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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

These positive effects contrast with recent U.S. evidence: Noble et al. (2025) found no developmental gains from large 4-year transfers. Context matters—underscoring the importance of testing in relevant settings.
@nberpubs
WP: nber.org/papers/w32093 10/10

Maternal Cash Transfers for Gender Equity and Child Development: Experimental Evidence from India

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

nber.org

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Overall, we find:
a) Positive impacts on food intake, nutrition, and gender equity
b) Meaningful gains in child functional development
c) Limited average anthropometric gains, mediated by sanitation; highlighting need to pair nutrition efforts with sanitation investments (9/10)

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Increased food spending from cash transfers to women was at par with in-kind PDS transfers (similar MPC on food). Thus, cash versus kind debates may be second order when the value of cash transfers is less than what HH are spending on the in-kind item anyway. 8/10

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Child functional development improved. We find a 0.12σ gain in ASQ-3 scores at age 3 — including cognition, and both gross and fine motor skills. These effects may matter even more than physical growth over time as labor markets reward ‘brains’ more than ‘brawn’ (7/10)

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Older siblings (not directly targeted) also saw gains: WAZ scores rose by 0.11–0.13σ, with no heterogeneity by sanitation. Thus, cash transfers benefited other children too, but the mediating role of sanitation in nutrition-to-growth translation may be greater for infants (6/10)

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Despite better diets, we do not find average gains in standard anthropometric outcomes (WAZ/HAZ) for targeted children. However, we do find some evidence of gains in areas with better sanitation, consistent with sanitation mediating nutrition-to-growth translation. (5/10)

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

We find substantial improvements in intra-household equity: in Y2, maternal calorie intake rose ~3x more than the household average, helping narrow pre-existing gender gaps in nutrition. Measures of empowerment (e.g., health-seeking behavior for children) also increased. (4/10)

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Food consumption rose significantly: household food spending up >11%; calorie intake up 9% (Y1) and 14% (Y2) for mothers and children; protein and iron intake also improved. Dietary diversity gains persisted 18 months after the transfers ended. (3/10)

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

The intervention: ₹500/month (~10% of HH consumption) for 2 years to ~1,200 new mothers across 8 Jharkhand districts; given unconditionally, but labeled as support for nutritious food. We tracked food, nutrition, and child development over 3 years. (2/10)

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Aug 27

India now spends ₹2 trillion/year (0.6% of GDP) on cash transfers to 130M+ women—yet we know little about their effects. In a new paper (bit.ly/4mE6EtW), @karthik-econ.bsky.social Paul Niehaus Jeff Weaver & I present findings from the first large-scale RCT of maternal cash transfers in India (1/10)

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Gabi Kruks-Wisner @gabikw.bsky.social · Aug 20

Long time (8 yrs!) in the making, but it's here! Our article on gender, policing, & institutional change is out (Open Access) in @apsrjournal.bsky.social! Working on this @amangla.bsky.social & @sandipz.bsky.social was a privilege, adventure, esp in mixed method research. tinyurl.com/yc4f6ste

Institutional Recognition: Activating Representation to Build Police Responsiveness to Women | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core

Institutional Recognition: Activating Representation to Build Police Responsiveness to Women

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Sandip Sukhtankar

Sahil Gandhi @gandhisahil.bsky.social · Jun 19

Real Estate Regulatory Authority was introduced in 2016 to bring transparency in the Indian real estate

What was its impact on outcomes? We answer this question in our new @jpube.bsky.social‬ paper "Do mandatory disclosures squeeze the lemons?"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Do mandatory disclosures squeeze the lemons? The case of housing markets in India

What is the impact of mandatory disclosures of quality on market outcomes? Does the impact differ across income groups due to a difference in abilitie…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Sandip Sukhtankar

J-PAL @j-pal.bsky.social · May 7

Congratulations to J-PAL affiliated professor @sandipz.bsky.social and coauthors for winning the APSA-PSA International Partnership Award! Read about their #RCT evaluating the impact of women's help desks in Indian police stations: povertyactionlab.org/evaluation/i...

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Reposted by Sandip Sukhtankar

Political Studies Association @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social · May 6

*PSA Prizes* 'Policing in #Patriarchy' wins APSA-PSA International Partnership Award 2025. @apsa.bsky.social. Congratulations @amangla.bsky.social @sandipz.bsky.social and @gabikw.bsky.social buff.ly/jm7zMOk

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Mar 3

We tend to make offers all the way until April 15, and will update waitlist status as best we can once we start hearing back from the first round of admits. At this point we have limited information, so please hold off on waitlist status inquiries at least until after the Open House. n/n

Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Mar 3

All other waitlisted students are invited to the virtual open house. Invitations for both Open Houses will go out this week, so look out for these in your email soon. 2/n

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Sandip Sukhtankar @sandipz.bsky.social · Mar 3

Our first round of decisions for UVA Econ Phd admissions went out on Fri Feb 28. We will have an Open House on Mon Mar 24, both in person and virtual. We can only host a limited number in person, so only admitted students and those high on the waitlist will receive invites for visiting C'ville. 1/n

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Reposted by Sandip Sukhtankar

Daron Acemoglu @dacemoglumit.bsky.social · Feb 24

Trump’s attack on US institutions, even if fully expected, is dispiriting, discombobulating and dangerous.

In this very difficult time, we have to remember one thing: This is not normal, and it should not be normalized.

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Reposted by Sandip Sukhtankar

Dean Yang @deanyang.bsky.social · Jan 23

One last conference announcement for today... Submit your papers to the BREAD Development Economics conference at Princeton, May 2-3! Submission deadline Feb 25.

ibread.org/conference/b...
#EconSky

BREAD Conference on Development, Princeton, May 2-3, 2025 – BREAD

ibread.org

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Reposted by Sandip Sukhtankar

Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · Jan 21

Here’s a piece I wrote with @rfisman.bsky.social in the NYT, collecting some of our thoughts about what the oligarchic embrace of Trump can do to our economy and our politics. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/o...

Opinion | TikTok, Trump and the Economic Cost of C.E.O.s Cozying Up to Trump (Gift Article)

The fealty that corporate chieftains are showing the new president is a worrying sign for our economy.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Sandip Sukhtankar

Belinda Archibong @belindaarch.bsky.social · Jan 16

We spent time thinking carefully about best practices/suggestions for the use of social media in Economics and the report is now out here: www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co... #Econsky 1/n

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Reposted by Sandip Sukhtankar

Tim Bresnahan @timobres.bsky.social · Jan 16

Report from the AEA Ad Hoc Committee on the Use of Social Media in Economics is out.

www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...

@belindaarch.bsky.social @florianederer.bsky.social @sarahjacobson.bsky.social @corinnelow.bsky.social & I were the committee

thanks to everyone who answered survey or commented.

Report on the Status of Social Media Use in Economics and Recommendations for Best Practices

www.aeaweb.org

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AEA Journals @aeajournals.bsky.social · Jan 13

Forthcoming book review in the JEL: "Accelerating India’s Development: A State-Led Roadmap for Effective Governance by Karthik Muralidharan" by Jishnu Das. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...