Job Creation and Poverty Reduction in India: Towards Rapid and Sustained Growth (Hardcover)

Rapid growth since 1980 has transformed India the 50th ranked economy in nominal US dollars to the 12th largest in the world in 2003. When income is measured with regard to purchasing power parity, the Indian economy occupies fourth place, after the United States, Japan, and China. Along with growing incomes, India??s increasingly outward orientation and the growing optimism about its economy has led to a surge in international investors interest. At the same time evidence suggests that income inequality is rising and the gap in average per capita income between the rich and poor states is growing. This book of collected articles provides an in-depth treatment of growth and employment issues in India. It reviews India??s long-term growth experience, emerging constraints and challenges, and the way forward for sustaining rapid growth along with more and better employment. Specifically, the book identifies ways in which the investment climate can be further improved to raise productivity and reduce the cost of doing business, thereby promoting domestic and foreign private investment. It looks at the growth and productivity challenges in agriculture and suggests policies that will help raise farm productivity and incomes. Higher farm productivity and incomes along with more and better non-farm jobs will reduce poverty at a faster pace than in the recent past. It explains the reason for the low overall employment elasticity of past growth and why there has been limited expansion of good jobs, and concludes by suggesting reform option for increasing employment. Table of Contents* Preface* I.SETTING THE SCENE: India??s Long-Term Growth Experience: Lessons and Prospects SADIQ AHMED II.MACROECONOMIC FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINED GROWTH: Fiscal Policy for Growth in India BRIAN PINTO, FARAH ZAHIR and GAOBO PANG* India??s State Finances MARINA WES* III.SECTORAL POLICIES FOR GROWTH : From Inhibiting to Enabling: India??s Changing Approach to The Role of Private Sector DEEPAK K MIISHRA* India??s Financial Sector: Recent Reforms and the Challenges Ahead PRIYA BASU* Meeting India??s Infrastructure Demands??the Role of Reforms and Investment CLIVE HARRIS* Revitalizing the Agricultural Sector in India: Opportunities and Challenges DINA UMALI-DEININGER* IV.LABOR MARKET POLICES FOR JOB CREATION: Labor Markets in India: Developments and Challenges AHMED AHSAN and ASHISH NARAIN* Index