Suresh Babu M

Employing Factor Augmented Vector Autoregression (FAVAR) model where factors are obtained using the principal component analysis (PCA) and the parameters of the model are estimated using Vector Autoregression framework, we analyse how changes in monetary policy variables impact inflation, output, money supply, and the financial sector in India. Our results for the period 2001:04 to 2016:03 show that the benchmark FAVAR model showed more reliable results than baseline VAR model. Benchmark FAVAR model shows the existence of weak 'liquidity puzzle' in India. The impulse responses from the FAVAR approach reveal that monetary policy is more efficient in explaining the variations in inflation rather than stimulating output indicating its effectiveness in attaining the objective of price stability.

Institutional regulations by licensing and capacity restrictions are often considered as barriers to competition in Indian industry. As most of these regulations have given way to market mechanisms, an increase in the number of entrants is to be expected. This paper attempts to measure the extent of barriers to entry in Indian manufacturing industries by quantifying the height of barriers for 1991/92 and, a decade after the onset of reforms, 2001/02. We find that, contrary to expectations, the height of overall barriers increased. This suggests that dismantling of commands and controls intended to ease entry seems to have paved the way for the erection and strengthening of market barriers to entry.

Background: Utilisation of continuum of maternal health care services is crucial for a healthy pregnancy and childbirth and plays an important role in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to maternal and child health. This paper aims to assess the percentage of dropouts across various stages of utilization of continuum of maternal health services (CMHS) in India and also investigates the factors hindering the utilization of these services. Methods: We used recent data from National Family Health Survey(NFHS) encompassing a total sample of 1,70,937 pregnant women for the period 2015–16. The percentage of women dropping out while seeking maternal health care is measured using descriptive statistics. While, the factors impeding the utilization of maternal health services is estimated using a Multinomial Logistic Regression Model, where dependent variable (CMHS) is defined as complete care, incomplete care and no care. Results: Only17% of pregnant women availed the utilisation of complete care and 83% either did not seek any care or dropped after seeking one or two services. For instance, it is found that 79% of women who registered for antenatal care services (ANC) did not avail the same adequately. An empirical investigation of determinants of inadequate utilization of CMHS revealed that factors like individual characteristics, for instance- access to media (RRR: 2.06) and mother’s education play (RRR: 3.61) a vital role in the uptake of CMHS. It is also found that the interaction between wealth index and place of residence plays a pivotal role in seeking complete care. Lastly, the results revealed that male participation (RRR: 2.69) and contacting multi-purpose worker (MPW) (RRR: 2.33) are also at play. Conclusion: The study suggests that the major determinants of utilisation of CMHS are access to media, mother’s education, affordability barriers and male participation. Hence, policy recommendations should be oriented towards strengthening these dimensions and the utilisation of adequate ANC has to be considered as the need of the hour.

This study examines the trade effects of the Eurasian Economic Union on global production sharing. We use a panel dataset of bilateral exports of intermediate goods, parts and components and final assembly for 12 Eurasian countries with 28 partners for 2000–18. We estimate a gravity model using the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood method to mitigate zero trade values and heteroskedasticity issues. Our analysis provides new empirical evidence on significant net trade creation effects of 111% in intermediate goods exports due to EAEU formation. Our findings also highlight that a substantial share of the increase in intermediate goods exports originates from trade creation in final assembly exports while parts and components show net trade diversion effects. Further, a country-level analysis reveals that the trade effects of EAEU are heterogeneous across all the members, with Armenia and the Russian Federation benefiting the most and the Kyrgyz Republic benefiting the least from the EAEU formation. Our study has important policy implications on promoting production sharing in the Eurasian region and hence remains of interest to policymakers.

This paper attempts to examine financial inclusiveness in major states of India. Using banking outreach services data from 1981 to 2018, we construct an index of financial inclusion. Although the outreach of formal banking services is well-dispersed across the states, there is a large variation among the states in terms of its access and usage. The evidence suggest that there exists a need to focus more on spreading financial literacy and create awareness about banking services in the poorer states to achieve a higher degree of financial inclusion.

Background: Continuum of Maternal Health Care Services (CMHS) has garnered attention in recent times and reducing socio-economic disparity and geographical variations in its utilisation becomes crucial from an egalitarian perspective. In this study, we estimate inequity in the utilisation of CMHS in India between 2005 and 06 and 2015-16. Methods: We used two rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) - 2005-06 and 2015-16 encompassing a sample size of 34,560 and 178,857 pregnant women respectively. The magnitude of horizontal inequities (HI) in the utilisation of CMHS was captured by adopting the Erreygers Corrected Concentration indices method. Need-based standardisation was conducted to disentangle the variations in the utilisation of CMHS across different wealth quintiles and state groups. Further, a decomposition analysis was undertaken to enumerate the contribution of legitimate and illegitimate factors towards health inequity. Results: The study indicates that the pro-rich inequity in the utilisation of CMHS has increased by around 2 percentage points since the implementation of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), where illegitimate factors are dominant. Decomposition analysis reveals that the contribution of access related barriers plummeted in the considered period of time. The results also indicate that mother’s education and access to media continue to remain major contributors of pro-rich inequity in India. Considering, regional variations, it is found that the percentage of pro-rich inequity in high focus group states increased by around 3% between 2005 and 06 and 2015-16. The performance of southern states of India is commendable. Conclusions: Our study concludes that there exists a pro-rich inequity in the utilisation of CMHS with marked variations across state boundaries. The pro-rich inequity in India has increased between 2005 and 06 and high focus group states suffered predominantly. Decentralisation of healthcare policies and granting greater power to the states might lead to equitable distribution of CMHS.

Aim: In this study, we conduct a systematic review of literature to understand the effectiveness of interventions on continuum of maternal and child healthcare services, the inter-linkages across different levels of continuum of care and the impact of continuum of care on child mortality in South Asian countries from 2000 to 2017. Methods: The Electronic databases like, Popline, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO and Google Scholar were systematically scrutinised to obtain relevant papers. A total of 19 papers were shortlisted for the final analysis. As per our knowledge, this is the first study which conceptualises the continuum of maternal health care framework through demand-based and supply-based interventions. In addition to this, we also present pathway models collating the evidence of continuum of maternal health care services in improving maternal and child health. Furthermore, both narrative synthesis approach and theme-wise categorisation approach is adopted to analyse the selected studies. Results: Our findings reveal a strong relationship between Demand-based & Supply-based interventions and continuum of maternal and child healthcare. Demand-based intervention (i.e. training health workers, spreading awareness through flip-charts, and folk dance) is effective in improving the CoC, while, Supply-based interventions (i.e. building hospitals, providing medicines and other equipment) strengthens the CoC in the context of South Asian countries. It also divulges strong inter-linkages across the CoC interventions. Conclusion: Hence, the policy makers and public agencies should emphasize more on strengthening Demand-based & Supply-based interventions that would strengthen the interlinkages across CoC.

An expected outcome of economic reforms in India is enhanced pace of industrialization with manufacturing sector playing a crucial role by increasing its share in output via higher investments and increased productivity. This process of industrialization was also expected to usher in possibilities for the slow growing states to catch up with the fast growing ones. This paper assesses the extent of regional manufacturing performance in India by analyzing the trends in labour and total factor productivity for the organized manufacturing sector of 15 major Indian states. Data Envelopment Analysis is used to compute Malmquist total factor productivity index and its components. The results indicate that labour productivity diverges in the reform era and its growth and TFPG follow more or less a similar pattern. The study also finds that growth in productivity vary considerably across states and this variation in productivity growth can be explained, to a great extent, by differences in infrastructural development at the regional level. © 2013 Babu and Natarajan.

The Indian economy faces an uphill task of reviving industrial growth in the post-pandemic scenario. The early onset of domestic slowdown and global disruptions have affected the industrial sector, both in terms of demand and supply factors. What is required at this juncture is not a set of scattered short-term policies, but a coherent heavy lifting of the sector through demand injection and stimulation, because the slowdown started much earlier and is structural in nature.