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   Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Retrospective Voting, Natural Disasters, and Electoral Backlash   by Johannes Urplelainen Columbia University On 19th January, 2017 (Thursday) at 3:00 PM Venue : Seminar Room (First Floor) Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics All are cordially invited Abstracth While scholarship on “retrospective voting” has found that incumbent politicians can be punished for a range of events outside their control, such as natural disasters, the literature does not consider the ability of politicians to respond to disasters and the impact of this response on voters. We argue that retrospective voters punish only opposition incumbents (candidates

   The Political Economy of Land Reform Enactment and Implementation: New Cross-National Evidence (1900-2010).  by Prasad S. Bhattacharya, Deakin University On 6th December, 2016 (Tuesday) at 3:00 PM Venue : Seminar Room (First Floor) Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics All are cordially invited Abstract Constructing a unique, extensive dataset that codifies the enactment and implementation of 301 major land reforms around the world (155 countries) during the period 1900-2010, this paper investigates the main political-economy determinants of land reform initiatives and their implementations. We find that both transitions into and out of democracy are associated positively with land

   Gendered Consequences of Improving Public Service Delivery  by Sheetal Sekhri University of Virginia On 24th November, 2016 (Thursday) at 3:00 PM Venue : Seminar Room (First Floor) Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics All are cordially invited Abstract   In-kind transfer programs in developing countries are often fraught with leakages. In this paper we explore whether improving such programs can have women specific welfare consequences and whether short term improvements in such programs can have persistent benefits. Using the setting of a unique reform initiative by the state government of Punjab in India, in which the Fair Price

   Informality and Flexible Specialization: Informal Knowledge, Technical Change, and Labour Market Institutions in the Banaras Silk Weaving Industry  by Amit Basole University of Massachusetts, Boston On 17th November, 2016 (Thursday) at 3:00 PM Venue : Seminar Room (First Floor) Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics All are cordially invited Abstract   Artisanal clusters are a prominent feature of the Indian manufacturing landscape from the point of view of employment, output, as well as export earnings. But mechanisms of labour training, knowledge sharing or hoarding, as well as wage setting and technical change prevailing in these clusters are comparatively

  Quantitative Investment Strategies: Overview of Theory and Evidence  by Tarun Gupta Vice President, AQR Capital Management On 27th October, 2016 (Thursday) at 3:00 PM Venue : Seminar Room (First Floor) Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics All are cordially invited Abstract   Starting with the workhorse asset pricing theory and model, I outline various ‘asset  pricing anomalies’ that seem to be unexplained, and consequently pose a challenge to existing theory. I examine empirical evidence to document these anomalies: Valuation, Momentum and Low-Risk, and potential reasons for why they exist and might continue to do so. I show these are