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.

Contents: Economic Reforms and Youth Unemployment in India, New Economic Policy and Service Sector, Employment Implications of Economic Reforms, Emerging Problems of Employment Generation in the Era of Economic Reforms, Impact of New Economic Policy on Service Sector, Employment in Organised and Unorganised Sector, Economic Reforms and Rural Industries in India, Women Workers in Petrol Bunks at Madurai City, New Economic Policy, The Impact of Economic Reforms on Rural Employment Opportunities, Impact of New Economic Policy on Service Sector with Reference to Early Childhood Care and Development, Rural Employment in India After Economic Reforms, Economic Reforms and Labour Force Participation in Rural Sector, Economic Reforms and Employment, Human Resource Development in the Context of Economic Reforms Relating to Information Technology, Impact of Reforms on Social Indicators in India, Impact of Economic Reforms on Dalits in India, Entrepreneurship Development Under Liberalisation, Impact of Micro Credit Scheme An Economic Reform, Entrepreneurship Development Under Liberalisation, Globalisation and Human Development, Post Reform India, Human Resource Development in the Context of Economic Reforms, Globalisation and Stress Management, Redundancy, Redeployment of Manpower and Training Among Various Sectors in and Around the City of Chennai, Economic Reforms, Transformation of Local Human Resources to Cope with Economic Liberalisation and Globalisation, Economic Reforms and HRD in India, Economic Reforms and Human Resource Development in India, Redundancy, Redeployment of Manpower and Training in Banking Industries, Human Resource Development in the Context of Economic Reforms in India, Employment in Small Scale Industries During Post-Reforms Period.

Reforms and Economic Transformation in India is the second volume in the series Studies in Indian Economic Policies. The first volume, India's Reforms: How They Produced Inclusive Growth (OUP, 2012), systematically demonstrated that reforms-led growth in India led to reduced poverty among all social groups. They also led to shifts in attitudes whereby citizens overwhelmingly acknowledge the benefits that accelerated growth has brought them and as voters, they now reward the governments that deliver superior economic outcomes and punish those that fail to do so. This latest volume takes as its starting point the fact that while reforms have undoubtedly delivered in terms of poverty reduction and associated social objectives, the impact has not been as substantial as seen in other reform-oriented economies such as South Korea and Taiwan in the 1960s and 1970s, and more recently, in China. The overarching hypothesis of the volume is that the smaller reduction in poverty has been the result of slower transformation of the economy from a primarily agrarian to a modern, industrial one. Even as the GDP share of agriculture has seen rapid decline, its employment share has declined very gradually. More than half of the workforce in India still remains in agriculture. In addition, non-farm workers are overwhelmingly in the informal sector. Against this background, the nine original essays by eminent economists pursue three broad themes using firm level data in both industry and services. The papers in part I ask why the transformation in India has been slow in terms of the movement of workers out of agriculture, into industry and services, and from informal to formal employment. They address what India needs to do to speed up this transformation. They specifically show that severe labor-market distortions and policy bias against large firms has been a key factor behind the slow transformation. The papers in part II analyze the transformation that reforms have brought about within and across enterprises. For example, they investigate the impact of privatization on enterprise profitability. Part III addresses the manner in which the reforms have helped promote social transformation. Here the papers analyze the impact the reforms have had on the fortunes of the socially disadvantaged groups in terms of wage and education outcomes and as entrepreneurs.

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.

Uzbekistan has achieved sustained growth through its gradual transition to a market-based economy through cautious economic policy reforms. Despite its gradual approach to development challenges, the country experienced the smallest output decline among former Soviet economies and enjoyed high rates of economic growth from 2004 to 2015, largely driven by the high prices of its major export commodities. However, the drop in the global prices of many key commodities in recent years have severely impacted Uzbekistan's economy. Under these circumstances, the new government introduced major reforms. The pace of reform is unprecedented. The government has formulated its long-term economic strategy in its Vision 2030, which aims to double the country's gross domestic product by 2030 through a program of economic diversification. This book analyzes how Uzbekistan can boost sustainable economic growth to create more and better jobs. It considers how the country can consolidate achievements from recent policy reforms and maintain reform efforts to accelerate sustainable growth. Policy recommendations cover fostering macroeconomic stability, increasing investment in physical infrastructure, enhancing human capital, improving firms' access to finance, and lowering barriers to international trade and foreign investment inflows.

By looking at 20 reform efforts in ten OECD countries, this report examines why some reforms are implemented and other languish.