Ideas of India

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SOCIAL SCIENCES
EVERY TWO WEEKS

Through conversations with top thinkers in the social sciences and beyond, economist Shruti Rajagopalan explores the ideas that will propel India forward.

6 DAYS AGO

Deepti Sharma on Survey Methods and the Hidden Biases in Economic Data

Subscribe to Grand Tamasha on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your favorite podcast app. I spoke with Deepti Sharma, who's an Assistant Professor at Ahmedabad University. She completed her PhD in public policy from the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Management of Health Services at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. Her current research focus is empirical methods, applied microeconomics, public health and gender studies. We discussed her job market paper, Does it matter who you ask for Time Use Data? We talked about the systematic bias in proxy reporting when compared to self-reporting in time use surveys, some techniques used to fix those biases, the gendered nature of these biases, policy implications of using these time use surveys and much more. Recorded September 12th, 2024. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow Shruti on X Follow Deepti on X Click here for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:12) - Grand Tamasha (00:02:42) - Proxy-Reporting Versus Self-Reporting in Time-Use Surveys (00:07:16) - Gender Bias and Systematic Bias in Proxy-Reported Data (00:10:27) - How Cultural Norms and Gender Perceptions Shape Reporting (00:16:59) - Challenges in Collecting Accurate Time-Use Data (00:19:34) - Methodological Approaches to Working with Proxy-Reported Data (00:24:43) - Suggested Approaches to Conducting Time-Use Surveys (00:31:21) - Impact of Climate Change on Gendered Agricultural Work (00:33:17) - Hysterectomy Rates and Health Insurance Policies in India (00:36:03) - Outro

37 min
14 NOV

Kushagr Bakshi on Constitutional Interpretation and the Transformation of Federalism

Subscribe to Grand Tamasha on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your favorite podcast app. I spoke with Kushagr Bakshi is a Michigan International and Comparative Law Scholar and an SJD candidate at the University of Michigan Law School, where he also received his LLM. He received his first law degree from NUJS in West Bengal. We discussed a chapter of his dissertation called “The Country Without a Post Office: Jammu and Kashmir and the Imaginations of Freedom Within a Federation. We talked about assymetrical federalism versus hetererarchy, constitutional values and imagination for federalism in India, and much more. Recorded October 24th, 2024. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow Shruti on X Follow Kushagr on X Click here for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:06) - Grand Tamasha (00:04:12) - Asymmetric Versus Heterarchical Federalism (00:19:37) - Isn’t this Asymmetric Federalism? (00:31:39) - Democracy in Local Governments (00:43:27) - Rethinking the Rajya Sabha (00:53:30) - Outro

54 min
7 NOV

Aarushi Kalra on Digital Polarization and Toxicity, Understanding User Behavior, Social Media Algorithms, and Platform Incentives

Subscribe to Grand Tamasha on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your favorite podcast app. I spoke with Aarushi Kalra Ph.D. candidate in Economics at Brown University. We discussed her job market paper, “Hate in the Time of Algorithms: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment on Online Behavior.” We talked about the demand and supply of toxicity against minorities on social media platforms, user behavior, platform behavior, real world segregation due to ethnic violence, and much more. Recorded October 24th, 2024. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow Shruti on X Follow Aarushi on X Click here for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro (00:00:58) - Grand Tamasha (00:02:31) - Exploring How Social Media Users Engage with Toxic Content (00:06:06) - Understanding the Drivers of Toxic Speech on the Internet (00:08:50) - Definitions of Toxic Content (00:11:05) - Scale of Data and Choice of Language (00:12:23) - Impact of Recommendation Algorithms on User Engagement (00:16:27) - Key Findings on Toxic Content Exposure and Sharing (00:22:08) - Interpreting How Personalization Shapes Engagement in Toxic Social Media Content (00:25:31) - How Recognizing the Agency and Sophistication of Users Shapes Interpretive Models (00:31:45) - The Challenges of Platform Regulation (00:34:04) - The Challenges of Creating Interventions to Address Toxic Content (00:35:46) - Social Media as Normalizing Toxic Speech (00:38:09) - The Route of the Ram Rath Yatra As Lens on Segregation (00:48:58) - Outro

50 min
31 OCT

Abishek Choutagunta on Federalism, President’s Rule, and Constitutional Design

Subscribe to Grand Tamasha on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your favorite podcast app. I spoke with Abishek Choutagunta, who received his PhD in economics from the Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg. He is also an EV India fellow at the Mercatus Center. We discussed his paper “President’s Rule in India: State Emergency or Political Capture?” with Christian Bjørnskov, Stefan Voigt, and myself, yes you heard that right. We talked about the Centripetal Federalism in India, state and local government finances, emergency powers, SR Bommai, constitutional design, and much more. Recorded September 6th, 2024. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow Shruti on X Follow Abishek on X Click here for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:01) - Grand Tamasha (00:02:58) - Article 356 and President’s Rule (00:26:47) - Why are local governments broken in India? (00:46:33) - India is Centripetal in its Federalism (00:53:08) - Outro

54 min
24 OCT

Atanu Chatterjee on Governance and Design in Slum Rehabilitation

Subscribe to Grand Tamasha on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your favorite podcast app. I spoke with Atanu Chatterjee, a PhD candidate in geography at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a lecturer at the School of Human Settlements, XIM University Bhubaneswar. We discussed his dissertation examining the in situ slum rehabilitation scheme through a state-led intervention in low income housing in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. We talked about the reasons for the emergence of urban slums in Ahmedabad, the successes and failures of the in situ slum rehabilitation scheme, the differences across four recent slum redevelopments, the types of problems residents face post rehabilitation, and much more. Recorded September 12th, 2024. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow Shruti on X Follow Atanu on X Click here for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:10) - Grand Tamasha (00:02:54) - The Aims of In Situ Slum Redevelopment (00:05:58) - Frameworks for Understanding Slums (00:10:06) - The Economic Context of Slums in Relation to Governance (00:12:26) - Communal Violence and Segregation and the Formation of Slums (00:15:46) - Approaches to Slum Redevelopment (00:17:05) - Slum Redevelopment in Ahmedabad (00:19:37) - Ahmedabad As a Success Story? (00:21:35) - Consent and Coercion in the Redevelopment of Slums (00:26:07) - Public–Private Partnerships and Participation in Redevelopment Schemes (00:27:21) - Challenges in Adjusting to In Situ Redevelopment (00:30:19) - Expectations of Living in a Post-Redevelopment Colony (00:32:03) - Basis for Evaluating the Success of Rehabilitation (00:34:01) - Allotment of Homes and Ownership Restrictions (00:36:15) - Questions Regarding the Resale of Allotted Homes (00:40:04) - Issues that Impede Residents’ Adjustment to Communal Living (00:42:51) - The Role of the State in Facilitating Transitions to Redeveloped Housing (00:44:14) - Mechanisms for Creating Successful Redevelopments (00:46:27) - A Participatory Approach Versus a Top-Down Approach to Redevelopment (00:49:03) - Building the Capacity of Community Associations (00:51:36) - Grounds for Optimism (00:53:09) - Improvements of the Institutional Framework Through Community Empowerment (00:54:45) - The Potentially Supportive Role of NGOs (00:56:390 - No Quick Fixes but Revised Platforms (00:57:33) - Outro

58 min
17 OCT

Steven Brownstone on Agricultural Subsidies, Mechanization, and Historical Land and Labor Institutions in India

Subscribe to Grand Tamasha on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your favorite podcast app. I spoke with Steven Brownstone, a PhD candidate in economics at the University of California, San Diego. His research focus is on the fields of development economics, agricultural economics, and political economy. We discussed his job market paper, Labor Market Effects of Agricultural Mechanization: Experimental Evidence from India. We talked about the reason there isn't a natural mechanization in rice plantation in Telangana, the role of the state in the uptake of mechanization, the labor market in a developing country that is undergoing a structural transformation and much more. Recorded September 11th, 2024. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow Shruti on X Follow Steven on X Click here for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:04) - Grand Tamasha (00:02:36) - The Wage and Labor Effects of Mechanized Drum Seeders in Telangana (00:07:43) - Wages Failing to Rise: NREGA and a Profitability Ceiling (00:09:41) - Women’s Changing Role in the Farming Labor Market (00:11:07) - The Puzzle of Mechanization: Is Government Intervention Necessary? (00:15:41) - Mechanization or Migrant Labor (00:19:27) - The Role of Government in Mechanization Adoption (00:23:46) - Should Telangana farmers grow rice? (00:26:08) - Market Distortions and Maximizing Food Production (00:29:31) - Larger Economic Questions About Agricultural Subsidies (00:34:18) - Future of Mechanization and Agricultural Policy in Telangana (00:36:45) - The Long Shadow of Feudalism: Concentration of Land and Labor Market Power in India (00:39:00) - How the Feudal Structure Shaped Current Farm Ownership and Women’s Labor (00:41:54) - New Research in Relation to Existing Stories of State Capacity (00:46:05) - Outro

47 min
10 OCT

Deepika Padmanabhan on Language, Identity, and Nation-Building in South India

Subscribe to Grand Tamasha on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your favorite podcast app. I spoke with Deepika Padmanabhan, who's a PhD candidate in political science at Yale University. Her research focuses on nationalism, language and self-determination with a regional focus in South Asia. We discussed her job market paper, everyday imposition language promotion as a nation building strategy in Southern India. We talked about how the exposure to dominant national languages like English and Hindi impacts the identity of subnational regional speakers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the politics of language in South Asia, the instrumental versus symbolic characteristics of regional languages and much more. Recorded September 11th, 2024. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow Shruti on X Follow Deepika on X Click here for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:08) - Grand Tamasha (00:02:47) - Linguistic Diversity and National Identity (00:03:55) - History and Politics of Multilingualism in India (00:06:20) - Language as a Nation-Building Tool with Putative Effects (00:08:53) - Experiencing the Hierarchy of National and Subnational Identities Through Language (00:11:51) - Observing the Discriminatory Effects of Linguistic Imposition (00:15:37) - Bilingualism or Diglossia (00:18:03) - Differences in the Political and Economic Valences of Hindi and English (00:21:18) - Migration and Language Politics (00:22:35) - Linguistic Pluralism in Relation to National Identity and Growing Nativism (00:25:39) - Hindi as the Site of Political and Economic Tensions (00:30:45) - Dialects of Local Languages Provoking a Subnational Identity (00:34:26) - A Linguistic Origin Story (00:38:33) - Politics in Tamil Film (00:43:20) - The Future of Linguistic Diversity with Advancements in Technology (00:45:15) - Outro

46 min
3 OCT

Sukrit Puri on the Entanglement between Business and Politics in India

Subscribe to Grand Tamasha on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your favorite podcast app. This is the 2024 job market series where I speak with young scholars entering the academic job market about the latest research in India. I spoke with Sukrit Puri, who is a PhD candidate in political science at MIT and an Elinor Ostrom fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. His research focus is on the entanglement between business and politics in emerging economies, and his dissertation focuses on family firms in India. We discussed his job market paper, Corporate Kinship: Political Attachments of the Family Firm, we talked about how family firms differ from management and expert run businesses in India, whether it is in their firm structure or their political giving, whether family firms are most strategic or expressive in politics, the differences in the nature of the quid pro quo for a family firm versus a management run firm, the latest electoral bond scheme, and much more. Recorded September 11th, 2024. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow Shruti on X Follow Sukrit on X Click here for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:16) - Grand Tamasha (00:03:05) - Analyzing Family-Run Firms and Campaign Donations (00:07:06) - How Family Businesses Donate Politically in Relation to Corporations and Individuals (00:10:17) - Distinctions Between Family-Run and Non-Family-Run Firms (00:14:48) - Political Donations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Overlap or Distinct Strategies? (00:19:35) - The Hidden Side of Campaign Contributions (00:25:56) - Ethnic Identity in Relation to Expressive Giving (00:28:59) - Challenges in Measuring Quid Pro Quo Arrangements (00:35:55) - The Impact of Demonetization on Political Donations (00:37:06) - Assessing the Reaction to the Information Shock from Mandated Disclosures (00:45:22) - Understanding the Reputational Impact of Political Donations (00:51:15) - Is Uncertainty a Factor? (00:57:11) - Outro

58 min

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Through conversations with top thinkers in the social sciences and beyond, economist Shruti Rajagopalan explores the ideas that will propel India forward.