Research projects
Impact of Indian Social Policies to Reduce Poverty and to Mitigate Social Exclusion Research Team – Prof. Vandana Swami, Prof. Rezina Sultana and Prof. William (Sandy) Darity Jr.
Funded by – Indian Institute of Management Udaipur, Duke University and Vidya Bhawan Society
Abstract - This proposal seeks support for a collaborative research team Including
scholars and practitioners from the Indian Institute of Management at
Udaipur, the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, the
Indian Institute for Dalit Studies, the Vidya Bhawan Society, and the
Delhi School of Economics. The team will conduct a three-year study
focused on two major Indian social policies which address poverty and
social exclusion. The two social policies that will constitute the focus
of the study are affirmative action (hereafter AA) and Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee (hereafter NREGA). The research team
is particularly interested in exploring the efficacy of each of these
programs on Dalits and tribals. In addition, the study will produce data
that will enable the research team to investigate the presence and
impact of colorism and the operation of discrimination on life outcomes
for respondents. The core activities of the project will be the
administration of a survey to 1000 households in the Udaipur district
with an oversampling of Dalits and tribals and the administration of 50
in-depth interviews with Dalits and tribals who have been identified as
beneficiaries of the affirmative action program. A long-term objective
includes the design of a survey instrument that can be used flexibly in
the future for a re-survey of same households to pursue a longitudinal
investigation of the effects of the two social policies and the further
evolution of processes of colorism and discrimination in India. In
addition, the survey instrument also will be designed so that it can be
for similar studies in other parts of India or at the national level.
Baseline Study on the Key Development Indicators among the Sahariya Tribe in Baran District, Rajasthan Research Team – Prof. Janat Shah and Prof. Vandana Swami
Funded by – Indian Institute of Management Udaipur and Tribal Area Development Udaipur
Understanding Complementarities across Environmental Health Interventions Research Team – Prof. Subhadip Roy, Prof. Janat Shah, Prof. Marc Jeuland and Ms. Priyanka Singh
Funded by – Indian Institute of Management Udaipur, Duke University and Seva Mandir Udaipur Abstract
Abstract - Despite recent progress in reducing the global burden of disease related
to the environment, the poorest populations of the world continue to
face considerable risks from indoor air and water pollution. The goal of
our pilot project in Rajasthan is to contribute to a better
understanding of the nature of this challenge, by focusing on the idea
that strategic complementarities (across behaviors, implementation of
interventions, and disease risks) may contribute to health‐poverty
traps. In particular, our objective is to build an interdisciplinary
research collaboration between three institutions with complementary
strengths (Duke University, the Indian Institute of Management‐Udaipur,
and Seva Mandir), in order to better understand the factors that drive
adoption of Improved Cookstoves (ICS), and to measure the effects of
exposure to ICS interventions on the demand for household water and
sanitation improvements. We will implement a rigorous research design
coupled with the application of a series of analytical techniques to study
these issues. Our expectation is that the pilot project will contribute
learning that is relevant for cross‐site comparisons with other Duke ICS
studies, and for creation of larger‐scale ICS projects and research
proposals that interface well with national and global efforts to
improve environmental health outcomes, such as the Clean Development
Mechanism and the Indian government's National Biomass Cookstoves
Initiative.
Clientelism, Public Services and Elections in the Slums of Udaipur Research Team – Prof. Subhash Jha, Prof. Eric Wibbels and Alka Vyas
Funded by – Indian Institute of Management Udaipur, Duke University and Jan Daksha Trust Udaipur
Abstract - This project aims to understand two key questions. First, how does clientelism work in the
developing world? Second, how do clientelistic relationships impact the capacity of the poor to
gain access to basic public services? Though standard models of democracy rely on an idealized
vision of programmatic party competition with voters casting ballots on the basis of ideology,
policy, and assessments of competence, we know that for many of the world's poor, democratic
politics is characterized by clientelistic exchange. Most work on clientelism has assumed
that it operates via a one-off, direct exchange between individual voters and a politician or
broker. We believe there are several problems with this standard account. Most importantly,
poor voters tend to be clustered together in neighborhoods, and this simple fact has important
implications for how clientelism operates and who among the poor receive public services. We
conceptualize slums as social networks characterized by voters and local political brokers who
know each other. That clientelism is embedded in a neighborhood context means that it should
be studied at the slum level using group-based models rather than as a series of aspatial,
individual-level exchanges. If we understand neighborhoods (e.g. slums) as social networks,
their political and social organization is very much relevant for the study of clientelism and
has important implications for who among the poor receives access to basic public services.
We propose to study slum politics by conducting a panel of network surveys in four slums in
Udaipur. The first wave will take place in June of 2013. We will run the second round of surveys
during the forthcoming election in an effort to understand how electoral mobilization works
in slums. We will conduct a final round of surveys a year later to see which, if any, electoral
promises have been implemented by the winning party. We propose to conduct these surveys
in conjunction with the Jan Daksha Trust, our partner NGO that works with migrants and the
urban poor in Udaipur.
Assessing and Mapping Risk of Human Wildlife Conflicts Around Rajasthan Protected Areas Research Team – Dr. Krithi K. Karanth, Dr. Erika Weinthal, Dr. Subhashish Chakarvarty
Funded by – Indian Institute of Management Udaipur and Duke University
Abstract - Crop damage and livestock predation are among the most common human
wildlife conflicts that occur globally and regionally in South Asia.
Identifying risks and mitigating conflicts between people and wildlife
is a top conservation priority. We propose to assess human wildlife
conflicts around eight protected areas (PAs) in Rajasthan: Kumbhalgarh,
Sitamata, Jaisamand, Phulwari, Jessore, Ambaji, Kamalnath and Mount Abu
wildlife sanctuaries. The project will identify and map risks and
consequences for local people and implications for conflict prone
wildlife species (e.g. wild pig, nilghai, sambar, leopard and tiger).
Field methods will include 1600 household surveys, interviews and
mapping exercises. Logistic regression and Bayesian approaches will be
used to model and compare best models and predictors and subsequently
will be used to develop risk maps. Key goals are to identify what
characteristics and features (e.g., land use patterns, changing climate
patterns, household practices, institutional mechanisms, and levels of
social capital) are associated with higher rates of conflict and what
remedial measures might be implemented to protect property and lives
while minimizing conflict and sustaining wildlife. Project outcomes
include disseminating results, maps and engaging with forest department
and park staff, as well as local civil-‐society organizations to
develop workable conflict mitigation solutions and improve existing
compensation programs for areas and households most affected by human
wildlife conflicts. Results will be applicable to other regions
experiencing similar conflicts in India and elsewhere. Karanth has
similar work ongoing in six PAs the Western Ghats and Central India as
well as grassland regions in four Indian States. Comparisons with these
two regions will provide valuable insights for conflict mitigation and
monitoring across India. Weinthal has ongoing projects elsewhere (e.g.,
in Ethiopia) on understanding the linkages between institutional
design/social capital, climatic change, and conflict. Chakravarty is
interested in the construction of the risk maps using Bayesian
approaches. The earlier work done by Karanth in PAs will be used as
prior information in model building and model averaging to compute
spatial posterior estimates of risk using Markov chain Monte Carlo
methods. The comparison of frequents and Bayesian approaches will
provide additional insights into the factors that drive the conflict.
