Economics

In this manuscript, we present an analysis of COVID-19 infection incidence in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. We used seroprevalence survey data along with COVID-19 fatality reports from a six-month period (1 June 2020 to 30 November 2020) to estimate age- and sex-specific COVID-19 infection fatality rates (IFR) for Tamil Nadu. We used these IFRs to estimate new infections occurring daily using the daily COVID-19 fatality reports published by the Government of Tamil Nadu. We found that these infection incidence estimates for the second COVID wave in Tamil Nadu were broadly consistent with the infection estimates from seroprevalence surveys. Further, we propose a composite statistical model that pairs a k-nearest neighbours model with a power-law characterisation for “out-of-range” extrapolation to estimate the COVID-19 infection incidence based on observed cases and test positivity ratio. We found that this model matched closely with the IFR-based infection incidence estimates for t...

Unsustainable human behavior has significantly contributed to the contemporary global biodiversity crisis. In order to mitigate this, it is crucial to study the underlying factors that have resulted in such behavior. Conservation culturomics is an emerging research method that uses digitally available data to gain insights on human-nature relationships at relevant spatial and temporal scales. This method also provides a cost-effective mechanism to inform people-centric conservation policy. Depending on the research question, the data collection and analysis can be tailored, taking advantage of recent advances in information technology. While it is most often applied to global studies, conservation culturomics can also be applied at a regional scale to gather vast volumes of data that represent context-specific human values towards nature. Examination of case studies from South Asia demonstrate the range of potential subjects that culturomics studies can examine, including marine meg...

With recent technological advances and greater accessibility of equipment, bioacoustics monitoring has emerged as a valuable method that utilises biologically-produced acoustic signals to gather information on the presence and absence of animals, as well as their behavioural and ecological features. A wide range of microphones and recorders can be employed to collect acoustical data, allowing for the selection of equipment suitable for the specifics of the study. Data analyses can be conducted using software packages that facilitate visualisation of acoustic emissions. This essay provides an overview of the methods involved in bioacoustics monitoring, followed by advantages, disadvantages, and ethical considerations illustrated through examples of its application to collect data on a wide range of species from varied habitats in India. The case studies reveal that bioacoustics monitoring can be applied to a wide range of studies owing to its passive, non-invasive and increasingly in...

The labour market structure plays a vital role in chalking out the development and growth path of a country. The labour market polices, institutions, and patterns of employment in turn determine the structure of the labour market. Thus, it is essential to understand and study the labour market structure. The Census of 2011 estimates the total population of India to be 1.21 billion (Census of India, 2011). But the labour-force participation to population ratio in India is at 56%, as compared to the world average of almost 64%. This is mainly because of low female labour-participation rate which stands at a mere 31%. Even though about 49% of workers are engaged in the agricultural sector in India, their contribution to output was merely 14% of total GDP. We cannot neglect the fact that nearly 92% of the workers are absorbed by informal employment and have almost no social protection, coupled with very low wages (Institute for Human Development, 2014)

This article investigates the phenomenon of gender equality in employment in the BRICS countries where it is one of the factors hampering the economic development and basic human rights. The authors examine the international obligations of these states under the human rights treaties of the United Nations Organization (UNO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), compare the national anti-discriminatory norms with the international standards (ILO Conventions and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and evaluate the observations of the relevant international bodies recently adopted in respect of the BRICS states. In particular, the activities of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations are reviewed. In the paragraphs that follow, the national legislation and case-laws are examined. Furthermore, the reasons for the persisten...

Recent evidence shows that Indian economy is experiencing a slowdown in private investment. Even after a significant decline in interest rates over the last two years, credit growth, particularly industrial credit growth, and private investment have remained sluggish. We examine the link between monetary policy and private investment in India by applying mixed-frequency vector autoregressive (MIDAS-VAR) method to monthly yield on 91-day T-bill, a proxy for monetary policy tool on quarterly bank loans, private investment, and gross domestic product. Mixedfrequency regression analysis includes variables of different frequencies into the analysis without the need for aggregating the higher-frequency variables into lowerfrequency ones. Converting higher-frequency variables into lower-frequency variables often referred to as temporal aggregation is known to have an adverse impact on statistical inferences. MIDAS performs better in recovering the causal relationships between variables released at different frequencies when compared to the conventional common low-frequency approach by allowing having heterogeneous impacts on a low-frequency variable within each low-frequency time period. The mixedfrequency analysis reveals an interesting mix of results linking the monetary policy to the private investment in India. A comparative analysis with single-frequency (quarterly) analysis underestimates the influence of monetary policy. The mixedfrequency approach, therefore, yields richer economic insights into India's sluggish investment than the classical single-frequency approach.

Financial sector development can play a crucial role in driving economic growth. Innovation in the payment system can potentially impact output, prices, and monetary policy transmissions. However, there is a conspicuous lack of work on the role of the payment system in driving economic activity, especially for an emerging economy like India. This paper examines the dynamic linkage between a digital payment system, real-time gross settlement (RTGS), and economic growth in India, using a multivariate Bayesian vector autoregressive (BVAR) model. Using monthly observations on the value and the volume of RTGS, we show that the value of RTGS has a significant impact on both income and price level in the economy. Our results also indicate that both RTGS and economic growth positively and significantly impact each other, supporting the existence of bidirectional causality between the two. A variance decomposition analysis confirms that both RTGS and economic activity contribute significantl...