We document loan characteristics and financial decision making by women for loans given under the “Her Ghar” housing loan scheme by State Bank of India. Loans given to women under the scheme had a lower interest rate relative to loans given to men – however, this effect lasted less than one year.

There has been a declining trend in groundwater depths in India and subsidies on farm electricity contribute to over-extraction of groundwater raising concerns about its sustainability for irrigation. In this paper, I estimate the reduction in groundwater pumping under volumetric pricing of farm electricity for Punjab where farm electricity is free. I use parcel-level cost of cultivation data from the Ministry of Agriculture for 2011-12 to 2013-14 to estimate the production function for paddy using the instrumental variable approach.

In a distributional examination of monetary policy impacts, my study explores how changes in the federal funds rate affect short-term consumption dynamics through the wealth inequality channel. Differential returns and prices of housing and equity along with heterogeneous marginal propensities to consume out of income across house- holds, cause uneven effects of monetary policy on individuals with different net wealth.

I study the effect of foreclosure delays on labor income and employment outcomes, exploiting a temporary CFPB rule that restricted servicers from initiating foreclosures. Using detailed employee-employer matched administrative data linked with individual credit profiles in the U.S., I employ a difference-in-differences design and compare borrowers who were 120+ days delinquent one month before versus one month after the cut-off eligibility date of the rule.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) has gained traction as an anti-poverty policy for developing economies, but financing it poses challenges due to the vast informal sector that remains outside the income tax net. This paper analyzes the feasibility of financing UBI under alternative financing schemes and studies the long-term aggregate and distributional effects of UBI in developing countries.

Nations vary widely in how often they are governed by left-wing governments. Using data from 56 nations over 45 years, we find that the propensity of a nation to elect the left is positively correlated with both the average level and volatility of their sovereign spreads. To explain these facts, we build a quantitative sovereign default model in which two policymakers (left and right) alternate in power. Re-election probabilities are increasing in government spending, with the left having a small advantage (as found in the data). We use variation in the responsiveness of re-election probabilities to government spending in order to create economies that elect the left more or less frequently in equilibrium. We call these the left leaning and the right leaning economy. The left leaning economy faces worse borrowing terms due to higher default risk.

This paper examines the value and impact of using purchase-level information, specifically its role in alleviating the information asymmetry in the credit markets. Using a proprietary lending dataset from a firm operating in the BNPL industry, I evaluate the underwriting practices of the lender and document three findings - i) the lender’s internal score predicts the likelihood of a loan defaulting with 18% greater accuracy than traditional credit score, ii) the lender’s internal score incorporates purchase-level information, and iii) the lender prices a significant portion of loans using purchase-level information.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has proved to be a pivotal legislation, shifting the corporate insolvency resolution process towards a creditor-driven approach with strict timelines. It has resulted in successful rescues in the number of cases with partial success in optimizing stakeholder value. The proposed CAFRAL conference, "Resolution of Stressed Assets and IBC - Future Roadmap," seeks to assess the seven-year impact of IBC, and ways to enhance its effectiveness in addressing the evolving challenges in insolvency resolution.

I examine the impact of financial friction, specifically borrowing from non-bank financial Corporations (NBFCs), on firm-level investment responses to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy shocks. My empirical analysis demonstrates that when firms borrow from NBFCs, their investment responsiveness to RBI monetary shocks decreases. I develop a quantitative New-Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with investment, default risk, and bank and NBFC borrowing to interpret this result. Until recently, the RBI’s stringent regulations did not apply to NBFCs. In addition, they don’t have creditor rights under various regulations, including the SARFECI Act.