Impact of Labour Market Arrangements and Regulations on the Workers in the Indian Garment Industry

Abstract

Massive restructuring of the production systems at the global level has opened up considerable opportunities for the developing countries. However, the effect of globalisation on low-income countries, especially on the labour market, is a much-debated issue. These countries often compete through lowering the costs by exerting a downward pressure on wages. India’s segregated labour market based on gender, caste and religion creates an uneven plane for the disadvantaged sections, especially in terms of wages. This paper analyses whether certain enterprise conditions based on the size and nature of firms overcome discriminatory labour practices or rather take advantage of existing societal discriminatory labour norms. Whether labour legislations, which play crucial role in ensuring justice, are better implemented by large and medium export-oriented firms compared to small firms and workshops in the domestic market is also investigated in this paper. The study is based on National Capital Region (NCR) which has global product chains and export processing clusters. The results from this study have important implications for Indian policy makers for increasing overall opportunities for various social groups, reducing social discrimination and increasing post-implementation accountability.