Articles by Dev Nathan

How do gender-related factors influence cooking fuel use? Why does an LPG capital subsidy lead to fuel stacking rather than fuel switching? The insights gained from authors’ research are supplemented by case studies, specifically aimed at exploring the connections between women’s labour time and fuel use. Using these observations and case studies, an analytical framework is developed, which yields propositions that can be tested empirically, such as the high value of women’s labour in production leading to the adoption of labour-saving cooking fuel and vice versa. This framework is used to assess the limitations of capital subsidies forLPG in remote rural areas where women’s labour has a low opportunity cost.

Studying women’s work and energy use through field studies in Khasi communities in Meghalaya and Angami communities in Nagaland, the links between energy use and women’s work and leisure are explored. It is found that the choice of energy source is closely linked with women’s participation in the management of energy resources, their opportunities to earn incomes, and their ability to negotiate the cultural and social norms of their communities. Energy planning cannot stop with the provision of household access to electricity or liquefied petroleum gas. A new deal for women in the energy sector is delineated, which relates to overcoming sociocultural limits and increasing the opportunity cost of women’s labour and their right to assets.

For a comprehensive analysis of the influence of relative factor prices on the nature of manufacturing or any other economic activity, one should include not just labour and capital but also land.

India is a low middle-income economy with a development policy that aims to promote it to a high middle-income economy, which requires both economic growth and structural transformation. This article turns the spotlight on some aspects of structural transformation, such as the movement to higher productivity jobs, the formalisation of the vast informal sector, and the promotion of women as economic agents. The experience of other economies shows there is room for a higher share of social protection expenditure in India, but bringing that about would depend on increasing tax revenue and reducing subsidies that are not for the poor.

Can publicly-provided, subsidised housing increase the demand for labour in labour-intensive manufacturing? Can it increase the extent of India's participation in labour-intensive manufacturing? It is argued that by reducing the effective cost of labour vis-à-vis the cost of machinery, publicly-provided housing can promote India's participation in labour-intensive manufacturing.