KU ScholarWorks

Recent Submissions

  • Publication
    Influence of demonetization on various sectors of the Indian economy
    (SCIndeks, 2023-01-17) Prasad, Anita; Goswami, Anandajit; Gurtu, Amulya
    Background: India demonetized the currency in November 2016, scrapping 86.9 percent of the currency in circulation. This policy disrupted most economic activities because India was predominantly a cash economy. Purpose: The study aims to analyze the impact of demonetization on the informal-formal sector and the Indian stock markets, where investment reflects investors' confidence. Another purpose is to know the usefulness of demonetization in the proliferation of digitalization. Study design/methodology/approach: The study incorporates primary data to determine the impact on informal and formal workers' income and the acceptance of digitalization in rural-urban areas in Faridabad, Haryana. A survey was conducted, and samples for informal-formal workers and rural-urban households were collected and analyzed using the F test and the ANOVA model using an independent dummy or qualitative variables. The secondary data of the Indian stock market were empirically tested and forecasted using the Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (ARCH) model. Finding/Conclusions: The empirical analysis reveals that after demonetization, informal workers' earnings dropped significantly, and there is a substantial income disparity between informal-formal workers. A wide gap persists in adopting digital transactions due to low awareness of digital instruments in rural areas compared to urban areas. On the contrary, no significant impact is noticed in the Indian stock market as the forecasted value of shares trading depicts positive growth. The study identifies the gaps in policy implementation. It exposes the implementation of macroeconomic policies ensuring the protection of the interest and livelihood of economically vulnerable populations. The spread of awareness towards electronic transactions may help to promote digitalization Limitations/future research: The study is limited to a few areas. Hence, the scope of future research rests on macro-level data where comparison could be conducted between rural and urban areas across various states in India.
  • Publication
    Exploring Transparency– Sustainability Linkage: Analysis of CSR Disclosures
    (Spectrum Journals, 2023) Calderon, Ricardo T.; Gurtu, Amulya; Holly, Michael A.
    Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting is a strategy for communicating sustainability data to stakeholders. Sharing data with stakeholders is the key to the effectiveness and validity of CSR. However, the often-voluntary nature of CSR disclosure reporting results in perceived bias. Consequently, the relationship between CSR disclosure transparency and the sustainable character of a company remains unclear. The article suggests a methodology for evaluating corporate transparency through t-value analysis. The t-value analysis of CSR reports from Corporate Knights’ 2021 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations quantifies the total number of negative disclosures in a CSR report. This research shows a lack of correlation (p value = .805) between observable levels of transparency and third-party sustainability rankings amongst the sustainability elite of the corporate world.
  • Publication
    Paper and packaging industry dynamics during COVID-19 and their strategies for the future
    (SCIndeks, 2022-06-13) Gurtu, Amulya; Johny, Jestin; Buechse, Oliver
    Background: The paper examines the "mysterious case of the disappearing toilet paper" during the COVID19 pandemic. Purpose: This paper describes the strategic impacts on paper and packaging supply chains due to the pandemic. Study design/methodology/approach: Structured interviews and qualitative discussions with organizational and supply chain management leaders. Findings/conclusions: Several "behind the scenes" and less well-documented supply chain impacts in the paper and packaging, and logistics industries were discovered. The critical effects observed are: (1) Impact on the manufacturing side was mitigated mainly by implementing CDC guidelines and by the willingness of industry leaders to go above and beyond to shield their employees from economic hardships. (2) The transportation sector has experienced a more severe workforce shortage, amplified by government actions before and during the pandemic. (3) Product specialization, a pre-pandemic strategy for industry participants, turned into a weakness during the pandemic due to unprecedented shifts in demand across sectors. (4) Traditional "lean" supply chain thinking is increasingly making way for a more interconnected "risk avoidance" strategic model. Limitations/future research: The research is limited to organizations in Midwest U.S.A. and one organization in Europe.
  • Publication
    Rural Energy Transition for Cooking in India—Revisiting the Drivers
    (MDPI, 2023-05-06) Goswami, Anandajit; Bandyopadhyay, Kaushik Ranjan; Singh, Preeti; Gurtu, Amulya
    The recent analysis from IEA (International Energy Agency) on energy transition in India highlights that cooking continues to be the weakest link in the energy transition process for rural households and that rural energy transition of households to cleaner fuel is nonlinear in nature. Several programs have been designed to plague the voids and address this nonlinearity, but the transition to cleaner alternatives for cooking did not happen in the pace it should ideally have. Therefore, an empirical exercise was carried out at a national level to revisit the disconnect between the income growth and energy transition and identify the drivers of the energy transition process in cooking at the national as well as at the subnational state level for a developing country. The paper adds to the current scholarship on drivers of household energy transition by analyzing the relationship between household energy choices and non-income determinants and proves the nonlinearity in energy consumption of rural households of Bihar. Analyzing unit level record from National Sample Survey, an empirical exercise was carried out by using multinomial logit model to identify the potential determining factors at the individual household and group level. The group effect analysis through fixed and random effect has been conducted purposely to understand if social and cultural norms or community level factors within a village society have any effect on the cooking energy transition of rural households and if that offsets the effect of household income in energy transition for cooking. Furthermore, to statistically examine the perceived non-linearity in the consumption of cooking fuel such as firewood by rural households, Brock–Dechert–Scheinkman (BDS) test was conducted for rural households of 38 districts of Bihar. The analysis helps in inferring that subsidy on modern fuel and/or other cooking alternatives alone may not suffice to drive the transition process, but more targeted intervention rooted in the local cultural context in consonance with social and cultural norms or community level factors could be more effective for sustained rural energy transition.
  • Publication
    Emissions Reduction Policies and Their Effects on Economy
    (MDPI, 2022-09-11) Gurtu, Amulya; Gurtu, Apoorva; Vyas, Vidhisha
    The two broad carbon-reducing policies, carbon tax and cap-and-trade, have been implemented at various national and sub-national levels. This paper examines the relationships between emissions-reducing policies and their effect on the country’s economic growth (GDP) using carbon tax and CO2 emission as explanatory variables and population and R&D as control variables. The study employs Granger causality analysis (GCA) and panel data regression analysis to find the relationships between GDP, emissions, and carbon tax. GDP usually increases as a country’s carbon emissions, carbon tax, R&D, and population increase. The analysis of carbon reduction policies, especially carbon tax and their general impact on a country’s economy, is a unique contribution of this study. The applications of this study are to motivate governments to form a national carbon abatement policy and encourage corporate leaders to invest in clean technology to grow the economy.