During Phase II of the APDR project, the geographic scope of the project is expanded to Indonesia and India. The colonial histories of Indonesia and India provide particularly useful comparisons for Canada, despite the apparent differences in conditions among these economies. Their local cultural and institutional contexts distinct from the other economies under study offer opportunities for “out-of-sample” comparisons with our Phase I data.
Co-Chaired by Dr. Ashok Kotwal, Professor of Economics of the University of British Columbia and Dr. Bharat Ramaswami of Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi India Research Team closely collaborates with the Delhi School of Economics, the Indian Statistical Institute and Pragati Abhiyan, India. The research areas of the India Research Team include:
- Sources of Indian economic growth and poverty decline;
- Food subsidy delivery mechanisms – cash versus in-kind transfers.
- The right to work legislation and rural governance.
- Mother’s nutrition, infant feeding practices, and the role of complimentary food in child malnutrition in India;
- The impact of globalization and in particular foreign direct investment on the employment prospects for scheduled castes;
- Agricultural bio-technology in India;
Dr. Ashok Kotwal has also launched a policy portal regarding Indian growth and development, which you can visit at http://www.ideasforindia.in/. This policy portal was also reported in The Economist, at the following link: http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/07/economics-blogging.
