Onupurba Das

I’m an applied micro-economist at UMass Amherst working at the intersection of environment, development, and social inequities. My research focuses on how political representation for historically marginalized communities impacts development outcomes, using measures like night time lights intensity and environmental outcomes like forest cover using VCF data.

Current projects include:

How women's political leadership in local government affects forest conservation
The role of caste-based leadership in driving development and forest outcomes

Another completed project investigates the link between environmental conditions and mental wellbeing, focusing on high temperatures and exposure to particulate matter and it's impacts on self-reported mental health outcomes in India

Feel free to connect with me at odas@umass.edu

Job market paper:

Political Representation, Forest Cover, and Development in Rural India

Onupurba Das

2024

Abstract PDF

This paper investigates the impact of caste-based political reservations in leadership of local governance on economic and environmental outcomes, focusing on Karnataka, India. A 1992 legislation introduced electoral quotas(reservations) in village councils to ensure political representation for marginalized groups, specifically Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Leveraging quasi-random variation in seat allocation for the council chairperson position across multiple election terms, we analyze a comprehensive dataset of over 5,000 councils for 5 elections between 1994-2010 to assess how SC and ST leadership affects two critical metrics: forest cover, as a measure of environmental stewardship, and night-time lights, as a proxy for economic activity. Our difference-in-differences approach indicates that SC-ST leadership is associated with increased local development but also reveals reductions in forest cover, with divergent effects between SC and ST leaders. These findings suggest a complex interaction between representation, development, and environmental sustainability, highlighting the need for policies that empower marginalized leaders with resources to balance development goals and conservation efforts.