Articles by Kirit S Parikh

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has reiterated the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities, but has not referred to historical responsibility. How important is historical responsibility and what does it imply? How is one going to differentiate without historical responsibility? What would be India's responsibility? How do India's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution targets compare with its responsibility?

Identification of the poor and the scale of operation are the most critical challenges of the proposed legislation on the right to food. This article suggests universal entitlement that excludes clearly identifi able rich. Food coupons could eliminate the need for the operations of public distribution system and eliminate diversion. Also cash transfers to the women of the household through Aadhaar cards could substantially reduce diversions and avoid the problem of distribution of food coupons.

Surveys since the late 1970s have sought to explore female literacy and its role in the reduction of fertility. The data available, however, have not been used for a multiple regression analysis of the relationship. This paper based on a study in two states used a regression exercise done for four different models, to explore the relation controlling for a number of confounding factors. Without overall development, literacy, although a critical preconditioner, affected fertility reduction in small percentage terms.

Kirit S Parikh While Gujarat is one of the richest states in the country in terms of per capita income, in terms of the social indicators of mortality and education its performance has been only modest. Against this background, the author addresses some of the issues that are likely to arise in Gujarat's development over the coming years. He first reviews in somewhat greater detail Gujarat's achievement in health, education and poverty alleviation and the state of its environment and then examines the notion of sustainable development and what it means for Gujarat, The paper concludes with some goals for Gujarat for the year 2000.

This note summarises the results of a recently completed study which examined the impacts of trade liberalisation, agricultural input subsidy reductions and safety net programmes for India with an applied general equilibrium model with nine agricultural sectors, one non-tradeable non-agriculture sector and one tradeable non-agriculture sector and with five rural and five urban income classes. The study demonstrates the importance of accounting for large country effects in rice trade and estimates the optimal tariff/quota for rice exports for India which is found to be just half a million tonnes of net export of rice. The results show that non-agricultural trade liberalisation is even more important for agriculture than even agricultural trade liberalisation, both of which help accelerate growth The study concludes that a policy package involving trade liberalisation with moderate residual taiffas permitted under GATT and agricultural inputs subsidies removal accompanied by targeted safety net programmes along with stepped up investment in irrigation with the expected additional foreign inflows materialising, produces a scenario that is superior from the point of growth, welfare and distribution and that this can be financed without raising taxes.