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The State, Industrialization and Competition: A reassessment of India's Leading Business Enterprises under Dirigisme

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  • Mazumdar, Surajit

Abstract

For over four decades after independence in 1947, India’s industrialization took place under a regime with an extensive system of controls over private capital. It is commonly believed that during this period of dirigisme, established dominant business families successfully manipulated the system to block competition from new firms and thereby perpetuated their dominance. This paper presents evidence to show that this perception conceals as much as it reveals. The process of industrialization between independence and the onset of liberalization in 1991 is actually marked by a combination of continuity with important shifts in the composition of Indian big business. The paper provides a framework for understanding this combination by revisiting the understanding of how business rivalry under Indian dirigisme actually worked. This is done by placing it within the context of dynamic industrialization and structural change, which unfolded within the specific economic, social and political realities of India. The paper shows that continuity and change amongst the leading private business enterprises had common roots in this competitive context.

Suggested Citation

  • Mazumdar, Surajit, 2011. "The State, Industrialization and Competition: A reassessment of India's Leading Business Enterprises under Dirigisme," MPRA Paper 47810, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:47810
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dwijendra Tripathi, 1992. "Indian Business Houses and Entrepreneurship: A Note on Research Trends," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 1(1), pages 75-97, March.
    2. Bhagwati, Jagdish, 1993. "India in Transition: Freeing the Economy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288473.
    3. Arvind Virmani, 2004. "India's economic growth: From socialist rate of growth to Bharatiya rate of growth," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi Working Papers 122, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
    4. Tendulkar, Suresh D. & Bhavani,, 2007. "Understanding Reforms: Post 1991 India," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195687118.
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    Cited by:

    1. Surajit Mazumdar, 2023. "The Multi-entity Structure and Control in Business Groups," India Studies in Business and Economics, in: Achin Chakraborty & Indrani Chakraborty (ed.), Indian Business Groups and Other Corporations, chapter 0, pages 111-128, Springer.
    2. Mazumdar, Surajit, 2018. "The Incomplete Transition: Stunted Industrialisation and the Historical Development of India's Big Business Class," MPRA Paper 104967, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Mazumdar, Surajit, 2012. "The State, Capital and Development in ‘Emerging’ India," MPRA Paper 36413, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Mazumdar, Surajit, 2012. "Industrialization, Dirigisme and Capitalists: Indian Big Business from Independence to Liberalization," MPRA Paper 93158, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Mazumdar, Surajit, 2017. "Neo-Liberalism and the Rise of Right-Wing Conservatism in India," MPRA Paper 93182, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business histories; India; Industrialization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • N65 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - Asia including Middle East
    • N85 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History - - - Asia including Middle East

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