"We hope that ongoing research will shed light on how improving law and order can have an impact on welfare measures, including economic growth". So said Nishith Prakash, from the University of Connecticut (USA), at the framework of a workshop on Economics of development organized by the Navarra Center for International Development (NCID) of the University of Navarra and the Ramón Areces Foundation.

The expert presented the work 'Dopoliticians accused of crimes affect economic performance? Evidence from India', which analyzed the case of the State of Bihar in India. The study's findings reveal that in that region the election of indicted candidates led to an average of approximately 5% lower GDP growth per year. These estimated costs increase for candidates with serious allegations, multiple allegations and allegations of financial crimes.

One of the most interesting findings," he explained, "has been when the effects show up. We did not have much prior information and there are no theories that anticipate a negative impact. We perceive that the consequences start to be visible at the end of the electoral cycle".

"There is plenty of literature that talks about law and order and economic growth, but there is not much programs of study about what factors are behind it, what policies can be implemented in a region like Bihar or in another with similar challenges. The idea is to analyze the policies that led to reduce crime and how that impacts on the development", he stressed.

From agreement with the expert, all this is related to how bureaucrats and politicians interact: "They are really important agents, especially in countries in development such as India. They control a lot of resources and have financial, legislative and executive powers to generate impact. Understanding the relationship between the two is crucial."

Education and women's empowerment

The researcher of the University of Connecticut also referred to other work he has carried out in the field of Economics of development. Specifically, he spoke of a project on gender equality at Education in Zambia, which he conducted together with Karthik Muralidharan of the University of California, San Diego.

"We provided bicycles to girls to go to school, to study the impact on enrollment and learning outcomes. As result, it increased enrollment by 34% and decreased the gender gap by 40%," she said.

Prakash added that they are currently following up with a randomized control essay because no long-term questions were answered deadline; it is unknown whether project led to greater empowerment or greater bargaining power. "However, it should be kept in mind that measuring women's empowerment is very context-dependent: it may be different in Zambia and India," she concluded.

The NCID Research Workshop is an annual international meeting on Economics of development aimed at practitioners, academics and students of postgraduate program. It is organized by the Navarra Center for International Development, which belongs to the Institute for Culture and Society of the University of Navarra.