Political Participation in Rural India: A Village Level Study

This paper uses village level data on individual voters to ask what are the factors which determine the probability of whether an individual votes? Is this probability greater for national compared to local elections? And is there evidence that people are more likely to vote today than they were in the past? Allied to these questions is another set of questions relating to the choice of candidates. What are the factors that make for women’s autonomy in voting, meaning that they cast their vote without reference to their spousal instructions? What are the factors which contribute to people voting for candidates who are of their own caste? And, lastly, what are the factors which contribute to people voting for candidates who have a reputation for honesty and fairness? Needless to say, voting in elections is just one facet of political participation. Another might be attending and participating in political meetings. This is particularly relevant in Indian villages since the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act of 1993. This made it mandatory for all villages to have a village council (hereafter, Gram Sabha) consisting of all registered voters on the electoral roll of a village. The Gram Sabha was to be entrusted with the power of supervising the functioning of the elected village panchayat and to approve the panchayat’s development plan for the village and the associated budget. Consequently, in addition to voting, electors in villages had another form of political participation: they could attend Gram Sabha meetings and also participate in its discussions. This paper also analyses the factors which determine attendance and participation in such meetings. A worrisome feature of the results was the high proportion of married women reporting that they cast their vote according to their husbands’ instructions and further that, this proportion was impervious to the education level of the women. Women’s education would not appear, from these results, to reduce the power of patriarchy. Another source of anxiety was the gender gap in the proportion of men and women who took part in Gram Sabha discussions. This would suggest that the reservation of village panchayat positions (including that of panchayat pradhan, or village president) for women was a step in the right direction for the empowerment of women. In contrast, there were no inter-social group differences in participation in Gram Sabha meetings

Conflict, Caste, and Resolution: A Quantitative Analysis for Indian Villages

Using data covering 18 states in India and encompassing 8,652 households in 242 villages in 18 Indian states, this paper answers three broad questions: What is probability that conflict within a village will be perceived as caste-based (as opposed to non-caste-based) and has this probability changed over time? Further, does the perception of a conflict being caste-based differ between caste groups? Does the effect of conflict on life and property depend upon whether it caste-based or non-caste-based? Further, does this effect on life and property differ between caste groups Are some conflict-resolving agencies more effective at dealing with caste-based conflicts and others more effective with non-caste-based conflicts? Our conclusion is that, compared to non-caste-based conflicts, caste-based conflicts entail greater loss of life and property and, furthermore, they require the services of different agencies for their resolution

The Effects of Husbands' Alcohol Consumption and Women's Empowerment on Intimate Partner Violence in India.

The influence of husband's alcohol consumption and that of women's empowerment has been largely studied separately in relation to the intimate partner violence (IPV) faced by women, which has hindered a nuanced understanding of gender-based violence in India. This study aimed to understand how husbands' alcohol consumption shapes the relationship between women's empowerment and violence among Indian couples. Data from the 2015-16 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) were used in this study. A composite women's empowerment index was constructed and its association with husbands' drunkenness and odds of facing emotional, physical, severe, and sexual violence was examined. This study found that compared to women whose husbands were never drunk, those whose husbands were sometimes or often drunk had significantly higher odds of experiencing physical, emotional, and sexual violence. For all the types of IPV, an increase in the empowerment index was associated with a significant reduction in the odds of experiencing violence. However, increasing frequency of husband's drunkenness in combination with increasing scores on the empowerment index was associated with a significant increase in the odds of IPV, except sexual violence. Our findings highlight the nuances of IPV, situating the experiences of women in the social, cultural, and economic realities of Indian society

Cash in India

Currency Management and Payments Data from India (2002-2018

Transforming Behavioral Science, Creatively

Transformational creativity comprises not just original ideation, but also its implementation for the common good. In recent times, efforts have been made by national governments and policy actors to infuse elements of behavioral science to promote similar social good--from saving more money to eating healthier food. In this chapter, we argue that building subtle choice architecture around small- and large-scale behavior change requires creativity, which has the potential to be transformational. Whereas nudging for good promotes desirable behavior change, sludges actively discourage such positive change. An example would be making it difficult to manage your own privacy settings on social media. Using anecdotes from across domains, we illustrate (a) how sludges constrain the capacity of behavioral science to enhance public welfare, and (b) how creativity in behavioral science can be transformational

The trust broker game: a three-player trust game with probabilistic returns and information asymmetry

This paper experimentally investigates trust and trustworthiness in a repeated and sequential three-player trust game with probabilistic returns and information asymmetry. It adds to the existing literature by combining experimental features from recent work in the trust game. The authors use random variations in the multiplier value, a third player without an initial endowment, undisclosed termination rules, and variations in information availability related to transactions. The framework is novel in that the game continues even if the first player transfers no amount to the second player. Using participants from India, the results are broadly consistent with past evidence on the trust game. All players are more trusting when information of their transfers and earnings are made available to other players. The third player (termed the "trust broker") transfers a larger amount when information on transfers is disclosed to other players. The authors find that information availability leads to a significant increase in the trust broker’s reciprocity, as defined by the amount that is returned to Player 2. Social desirability, cultural contexts, and learning effects are discussed in terms of scope for future research