The United States faces a formidable set of international challenges, from emboldened terrorist organizations, weakening democratic norms, and continued uncertainty within the global financial system. However, there is some light coming out of South Asia.  The deepening ties between the United States and India can have a profound and positive impact on global security and prosperity. The relationship is developing in the context of a growing global debate on the ability of constitutional democracies to address 21st century security and development challenges—maritime security, territorial disputes, economic inclusivity, and climate change. And it is developing in the context of an Indian debate about whether and how India will assume its natural place as a leading power in the world. A successful U.S.-India strategic partnership can deliver a decisive response to these questions. If two countries with very different economic, cultural, and geographic situations can achieve a level of strategic collaboration that safeguards prosperity, peace, and stability both within and beyond their own borders, it will demonstrate that principles of participatory governance remain relevant and vital to the global good.

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Richard Verma serves as the 25th United States Ambassador to India. He was nominated by President Obama on September 18th, 2014, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in by Secretary of State John Kerry in December 2014. Ambassador Verma oversees one of the largest U.S. Missions in the world, including four consulates across India and nearly every agency of the U.S. government.

As a former Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs in the Obama Administration, he led the State Department’s efforts on Capitol Hill and served as a senior member of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton’s team.

Ambassador Verma previously worked in the Senate as the Senior National Security Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. He also worked in the House of Representatives for longtime Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Committee, Jack Murtha. He is veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where he served on active duty as a Judge Advocate. Rich was also a country director for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Eastern Europe.

Co-sponsored by the Health Economics Seminar

We present the first direct evidence on the relative quality of public and private healthcare in a low-income setting, using a unique set of audit studies. We sent standardized (fake) patients to rural primary care providers in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, and recorded the quality of care provided and prices charged in each interaction. We report three main findings. First, most private providers lacked formal medical training, but they spent more time with patients and completed more essential checklist items than public providers and were equally likely to provide a correct treatment. Second, we compare the performance of qualified public doctors across their public and private practices and find that the same doctors exerted higher effort and were more likely to provide a correct treatment in their private practices. Third, in the private sector, we find that prices charged are positively correlated with provider effort and correct treatment, but also with unnecessary treatments. In the public sector, we find no correlation between provider salaries and any measure of quality. We develop a simple theoretical framework to interpret our results and show that in settings with low levels of effort in the public sector, the benefits of higher diagnostic effort in the private sector may outweigh the costs of market incentives to over treat. These differences in provider effort may partly explain the dominant market share of fee-charging private providers even in the presence of a system of free public healthcare.

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Born and raised in India, he earned an A.B. in economics (summa cum laude) from Harvard, an M.Phil. in economics from Cambridge (UK), and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), an Affiliate at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), a Member of the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) network, an Affiliate at the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), and a Research Affiliate with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).

Prof. Muralidharan's primary research interests include development, public, and labor economics. Specific topics of interest include education, health, and social protection; measuring quality of public service delivery; program evaluation; and improving the effectiveness of public spending (with a focus on developing countries). Courses taught include undergraduate and graduate classes in development economics, program evaluation, and the economics of education.