About the Book

This book is a collection of fifteen contributions that undertake a detailed analysis of seven broad dimensions of India’s economy and society. All the contributions approach the problems in their respective areas empirically, while being theoretically informed. The book begins with a section containing detailed and empirically supported chapters on the recent crisis in India’s agricultural sector and the reforms in the agricultural markets. Another section is dedicated to the issue of infrastructure financing, and new ways of financing large infrastructural projects are critically examined. Other sections are related to innovations and technology impacts on industry; international trade; health and education; labor and employment; and the very important issue of gender.  The selected discussion topics are both of contemporary importance and expected to remain so for some time. Most of the chapters introduce readers to data in addition to methods of analyzing this data, to arrive at policy-oriented conclusions.  The rich collection carries learnings for researchers working on a wide range of topics related to development studies, as well as for policymakers and corporate watchers. 

Contents

1.         Introduction-Sunil Mani

Agriculture

2.         The Crisis in Indian Agriculture: Genesis, Response and Future Prospects-Himanshu

3.         Supply Chain Management of Food Grains in India-Parmod Kumar, Yasmeen

Industry, Innovation and Technology

4. Regional Concentration of Industries in India: What Does the Recent Data Say and How to Understand the Implications? A Perspective-K. V. Ramaswamy

5. Indian Electronics Industry’s FDI-Led GVC Engagement: Theoretical and Policy Insights from a Firm-Level Analysis-Smitha Francis, Murali Kallummal

6. India’s Performance in Science, Technology and Innovation: The Post 2000 Scenario-Sunil Mani

Infrastructure

7.         Financing Green and Brownfield Private Infrastructure in India-Sebastian Morris

8.         Land for Development: Market Versus Non-market Mechanisms-Ram Singh

International Trade

9.         Looking at India’s Engineering Exports: Stuck in the Middle of the Value Chain-Parthapratim Pal, S. S. Swathysree

Health and Education

10. Towards Universal Health Coverage? Taking Stock of Two Decades of Health -Reforms in India

T. K. Sundari Ravindran, Neena Elezebeth Philip

11. Changing Landscape of Professional Higher Education in India: What Do We Know and What Do Recent Data Tell Us?-Pradeep Kumar Choudhury, Amit Kumar

Labour and Employment

12. Has Labour Rigidity Slowed Down Employment Growth in Indian Manufacturing?-Jayan Jose Thomas

Gender

13. Sex Selection, Family Building Strategies and the Political Economy of Gender-Mary E. John

14. When South Meets North: Interrogating Agency and Marital Mobility in Kerala-Haryana Marriages-Paro Mishra

15. Gender and Development: Back to Basics Continued Relevance of Marcal’s Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner-Padmini Swaminathan

16. Women, the Planned Economy, and the Anticipation of Utopia-V. Geetha

About the Author / Editor

Professor Sunil Mani is Professor, Reserve Bank of India Chair, and Director of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram. Formerly, he was a member of the faculty and the head of graduate studies at the United Nations University-Institute for New Technologies (now known as UNU-MERIT) at Maastricht in the Netherlands. He obtained his M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and has done postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford on a fellowship from the Ford Foundation, New York. He has held Visiting Professorships at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy, and University of Toulouse Jean Jaures, Toulouse, France, and at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. Further, he serves on the editorial boards of two international journals, Research Policy, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, and the International Journal of Technology and Globalization.

Dr. Mani has published several articles in refereed international and national journals, authored and edited books, and contributed chapters in books. His latest books include the one co-edited with Franco Malerba and Pamela Adams, Rise to Market Leadership, New Leading Firms from Emerging Countries, and Kerala and the World Economy.

Chidambaran G. Iyer is an Associate Professor at CDS. He has completed his PhD from IGIDR, Mumbai. He works in the area of Technology and Innovation. He has published papers on innovation in the Indian refining industry, and the impact of satellite and internet in Indian education in refereed journals.  His interest in technology stems from his work experience as an engineer in the Indian chemical and biotechnology industry.