Publication: Dvara Research

In this paper, the authors lay out a theoretical frame for thinking about microfinance crises.

In early April, the World Bank published its State of Social Protection report (2025), earlier known as the ‘State of Social Safety Nets’ series. These reports use global-level data about social protection programs to reflect on trends in social security and to ascertain future requirements of social security.

In the first blog of this series of two, we break down (i) the Committee’s methodology, (ii) key insights on the current state of AI adoption, (iii) FREE AI Framework and (iv) its recommendations.

This blog is based on the recent uptake in conversations on the reformation of the know-your-customer (KYC) process in the financial sector. We find the periodicity of the current KYC system to be of concern for various reasons. The periodic updates of KYC present a burden on the customer to validate themselves every few years, failing which they are at risk of being excluded from the financial system.

The two worlds of policy research and academic research (in economics) sometimes do intersect, but for the most part, they appear to me to be quite different arenas of inquiry, with different epistemologies and types of truth claims. This blog is about those differences as I see them, having worked in both domains.

The objective of this blog is to articulate the scope and relevance of various blended finance instruments in advancing access to suitable credit for nano entrepreneurs.

This document offers a guide to understanding and using CPHS data, focusing on its stratified multi-stage sampling design, weighting methodology, and operationalisation in statistical analysis.

In this blog post, we analyse the changes in the direction and weigh them through the lens of customer protection and long-term sustainability. We also offer suggestions on streamlining the KYC updation (re-KYC) exercise without adding to systemic risks.

In this document, we present our response to the policy document on DHRUVA (Digital Hub for  Reference and Unique Virtual Address): The Digital Address DPI, hereafter referred to as the ‘policy  document’, published by the Department of Posts in May 2025.   

The Consultation Paper sets out the landscape of use cases of AI prevalent in the Indian Securities Market.