Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research

About: Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research is a facility organization based out in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Monetary policy & Inflation. The organization has 307 authors who have published 1021 publications receiving 18848 citations.

Analyzing Strongly Periodic Series in the Frequency Domain: A Comparison of Alternative Approaches with Applications

Abstract: Strongly periodic series occur frequently in many disciplines. This paper reviews one specific approach to analyzing such series viz. the harmonic regression approach. In this paper, the five major methods suggested under this approach are critically reviewed and compared, and their empirical potential highlighted via two applications. The out-of-sample forecast comparisons are made using the Superior Predictive Ability test, which specifically guards against the perils of data snooping. Certain tentative conclusions are drawn regarding the relative forecasting ability of the different methods.

Morbidity and health care in Kerala: A Distributional profile and implications

Abstract: This paper takes up the issues pertaining to the health sector in Kerala in a larger comparative perspective in the Indian context. It would focus on the incidence of morbidity across socio-economic dimensions and their implications for economic policy. Its major findings are: The level of living of every decile group in Kerala is higher than that of the corresponding group at the all-India level. Extent of inequality in consumption distribution is higher in rural Kerala (North, South and combined) than in rural all-India and higher in urban Kerala (combined only) than in urban all-India. Within Kerala, the southern region is better off in terms of levels of living in both rural and urban sectors. The extent of inequality is also higher in South Kerala than in the North; still incidence of absolute poverty is higher in the North than in the South, reflecting the relatively lower level of standard of living in the former. As regards institutional facilities for health care, proportion of illness treated is higher in Kerala than in India as a whole. Extent of dependence on the public sector for health care is higher in Kerala than in all-India. Opportunity cost of illness is lower in Kerala than in India as a whole. Incidence of morbidity is higher in Kerala than in all-India. Within Kerala as a whole, it is (i) higher among women than men; (ii) higher in the rural than in the urban sector; and (iii) higher in the in the South than in the North. Incidence of morbidity is higher in rural than in urban Kerala and vice versa for all-India. As regards inequality in morbidity, the extent in general is lower in Kerala than in India though levels of morbidity are higher in the former than in the latter. Incidence of morbidity is uniformly higher among the poor than among the non-poor categories in South as well as North Kerala. In general, the poor rely relatively more on the public sector than on the private for treatment of illness as well as for hospitalization. Hence, the pursuit of privatization and public sector reform has to be carried out with due regard to the welfare costs associated with them.

Effects of trade liberalization on firm profits and social welfare: the role of technology

Abstract: The objective of this study is to analyse the effects of trade liberalization on profits of a capital-intensive exporting country and a labour-intensive one with different cost functions and the welfare of the importing country under an oligopolistic competition framework. The results show that output is increasing in the degree of trade liberalization and price falls with it. However, the effects of freer trade on profits of the exporting countries are ambiguous and depend on the net gains in profit from free trade. Given the same level of output for both countries, a suffciently high output would bring more profits to the capital-intensive country than to the labour-intensive country. Welfare of the importing country, at least within this framework, is increasing in the degree of trade liberalization, provided that the initial level of restrictions in trade are not too high.

Governance in India's public transport systems:Comparing Indian railways and airlines

Abstract: The paper examines the basic reasons and feasible remedies for organizational weakness, and the possible contribution of ownership, industry and management structure, leadership, social norms, and institutional incentives to alleviating the weaknesses in the Indian context. The arguments are illustrated with reference to the public rail and air services and help to understand why some public sector transport undertakings performed better than others. The most effective changes are those that create incentives, broadly defined, for individuals to improve productivity.