Bharat Ramaswami

Bio: Bharat Ramaswami is an academic researcher from Indian Statistical Institute. The author has contributed to research in topics: Subsidy & Food prices. The author has an hindex of 22, co-authored 71 publications receiving 1744 citations. Previous affiliations of Bharat Ramaswami include Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi Centre & Ashoka University.

Economic Liberalization and Indian Economic Growth: What's the Evidence?

Abstract: *India’s growth and poverty performance over the last three decades has been a subject of great curiosity. Unlike the East Asian countries, India’s growth spurt is not associated with exceptionally high domestic savings or foreign capital inflows or manufacturing exports. So what triggered the change in the growth trajectory? Did the market liberalization policies of the 1990s help? How have the initial conditions shaped the process? And how has the “Indian model” impinged on India’s central problem of mass poverty? This paper surveys the literature and offers its own assessment of the drivers of change. (JEL I32, O13, O14, O15, O21, O47)

Risk management in agriculture

Abstract: This monograph was written to be part of the series of studies commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture under the rubric of "State of Indian Farmer - A Millennium Study". On the basis of existing literature, this study documents the status of our knowledge on risks of agriculture and their management. Chapter 2 discusses the evidence on the nature, type and magnitude of agricultural risks. Chapter 3 discusses farmer strategies to combat risk. In addition to the mechanisms at the level of the farm household, the need to cope with risk can also affect community interactions and social customs. This is examined in Chapter 4. In chapter 5, we consider how production risks have been transformed by developments in the agricultural economy in the post-independence period. In chapter 6, we review the principal developments that have impacted on market risks.

Status, Caste, and the Time Allocation of Women in Rural India

Abstract: We argue that women may be disinclined to participate in market work in the rural areas of India because of family status concerns in a culture that stigmatizes market work by married women. We set out a theoretical framework that offers predictions regarding the effects of caste-based status concerns on the time allocation of women. We then use the all-India National Sample Survey data for the year 2004–5 and the Time Use Survey for six states of India for the year 1998–99 to empirically test these hypotheses. After controlling for a host of correlates, we find that the ratio of women’s market work to men’s declines as we move up the caste hierarchy. This ratio falls as family wealth rises, and the decline is steeper for the higher castes. Finally, the effect on women’s market work of higher education is weaker for the higher castes. These findings lend support to our theory and to the view that, through its emphasis on family status, caste plays a pivotal role in undermining the autonomy of wome...

Efficiency and Distribution in Contract Farming: The Case of Indian Poultry Growers

Abstract: "This paper is an empirical analysis of the gains from contract farming in the case of poultry production in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. The paper finds that contract production is more efficient than noncontract production. The efficiency surplus is largely appropriated by the processor. Despite this, contract growers still gain appreciably from contracting in terms of lower risk and higher expected returns. Improved technology and production practices as well as the way in which the processor selects growers are what make these outcomes possible. In terms of observed and unobserved characteristics, contract growers have relatively poor prospects as independent growers. With contract production, these growers achieve incomes comparable to that of independent growers." Authors' Abstract

Precautionary Saving in the Small and in the Large

Abstract: The theory of precautionary saving is shown in this paper to be isomorphic to the Arrow-Pratt theory of risk aversion, making possible the application of a large body of knowledge about risk aversion to precautionary saving, and more generally, to the theory of optimal choice under risk In particular, a measure of the strength of precautionary saving motive analogous to the Arrow-Pratt measure of risk aversion is used to establish a number of new propositions about precautionary saving, and to give a new interpretation of the Oreze-Modigliani substitution effect

Micro-Level Analysis of Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change in Southern Africa

Abstract: "Adaptation to climate change involves changes in agricultural management practices in response to changes in climate conditions. It often involves a combination of various individual responses at the farm-level and assumes that farmers have access to alternative practices and technologies available in the region. This study examines farmer adaptation strategies to climate change in Southern Africa based on a cross-section database of three countries (South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe) collected as part of the Global Environment Facility/World Bank (GEF/WB) Climate Change and African Agriculture Project. The study describes farmer perceptions to changes in long-term temperature and precipitation as well as various farm-level adaptation measures and barriers to adaptation at the farm household level. A multivariate discrete choice model is used to identify the determinants of farm-level adaptation strategies. Results confirm that access to credit and extension and awareness of climate change are some of the important determinants of farm-level adaptation. An important policy message from these results is that enhanced access to credit, information (climatic and agronomic) as well as to markets (input and output) can significantly increase farm-level adaptation. Government policies should support research and development on appropriate technologies to help farmers adapt to changes in climatic conditions. Examples of such policy measures include crop development, improving climate information forecasting, and promoting appropriate farm-level adaptation measures such as use of irrigation technologies." from Authors' Abstract

For Protection and Promotion: The Design and Implementation of Effective Safety Nets

Abstract: All countries fund safety net programs for the protection of their people Though an increasing number of safety net programs are extremely well thought out, adroitly implemented, and demonstrably effective, many others are not This book aims to assist those concerned with social policy to understand why countries need social assistance, what kind of safety programs will serve those best and how to develop such programs for maximum effectiveness Safety nets are part of a broader poverty reduction strategy interacting with and working alongside of social insurance; health, education, and financial services; the provision of utilities and roads; and other policies aimed at reducing poverty and managing risk Though useful, safety nets are not a panacea, and there are real concerns over whether they are affordable and administratively feasible or desirable in light of the various negative incentives they might create In most settings where there is political will to do so, such concerns can be managed through a number of prudent design and implementation features Much information and innovation exist on these topics; this book summarizes, references, and builds on this knowledge base to promote well-crafted safety nets and safety net policy

The production effects of agricultural income support policies under uncertainty

Abstract: This analysis decomposes the production impacts of income support programs into wealth, insurance, and coupling effects. Under the usual assumptions about preferences, the wealth and insurance effects of many support programs increase optimal input levels even for supposedly decoupled programs. If the program is “coupled” in the usual sense, then all three effects often act in the same direction. It is concluded that studies of trade and domestic policy reform in stochastic environments should consider insurance and wealth effects. The derivative conditions required to obtain results are also subjected to scrutiny. Simulations for an Iowa corn producer confirm the comparative statics.