XKDR Newsletter - Issue 24
Metrics on NCLT • Contracting for innovation • Energy policy • Statistics and data science • Culture-conscious policy making • Legal System Reform Seminar
Probability of disposal and hearings at the NCLT
In earlier work, we reported our findings on 3 questions in the field of litigant decision making for cases filed before the Bombay Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, between September 2021 to December 2022. We have now updated our dataset upto December 2023:
RESEARCH PAPER
Rethinking innovation policy in India: Amplifying spillovers through contracting-out
At independence, India committed itself fully to "foster, promote and sustain" the creation of science and scientific research in all aspects. However, the state chose to build large, vertical scientific institutions that "make" innovation. In their new paper, RA Mashelkar, Ajay Shah and Susan Thomas present their reasoning, based on first principles, on how public spending should be reoriented towards "buying" innovation by contracting out. This strategy would induce knowledge and capabilities in the society, and through this, induce greater gains for the people of India.
By drawing from examples of scientific institutions in advanced economies in different sectors that have successfully generated large-scale innovation across the national economy by contracting out, they present a preliminary sketch of the path to implementation in India.
Read the full paper here. Read the blogpost here.
OP-ED & COMMENTARY
In his column in the Business Standard, Ajay Shah writes on,
The evenings are hard. Solar energy is growing, but grid managers struggle with the surge in evening demand when the sun goes down. Coal thermal energy has to make up for the gap, but it is an inflexible source, and grid managers need flexibility. He recommends moving to dynamic electricity pricing, which will take the responsibility of reconciling the gap away from grid managers. He argues that consumers will change their behaviour, and private investors will be incentivised to invest in storage plants.
Three grand challenges of the Indian energy transition. India's growth demands more electricity, but decarbonisation is necessary. In this article co-written with Akshay Jaitly, the authors identify three questions around this transition that they consider important - balancing the state and the union's responsibilities, friction arising from climate change issues interacting with international relations, and needing to incentivise private persons to find solutions rather than the state giving orders to the people.
VIDEOS AND PODCASTS
New episodes of XKDR’s YouTube series Big Ideas - conversations with some of the leading thinkers of today:
Statistics remains relevant in this age of data science, with Dr. Rajeeva Karandikar: Ep 06
Impact of globalisation on Indian cities, with Anirudh Burman: Ep 07
Policymaking needs to be culture-conscious, with Dr. Indradeep Ghosh: Ep 08
The puzzle of white collar productivity in Indian firms, with Sankarson Banerjee: Ep 09
New episodes of Ajay Shah’s YouTube show Everything is Everything with Amit Varma are out:
The Long Road to Change: Ep 36
From Imperial to Adaptive Firms: Ep 37
Poker and Life: Ep 38
The Surface Area of Serendipity: Ep 39
The Brave New Future of Electricity: Ep 40
EVENTS
We hosted Seminar #7 of the XKDR’s series on Indian Legal System Reform. In this seminar,
Anjali Sharma, Trustbridge Rule of Law Foundation discussed “E-filing and case admission under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code”;
Siddarth Raman and Susan Thomas presented on “Estimating time to case disposal using survival analysis”.
We hosted Seminar #3 of the Trustbridge and XKDR Forum series on Contracts and Contract performance. In this seminar,
Anjali Sharma, Trustbridge Rule of Law Foundation analysed “The growth of retail credit in India”;
Shubho Roy examined the concept of “Sanctions for violating laws”.
XKDR Forum is an inter-disciplinary research and policy organisation harnessing knowledge and capabilities across diverse fields of economics, law, public administration, engineering, statistics and science. We welcome your comments and suggestions on our work. Please write them to us here.