Abstract
This article reviews changes in knowledge and thinking about labour and employment issues in India, on the basis of the author’s experience over the last 50 years. It examines six issues: employment deficits; the mode of production; labour institutions and labour market segmentation; wages; the quality of work; and poverty and inequality. In each case there is a brief overview of the history of research into and perceptions of these issues, followed by comments on some key outstanding questions today. The article then draws on the views of some leading participants in the Indian Society of Labour Economics to identify the highest priorities for research and policy in the coming years, concluding that the central issue is the quantity and quality of employment, and the social and economic processes that drive employment patterns, but that new approaches need to be developed if India’s employment problems are to be adequately addressed.
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