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.

Informal Gold Mining and Mercury Pollution in Brazil

Abstract: The case for index funds is predicated on the observed inability of active managers to outperform market indexes over long periods. Agency conflicts between investors and fund managers are another important motivation, as index funds benefit from simple, unambiguous accountability. The rise of index funds over the past 25 years has been a remarkable phenomenon. The traditional rationale for the success of index funds is market efficiency, net of transaction costs. Shah and Fernandes also focus on the role of agency conflicts between fund managers and investors, which are hard to resolve, given the low power of statistical tests of performance. Most of the empirical evidence about the superiority of index funds comes from the United States. Shah and Fernandes discuss issues associated with the application of index funds in developing countries, as well as policy issues in the financial sector that affect the enabling market infrastructure for index funds. They also apply these ideas to thinking about the relevance of index funds for pension investment. The equity premium provides powerful motivation for equity investment by pension funds. Index funds make it possible to sidestep the complexities of forming contracts and monitoring institutions to govern fund managers. In developing countries that seek to use index funds in pension investment, there are avenues through which policymakers can make index funds more viable. In many countries there are significant avenues for improving construction of the market index as well as market mechanisms used in the equity market. This paper - a product of Finance, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to study the promotion of pension funds.

The Changing Nature of Rurality: Reframing the Discourse on Migration and Commuting

Abstract: The focus of this chapter is on rural employment diversification and rural-urban commuting. An estimated 13% of rural workers enaged in nonagricultural activites and an equal proportion of urban workers commute for work in India. The majority of commuting of rural workers is for work in urban areas, whereas urban workers commute to both rural and other urban areas for work. The incidence of commuting from rural areas for work is high among non-farm casual as well as self-employment. The comparison of welfare implications of short-term rural-to-urban migration and rural-to-urban commuting shows that the consumption standards of the latter are much better than those of the former. Given the basis of growing evidence of mobility for work between rural and urban areas and the better welfare implications of commuting, the authors suggest increased investment in affordable mass transport connecting rural and urban areas.

Measuring and explaining the asymmetry of liquidity

Abstract: Most measures of liquidity assume that the cost of buying and selling is symmetric. This paper analyses liquidity in an open electronic limit order book exchange without market makers, where it is possible to directly measure the impact cost of a market order to buy and to sell. There is clear evidence of liquidity asymmetry on the spot market: large market orders to sell have higher costs compared with buy orders. In an identical microstructure setting, but with no short sales constraints, single stock futures markets show little evidence of liquidity asymmetry. This evidence is consistent with the response of liquidity providers to asymmetric information vis-a-vis informed traders, and implies that short sales constraints are an important source of asymmetry in liquidity.

Revising the Definition of MSMEs: Who is Likely to Benefit From it?

Abstract: Until recently, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), registered with the concerned government agencies, have been defined in terms of investment in plant and machinery, as mentioned in panel A of Table 1. The registration is the eligibility for availing government promotional assistance, as listed in Table 2. On March 25, economic lockdown was imposed to tackle COVID-19. Expectedly, the decision has severely hurt jobs and livelihoods, especially in the informal sector. To mitigate the hardships, the Prime Minister proposed Rs. 20 lakh crore Atma Nirbhar Bharat stimuli and relief package. On May 13, the Finance Minister (FM) announced the measures for the MSME sector. A prominent item in it was the much awaited revision of the criteria for registration as an MSME, which is as follows:

Pulses in eastern India: production barriers and consumption coping strategies

Abstract: Increasing the production of pulses (grain legumes) and ensuring their affordability for consumers have been major concerns of policymakers in India in recent decades. Accordingly, we sought to understand the constraints to farmer expansion of pulse production and the consumption coping strategies of rural households in response to increased prices of pulses. This paper presents a study of the responses of rural households, conducted through focus group discussions, in the states of Bihar and Odisha in eastern India. Responses were analysed by a qualitative clustering method. We found that the availability of certified quality seeds and efficient and effective extension services are needed to encourage farmers to increase pulse production. Additionally, the gap between farm harvest price and the market price needs to be reduced by increasing the support price, assured procurement, and efficient local markets. With respect to people’s behaviour following an increase in the price of pulses, households belonging to historically disadvantaged groups and the landless were the most vulnerable and they resorted to the most severe consumption coping strategies. Landowners generally substituted pulses with foods of higher or equal nutritive value, whereas the landless substituted with food of lower nutritive value. These findings show an urgent need to include pulses in the public distribution system and to create new avenues for non farm income to shield consumption of pulses against increases in their prices in India.