Op-eds, policy memos, and other writing

  • Improving police responsiveness to gender-based violence: Evidence from India, with Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner (UVA ) and Akshay Mangla (Oxford).
    VoxDev, November 2, 2022.
    [Published version]

  • Women officers must be on front lines of policing, with Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner (UVA ) and Akshay Mangla (Oxford).
    Op-ed, Hindustan Times, August 1, 2022.
    [Published version]

  • Improving last mile delivery using phone-based monitoring, with Karthik Muralidharan (UCSD), Paul Niehaus (UCSD), and Jeff Weaver (USC).
    VoxDev, August 1, 2021.
    [Published version]

  • In-kind transfers as insurance, with Lucie Gadenne (Warwick), Sam Norris (Chicago), and Monica Singhal(UC Davis).
    March 1, 2021.
    [VoxDev][Ideas for India]

  • Need to keep an open mind, pilot cautiously. Urban work guarantee symposium, Ideas for India, September 24, 2020.
    [Published version]

  • Evaluating the Aadhaar-PDS link, with Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus (both UCSD).
    Op-ed, Hindustan Times, February, 2020.
    [Published version]

  • Strengthen NREGS to support the rural economy, with Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus (both UCSD).
    Op-ed, Hindustan Times, March, 2019.
    [Published version]

  • Use mobiles to improve governance, with Karthik Muralidharan (UCSD), Paul Niehaus (UCSD), and Jeff Weaver (USC).
    Op-ed, Hindustan Times, December, 2018.
    [Published version]

  • Go for an "Inclusive Growth Dividend" in India, with Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus (both UCSD).
    Op-ed, Hindustan Times, November, 2018.
    [Published version]

  • Ensuring that #MeToo Doesn't Fizzle Out, with Padmini Baruah.
    Op-ed, LiveMint, November, 2018.
    [Published version]

  • We Need a Choice-based Approach in the Public Distribution System, with Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus (both UCSD).
    Op-ed, Hindustan Times, October, 2018.
    [Published version]

  • Balancing the costs and benefits of Aadhaar, with Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus (both UCSD).
    Op-ed, LiveMint, March, 2018.
    [Published version]

  • Direct Benefits Transfer in Food: Results from One Year of Process Monitoring in Union Territories, with Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus (both UCSD).
    Policy Note, September, 2017.
    [Ungated version]

  • Price Risk and Poverty, with Lucie Gadenne (Warwick), Sam Norris (Northwestern), and Monica Singhal (UC Davis).
    Ideas for India, May, 2017.
    [Ideas for India version]

  • What do We Know about Corruption in India?, with Milan Vaishnav (CEIP).
    Ideas for India, July, 2015.
    [Ideas for India version] [Mint version]

  • Building State Capacity for Better Programme Implementation: Lessons from the Andhra Pradesh Smartcard Programme, with Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus (both UCSD).
    Ideas for India, December, 2014.
    [Ideas for India version] [Mint version]

  • The Sweet Spot.
    Op-ed, The Indian Express, November, 2014.
    [Published version]

  • Because the Price was Right.
    Op-ed, The Indian Express, February, 2014.
    [Published version]

  • Two Questions about the 2G Scam.
    Ideas for India, March, 2013.
    [Published version]

  • Implementing a Biometric Payment System: The Andhra Pradesh Experience, with Piali Mukhopadhyay (GiveDirectly), Karthik Muralidharan (UCSD) and Paul Niehaus (UCSD).
    [Technical report, 2013]

  • Corruption in MGNREGA.
    Ideas for India, July, 2012.
    [Published version]

  • What Determines MGNREGA Wages? Some Evidence on Voice and Exit from Orissa.
    India in Transition, April 9, 2012.
    [Published version]

  • The Right to Choose your Food, with Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus (both UCSD).
    Op-ed, The Indian Express, August 2, 2011.
    [Published version] [Original version]

  • Assessing the Scope for Cash Transfers in lieu of the TPDS in Rural and Urban Bihar, with Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus (both UCSD).
    [Policy report, 2011]

  • The Bigger They are, the Harder They Fall: The Cost of the Crisis in Corporate Governance, with Carol Graham and Robert Litan (both Brookings).
    Milken Institute Review, 5(1): First Quarter 2003, pp 37-45.