Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

About: Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad is a education organization based out in Ahmedabad, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Emerging markets & Population. The organization has 1828 authors who have published 4011 publications receiving 59269 citations. The organization is also known as: IIMA & IIM Ahmedabad.

Framework for structuring public private partnerships in railways

Abstract: Structuring public private partnerships (PPP) in railways is a challenge, given its technology base, and obligation as a public and affordable mode of transportation. The sector provides strong incentives for vertical integration due to economies of scope. However, it is evident from the literature that large integrated PPPs in railway systems are not feasible due to higher commercial risks. They also suffer from implicit cross subsidization since the railway infrastructure is capital intensive, common to multiple revenue sources, and fare box revenues are generally not sufficient to recover investments. This is being addressed by various unbundling approaches in recent PPPs. The common unbundling is between infrastructure, operations, and services. The objective of this research is to explore the potential of unbundling further and to come up with a framework that helps policy makers in taking macro level decisions on PPP structuring. The research disaggregates the railway system into over 40 ‘elements’ wherein an element is the smallest unit that can be given to a party for execution. However this unbundling would result in significant horizontal and vertical interfaces between these elements. A sustainable PPP would need to limit the extent of interfaces due to transaction costs and risks. This can be achieved by bundling the elements horizontally and/or vertically into ‘entities’ to extract the best value for a PPP. The governing principles would be scale economies (horizontal integration), scope economies (vertical integration), need for competition (horizontal disaggregation), level playing field, transactional transparency, and need for specialization (vertical disaggregation). Additional drivers would be appetite for investment, availability of competence and accountability for an entity. The findings of the research indicate that the entity formation is one of the most crucial aspects of a PPP in railways. A consequential critical area is managing the interfaces between entities, which are subject to transaction costs and risks. These should be carefully identified and addressed by well-designed contractual agreements and independent regulation.

Country-level and individual-level predictors of men's support for gender equality in 42 countries

Abstract: Men sometimes withdraw support for gender equality movements when their higher gender status is threatened. Here, we expand the focus of this phenomenon by examining it cross-culturally, to test if both individual- and country-level variables predict men's collective action intentions to support gender equality. We tested a model in which men's zero-sum beliefs about gender predict reduced collective action intentions via an increase in hostile sexism. Because country-level gender equality may threaten men's higher gender status, we also examined whether the path from zero-sum beliefs to collective action intentions was stronger in countries higher in gender equality. Multilevel modeling on 6,734 men from 42 countries supported the individual-level mediation model, but found no evidence of moderation by country-level gender equality. Both country-level gender equality and individual-level zero-sum thinking independently predicted reductions in men's willingness to act collectively for gender equality.

Human Resource Issues Implications for Health Sector Reforms

Abstract: Given the growing complexities and challenges it faces, reforms in the health sector are inevitable. They generally focus on making the health systems responsive through strengthening financial systems, ensuring local participation and public–private partnerships, and autonomy of health facilities. It is only through these reforms that deficiencies in the health sector can be addressed. The process is also likely to help in developing strategies that ensure effectiveness and efficiency of resource use. However, the reform process makes some fundamental assumptions about the intrinsic organisational and professional commitment and availability of skilled and competent health care professionals. This paper examines the commitment of district-level health officials in the new state of Chhattisgarh in India. Since development-oriented human resource practices are powerful tools that commit health professionals to enhance the quality of care, we believe that health sector reforms should concentrate on human re...

Food waste and out-of-home-dining: antecedents and consequents of the decision to take away leftovers after dining at restaurants

Abstract: The rising trend of eating out has contributed noticeably to the increase in food waste generated by the hospitality sector. Therefore, it is essential to understand the drivers of food waste gener...

Mandatory IPO Grading: Does it Help Pricing Efficiency?

Abstract: The paper examines the market impact of a unique IPO certification recently introduced in India - mandatory grading of IPOs by a credit rating agency. The grading was expected to improve the IPO pricing efficiency by providing comprehensive issue-related information to the market, especially to the retail investors. The results indicate that grading has only a limited influence on the IPO demand of retail and institutional investors. The low grade issues appear to have weaker demand from investors relative to the ungraded IPOs. But there is no evidence to support IPO pricing improvement due to the introduction of IPO grading. This is contrary to the evidence reported by some earlier studies. This suggests the failure of grading as an IPO certification.