Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

About: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore is a education organization based out in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Emerging markets & Context (language use). The organization has 491 authors who have published 1254 publications receiving 23853 citations. The organization is also known as: IIMB.

A Bayesian quantile regression model for insurance company costs data

Abstract: Summary We examine the average cost function for property and casualty insurers. The cost function describes the relationship between a firm's minimum production cost and outputs. A comparison of cost functions could shed light on the relative cost efficiency of individual firms, which is of interest to many market participants and has been given extensive attention in the insurance industry. To identify and to compare the cost function, current practice is to assume a common functional form between costs and outputs across insurers and then to rank insurers according to the centre of the cost distribution. However, the assumption of a common cost–output relationship could be misleading because insurers tend to adopt different technologies that are reflected by the cost function in their production process. The centre-based comparison could also lead to biased inference especially when the cost distribution is skewed with a heavy tail. To address these issues, we model the average production cost of insurers by using a Bayesian quantile regression approach. Quantile regression enables the modelling of different quantiles of the cost distribution as opposed to just the centre. The Bayesian approach helps to estimate the cost-to-output functional relationship at a firm level by borrowing information across firms. In the analysis of US property–casualty insurers, we show that better insights into efficiency are gained by comparing different quantiles of the cost distribution.

Enfranchisement from a political perspective

Abstract: This paper presents an alternative theoretical perspective on democratization. Various models of democratization have been proposed in the literature, like enfranchisement in response to threats of revolution, threats of war, and split of interests among elites. However, there seems to be instances of democratization that do not follow any of these patterns. For one, these theories rely on redistributive aspects of franchise extension. My model captures democratization arising out of an evenly-balanced partisan competition between political parties, large rents from office and a part of the enfranchised benefiting from extension of franchise. Hence I can explain instances of suffrage extension with little or no redistributive repercussions like women’s suffrage. My model also fits the democratization experiences of several countries like Sweden, Chile, and Italy.

The Working of Entrepreneurs in a Competitive Low Technology Industry: The Case of Master Weavers in the Handloom Industry

Abstract: It is virtually impossible for any industry to remain relevant for centuries but the handloom industry in India has been surviving since time immemorial. It is popularly believed that this industry has survived due to the monetary and regulatory interventions of the government. It is true that millions have been spent by the various governments in the last 100 years but the industry has also had the innate doggedness to survive and remain relevant to the current textile needs of the country. Textile entrepreneurs (also known as master weavers) have played an important role in making handloom extremely competitive. It is their tenacity to subsist when markets are down and their ability to innovate when the markets are up that has played a crucial role in the survival of the industry. Government of India has acknowledged that 75% of the weavers function under the master weaver segment but little is known about their functioning. This paper addresses the limited knowledge about these master weavers and throws light on their functioning. Two main entrepreneurial processes will be described – transaction costs and social capital. The aim is to document the entrepreneurial functioning of a master weaver and understand how he sells in the same markets where the cooperatives are unable to sell.

Old age protection in India: Problems and prognosis

Abstract: This paper reviews the current state of the Indian pension system. The Indian experience could potentially influence policy decisions in other developing countries, especially those with similar reliance on the national provident fund system. Institutional features of various retirement benefit schemes are highlighted and their deficiencies are discussed. It is argued that low coverage level, underperformance of provident fund schemes due to investment restrictions, and financial difficulties in administering unfunded public pension programmes have rendered the current system ineffective and unsustainable. The failed experiments with ad hoc reform initiatives in the recent past further emphasize the need for a structural and lasting change. The paper concludes with some policy directions for reforming the Indian pension system.

‘Trust’ as a Foundation for Strategic Alliances in Global Software Outsourcing:

Abstract: Indian software firms are involved in a variety of relationships with international organizations that have opted for global software outsourcing. Most firms, if not all, started as vendors on shor...