Research & Publications Office to host seminar on ‘Friends in High Places: Social Connections and Distress Borrowing during Covid-19’ on 2nd March
The talk will be delivered by Prof. Anand Shrivastava, Azim Premji University
16 February, 2023, Bengaluru: The Office of Research and Publications (R&P) at IIM Bangalore will host a seminar titled: ‘Friends in High Places: Social Connections and Distress Borrowing during Covid-19’, at 4:00 pm on 2nd March 2023 (Thursday), at Classroom K21. The talk will be delivered by Prof. Anand Shrivastava, Azim Premji University, Economics area.
Abstract: How does social insurance work in the presence of a pervasive economic shock like the Covid-19 lockdowns? Using a field survey in two large Indian states, Karnataka and Rajasthan, the research shows that individuals who have social connections with people in important occupations like doctors, teachers, lawyers, government officials, or politicians, report borrowing higher amounts from their friends and relatives to finance household consumption during the pandemic. The researchers construct proxy variables to test both the information and enforcement channels that enable state-contingent transfers in social networks, and find that the enforcement channel, proxied by within-caste social connections, drives the result. For Rajasthan, the researchers were able to use caste-based reservations in village elections as an exogenous source of variation in within-caste social connections and found the same result.
About the speaker: Prof. Anand Shrivastava teaches Economics at the School of Arts and Sciences, Azim Premji University. He completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge. He also has an M Phil and a Graduate Diploma in Economics from the University of Cambridge and a B Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Webpage link: https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/people/anand-shrivastava
Research & Publications Office to host seminar on ‘Friends in High Places: Social Connections and Distress Borrowing during Covid-19’ on 2nd March
The talk will be delivered by Prof. Anand Shrivastava, Azim Premji University
16 February, 2023, Bengaluru: The Office of Research and Publications (R&P) at IIM Bangalore will host a seminar titled: ‘Friends in High Places: Social Connections and Distress Borrowing during Covid-19’, at 4:00 pm on 2nd March 2023 (Thursday), at Classroom K21. The talk will be delivered by Prof. Anand Shrivastava, Azim Premji University, Economics area.
Abstract: How does social insurance work in the presence of a pervasive economic shock like the Covid-19 lockdowns? Using a field survey in two large Indian states, Karnataka and Rajasthan, the research shows that individuals who have social connections with people in important occupations like doctors, teachers, lawyers, government officials, or politicians, report borrowing higher amounts from their friends and relatives to finance household consumption during the pandemic. The researchers construct proxy variables to test both the information and enforcement channels that enable state-contingent transfers in social networks, and find that the enforcement channel, proxied by within-caste social connections, drives the result. For Rajasthan, the researchers were able to use caste-based reservations in village elections as an exogenous source of variation in within-caste social connections and found the same result.
About the speaker: Prof. Anand Shrivastava teaches Economics at the School of Arts and Sciences, Azim Premji University. He completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge. He also has an M Phil and a Graduate Diploma in Economics from the University of Cambridge and a B Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Webpage link: https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/people/anand-shrivastava