Essays on political economy and institutions/ Rolly Kukreja

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indian Statistical Institute, 2022

Includes bibliography

Introduction -- Does Political Representation affect Trust in Political Institutions?: Evidence from India -- The Political Economy of Higher Education: Criminality and Institutions -- Educated Leaders through Legislation but at what Cost?

Guided by Prof. Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay

This thesis consists of three empirical essays that explore distinct themes in the realm of
political economy and economics of institutions. All, in essence, are investigations into
the role of distinct attributes of political institutions and political actors induced by these
institutions, in shaping varied development outcomes. The first chapter begins by asking
whether a change in political representation leads to a change in expressed trust in political institutions. This study shows that increased representation leads to higher political
trust and further suggests that such improvement in political trust is accompanied by
increase in voter turnout and mediated by an improvement in infrastructure and public
goods provision. The second chapter shifts focus from features of political institutions to
characteristics of political actors and their consequences for human capital. It investigates
the impact of criminality of elected representatives on the provision of publicly financed
higher education institutions and finds that electoral districts that elect criminally accused leaders witness reduced provision of such institutions. The third chapter continues
with the broad narrative of characteristics of politicians and evaluates a policy that introduced minimum education requirements for candidates contesting local elections in the
context of a large state in India. Findings from this study show that while education of
leaders in itself might be perceived as a desirable outcome, restricting candidature based
on education qualifications can lead to lower representation of historically disadvantaged
communities and women while not leading to any demonstrable improvement in leader performance.