IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg/v51y2020i3p817-842.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Profitability or Industrial Relations: What Explains Manufacturing Performance across Indian States?

Author

Listed:
  • Anirban Karak
  • Deepankar Basu

Abstract

This article begins with a critique of the well‐known claim by Besley and Burgess concerning the negative impact of labour regulation on organized sector manufacturing performance in India. In the second part of the article, the authors use a state‐level panel data set for the period 1969–2005 to analyse the relative importance of profitability (rate of profit as a percentage of the total replacement cost of capital stock) and industrial disputes (man‐days lost to all industrial disputes as a percentage of total workers employed) to explain cross‐state variations of manufacturing performance in India's organized sector. Using three different measures of manufacturing performance — net value added, investment and employment — they find that profitability is more significant than industrial disputes in explaining the variation of manufacturing sector performance across Indian states. The findings presented here therefore question the uncritical acceptance of Besley and Burgess's results in the literature on labour regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Anirban Karak & Deepankar Basu, 2020. "Profitability or Industrial Relations: What Explains Manufacturing Performance across Indian States?," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 51(3), pages 817-842, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:51:y:2020:i:3:p:817-842
    DOI: 10.1111/dech.12493
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12493
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/dech.12493?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philippe Aghion & Robin Burgess & Stephen J. Redding & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2008. "The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1397-1412, September.
    2. Aditya Bhattacharjea, 2006. "Labour Market Regulation and Industrial Performance in India--A Critical Review of the Empirical Evidence," Working papers 141, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    3. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2004. "Can Labor Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 91-134.
    4. Sonia R. Bhalotra, 1998. "The Puzzle of Jobless Growth in Indian Manufacturing," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(1), pages 5-32, February.
    5. Fallon, Peter R. & Lucas, Robert E. B., 1993. "Job security regulations and the dynamic demand for industrial labor in India and Zimbabwe," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 241-275, April.
    6. Deepankar Basu & Debarshi Das, 2018. "Profitability in India’s Organized Manufacturing Sector: The Role of Technology, Distribution and Demand [The effect of neoliberalism on the fall in the rate of profit in business cycles]," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(1), pages 137-153.
    7. Andrew J. Barenberg & Deepankar Basu & Ceren Soylu, 2017. "The Effect of Public Health Expenditure on Infant Mortality: Evidence from a Panel of Indian States, 1983–1984 to 2011–2012," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(10), pages 1765-1784, October.
    8. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    9. Deepankar Basu & Debarshi Das, 2017. "Profitability and Investment: Evidence from India's Organized Manufacturing Sector," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(1), pages 47-90, February.
    10. Nickell, Stephen J, 1981. "Biases in Dynamic Models with Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1417-1426, November.
    11. Banerjee, Abhijit, 2002. "Strategy for Economic Reform in West Bengal," Working Papers 02-13, Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics.
    12. Ahsan, Ahmad & Pagés, Carmen, 2009. "Are all labor regulations equal? Evidence from Indian manufacturing," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 62-75, March.
    13. Dash, Bharatee Bhusana & Raja, Angara V., 2012. "Political Determinants of the Allocation of Public Expenditures: A Study of the Indian States," Working Papers 12/101, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    14. Ashok Kotwal & Bharat Ramaswami & Wilima Wadhwa, 2011. "Economic Liberalization and Indian Economic Growth: What's the Evidence?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1152-1199, December.
    15. Jesus Felipe & Utsav Kumar, 2010. "Technical Change in India’s Organized Manufacturing Sector," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_626, Levy Economics Institute.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Saibal Ghosh, 2022. "Firm Performance and Productivity: Is Labour an Obstacle?," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(3), pages 709-728, September.
    2. Essotanam Mamba & Afi Balaki, 2022. "Effects of trade policies on external trade performances of ECOWAS countries (1996–2017)†," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 535-566, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anirban Karak & Deepankar Basu, 2017. "Profitability or Industrial Relations : What Explains Manufacturing Performance Across Indian States?," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2017-01, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    2. Sonja Fagernäs, 2010. "Labor Law, Judicial Efficiency, and Informal Employment in India," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(2), pages 282-321, June.
    3. Djankov, Simeon & Ramalho, Rita, 2009. "Employment laws in developing countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 3-13, March.
    4. 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.
    5. Bhaskar Jyoti Neog & Bimal Kishore Sahoo, 2020. "Job Reallocation Dynamics in India: Evidence from Large Manufacturing Plants," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(4), pages 934-959, August.
    6. Bhaskar Dasgupta, 2023. "Towards a Comprehensive Index of Labour Law Reform and Ranking of States," Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, , vol. 22(2), pages 181-205, December.
    7. Pradip Kumar Biswas & Saurabh Bandyopadhyay, 2021. "Labour Market Institutions, Industry Structure and Productivity in Indian Manufacturing Sector," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(4), pages 999-1021, December.
    8. Chaurey, Ritam, 2015. "Labor regulations and contract labor use: Evidence from Indian firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 224-232.
    9. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2014. "Does local financial development matter for firm lifecycle in India ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7008, The World Bank.
    10. Nihar Shembavnekar, 2015. "Tariff Liberalisation, Labour Market Flexibility and Employment: Evidence from India," Working Paper Series 8115, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    11. Saibal Ghosh, 2022. "Firm Performance and Productivity: Is Labour an Obstacle?," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(3), pages 709-728, September.
    12. Dibyendu Maiti, 2019. "Trade, Labor Share, and Productivity in India’s Industries," ADB Institute Series on Development Economics, in: Gary Fields & Saumik Paul (ed.), Labor Income Share in Asia, chapter 0, pages 179-205, Springer.
    13. Achyuta Adhvaryu & A. V. Chari & Siddharth Sharma, 2013. "Firing Costs and Flexibility: Evidence from Firms' Employment Responses to Shocks in India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(3), pages 725-740, July.
    14. Saibal Ghosh, 2017. "Labour laws and innovation: Evidence from Indian states," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 60(2), pages 175-190, June.
    15. Gopal Krishna Roy & Amaresh Dubey & Suresh Ramaiah, 2020. "Labour Market Flexibility and Changes in Employment: Spatial and Temporal Evidence from Indian Manufacturing," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(1), pages 81-98, March.
    16. Choutagunta Abishek S., 2019. "Effects of Labour Regulation on Manufacturing Firms in India: A Leximetric Approach," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, April.
    17. Nihar Shembavnekar, 2019. "Economic Reforms, Labour Markets and Formal Sector Employment: Evidence from India," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-42, April.
    18. Shanthi Nataraj & Francisco Perez-Arce & Krishna B. Kumar & Sinduja V. Srinivasan, 2014. "The Impact Of Labor Market Regulation On Employment In Low-Income Countries: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 551-572, July.
    19. Sofi Irfan Ahmad & Sharma Pritee, 2015. "Labour Laws and Informalisation of Employment: Panel Evidences from Indian Formal Manufacturing Sector," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 65-84, April.
    20. Aditya BHATTACHARJEA, 2021. "Labour market flexibility in Indian manufacturing: A critical survey of the literature," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(2), pages 197-217, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:51:y:2020:i:3:p:817-842. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0012-155X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.