Search results

This paper empirically examines the impact of financial development on domestic investment in India for the period 1989–2017.

This study employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to co-integration to test the long-run relationship between financial development and domestic investment. To test the direction of causality, Toda–Yamamoto causality test and vector error correction model (VECM) Granger causality/Block Exogeneity Wald test have been employed. Investment has been measured by Gross Capital Formation. To capture various aspects of financial development in India, eight alternative indicators (both bank based and market based) have been used. With the help selected indicators, a composite index (FINDEX) of financial development has been constructed using principal component analysis (PCA).

The estimated result finds evidence in favour of positive, short-run and long-run impact of financial development on investment in the Indian economy. Both bank-based and market-based indicators are found to significantly affect the level of investment. The significant effect of efficiency-based financial development indicators (both bank based and market based) upon domestic investment implies that there is a need to implement policies that ensure the efficiency of financial intermediation.

To the best of authors' knowledge, not much research has been done to explore the relationship between financial development and domestic investment, especially in the case of Indian economy. This study also tries to find the impact of bank-based and market-based financial development indicators upon domestic investment to explore banks vs market issue.

This study aimed to analyze the role of community health workers (CHWs) called accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in improving maternal health outcomes in the rural community of Punjab, India. The study also examined the expectations of these workers from the community and identified the problems faced by them in carrying out their roles.

Using multistage sampling, a total of 28 villages were selected from seven districts of Punjab, and from these selected villages, a total of 57 ASHAs working as the interface between the rural community and the public health system and 420 women who had delivered a baby were interviewed.

Desire to earn money was the most prominent reason for joining the community work program, but ASHAs felt overburdened and underpaid compared to their work commitments. Not only was the incentive paid to these workers was insufficient and irregular but they also suffered at the hands of medical staff at public hospitals.

While exploring the problems experienced by the CHWs, this study recommends opting for a mix of monetary and nonmonetary incentives for acknowledging the work of CHWs. The study is the first of its kind for the state of Punjab battling with a worsening maternal mortality rate (MMR).

This study was conducted to analyse the socio-ecological problems faced by the Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary and understand its potential and challenges for developing ecotourism following Triple Bottom Line (TBL) principles. The study also benchmarked best ecotourism practices across the globe to create an ecotourism plan that would provide alternative livelihood and help in sustainable management of the area by reducing poverty, dependency on forests and biodiversity protection.

Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary was chosen because this area has several socio-ecological crises with limited livelihood options, and there is an urgent need for alternative livelihood opportunities in the form of ecotourism. The study followed an ethnographic approach through observation, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews. Content and thematic analysis was conducted through Atlas Ti9.0 software for data analysis. Subsequently, benchmarking best ecotourism practices through a literature review was done to develop an ecotourism action plan.

The First finding was related to the study area divided into three themes: problems, potential for ecotourism development, and challenges for ecotourism development. The second finding was related to benchmarking best practices and suggesting an action plan.

This work studied an area not sufficiently acknowledged by academicians and policymakers concerning ecotourism development. The work also benchmarks the best practices for ecotourism and proposes a sight-specific ecotourism action plan in accordance with TBL.