Indian Labour Market And Economic Reforms

The global capitalism has entered into a new and distinct phase, wherein liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (commonly called LPG) is a central theme. Almost every country, particularly the developing countries, are on the agenda of international monopolies and international financial capital which are controlled and regulated by the industrially developed nations. The vulnerable economies all over the world are being forced to liberalise their economies resulting in unfavourable balance of competitive forces on their side. Free trade rules are dismantling the ‘License Raj’ meant for business and industry under the dictate of global corporations. Market forces have been given once again a primacy to make the major economic decisions. “The free trade systems of small producers and poor consumers are being dismantled and being made illegal in order to create free trade systems for big business and global corporations.”1 All these have been the outcome of certain policy initiatives and developments that have taken place at the national and international level especially since the 1980s.

This book explores the effects of product market and labour market reforms on firms, labour institutions and labour rights in the economic and industrial relations system in India. India has over the years liberalized its economy through a broad range of reforms concerning the product market and complementing these it has also sought to reform the labour market and the industrial relations system. The book assesses the impact of these reforms on both the formal and informal labour markets in India, critically examines the labour processes and uncovers/describes precarious conditions of labour in various industries and occupations, and analyzes the dynamics involved in the making of industrial, employment and labour policies in contemporary India.

This book revisits some of the persisting challenges of development of India, which remain unresolved even after twenty-five years of economic reforms and almost fifteen years of high growth rate. These include defining purpose of development, inequality, labour, work, unemployment, agrarian distress and migration. The book questions the overemphasis on growth to the extent of neglecting basic issues of development. With a number of contributions re-imagining development and its political economy, the book discusses above mentioned issues in light of new data and more recent conceptions of the issues. The contributors of this volume are eminent researchers in their respective field. Presenting primary as well as secondary data, the book considers the latest advances and research and also addresses new challenges like the global reorganization of production and the consequences for labour and the world of work, along with skills question. World of work has received detailed investigation in this book. This is a timely addition in existing literature especially in context of pandemic and lockdown. Informality and un/employment question is addressed in this context. Relationship among poverty, inequality and growth is examined in light of newer understanding. Agrarian distress is looked in a broader context. A number of papers are examining migration question by expanding coverage of migration and including labour mobility as apart of migration debate. The present crisis of migrant labour and absence of social security for these workers is also discussed. This book is primarily intended for those interested in recent advances on some of the basic aspects of development, like poverty, inequality, informality, word of work, migration and labour mobility. It is also useful for researchers, policy makers, journalists and civil society organizations working on these issues.

The informal economy is a dynamic, active, and hotly debated domain in the developing world. Unfortunately, it remains one of the most ignored areas in mainstream economic theory and development economics. In this book, Marjit and Kar provide a detailed theoretical overview and analytical understanding of informal labour markets in the context of economic reforms. Grounded in the neo-classical general equilibrium framework, the book analyses the impact of deregulatory policies on the welfare of informal workers in a segmented labour market. It discusses how informal wage responds to unemployment in the formal sector by exploring the interactions between the formal and the informal labour markets. The authors also examine institutional factors—political, economic, and governance mechanisms—to explore the major causes that sustain or impede the dynamism of informal labour markets. They offer empirical applications using official data sources and micro-level case studies of informal activities in West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.

Generation of decent livelihood opportunities ought to be among the most important objectives on any meaningful agenda of economic development. On this front, however, the Indian experience has remained seriously inadequate. During the first four decades after Independence, India’s achievements with respect to the problems of poverty, unemployment and occupational structural transformation were modest at best. Since the early 1990s, during the era of neo-liberal reforms, while economic growth has remained upbeat, the wellbeing of the masses has shown even greater stress. An indispensable entry point to the subject of labour in India, this Short Introduction locates the debate within the trajectory of economic development since India’s independence.

With reference to India; contributed papers for presentation in the 82nd Annual Conference of the Indian Economic Association, Dec. 27-29, 1999, Amritsar, India.

Labour market flexibility is one of the most closely debated public policy issues in India. This book provides a theoretical framework to understand the subject, and empirically examines to what extent India’s ‘jobless growth’ may be attributed to labour laws. There is a pervasive view that the country’s low manufacturing base and inability to generate jobs is primarily due to rigid labour laws. Therefore, job creation is sought to be boosted by reforming labour laws. However, the book argues that if labour laws are made flexible, then there are adverse consequences for workers: dismantled job security weakens workers’ bargaining power, incapacitates trade union movement, skews class distribution of output, dilutes workers’ rights, and renders them vulnerable. The book: identifies and critically examines the theory underlying the labour market flexibility (LMF) argument employs innovative empirical methods to test the LMF argument offers an overview of the organised labour market in India comprehensively discusses the proposed/instituted labour law reforms in the country contextualises the LMF argument in a macroeconomic setting discusses the political economy of labour law reforms in India. This book will interest scholars and researchers in economics, development studies, and public policy as well as economists, policymakers, and teachers of human resource management.

The demand for economic inclusion has increasingly intensified, as manifested by the growing movements of farmers, workers and social activists. Therefore, the question of adequate social representation of marginalized and underprivileged communities has to be made pivotal in the discourse of inclusion. This book investigates selected aspects of labour market informality in India. It examines the key factors that have expedited labour informality—contractualisation—in the manufacturing sector since the early 1990s. It analyses the features of informality and inclusion from the perspective of not just class but also the caste hierarchy in Indian society, thus offering readers an exhaustive overview of economic inclusion following the economic reforms and providing fresh insights into labour market informality through the lens of the social divisions in Indian society. Developed on a wide canvas of multiple processes, policies, and factors that have contributed to this phenomenon, the book offers an elaborate analysis of contractualisation within the industry from the perspectives of labour legislation and the labour market. In addition, it contextualizes the issue of job informality for the post-economic reforms era, from 1991 onwards. It examines the impact of the policies of economic reform on contractualisation across industries and states. Further, the book discusses the dynamics of the labour market reforms in India, given that there is a higher incidence of labour informality in India. It also highlights how the policy quest for inclusive growth has remained unfulfilled. This book will be a useful guide for advanced students, academic researchers, scholars and policy makers that are engaged with the issue of informal sector employment.

During the last two decades, India has experienced a high growth rate, but the contribution from productivity growth and technological progress has been very low. This has resulted in a poor performance in the employment generation in the formal sector, and this book examines this phenomenon and the Indian growth pattern. Using primary and secondary data, the book looks at the impact of economic reform on technological change and total productivity growth, and in turn its impact on the labour market. It examines the effect of trade reform on the form and functioning of labour markets, and goes on to look at the impact of the global financial crisis on the Indian labour market. Offering interesting modelling exercises and empirical verifications that bring fresh ideas and new content, this book is of interest to academics in the fields of development economics, international economics and South Asian studies.

The Volume Analysis Security Policies For India Focusing On The Unorganized Sector. Highlights The Need For A Unique Social Security System Designed Specifically For India. Important Work Useful For Research Of Labour Laws And Social Security Issues.