Pushkar Maitra
Biographic Data
| ID | 3709974 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Pushkar Maitra |
| GIVEN NAMES | Pushkar |
| FAMILY NAME | Maitra |
| SIGNATURE | MAITRA P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Monash University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0247-4069 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 102 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Backlash at the ballot box
This paper examines the political consequences of climate activism during the ongoing global energy transition. We exploit the quasi-experimental setup offered by the Stop-Adani convoy, a multi-week environmental protest that traversed Australia’s Eastern states in the lead-up to the 2019 federal election, in opposition to the proposed development of a large coal mine. Our findings show that exposure to the convoy increased the (more conservative…
Selecting the ‘Best’? Competing Dimensions of Politician Quality in the Developing World
Evidence suggests that politicians in advanced democracies are positively selected on characteristics relevant to their suitability for political office. Whereas stereotypes abound, much less is known about the quality of politicians in developing countries. Drawing on unique experimental and survey data on village-level politicians in West Bengal, India, we find some evidence of positive selection into office: elected politicians are more educat…
Exogenous shocks and electoral outcomes
Do voters react to shocks that are beyond the control of politicians? We consider the case of the assassination of a senior politician in India, in the middle of an election. We find that Congress(I), the party of the assassinated leader, gained significantly from this event through increased vote shares and improved likelihood of victory. Sympathy towards Congress(I) and changed perceptions about governing abilities of the contesting parties in …
Time in Office and the Changing Gender Gap in Dishonesty
Increasing the share of women in politics is often promoted as a means to reduce corruption. Recent studies indicate the importance of considering the gender gap in corruption as a dynamic, rather than static, phenomenon. Our study combines data from surveys and incentivized behavioral games among 400 inexperienced and experienced local politicians in West Bengal, India. We find no gender gap in attitudes toward corruption. However, in incentiviz…
Coal Plants, Air Pollution and Anaemia
We examine the impact of pollution from coal–fired power units on the anaemic status of children and women in India. The number of coal units in the district at the time of birth significantly increases the incidence of anaemia in young children as does in utero exposure. The number of coal units in the district also adversely affects the anaemic status of women, although the magnitude of impact is smaller than that for young children. The impact…
Household welfare effects of Roscas
Upstream effects of female political reservations
Evaluating the distributive effects of a micro-credit intervention
The Winter's Tale
This paper examines the effect of season of birth on height and cognitive and noncognitive skills of Chinese children. We find that the child’s season of birth has a significant impact on the height of girls aged less than 5 years in agricultural households: girls born in winter are 0.4 standard deviations shorter compared with girls born in other seasons. We find, however, that this relative height differential does not translate to deficits in …
Health spillover effects of a conditional cash transfer program
Labor market engagement and the body mass index of working adults
Barriers to skill acquisition
Financing smallholder agriculture
Searching for preference stability in a state dependent world
Absence of Altruism? Female Disadvantage in Private School Enrollment in India
A Distributional Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap in Bangladesh
This article empirically investigates the gender wage gap in Bangladesh during the period 2005-2009. Applying unconditional quantile regression models, the article demonstrates that women are paid less than men throughout the wage distribution and the gap is higher at the lower end of the distribution. Discrimination against women is the primary determinant of the wage gap. The article also demonstrates that the observed gender wage gap is likely…
Food consumption patterns and malnourished Indian children
The link between infant mortality and child nutrition in India
In this paper, using the 1998–1999 National Family Health Survey data-set from India, we study whether there are gender differentials in infant mortality and child nutrition. Our analysis finds no evidence of gender differentials in survival probability. However, conditional upon surviving the first year, girls are found to have poorer height-for-age outcomes. There are also significant regional differences in both survival probabilities and nutr…
Health shocks and consumption smoothing in rural households
Endogenous Intra‐household Balance of Power and its Impact on Expenditure Patterns
This paper extends the collective approach to household behaviour by proposing and estimating a model in which the weights attached to individual members are endogenously determined. The estimation is conducted using two different data‐sets from three Indian states. We find that relative bargaining power of the adult decision‐makers has a statistically significant effect on the budget share of an item and that the effects are typically nonlinear …
Language, Informal Networks and Social Protection
Rural–urban migration is a major phenomenon in the developing world. This article is concerned with understanding the ways in which rural–urban migrants have their social protection needs met following their move to the city. We report results from a survey of rural–urban migrants in four low-income areas in Cape Town, South Africa. We look at the experiences of migrants in terms of finding employment in the urban environment, and the impact of l…
The Impact of Resource Inflows on Child Health
This paper investigates changes to the health status of young children (aged 0–5 years) in the Kwazulu-Natal province of South Africa during 1993–98. In our estimation we explicitly take into account the potential endogeneity of household resources in affecting child health. In particular, we examine whether the effect of resources is differentiated by the source, the age and the sex of the recipient. Finally, we also take into account the panel …
The effect of transfers on household expenditure patterns and poverty in South Africa
On the Choice of Tenancy Contracts in Rural India
This paper uses data from rural India to analyse how cultivating household and plot level characteristics affect contract choice on a particular plot of land. We estimate a sequential choice model where the landowner first decides whether to cultivate the land on his own (possibly with hired labour) or to lease it out. If the latter, then a choice is made between fixed‐rent or share‐cropping. One interesting finding is that the greater the value …
Two Aspects of Fertility Behavior in South Africa
Health shocks and consumption smoothing in rural households
The effect of transfers on household expenditure patterns and poverty in South Africa
Language, Informal Networks and Social Protection
Rural–urban migration is a major phenomenon in the developing world. This article is concerned with understanding the ways in which rural–urban migrants have their social protection needs met following their move to the city. We report results from a survey of rural–urban migrants in four low-income areas in Cape Town, South Africa. We look at the experiences of migrants in terms of finding employment in the urban environment, and the impact of l…
Financing smallholder agriculture
Searching for preference stability in a state dependent world
Household welfare effects of Roscas
Time in Office and the Changing Gender Gap in Dishonesty
Increasing the share of women in politics is often promoted as a means to reduce corruption. Recent studies indicate the importance of considering the gender gap in corruption as a dynamic, rather than static, phenomenon. Our study combines data from surveys and incentivized behavioral games among 400 inexperienced and experienced local politicians in West Bengal, India. We find no gender gap in attitudes toward corruption. However, in incentiviz…
Food consumption patterns and malnourished Indian children
Endogenous Intra‐household Balance of Power and its Impact on Expenditure Patterns
This paper extends the collective approach to household behaviour by proposing and estimating a model in which the weights attached to individual members are endogenously determined. The estimation is conducted using two different data‐sets from three Indian states. We find that relative bargaining power of the adult decision‐makers has a statistically significant effect on the budget share of an item and that the effects are typically nonlinear …
Health spillover effects of a conditional cash transfer program
The link between infant mortality and child nutrition in India
In this paper, using the 1998–1999 National Family Health Survey data-set from India, we study whether there are gender differentials in infant mortality and child nutrition. Our analysis finds no evidence of gender differentials in survival probability. However, conditional upon surviving the first year, girls are found to have poorer height-for-age outcomes. There are also significant regional differences in both survival probabilities and nutr…
Exogenous shocks and electoral outcomes
Do voters react to shocks that are beyond the control of politicians? We consider the case of the assassination of a senior politician in India, in the middle of an election. We find that Congress(I), the party of the assassinated leader, gained significantly from this event through increased vote shares and improved likelihood of victory. Sympathy towards Congress(I) and changed perceptions about governing abilities of the contesting parties in …
Barriers to skill acquisition
Absence of Altruism? Female Disadvantage in Private School Enrollment in India
On the Choice of Tenancy Contracts in Rural India
This paper uses data from rural India to analyse how cultivating household and plot level characteristics affect contract choice on a particular plot of land. We estimate a sequential choice model where the landowner first decides whether to cultivate the land on his own (possibly with hired labour) or to lease it out. If the latter, then a choice is made between fixed‐rent or share‐cropping. One interesting finding is that the greater the value …
Two Aspects of Fertility Behavior in South Africa
Sharecropping contracts in rural India
In this article we examine the terms of sharecropping contracts using data from rural India. We examine the effect of - (1) the sharing of input costs between landlord and tenant; (2) the tenant's capacity to borrow; and (3) the existence of outside employment opportunities for the tenant — on the share parameter. We regress the share paid by the household on a set of cultivating household and village level characteristics and find that cost shar…
Sharecropping contracts in rural India
In this article we examine the terms of sharecropping contracts using data from rural India. We examine the effect of - (1) the sharing of input costs between landlord and tenant; (2) the tenant's capacity to borrow; and (3) the existence of outside employment opportunities for the tenant — on the share parameter. We regress the share paid by the household on a set of cultivating household and village level characteristics and find that cost shar…
Two Aspects of Fertility Behavior in South Africa
On the Choice of Tenancy Contracts in Rural India
This paper uses data from rural India to analyse how cultivating household and plot level characteristics affect contract choice on a particular plot of land. We estimate a sequential choice model where the landowner first decides whether to cultivate the land on his own (possibly with hired labour) or to lease it out. If the latter, then a choice is made between fixed‐rent or share‐cropping. One interesting finding is that the greater the value …
The effect of transfers on household expenditure patterns and poverty in South Africa
The Impact of Resource Inflows on Child Health
This paper investigates changes to the health status of young children (aged 0–5 years) in the Kwazulu-Natal province of South Africa during 1993–98. In our estimation we explicitly take into account the potential endogeneity of household resources in affecting child health. In particular, we examine whether the effect of resources is differentiated by the source, the age and the sex of the recipient. Finally, we also take into account the panel …
Language, Informal Networks and Social Protection
Rural–urban migration is a major phenomenon in the developing world. This article is concerned with understanding the ways in which rural–urban migrants have their social protection needs met following their move to the city. We report results from a survey of rural–urban migrants in four low-income areas in Cape Town, South Africa. We look at the experiences of migrants in terms of finding employment in the urban environment, and the impact of l…
Endogenous Intra‐household Balance of Power and its Impact on Expenditure Patterns
This paper extends the collective approach to household behaviour by proposing and estimating a model in which the weights attached to individual members are endogenously determined. The estimation is conducted using two different data‐sets from three Indian states. We find that relative bargaining power of the adult decision‐makers has a statistically significant effect on the budget share of an item and that the effects are typically nonlinear …
The link between infant mortality and child nutrition in India
In this paper, using the 1998–1999 National Family Health Survey data-set from India, we study whether there are gender differentials in infant mortality and child nutrition. Our analysis finds no evidence of gender differentials in survival probability. However, conditional upon surviving the first year, girls are found to have poorer height-for-age outcomes. There are also significant regional differences in both survival probabilities and nutr…
Health shocks and consumption smoothing in rural households
Food consumption patterns and malnourished Indian children
A Distributional Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap in Bangladesh
This article empirically investigates the gender wage gap in Bangladesh during the period 2005-2009. Applying unconditional quantile regression models, the article demonstrates that women are paid less than men throughout the wage distribution and the gap is higher at the lower end of the distribution. Discrimination against women is the primary determinant of the wage gap. The article also demonstrates that the observed gender wage gap is likely…
Absence of Altruism? Female Disadvantage in Private School Enrollment in India
Financing smallholder agriculture
Searching for preference stability in a state dependent world
Barriers to skill acquisition
Labor market engagement and the body mass index of working adults
Health spillover effects of a conditional cash transfer program
Upstream effects of female political reservations
Evaluating the distributive effects of a micro-credit intervention
The Winter's Tale
This paper examines the effect of season of birth on height and cognitive and noncognitive skills of Chinese children. We find that the child’s season of birth has a significant impact on the height of girls aged less than 5 years in agricultural households: girls born in winter are 0.4 standard deviations shorter compared with girls born in other seasons. We find, however, that this relative height differential does not translate to deficits in …
Coal Plants, Air Pollution and Anaemia
We examine the impact of pollution from coal–fired power units on the anaemic status of children and women in India. The number of coal units in the district at the time of birth significantly increases the incidence of anaemia in young children as does in utero exposure. The number of coal units in the district also adversely affects the anaemic status of women, although the magnitude of impact is smaller than that for young children. The impact…
Household welfare effects of Roscas
Exogenous shocks and electoral outcomes
Do voters react to shocks that are beyond the control of politicians? We consider the case of the assassination of a senior politician in India, in the middle of an election. We find that Congress(I), the party of the assassinated leader, gained significantly from this event through increased vote shares and improved likelihood of victory. Sympathy towards Congress(I) and changed perceptions about governing abilities of the contesting parties in …
Time in Office and the Changing Gender Gap in Dishonesty
Increasing the share of women in politics is often promoted as a means to reduce corruption. Recent studies indicate the importance of considering the gender gap in corruption as a dynamic, rather than static, phenomenon. Our study combines data from surveys and incentivized behavioral games among 400 inexperienced and experienced local politicians in West Bengal, India. We find no gender gap in attitudes toward corruption. However, in incentiviz…
Selecting the ‘Best’? Competing Dimensions of Politician Quality in the Developing World
Evidence suggests that politicians in advanced democracies are positively selected on characteristics relevant to their suitability for political office. Whereas stereotypes abound, much less is known about the quality of politicians in developing countries. Drawing on unique experimental and survey data on village-level politicians in West Bengal, India, we find some evidence of positive selection into office: elected politicians are more educat…
Economics (22 works) · Demographic economics (12 works) · Economic growth (10 works) · Econometrics (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare (8 works) · Business (7 works) · Geography (7 works) · Labour economics (7 works) · Sociology (7 works)