In this research note, we show that heritable fertility is not sufficient for positive long-term population growth, for empirical and theoretical reasons. This paper has been accepted at Demography.
Hi, I'm Sangita Vyas.
I'm a development economist and demographer. I'll be joining the Economics faculty at CUNY Hunter College in Fall 2022.
About
My research focuses on the interrelationships among health, the environment, and social inequality in India. I'm particularly interested in the causes and consequences of poor air quality and poor sanitation. I'm trained in economic demography, applied microeconomics, and econometrics.
TEDx Talk
In 2015, I spoke at TEDx WalledCity in New Delhi on why so many rural Indians defecate in the open. The video has over 2.5 million views.
Latest Research
Social disadvantage, economic inequality, and life expectancy in nine Indian states
This study estimates and decomposes life expectancy differentials along lines of caste, religion, and indigenous identity in India, home to some of the largest populations of marginalized social groups in the world. This paper has been published in PNAS.
Child health impacts of coal: Evidence from India's Coal Expansion
What are the child health and human capital consequences of India’s large coal power expansion? Using variation in local coal capacity within place across cohorts, I find that exposure to a median-sized coal plant at birth is associated with a 0.1 standard deviation child height deficit. This paper has been accepted at Journal of Human Resources.
Gender and LPG use after government intervention in rural north India
We examine why households are slow to adopt clean fuels in rural north India, and find that patriarchal gender norms and attitudes encourage the use of solid fuels in this region.
Latest Media
Let's talk about toilets | Council on Foreign Relations Podcast
Why do so many rural north Indians defecate in the open?
Cooking with gas, not wood | The Hindu
Using cleaner fuels such as LPG is essential to reduce rural air pollution and improve health. What can policymakers do to achieve exclusive use of clean fuels in rural India?
Coercion, construction, and ‘ODF paper pe’: Swachh Bharat according to local officials | India Forum
The Swachh Bharat Mission has turned out to be a top-down programme in which villagers are often coerced into building latrines, with relatively little focus on latrine use.
Swachh Bharat Mission gains have come at a cost | Hindustan Times
Coercive and threatening tactics were used in all of the states to compel people to build and use latrines.