Srini Vasudevan

Young married women in India face pervasive social isolation from their peers. Access to sparse peer networks may lead to under-informed decision making, and more broadly to lower well being. We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to study whether structured, facilitated peer introductions and short-term interactions through social groups could effectively expand and strengthen the women’s peer connections. We find that the treatment significantly increased the women’s friendships, rather than merely increasing acquaintances, highlighting that women were able to form meaningful and supportive social ties. Notably, these new friendships proved particularly valuable in providing trusted advice on sensitive topics, such as birth control, where familial advice might be constrained by cultural taboos or misaligned interests, and professional advice may be lacking. The treatment doubled the women’s reliance on friends for birth-control advice. Interestingly, we also find that the treated women updated their perceptions of the value-added of joining a women’s group, noting psychosocial benefits over purely economic ones. Ongoing follow-up data collection, one and half years after the intervention, aims to evaluate the longer-term effects on the peer connections, and the downstream impacts on women’s decision-making, life outcomes, and psychological well-being, providing deeper insights into the potential sustained benefits of a short-term intervention to foster peer connections in socially restrictive and isolating contexts.

Cable TV experienced a dramatic expansion in India during the 1990s and 2000s, introducing rural populations to new social norms, role models, and lifestyles. While prior studies suggest that television can influence attitudes and behaviors, its effects on women’s empowerment and social participation remain understudied in this context. I examine the impact of cable television on women’s welfare in rural India, focusing on key dimensions of empowerment, such as autonomy, decision-making, mobility, and participation in social groups. Using a difference-in-difference strategy and the two rounds of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) in 2004 and 2011, respectively, I estimate the impacts of introduction of Cable TV on women and households in rural India. I find that introduction of Cable TV improved women’s status within households, evidenced by reductions in the acceptance of “wife-beating’’, but had limited effects on autonomy in decision-making or mobility outside the home. Notably, introduction of Cable TV significantly decreased women’s participation in formal village groups, potentially because of substitution between the two leisure activities, with negative implications for long-term social capital.

After India’s independence, the government implemented nation-building policies to unify its diverse population. A key tool in these efforts was the monopoly government-run radio, which rapidly expanded under the centralized five-year plans following a WWII lull. We leverage this phased radio expansion to study the impact of unity-promoting broadcasts and exposure to standardized languages under the national language policy. Using archival administrative data, we assess the impact on outcomes such as, self-reported linguistic identity, child naming patterns, inter-group conflicts, and electoral shifts between national and regional political parties. Additionally, we explore heterogeneous effects across regions, especially where significant pre-existing cultural and linguistic differences existed.

We examine the private and social returns to attending an elite engineering school, Indian Institute of Technology. We leverage strict entrance exam score cut-offs used for admissions to various campuses across the country and to specific undergraduate majors, such as mechanical engineering, computer science, etc. to identify causal effects ten years after graduation. Using labor market data, we estimate private returns in terms of employment outcomes, earnings, and emigration. To assess social returns, we analyze intellectual property outputs, including publications and patents. By examining both individual and societal gains, we provide a fuller evaluation of the long-term value of elite technical education in emerging economies.

Local journalism around the world, especially in low and middle countries (LMIC), already of low-quality is declining further. Coverage of local issues relevant to poor and vulnerable populations is often missing. Many vital community stories, such as infrastructure issues, public health hazards, and development needs go unreported due to lack of reporting incentives and support. We will study grassroots reporters in India, who face significant challenges, including low pay, demanding targets, and limited career progression opportunities, and have very low overall morale. We will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of providing structured support to the grassroots reporters, so they are better placed to credibly learn about local issues that matter. We will assess whether such support translates to a higher quantity and quality of journalistic content. Depending on the impacts on journalistic output, we can potentially assess downstream policy and welfare impacts.