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Possibilities of Transformation: The Informal Sector in India

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  • Snehashish Bhattacharya
  • Surbhi Kesar

Abstract

We identify a basic dualism between capitalist and noncapitalist spaces within the vast informal sector in India, and show that this dualism has been reproduced and reinforced during the past decade of high economic growth. This calls into question the idea of capitalist transition that informs much of the discourse on economic development. We provide some preliminary arguments about the nature of this dualism and the process of reproduction of the noncapitalist economic space. JEL Classifications: O14, O17, J46

Suggested Citation

  • Snehashish Bhattacharya & Surbhi Kesar, 2018. "Possibilities of Transformation: The Informal Sector in India," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 50(4), pages 727-735, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:50:y:2018:i:4:p:727-735
    DOI: 10.1177/0486613418793989
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rafael La Porta & Andrei Shleifer, 2014. "Informality and Development," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(3), pages 109-126, Summer.
    2. Raj S.N., Rajesh, 2016. "Out of the Shadows?: The Informal Sector in Post-reform India," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199460847.
    3. Chakrabarti, Saumya, 2016. "Inclusive Growth and Social Change: Formal-Informal-Agrarian Relations in India," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199466061.
    4. Falco, Paolo & Haywood, Luke, 2016. "Entrepreneurship versus joblessness: Explaining the rise in self-employment," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 118, pages 245-265.
    5. Ranis, Gustav & Stewart, Frances, 1999. "V-Goods and the Role of the Urban Informal Sector in Development," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(2), pages 259-288, January.
    6. Maloney, William F., 2004. "Informality Revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1159-1178, July.
    7. Moser, Caroline O. N., 1978. "Informal sector or petty commodity production: Dualism or dependence in urban development?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 6(9-10), pages 1041-1064.
    8. Amit Basole & Deepankar Basu & Rajesh Bhattacharya, 2015. "Determinants and impacts of subcontracting: evidence from India's unorganized manufacturing sector," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 374-402, May.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kasturi Sadhu & Saumya Chakrabarti, 2021. "Neo-Dualism: Accumulation, Distress, and Proliferation of a Fissured Informality," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 53(4), pages 694-724, December.
    2. Mehak Majeed & Saeed Owais Mushtaq & Zahid Gulzar Rather, 2022. "The Complementarity Between the Formal and Informal Sub-sectors of the Indian Industry," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(4), pages 981-1006, December.
    3. Balaji, Arun M & Vijay, R, 2023. "Changing structural composition of the Informal Manufacturing Sector in India during 2011-16: An analysis of unit-level NSSO Data," MPRA Paper 118846, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Surbhi Kesar & Snehashish Bhattacharya, 2020. "Dualism and Structural Transformation: The Informal Manufacturing Sector in India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(3), pages 560-586, July.
    5. Surbhi Kesar, 2024. "Subcontracting Linkages in India's Informal Economy," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 55(1), pages 38-75, January.
    6. Snehashish Bhattacharya & Surbhi Kesar, 2020. "Precarity and Development: Production and Labor Processes in the Informal Economy in India," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 387-408, September.
    7. Itay Noy, 2023. "Unpicking Precarity: Informal Work in Eastern India's Coal Mining Tracts," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 54(1), pages 168-191, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    informal sector; dualism; structural transformation; subcontracting linkages; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market

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