Dr. D. Rajasekhar is Professor in Economics at the Centre for Decentralisationand Development, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru.He was Visiting Scholar at the Universities of Oxford, Melbourne, Sussex and atthe Centre for Development Research, Copenhagen. He has worked extensively ondecentralisation, social protection, microfinance and local organisations. He haspublished 20 books/monographs and 70 papers in various journals and as chapters.He has served in policy bodies constituted by the government. His paper on‘Collusion, Co-option and Capture: Social Accountability and Social Audits inKarnataka, India’ published in Oxford Development Studies (Taylor & Francis) wasawarded the Sanjaya Lall Prize for its contribution to the development studies. He iscurrently collaborating with researchers from the London School of Economics, andthe universities of Bristol, Melbourne and Oxford in research relating to decentrali-sation and poverty reduction, delivery of public services and social protection. Hisco-authored paper on ‘Motivating Knowledge Agents: Can Incentive Pay OvercomeSocial Distance?’ is being published in The Economic Journal (Wiley-Blackwell). Dr. M. Devendra Babu is former Professor, Centre for Decentralisation andDevelopment, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru. His areas ofinterest are rural decentralisation and public economics. He has published twobooks (co-authored) and a monograph, as well as articles in national and interna-tional journals. The recent projects that he has been involved in include ‘DistrictPerspective Plans’ and ‘District Human Development Reports’. Dr. R. Manjula holds a Ph.D. in economics and is working as AssistantProfessor at the Centre for Decentralisation and Development at ISEC, Bengaluru.She was Academic Visitor at the Department of Economics, University of Oxford,UK. She has published several books and research papers (in national and international journals and as chapters). Her co-authored paper on ‘Collusion,Co-option and Capture: Social Accountability and Social Audits in Karnataka,India’ published in Oxford Development Studies (Taylor & Francis) was awardedthe Sanjaya Lall Prize for its contribution to the development studies. Her recentco-authored paper on ‘Motivating Knowledge Agents: Can Incentive PayOvercome Social Distance?’ is being published in The Economic Journal(Wiley-Blackwell). She has worked on several of the centre’s research projects,covering themes of decentralisation, child labour, social security, health insuranceand public works programme and collaborating with researchers from the LondonSchool of Economics and the Universities of Bristol, Melbourne and Oxford.