Archives

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 2 No. 3 (May-Jun) (2021)

    IPPR is a peer-reviewed, bi-monthly, online and an open-access journal, which will carry original, analytical, policy relevant papers, book reviews, and commentaries, inter alia, Economics, Political Science, International Relations and Security, Political and Defence Strategy, and Science and Technology Policy.

    In this issue, C Rangarajan and D M Nachane examine the role of monetary aggregates in the determination of inflation, which has important implications for monetary policy. In their paper, Niranjan Rajadhyaksha and Prakhar Misra examine how the new flexible inflation targeting framework has worked in practice in India, five years after it was introduced. The paper by M S Sriram scrutinises the speeches delivered by RBI leadership and examines the policy discourse to understand the elements of continuity and change. Prateek Waghre analyses India’s ongoing farmer protests movement through the lens of the Radically Networked Societies (RNS) framework. Finally, Sneha P describes the various ethical and methodological considerations when choosing to adopt RCTs for policy decisions in the Indian context. 

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 5 No. 1 (Jan-Feb) (2024)

    The paper by Jos Chathukulam, Manasi Joseph, T.V. Thilakan, V. Rekha & C V Balamurali evaluates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges involved in the management and utilisation of health grants in Kerala. The paper by Motkuri and Revathi examines the trends in private and public expenditure on education in India during the last seven decades and finds that private expenditure on education is growing faster than that of the public. The study by Janak Raj, Vrinda Gupta, & Aakanksha Shrawan explores the relationship between economic growth and non-income components (health and education) of the Human Development Index (HDI) for 26 Indian states during the period from 1990 to 2019 and finds a strong two-way relationship between economic growth and non-income components in the long run. T Selvaraju carries out an audit of the performance of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and recommends greater accountability without curbing the independence of the institution. Finally, Shree Kumar reviews the book "When the Chips are Down", written by Pranay Kotasthane and Abhiram Manchi, and lauds it for covering the essentials that can help create an action plan for the next twenty years for the Indian semiconductor industry.

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 3 No. 6 (Nov-Dec) (2022)

    In the final issue of 2022, M Govinda Rao's paper argues for reforms in budget management and the creation of an independent fiscal council to monitor the implementation of rule-based fiscal policy to impart effectiveness to fiscal management. Binod Kumar Behera and Hrushikesh Mallick's study tries to empirically evaluate the effects of fiscal deficits on the economic growth of 14 major Indian states from 1980-81 to 2019-20. The paper by Anindita Roy Saha and Gargee Sarkar examines the recent trends of environmental protection expenditure in India and finds a visibly lower share of EPE in total expenditure and lower rate of growth in comparison to other expenditure items of the government. The article by T Selvaraju aims to ascertain whether the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) functions as per its given mandate and makes recommendations to reorganise and strengthen the institution to better serve its purpose. Finally, Rohan Pai reviews Recaliberate: Changing Paradigms, a book by NK Singh and PK Mishra.

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 2 No. 5 (Sep-Oct) (2021)

    IPPR is a peer-reviewed, bi-monthly, online and an open-access journal, which carries original, analytical, policy relevant papers, book reviews, and commentaries, inter alia, Economics, Political Science, International Relations and Security, Political and Defence Strategy, and Science and Technology Policy.

    In this anniversary issue, Shikha Dahiya et al. note the growing centralisation in India's human capital interventions and instead suggest a more decentralised and targeted approach within India's federal structure. Vivek Jadhav's paper measures and analyses the political concentration and inefficiency that characterise the disproportionate representation caused by the First Past The Post electoral system followed in India. Aarushi Kataria examines the content of over a thousand press releases by the Government of India during the COVID-19 crisis and argues that they served as a mechanism for the government to shape narratives in a manner that showed it in a positive light. Damodar Nepram and James Konsam explore how India's North Eastern states benefitted from the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax. Finally, Anantha Nageswaran reviews Paul Blustein's book "Schism: China, America and the fracturing of the global trade system".

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 5 No. 3 (May-Jun) (2024)

    In the June issue of IPPR, Dhara P Shah's paper examines how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) uses information as an instrument of strategic warfare, across military and non-military domains, in the pursuit of strategic advantage over India. In the next paper, Pranesh Prakash examines the provision for Internet blocking and shutdowns in Indian law, and compares it with international human rights law. The paper by K.R. Shanmugam and Mathew Koshy Odasseril forecasts the future growth of Indian economy and the top six states until 2047-48 and find that India will achieve the US$ 7 trillion target by 2032-33 and the per capita income level of developed nation by 2046-47. Janak Raj, Vrinda Gupta and Aakanksha Shrawan's paper examines the nature of relationship between economic growth and human development at the national and state level in India and whether these two variables are converging at the state level. Finally, Anushka Saxena reviews “The Fire of the Dragon: China’s New Cold War” by Ian Williams and concludes that the "book’s extensive coverage of various issues pertaining to and emanating from China’s rise is both its strength and weakness".

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 4 No. 2 (Mar-Apr) (2023)

    In this issue, Bibek Debroy and Devi Prasad Misra's study proposes to make use of domestic taxation data to get a sense of the volume and directions of internal trade with a special emphasis on India. The paper by Rajeev Gowda and Shonali Thangiah applies a risk analysis framework to examine whether India’s ban on ENDS improves public health outcomes, or whether an alternative approach such as regulation would be more effective. Piyali Majumder's study estimates the degree of agglomeration of the Indian organised manufacturing sector and examines its evolution pattern across districts over the period 2000-01 to 2009-10. Srinivasa Madhur's paper examines the progress and failures of SAARC as a regional forum in four key areas of regional cooperation and integration: trade, money and finance, and people-to-people contacts. N R Bhanumurthy reviews Forks in the Road: My days at RBI and Beyond by C Rangarajan.

     

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 3 No. 1 (Jan-Feb) (2022)

    The first issue of 2022 begins with a paper by Barry Eichengreen, Poonam Gupta, and Rishabh Choudhary, which looks at the preparedness of India and other emerging markets for the next round of US Federal Reserve tapering. Renu Kohli examines India's demonetization episode and concludes that it does not meet the established principles of policy credibility. In their paper on corporate tax incidence, Sankarganesh Karuppaiah and Shanmugam show that India's corporate tax has a significant adverse impact on both wages paid to employees and profit after tax. In the context of SARS-COV-2, Shambhavi Naik and Aditya Ramanathan examine the drivers and constraints on bioweapons use and the ways in which it could be employed. The paper further proposes steps that a renewed Bioweapons Convention can take to mitigate the risk of bioweapons attacks. Madhav Godbole writes a review article based on Ranjan Gogoi's book "Justice for the Judge: An Autobiography".

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 5 No. 5 (Sep-Oct) (2024)

    The paper by Shruti Gupta, Radha Malani, and Anoop Singh identifies how subsidy spending has been accounted for in India and explains the resultant data gaps that render such fiscal data inconsistent and incomparable across levels of government. Janak Raj, Rahul Ranjan, Vrinda Gupta, and Aakanksha Shrawan's study focuses on assessing the role of fiscal transfers from the Union government compared to states' own revenue in explaining their healthcare spending. Continuing with the public finance theme, Sajjid Chinoy, Toshi Jain, and Divyanit Sood propose a new, post-pandemic fiscal architecture built on five pillars that is anchored in debt and is holistic (encompassing Centre and states), dynamic (responsive to changing macro conditions and market signals), sustainable, and conservative. The paper by Pallavi Bajaj demonstrates how trade policy is not gender-neutral and suggests ways to counter the inherent disadvantages of social, institutional, and structural constructs, as well as access and capacity constraints specific to women. Finally, Jos Chathukulam reviews the book "Public Expenditure in India: Policies and Development Outcomes" by Gayithri Karnam.

     

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 1 No. 2(Nov-Dec) (2020)

    IPPR is a peer-reviewed, bi-monthly, online and an open-access journal, which will carry original, analytical, policy relevant papers, book reviews, and commentaries, inter alia, Economics, Political Science, International Relations and Security, Political and Defence Strategy, and Science and Technology Policy.

    The current issue has an article by Viral Acharya on the impact of fiscal dominance on financial stability, monetary policy, and the economy. Bibek Debroy's article outlines the Constitutional and governance issues to prepare the country for emergencies like the pandemic in the future. The performance of the Indian education system in its entirety is scrutinised in an article by R. Radhakrishna.  The article on vaccination strategy by Shambhavi Naik et al. proposes a plan to vaccinate 80% of India’s population by December 2021. Govinda Rao reviews "India Unlimited: Reclaiming the Lost Glory" by Arvind Panagariya. 

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 4 No. 4 (Jul-Aug) (2023)

    In the August issue of IPPR, the policy brief by Aniket Shevade and Shambhavi Naik provides an overview of AMR, its significance, and the current landscape of policies, national action plans, and funding for AMR research and surveillance within the G20 countries. Murali Neelakantan and Ashish Kulkarni's paper suggest unification of India's disparate healthcare markets (the government monopsony market, institutional, and retail markets), advocating for a more prominent role for the government. The paper by Amit Kumar proposes a framework, in the form of a series of tests, to understand whether trade in a certain commodity between countries can be classified as a critical vulnerability. S Manjesh Roy highlights the functioning of the Indian capital markets regulatory systems through the Covid-19 pandemic and applauds its inherent robustness, resilience, and agility. Finally, Aditya Ramanathan reviews Tim Marshall’s, _The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space Will Change Our World_ and judges it to be "a first-rate primer on astropolitics".

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 3 No. 3 (May-Jun) (2022)

    In the May issue of 2022, Ajay Chhibber looks at the history of economic planning in India and why Niti Aayog needs to get back to "new planning" for India to achieve SDG goals. The paper by Shanmugam and Shanmugam addresses the issue of designing equalisation transfers from the union government to states. Priyadarshini and Sabyasachi Kar inspect the challenges and opportunities arising from the adoption of a CBDC by India. Jos Chathukulam and Manasi Joseph's paper explores the conditions under which health grants by the union government to local governments can fall prey to the Mission Creep syndrome. V Anantha Nageswaran writes a review article based on the book ‘The Weirdest people in the world’ by Joseph Henrich

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 2 No. 2(Mar-Apr) (2021)

    IPPR is a peer-reviewed, bi-monthly, online and an open-access journal, which will carry original, analytical, policy relevant papers, book reviews, and commentaries, inter alia, Economics, Political Science, International Relations and Security, Political and Defence Strategy, and Science and Technology Policy.

    In this issue, Pravin Krishna reviews India’s experience with Free Trade Agreements over the last two decades. Arvind Panagariya and Vishal More show that poverty reduction in India is not merely an artifact of a low poverty line. Liu, Sanyal and Singh analyse economic policy failures and its adverse impact on the environmental quality in Punjab. Deepika Kinhal and Apoorva explore the concept of mandatory mediation as a solution for reducing pendency in the traditional court system. Finally, Narayan Ramachandran reviews “Backstage: The Story Behind India’s High Growth Years” by Montek Singh Ahluwalia

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 4 No. 6 (Nov-Dec) (2023)

    In the final issue of 2023, Bibek Debroy and Devi Prasad Misra's paper demonstrates that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has delivered on revenue growth, formalization of the economy, reduced rates of taxation, and the creation of a more unified market. The paper by Renu Kohli focuses upon tax buoyancy, which includes discretionary policy changes, to examine how the historical relationship of tax revenues with income may have been disturbed by exceptional shocks. In their paper, Shambhavi Naik, Shyamala and Varsha Shridhar outline wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance efforts around the world, highlights its advantages as a cost-effective tool to supplement existing frameworks, and makes a case for its implementation in India, along with recommendations for next steps towards such implementation. Gautam Aredath and Abi T. Vanak's paper presents a critical discussion of the legal and policy position of dog population management in India and suggests integrated and contextual approaches for its viable management. Finally, Manoj Kewalramani reviews Desmond Shum's book "Red Roulette" and calls it "an important book to understand the political imperatives that have shaped China’s return to ideology under Xi Jinping"

     

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 3 No. 5 (Sep-Oct) (2022)

    In this issue of IPPR, Ashima Goyal's paper analyses issues important in adapting flexible inflation targeting (FIT) to emerging markets like India. The paper by Saon Ray, Piyali Majumder, Vasundhara Thakur, and Ayush Patel offers an assessment of the sectors that will be impacted most by India making a transition to a low carbon economy. Vivek Jadhav and Brinda Viswanathan investigate the extent to which 103 sub-state regions within 20 Indian states exhibit income convergence. In their paper, Shivakumar Jolad and Chaitanya Ravi call for a greater alignment of Western paternalistic frameworks with Indian socio-political context in understanding alcohol consumption and alcohol related government policies. Finally, Pranay Kotasthane writes a review article based on Dr. Govinda Rao's book Studies in Indian Public Finance.

     

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 2 No. 4 (Jul-Aug) (2021)

    IPPR is a peer-reviewed, bi-monthly, online and an open-access journal, which will carry original, analytical, policy relevant papers, book reviews, and commentaries, inter alia, Economics, Political Science, International Relations and Security, Political and Defence Strategy, and Science and Technology Policy.

    In this issue, Poonam Gupta and Dhruv Jain review India's experience with capital flows and provide policy recommendations to effectively deal with risk-off times. In his article, Nitin Pai traces the history of the Swadeshi idea from its origin to the present day and argues that India's national interest is better served by acquiring capability than self-reliance. Michael Metelits looks at the interwoven history of the colonial government's famine policy and the evolution of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha as the principal critic. The paper by Anirudh Tagat et al adapts existing theoretical frameworks of social norms and their interactions with laws to study the case of rule violations in Indian road traffic. Finally, Aditya Pareek reviews books about American naval power by Capt. Henry J  Hendrix and Seth Cropsey

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 5 No. 2 (Mar-Apr) (2024)

    Ashima Goyal's paper builds a set of business cycle stylized facts that identify unique features of the South Asian region and derive implications of structure for policy. In their study, Purnendu Kumar, Rahul Thekkedath, and Nanu Ram Meena construct a debt sustainability index, which is a composite indicator that can be used to analyse the debt sustainability of state governments in India. The paper by Josiah Neal proposes a collaborative effort between India, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji to pilot a payments system using the infrastructure underlying India's Unified Payments Interface framework. In her commentary article, Ivy Dhar examines the use of internet shutdowns as a public safety measure during social unrest. Finally, Sridhar Krishna reviews Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba's book "Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India's Economic Future".

     

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 4 No. 1 (Jan-Feb) (2023)

    In the first issue of 2023, C. Rangarajan and K.R. Shanmugam examine whether Tamil Nadu's economy can become a US$1 trillion economy by 2030 and recommend possible strategies to achieve the goal. The paper by Nirvikar Singh examines India's responses to the Covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of its federal structures. The study by P.S. Renjith draws attention to the poor revenue performance of Indian states after GST and the challenges to the sustainability of their debt position. Anubhav Bishen uses the case study of compensatory discrimination to demonstrate the factors affecting policy design and the way social construction of the target population happens in India. Praveer Purohit reviews the book The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West by David Kilcullen.

     

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 2 No. 6 (Nov-Dec) (2021)

    In the sixth issue of 2021, Ritika Juneja, Ranjana Roy, and Ashok Gulati take stock of the agricultural sector -the past achievements and future challenges - in India's 75th year of independence. Vijay Kelkar, Arvind Datar and Rahul Renavikar's paper analyses the present structure and operation of GST and makes a number of proposals to simplify the tax, reduce its cascading effects, lower the compliance burden, and improve revenue productivity. Arnab Mukherji documents the size of the economic impact of the pandemic on various child-specific schemes in Karnataka and proposes a prioritisation framework. Sneha et al perform an in-depth analysis of the causes and consequences of indecision and risk aversion in the Indian bureaucracy. M Govinda Rao writes a review article based on Madhav Godbole's book "India – A Federal Union of States: Fault Lines, Challenges and Opportunities”.

     

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 5 No. 4 (Jul-Aug) (2024)

    In IPPR's August issue, Namita Mathur's paper discusses the precarity of employment and the absence of social security for vulnerable migrant workers and explores the shortcomings of the laws and policies meant for protecting their interests. The paper by Boyd et al examines the barriers and incentives to collaboration between the Indian and American private space sectors and makes policy recommendations to advance the mutual objectives of the sector in both countries. In their paper, Harmon et al examine how India’s current approach to AI governance may impact the trajectory of U.S.-India technology cooperation, after exploring India's AI governance choices, possible regulatory model, and its national priorities. Dikumoni Hazarika and Rohil Oberoi's paper looks at the effectiveness of different technology instruments in enhancing transparency, accuracy, and accountability of Public Distribution System in the delivery of subsidised food grains in Assam. Chidambaran Iyer infers a few policy lessons for India for establishing a mobile manufacturing sector from the experiences of four Asian countries – South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Vietnam – that have walked down this path.

     

  • Cover page of IPPR Vol1 Issue1

    Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 1 No. 1(Sep-Oct) (2020)

    IPPR is a peer-reviewed, bi-monthly, online, and an open-access journal, which will carry original, analytical, policy relevant papers, book reviews, and commentaries, inter alia, Economics, Political Science,  International Relations and Security, Political and Defence Strategy, and Science and Technology Policy.

    The current issue has Rangarajan – Srivastava article on the policy options for India to emerge from the pandemic, Panagariya’s article listing the reforms needed to achieve a fast pace of industrialisation and accelerate economic growth. Patnaik and Sengupta analyse the impact of the pandemic on India’s fiscal situation. Menon and Kotasthane emphasise the need to go beyond discussions on defence expenditure to make strategic shifts in military planning. Govinda Rao reviews the recent book by Kelkar and Shah, In Service of the Republic from the perspective of the role of the State in the market economy.

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 4 No. 3 (2023)

    In this issue, the paper by Shruti Gupta and Kevin James examines the regulatory framework and institutional gaps surrounding off-budget borrowings in India and undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the methods employed for such borrowings and ascertains their true extent. K.R. Shanmugam and P.S. Renjith's study examines the sustainability and the threshold level of public debt of the Centre and all State Governments in India and the results suggest that the current levels of public debt of both the Centre and all States are unsustainable. Nagesh Kumar's article takes stock of India’s opportunities in harnessing the Industrial Revolution 4.0 for inclusive development, and the challenges that it poses. It argues that with India’s extant capabilities in ICT software development, a youthful demography, and skill development potential, the country can be at the centre of IR4.0. Jehosh Paul's paper argues that despite its shortcomings, Rule 3(1) of the Draft Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2020 is an important milestone for the progressive realisation of workers’ welfare in India. Finally, Jos Chathukulam reviews the book “Collected Scientific Papers for the Pioneering Economist and Planner P J Thomas” by E M Thomas.

     

     

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 3 No. 2 (Mar-Apr) (2022)

    In the March issue, Sajjid Chinoy and Toshi Jain look at the macroeconomic impact of increased global oil prices and offer mitigating policy recommendations. The paper by Shivshankar Menon examines the links between the history we choose to tell ourselves and its implications for national security in India. D Narayana analyses the size of the state governments and efficiency of the Agriculture Department by comparing the number of employees per unit area under cultivation in Kerala with that in Karnataka and Telangana. Anil Kumar Vaddiraju's paper looks at the extent to which urban governments in India and China have moved from traditional government to network governance. T Selvaraju studies the level of parliamentary control over public finance in India and concludes that there is disproportionately lesser parliamentary oversight over public revenue compared to public spending.

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 2 No. 1(Jan-Feb) (2021)

    IPPR is a peer-reviewed, bi-monthly, online and an open-access journal, which will carry original, analytical, policy relevant papers, book reviews, and commentaries, inter alia, Economics, Political Science, International Relations and Security, Political and Defence Strategy, and Science and Technology Policy.

    In this issue, Devashish Mitra explores the role of trade in faster job creation and economic growth in India and provides policy recommendations to facilitate this. S Mahendra Dev’s article examines the recent agricultural laws and its impact on farmers’ income, while suggesting further reforms required in the sector. Suyash Desai’s paper argues that the development and demonstration of maritime power affords India the best way of managing China in the Indo-Pacific region. D Narayana and Shagishna K analyse the role of religious faith in financial exclusion in India. Finally, Sharmadha Srinivasan and Prakhar Misra aim to establish  the issues with fiscal marksmanship of states’ revenue budgets.

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 4 No. 5 (Sep-Oct) (2023)

    In the October 2023 issue of IPPR, the study by Indira Iyer and Soumi Roy Chowdhury identifies the touchpoints where mainstreaming digitalization could address some fundamental challenges of public expenditure management through an actionable roadmap in the form of d4PEAT framework. Moving on to the obverse side of public expenditure, Govinda Rao's paper discusses the important aspects of tax compliance in terms of design and the importance of technology in the administration of taxes in India. The paper by Sharmadha Srinivasan, Vikram Sinha, and Saurabh Modi provides an overview of why a new approach to antitrust law is required in the realm of data-driven digital platforms, and delves into the evolving antitrust cases in India with respect to digital platforms to lay out the jurisprudence on data-related anti- competitive practices. Jehosh Paul's paper examines the current norms for calculating minimum wages in India, tracing its evolution from the introduction of the Minimum Wages Act in 1948 to 2021. Finally, Anushka Saxena reviews the book "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" by Paul Scharre.

     

  • Indian Public Policy Review
    Vol. 3 No. 4 (Jul-Sep) (2022)

    In the July issue of 2022, Barry Eichengreen, Poonam Gupta and Tim Marple review the arguments for the issuance of a Central Bank Digital Currency for India and review India's progress with other countries. Kevin James, Kandarp Patel and Anoop Singh's paper examines the key areas in which India needs Public Financial Management reforms and charts a comprehensive way forward for achieving it. Using constituency-level information, the paper by Vivek Jadhav examines how social diversity, religious diversity, and fractionalization affect the electoral outcomes in a First-past-the-post system. In her paper, Renu Kohli analyses some vital aspects of India’s flexible inflation targeting (FIT) regime and recommends further testing over different economic cycles before claiming success of the regime. Manoj Kewalramani reviews "How China Sees India and the World", the latest book by Shyam Saran.