Selected Research
Building State Capacity in Stages: Brokers in Public Service Delivery
Citizens need to establish eligibility for public benefits, and many pay private agents (brokers) to help obtain them. We study how this broker market responds when the government makes it easier to apply directly. A staffing reform in a large Indian state added workers who help submit applications, while leaving approving officials unchanged. Using pre-existing differences in district exposure to the reform, we find that a 1 percent staffing increase raises broker-mediated applications by 1.7 percent, compared to 1.1 percent for direct applications, and induces broker entry. Yet direct applications become faster, reducing brokers’ average speed advantage. These patterns rule out a model where public workers purely substitute for brokers and, under maintained assumptions, one where brokers only obtain priority from approvers. A model where public workers make brokers more productive can explain joint results. Our findings highlight the role of informal markets in building state capacity.
Work in progress
Cost of Access: Middlemen Rents in Obtaining Identity Certificates
I investigate price discrimination, administrative friction, and rent-seeking in informal brokerage networks for public service delivery. Using an audit experiment with mystery shoppers in Punjab, India, I measure how third-party brokers quote prices and completion times for official Scheduled Caste (SC) identity certificates. I experimentally vary three dimensions across paired broker visits: applicant document completeness (full paperwork versus missing ancestral caste records), service urgency (standard timeline versus an expedited request), and shopper gender. Additionally, I elicit broker narratives regarding official state-run service centers (Sewa Kendras) to test whether intermediaries strategically discredit formal channels.
Highways & Innovation: Evidence from India
We study whether transport infrastructure affects the spatial distribution of innovation in India. Districts gaining greater access to the national highway network experience increased patenting, alongside growth in higher-education institutions and firm size. We investigate whether improved connectivity raises local innovation directly or facilitates the spatial diffusion of economic activity and knowledge.