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Why India Lags Behind China and How It Can Bridge the Gap

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  • Arvind Panagariya

Abstract

Though India has been growing at six per cent annually since the late 1980s, it trails behind China, which has been growing at ten per cent per annum since 1981. The single most important factor explaining this difference is the relatively poor performance of Indian industry. Whereas the share of industry in China's GDP rose from 42 per cent in 1991 to 51 per cent in 2001, it remained virtually stagnant in India. By contrast, services grew rapidly in India, expanding from 42 per cent in 1991 to 48 per cent in 2001. With the information technology sector less than two per cent of the GDP, services growth was largely in the informal sector. Approximately 77 per cent of India's workers live in rural areas. To bring a large chunk of this workforce into the modern sector, India must achieve a much higher growth in the traditional, unskilled‐labour‐intensive industry. Growth in the information technology sector gives India an extra lever but cannot be the main engine of transformation. Therefore, the right approach is to walk on two legs: traditional labour‐intensive industry and the modern IT industry. Both legs need strengthening through further reforms. The paper suggests four specific reforms, three for industry and one for IT, necessary to achieve the transformation to a modern economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Arvind Panagariya, 2007. "Why India Lags Behind China and How It Can Bridge the Gap," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 229-248, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:30:y:2007:i:2:p:229-248
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9701.2007.00880.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. V N Balasubramanyam & V Mahambare, 2001. "India's economic reforms and the manufacturing sector," Working Papers 539906, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Deepening India’s export basket
      by Keya Chaturvedi in East Asia Forum on 2014-05-17 05:00:12

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    Cited by:

    1. Choorikkad Veeramani & Lakshmi Aerath & Prachi Gupta, 2018. "Intensive and extensive margins of exports: What can India learn from China?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 1196-1222, May.
    2. Veeramani, Choorikkad & Banerjee, Purna, 2022. "Exchange rate fluctuations, labour laws, and gender differences in job flows: Analysis of manufacturing industries across Indian states," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    3. M Parameswaran, 2021. "Trade Openness and Labour Market Unrest: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Industry," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 19(2), pages 345-373, June.
    4. Chatterji, Monojit & Choudhury, Homagni, 2010. "Growth Rate Estimation in the presence of Unit Roots," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-92, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    5. Subhasankar Chattopadhyay, 2022. "Pace of structural change and inter‐sectoral relative price: The case of India and China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(11), pages 3534-3558, November.
    6. Chatterji, Monojit & Choudhury, Homagni, 2010. "The Changing Inter-Industry Wage Structure of the Organised Manufacturing Sector in India, 1973-74 to 2003-04," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-89, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    7. Sayed Gulzar Ganai & Abdul Hamid Mir & Showkat Ahmad Bhat & Javid Ahmad Khan, 2024. "Impacting Instruments for Export Competitiveness: Evidence from India and China in the Global Manufacturing Market," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 16(1), pages 130-142, January.
    8. Rajesh Raj S.N. & Subash Sasidharan, 2015. "Impact of Foreign Trade on Employment and Wages in Indian Manufacturing," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 16(2), pages 209-232, September.
    9. Ghani,Syed Ejaz & Grover,Arti & Kerr,Sari & Kerr,William Robert, 2016. "Will market competition trump gender discrimination in India ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7814, The World Bank.
    10. Kunal Sen, 2009. "International Trade and Manufacturing Employment: Is India following the Footsteps of Asia or Africa?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 765-777, November.
    11. Purna Banerjee & C. Veeramani, 2019. "Export competitiveness, labour laws, and gender differences in job dynamics: Analysis of manufacturing industries across Indian States," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2019-035, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    12. C. Veeramani & Prachi Gupta, 2014. "Extensive and Intensive Margins of India's Exports: Comparison with China," Working Papers id:5808, eSocialSciences.
    13. Kunal Sen, 2008. "International Trade and Manufacturing Employment Outcomes in India: A Comparative Study," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2008-87, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Kan, Kamhon & Wang, Yong, 2013. "Comparing China and India: A factor accumulation perspective," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 879-894.
    15. Shishir Saxena, 2011. "Technology and spillovers: evidence from Indian manufacturing microdata," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(10), pages 1271-1287.
    16. Purna Banerjee & C. Veeramani, 2015. "Trade Liberalisation and Women’s Employment Intensity: Analysis of India’s Manufacturing," Working Papers id:7044, eSocialSciences.
    17. Purna Banerjee & C. Veeramani, 2015. "Trade liberalisation and women's employment intensity: Analysis of India's manufacturing industries," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2015-018, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.

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