficial direction both for costs to consumers and to their environmental eco-systems.

Demand for micro-insurance of health among informal workers: a discrete choice experiment in India

Micro-Insurance of Health (MHI) is considered as one of the possible instruments in reducing impoverishing effects of catastrophic out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure for the households in lower-income strata of the developing countries. MHI schemes can complement a publicly funded healthcare system within a specific local context. The present study attempts to investigate the demand for MHI among informal workforce using a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE). In any DCE application we can determine the characteristics that describe a product and to what extent the respondent is willing to trade-off one characteristic to another. Our DCE in West Bengal (India) suggests that, any MHI scheme with low premium, transport coverage, full family coverage, cash-back facility and comprehensive benefit will encourage enrolment.

What's yours is mine, and what's mine is mine: Field experiment on income concealing between spouses in India

In this paper, I present results from a field-laboratory experiment in India where individuals in established marriages were randomly given the opportunity to choose to keep money private from their partner, assigned to a complete information, or to a private information treatment. The experiment was designed to test the effect of private information at the time when spouses decide on the amount of resources to bargain over with their partners (pre-bargaining stage) on intra-household allocation. I show that in the presence of asymmetric information 25% of spouses choose to keep (some) money private when given the opportunity, thus reducing the pool that their partners observe. The strategic exploitation of information advantages results in efficiency losses that amount up to 24% of average maximum potential earnings. The analysis suggests the mechanism driving the results is an income-hiding motive, and not alternative explanations such as mental accounting or alternative strategic behaviors.

The sex pheromone of Legume Pod Borer, Maruca vitrata (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) Revisited

ABSTRACT Female produced sex pheromone of Maruca vitrata containing three components had been reported from countries in tropical Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienal as a major component, (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienol and E-10-hexadecenal as minor components blended in the ratio of 100:5:5 was found to attract M. vitrata male moths in few countries in West Africa. However, this blend was found to have less or no effectiveness in trapping M. vitrata population in Asia, which triggered the need to refine the M. vitrata pheromone formulation. The isomers of major and minor pheromone compounds of M. vitrata were evaluated in this study. When subjected to Electroantennogram (EAG) analysis against male antennae, the isomer (Z,E)-10,12-hexadecadienal as a major component blended with the minor components (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienol and (E)-10-hexadecenol in 100:10:5 was found to elicit better antennal response than the standard three component blend. GC-EAD profiles of the individual synthetic isomer components supported the EAG results. Additional experiments also confirmed the attraction of M. vitrata pheromone compounds and their isomers along with host plant volatiles in EAG and wind-tunnel experiments. Field experiments in India and Cambodia confirmed the effectiveness of improved M. vitrata pheromone lures in attracting the adult male moths in legume fields.

Barriers to skill acquisition: Evidence from English training in India

Abstract Skill development is viewed as an escape from the low education – high unemployment trap in developing countries. Despite investments in skill development programs, participation and completion rates in many programs remain low. We investigate factors that prevent individuals from acquiring spoken English, a skill with potentially high returns in the labour market. Using data from a field experiment in India, we find that offering subsidies increases the probability of participating in a spoken English training program. Simultaneously, distance to the training center, pre-existing knowledge of spoken English, and past enrolment in a similar course act as significant barriers to take-up. These findings suggest that multidimensional policy solutions are required to overcome barriers to skill development in developing countries.

Introduction: Implementation Science to Reduce Household Air Pollution (HAP) Exposures in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

HAP exposures are responsible for a major proportion of the total disease burden in LMICs. To address this, the NIH led Clean Cooking Implementation Science Network (ISN) is developing methods to elucidate technologies, conditions, and implementation strategies that can result in the largest reductions in HAP exposures. The challenge is to accelerate widespread, sustained and nearly exclusive adoption of clean cooking to promote public health. In this symposium we present a brief introduction to the network and its approach, followed by study results from interventional and natural experiments in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. For example, India has recently launched an enormous effort to provide access to clean cooking fuels such as Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) to nearly 50 million homes by 2019, but challenges of sustaining LPG use remain to be overcome. Implementation science has evolved precisely to meet this kind of complex, multidimensional problem. Finance, access to services, ambient air quality, climate, home construction, community structure, cultural traditions and gender are among the complex variables addressed in the network’s research. The ISN projects presented here use a diversity of methods – including social network analysis, microfinance experimentation, novel survey methodologies and sensor-based monitoring of stove-use and resulting exposure levels – to understand the potential drivers of decision making in rural and peri-urban, low income settings. In this brief introduction to the research we provide background on the scope of the problem and an outline of the approaches we are taking to employ research that will accelerate the transition to clean cooking fuels around the world.

Political inclusion and educational investment: Estimates from a national policy experiment in India

I examine whether the “role model effect” of female politicians on adolescent girls' school enrollment comes only from female representation in the lowest level of local government. To do this, I exploit variation in the implementation of seat quotas for women applied to a three-tiered local governance structure in India. Enrollment effects were substantially larger than those previously estimated for exposure to female leaders in the lowest tier of local government. The policy response is larger among girls in poorer households and those with less-educated women in the household, and was commensurate with reductions in idle time and employment in household enterprises. There is no evidence of additional school infrastructure, nor a reallocation of schooling resources. Effect magnitudes imply that more than two thirds of the net effect of the policy comes from female politicians serving in reserved positions other than the village council chairperson seat.

Helping People by Being in the Present: Mindfulness Increases Prosocial Behavior

While mindfulness originated in Buddhist teachings, the variant studied by Western psychologists and taught in corporations has been secularized. One might suspect that secularized mindfulness - a version of mindfulness from which prescriptions for how to treat others have been removed - would not be effective for promoting prosocial behavior. It is important to explore whether this is the case or not. Secular mindfulness is characterized by focused, nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment and can be cultivated via meditation. The present research tested whether secular mindfulness increases prosocial behavior. Study 1 was a field experiment in India. Employees who had been randomly assigned to engage in a focused breathing meditation were more willing to donate to a coworker in financial distress. Study 2 was a longitudinal field experiment at a US insurance company. Employees who were randomly assigned to a five (5) day brief mindfulness training intervention reported more helping behaviors quantitatively and in daily diaries. Study 3 was an experiment which examined mechanisms of the effects of induced state mindfulness via two different mindfulness inductions, focused breathing and loving kindness meditations, on compassionate responding. We found strong support for empathy and moderate support for perspective taking as mediators of the relationship between mindfulness and prosocial behavior. In contrast to arguments that the removal of Buddhist-based concepts from mindfulness renders it ineffectual to promote interconnectedness and compassion, our results indicate that secular mindfulness can make people more helpful towards others.

Political Inclusion and Educational Investment: Estimates from a National Policy Experiment in India

In this paper, I examine whether the role model of female politicians on adolescent girls' school enrollment comes only from female representation in the lowest level of local government. To do this, I exploit variation in the implementation of seat quotas for women applied to a three-tiered local governance structure in India. Enrollment effects were substantially larger than those previously estimated for exposure to female leaders in the lowest tier of local government. The policy response is larger among girls in poorer households and those with less-educated women in the household, and was commensurate with reductions in idle time and employment in household enterprises. There is no evidence of additional school infrastructure, nor a reallocation of schooling resources. Effect magnitudes imply that more than two thirds of the net effect of the policy comes from female politicians serving in reserved positions other than the village council chairperson seat.

Stock Liquidity and Firm Value: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in India

AbstractThe Indian securities market regulator intervened in June 2010 with a regulatory amendment in the listing requirement that mandated all the listed firms other than PSUs (government‐owned companies) to have a minimum public shareholding of 25%. The affected firms were given a 3‐year window to comply with the regulation. This study examines the impact of the new regulation on the affected firms’ value. We explore the relationship between improvement in firms’ value and stock liquidity. This regulatory intervention offers a natural experiment to examine direct causality between stock liquidity and firms’ value. The findings of the empirical analysis confirm the existence of a direct causal relationship between stock liquidity and firm value, stemming from an improved operating performance.

Appliance labeling and consumer heterogeneity: A discrete choice experiment in India

Appliance labels are a widely used policy instrument to increase the adoption of energy-efficient technologies. Most countries use categorical labels to facilitate comparison of appliances based on energy consumption. Studies have found that consumers respond positively to the labels, but the differentiated response to the categories on labels is not well understood in the literature. This study presents the results of a discrete choice experiment corroborated by an analysis of secondary market data to demonstrate that consumers differentiate between label categories; with a greater value being placed on appliances with higher levels of energy efficiency performance. We examine two appliances - air conditioners and refrigerators and observe that there are some differences in consumer response - likely due to the different usage patterns of the two appliances. Consumer responses were observed in hypothetical choice situations constructed ensuring statistical and design efficiency. In a mixed logit model specification with correlated random parameters, the magnitude and the distribution of consumer preference for the highest category of energy efficiency are estimated. The results are validated by estimating the incremental price of higher category of energy efficiency using market data for comparison. The sources of consumer heterogeneity for the highest category of energy efficiency are identified after controlling for other consumer variables. The findings presented in this paper are useful for improving the effectiveness of existing energy efficiency programs and designing new programs to accelerate adoption of energy efficient technologies.

Market Integration, Demand, and the Growth of Firms: Evidence From a Natural Experiment in India

In many developing countries, the average firm is small, does not grow, and has low productivity. Lack of market integration and limited information on non-local products often leave consumers unaware of the prices and quality of non-local firms. They therefore mostly buy locally, limiting firms’ potential market size (and competition). We explore this hypothesis using a natural experiment in the Kerala boat-building industry. As consumers learn more about non-local builders, high-quality builders gain market share and grow, while low-quality firms exit. Aggregate quality increases, as does labor specialization, and average production costs decrease. Finally, quality-adjusted consumer prices decline. (JEL D22, D83, L15, L25, L62, O12, O14)