Purpose The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the determinants of foreign and domestic tourist arrivals and revenue receipts from tourism using state-level panel data in 25 Indian states for the period 1995 to 2011. Design/methodology/approach The study uses IV-2SLS method to examine the determinants of foreign and domestic tourist arrivals in Indian states. Economic development (proxied by per capita income, PCI) is an endogenous variable. We have used the state-wise “liable to flood prone area” as an instrument for PCI to control for endogeneity. An inverse relationship exists between state-wise “liable to flood prone area” and real PCI, in a sense that states with greater proportion of area marked as liable to flood experience lower economic development. For robust analysis, the study has also used IV-Tobit model to examine the effects of economic development and crime on revenue receipts from tourism. Findings The empirical results based on IV-2SLS method suggest that, in addition to economic development, other factors such as the presence of world-class monuments, natural landscapes and cultural heritage also encourage both international and domestic visitors in Indian states. While crime activities adversely affect the inflow of foreign and domestic tourist arrivals, terror activities do not significantly impact tourist arrivals and tourism receipts. Finally, the estimates of IV-Tobit model show that economic development and government expenditure on tourism sector leads to a significant increase in tourism receipts. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study done in Indian context in which state-level panel data have been used to examine the impact of economic, social and cultural factors on tourist arrivals and revenue earnings from tourism. Hence, the present study not only contributes to existing tourism literature, but also makes an important contribution to structuring suitable tourism management policies for the Indian states.

The study examines the effects of drought and flood on farmer suicides using statelevel panel data from 17 Indian states for the period 1995-2011. The empirical estimates based on unconditional fixed effect Negative Binomial model show that while drought significantly increases farmer suicides, flood has no direct impact on the same. The results also show that incidence of farmer suicides is higher in cotton producing states of India because these states experience frequent drought conditions. Furthermore, our findings reveal that states with high levels of rural poverty experience a higher number of farmer suicides as a result of frequent occurrence of droughts and moderate floods. To obtain robust results, fixed effect Poisson model has been used in the study. Overall, the findings are consistent with unconditional fixed effect Negative Binomial model. Hence, in light of the results obtained by this study, it is important for the government to devise suitable policies such as loan waiver for poor farmers, compulsory crop insurance scheme, improving farm income through revamping of agricultural marketing policies, creating public awareness among farmers and providing micro-irrigation Department of Economics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA facilities as well as introducing alternative cropping pattern in the drought prone areas in order to reduce the occurrence of farmer suicides.

We examine the impact of economic development and the role of political alignment on the fatalities and damages due to floods using state-level panel data for 19 Indian states over the period 1980–2011. The empirical results confirm that economic development leads to a decline in flood fatalities and damages due to floods across Indian states. This study also examines the role of politics in the prevention of flood fatalities. We find that both state election years and political alignment influence the extent of flood fatalities. The results suggest that not only economic development but also healthy political coordination between the central government and the states is essential to mitigate the impact of floods.