Three essays on political economy and economic development

This thesis consists of three independent chapters. The first chapter examines the strategic choices of the targets and the intensity of violence by rebel groups. The chapter presents a theoretical framework that links a rebel group’s targeting decisions to income shocks. It highlights that this relationship depends on the structure of the rebels’ tax base. The hypotheses from the model are tested in the context of India’s Naxalite conflict. The second chapter estimates the impact of military recruitment on human capital accumulation in colonial Punjab. In this context, I find that higher military recruitment was associated with increased literacy at the district-religion level. The final chapter presents a model that describes the optimal design of civil-military institutions in a setting where some control of the military over domestic politics is deemed desirable

Recruitment and literacy in World War I: evidence from colonial Punjab

Most Indian soldiers were volunteers who could not read or write before they were recruited by the British but serving in a professional army provided opportunities to acquire new skills. Here Oliver Vanden Eynde writes about his research which suggests higher post-war literacy rates in heavily recruited areas can be attributed to informal learning opportunities in the army

India’s Naxalite conflict: understanding targeting strategies

Oliver Vanden Eynde finds that the tax base of India’s Naxalites influences rebel targeting strategies

Mining Royalties and Incentives for Security Operations: Evidence from India's Red Corridor

Can tax regimes shape the incentives of governments to engage in or support counterinsurgency operations? India’s Maoist belt contains a large share of the country’s most valuable mineral deposits. Indian mining royalties benefit the States, but they are set by the central government. States are largely responsible for counter-insurgency operations within their territory. Therefore, the royalty regime could shape the incentive of states to support counter-insurgency efforts ien mining areas. This paper exploits the introduction of a 10% ad valorem tax on iron ore that was responsible for a 10-fold increase in royalty collections by the affected State governments. In a panel of district-level violence outcomes between 2007 and 2011, I find that the royalty hike was followed by a significant intensification of State violence in those districts that contain deposits of iron ore. There is no such impact for the deposits of other key minerals that were not subject to the royalty hike: bauxite and coal. These results are consistent with states taking the fiscal value of districts into account when they decide on the intensity of security operations

Modelling of a stand alone photovoltaic system with dedicated hybrid battery energy storage system

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this thesis project was to model and simulate a stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) plant that utilized the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique and included a hybrid battery energy storage system (BESS). The model consisted of five main components namely; the photovoltaic module, maximum power point tracking technique, hybrid battery energy storage system, controller and load

Targets of violence: evidence from India's Naxalite conflict

This paper considers how shocks to rural incomes intensify violence in India’s Naxalite insurgency.Using variation in annual rainfall in a panel of district level fatal incidents between 2005 and 2011, I find that deficient rainfall generally spurs targeted violence against civilians, but the number of Maoist attacks against security forces only increases in mining districts. This finding consistent with the idea that the relationship between income shocks and conflict depends on the type of targets and the revenue sources of the rebels. In particular, the fighting capacity of rebel groups against government forces could benefit more from negative rural income shocks if the group’s resources are sufficiently independent from the agricultural economy, as is the case in mining areas

Oxidation potential and barrier effects of Cr-based coatings on aluminized press- hardened steels

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