Major Indian States Research Articles

"Trends and Pattern of Urbanization in India: An Inter State Analysis "

Rapid urbanization has been a world wide phenomenon in the twenty first century. Though the level of urbanization in terms of the proportion of urban population (27.7% in 2001) to the total is low in India, in absolute terms, India's urban population (285 millions in 2001) is the second largest in the world, after China. The present study aims to study the trends, growth rate of urbanization and pattern of population concentration by urban size classes across major states of India in recent decades (1981-2001) based on census data. The levels of urbanization were high in industrially as well as economically developed states. The pace of urban population has high in backward states. An over whelming proportion of urban population inhabited in class I cities.

The Redistributive Effects of Political Reservation for Minorities: Evidence from India

We examine the impact of political reservation for disadvantaged minority groups on poverty. To address the concern that political reservation is endogenous in the relationship between poverty and reservation, we take advantage of the state-time variation in reservation in state legislative assemblies in India that arises from national policies that cause reservations to be revised and the time lags with which the revised reservations are implemented due to the timing of state elections. Using data on sixteen major Indian states for the period 1960-1992, we find that increasing the share of seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes significantly reduces poverty while increasing the share of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes has no impact on poverty. Political reservation for Scheduled Tribes has a greater effect on rural poverty than urban poverty, and appears to benefit people near the poverty line as well as those far below it.

Environment, human development and economic growth: a contemporary analysis of Indian states

This study investigates the relationships among Environmental Quality (EQ), Human Development (HD) and economic growth for 14 major Indian States. To capture the temporal aspects of EQ, the sample period is divided to Period A (1990-1996) and Period B (1997-2004). For both the subperiods, 63 environmental indicators have been clustered under eight broad environmental groups and an overall index of EQ is created using HDI methodology. Ranking of the States across different environmental criteria (groups) shows that different States possess different strengths and weaknesses in managing various aspects of EQ. The test for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis indicates non-linear relationship between several individual environmental groups and per capita income. The regression results involving individual environment groups and HDI score indicate slanting N-shaped relationship. On the basis of the obtained results, this paper concludes that individual States should adopt environmental management practices based on their local environmental information.

Spatial Scenario of Literate Life Expectancy at Birth in India

Measuring human quality of life is a challenging academic work. Human development index substantially captures the overall country level status on human welfare. However this index has some drawbacks. W. Lutz thus composed a simple index in 1995 combining life expectance and literacy, called Literate Life expectance (LLE). LLE can be calculated for subpopulations depending on availability of data. This paper captures LLE of major states of India and its gender difference at rural and urban level. We have tried to highlight the social development scenario of India and its major states by using this pure social indicator that intentionally does not use any economic measurement. The state scenario comprehensively depicts gender differentials in social development and it calls for implementing development measures more seriously in states like Haryana Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in order to reduce the gender gap. Being highly correlated with human development index, Literate Life Expectancy index proved to be a very clear and simple comprehensive measure of social development for different sub populations.

Growth and poverty in India: emerging dimensions of the tertiary sector

The economic reforms of the 1990s have accelerated the tertiarisation of the Indian economy. New activities both in the manufacturing and tertiary sectors have emerged and also seem to have generated employment opportunities that did not exist earlier. Though many such opportunities are available only to the highly skilled and/or educated workforce, the indirect effects are of considerable significance in that they manifest the percolation effects of growth. In this context, the present study aims at examining the nature and composition of the tertiary sector's growth across the major states in India and relates such growth patterns to changes in poverty. On the whole, results are indicative that a large tertiary sector is not as superfluous as is often said to be. It has the potential to enhance economic growth and therefore contribute to poverty reduction.

Economic Reforms, Growth and Regional Divergence in India

This paper examines long-run growth performance and regional divergence in per capita income across 15 major Indian states during the pre- and post-reform periods. Evidence shows that the divergence has increased the post-reform period. The divergence has been due to inter-state variations in production structures, human capital and infrastructure. Larger public investment in human capital and infrastructure for states with lower steady-state could improve overall growth performance and reduce regional imbalances. Ongoing economic reforms that seem to have led to an increase in growth as well as regional disparities of income need to be modified appropriately.

Intensifying Infant Mortality Inequality in India and a Reversal by Policy Intervention

The adverse sex ratio, a feature of India, is an outcome of two forms of inequality; natal inequality through sex‐selective abortion, and mortality inequality. The analysis of trends in mortality inequality at the infant stage, which is the subject of this paper, in the rural and urban areas of 15 major Indian states reveals that overall mortality inequality has intensified. This is particularly the case in the developed states, accounting for a large proportion of the foregone reduction in the infant mortality rate. However, the trend in Tamil Nadu state points to a reversal in mortality inequality in recent years on account of multi‐pronged policy interventions by the state government, which are aimed at protecting the girl child. The political‐will of the party in power during 1991–1996 and 2001–2006 in Tamil Nadu points the way for the rest of the nation, and is possibly the way for India to achieve the Millennium Development Goal with respect to the infant mortality rate.

Efficiency and productivity in the Indian unorganized manufacturing sector: did reforms matter?

This paper analyzes total factor productivity growth of the unorganized manufacturing sector in India using several rounds of the large scale national sample survey state level data for 15 major Indian states for the period 1978–1979 to 2000–2001. Data envelopment analysis is used to compute Malmquist total factor productivity index and its components. The impact of economic reforms on efficiency and productivity is examined. Evidence suggests that total factor productivity registered a positive growth during the period in the country as a whole. Most states in the country witnessed higher total factor productivity growth in the post 1990s reforms period than in the pre-reforms period. Decomposition of the Malmquist productivity index shows that improvement in technical efficiency rather than technical progress had contributed to the observed acceleration in the growth rate. Econometric analysis of the determinants of total factor productivity growth demonstrates that ownership, literacy, farm growth and infrastructure availability significantly influence total factor productivity growth in the sector.

Unstable Politics

What explains variations in electoral volatility? The authors argue that fiscal space—availability of financial resources to enact policy initiatives and provide public programs—possessed by governments can explain the level of electoral volatility. Where governments have fiscal space, citizens reward incumbent parties with their continued support. But when fiscal space is constrained, the incumbent government's ability to provide state resources is drastically reduced. Citizens are therefore less likely to reward the party at the polls and are available to opposition politicians and alternative appeals. Vote-switching ensues, and the incumbent government is voted out of the office. The authors test this argument and others in the existing literature on electoral returns from state assembly elections across 15 major Indian states from 1967 to 2004. The results support the argument that fiscal space influences electoral volatility.

Economic Reforms and Total Factor Productivity Growth in the Indian Unorganized Manufacturing Sector: Spatial and Temporal Analysis

This paper analyses total factor productivity growth in the unorganized manufacturing sector in India using several rounds of the large scale National Sample Survey state-level data for 15 major Indian states for the period 1978-79 to 2000-01. Data Envelopment Analysis is used to compute Malmquist total factor productivity index and its components. The impact of economic reforms on efficiency is examined. Evidence suggests that total factor productivity registered a positive growth during the period in the country as a whole. Most states in the country witnessed higher total factor productivity growth in the post 1990s reform period than in the pre-reform years. Decomposition of the Malmquist productivity index shows that improvement in technical efficiency rather than technical progress had contributed to the observed acceleration in the growth rate. Technological regress was observed which has continued at a decelerated rate in the reforms period. Econometric analysis of the determinants of total factor productivity growth indicates tendency towards convergence in the productivity growth rate across the Indian states.

Is Economic Growth Sustainable? Environmental Quality of Indian States Post 1991

This study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP (i.e., Environment Kuznets Curve, EKC) of 14 major Indian States in the light of their very high economic growth in the post-liberalisation period. The analysis involves first ranking the States on the basis of their environmental quality, and then checking the relationship. The analysis captures both temporal and spatial aspects of environmental quality by ranking the States in two time periods - (i) early 1990s (1990 - 1996) and (ii) late 1990s (1997 - 2001). The results indicate that the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP is slanting S-shaped. Except Bihar all other States are on the upward sloping curve of the EKC. The results suggest that the economic growth is mostly at the cost of environmental quality.

Environment, Human Development and Economic Growth After Liberalisation: An Analysis of Indian States

Economic growth does not necessarily ensure environmental sustainability for a country. The relationship between the two is far more complicated for developing countries like India, given the dependence of a large section of the population on natural resources for livelihood. Under this backdrop, the current study attempts to analyze the relationships among Environmental Quality (EQ), Human Development (HD) and Economic Growth (EG) for 14 major Indian States during post liberalisation period (1991-2004). Further, for understanding the changes in EQ with the advancement of economic liberalisation, the analysis is carried out by dividing the sample period into two: Period A (1990-1996) and Period B (1997-2004). For both the sub-periods, 63 environmental indicators have been clustered under eight broad environmental groups and an overall index of EQ is created using the HDI methodology. The EQ ranks of the States exhibit variation over time, implying that environment has both spatial and temporal dimensions. Ranking of the States across different environmental criteria (groups) show that different States possess different strengths and weaknesses in managing various aspects of EQ. The HDI rankings of the States for the two periods are constructed by the HDI technique following the National Human Development Report 2001 methodology. We attempt to test for the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis through multivariate OLS regression models, which indicate presence of non-linear relationship between several individual environmental groups and per capita net state domestic product (PCNSDP). The relationship between EQ and economic growth however does not become clear from the current study. The regression results involving individual environment groups and HDI score indicate a slanting N-shaped relationship. The paper concludes that individual States should adopt environmental management practices based on their local (at the most disaggregated level) environmental information. Moreover, since environmental sustainability and human well-being are complementary to each other, individual States should attempt to translate the economic growth to human well-being.

Is the Value Added Tax Reform in India Poverty-Improving? An Analysis of Data from Two Major States

Abstract The Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced in India in place of Sales Tax, taking effect in April 1, 2005. These taxes are in the domain of different state governments within the country’s federal set up. Although VAT is widely acclaimed to be a better system than the sales tax on grounds of efficiency in tax collection, no study has been undertaken to assess the impact of this reform measure on social equity. This paper addresses this need with the use of concentration curves and consumption dominance curves of various orders. The simulations were done on two major states in India, namely Maharashtra and West Bengal, using National Sample Survey Unit Level data for the 55 th round. The results show that the reform is largely pro-poor, although there are ways to improve it with respect to some items predominantly consumed by the relatively poorer groups. Key Words: Value Added Tax, Marginal Tax Reform, Public Distribution System, Concentration curve, Lorenz ratio, Marginal Efficiency Cost of Funds, Consumption Dominance

Is the Value Added Tax Reform in India Poverty-Improving? An Analysis of Data from Two Major States

The Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced in India in place of Sales Tax, taking effect in April 1, 2005. These taxes are in the domain of different state governments within the country's federal set up. Although VAT is widely acclaimed to be a better system than the sales tax on grounds of efficiency in tax collection, no study has been undertaken to assess the impact of this reform measure on social equity. This paper addresses this need with the use of concentration curves and consumption dominance curves of various orders. The simulations were done on two major states in India, namely Maharashtra and West Bengal, using National Sample Survey Unit Level data for the 55th round. The results show that the reform is largely pro-poor, although there are ways to improve it with respect to some items predominantly consumed by the relatively poorer groups.

Electoral Cycles in Crime in a Developing Country: Evidence from the Indian States

Using annual data on the major Indian states, I investigate whether the timing of elections affect the crime rate or not. Consistent with the idea that an incumbent politician might exert greater effort in an election year to improve the law and order situation, I find that scheduled elections are associated with a fall in crime. Both property crimes and violent crimes decline in an election year, with the fall in property crimes being statistically significant. Using an instrumental electoral cycle I also find that both categories of crime are responsive to the proximity to an election year - going up in the initial years of an incumbent's tenure, and declining in the later periods, as elections draw nearer. These results suggest that elections can generate crime cycles in a developing country, and also point towards the need for greater transparency and accountability in political governance.

The political determinants of fiscal policies in the states of India: An empirical investigation

Using data from the 14 major states of India, we investigate whether state governments' fiscal policy choices are tempered by political considerations. Our principal findings are twofold. First, we show that certain fiscal policies experience electoral cycles: state governments raise less commodity tax revenue, spend less on the current account, and incur larger capital account developmental expenditures in election years than in all other years. Second, we show that coalition state governments raise less own non-tax revenues and spend less on the current account than state governments that are more cohesive in composition. In sum, the dispersion of political power affects government size.

Alcohol and Hypertension

in which some of the key issues surrounding the topic were discussed. Compared with lifetime abstainers, those who reported drinking on a daily basis or apart from food had a significantly higher risk of hypertension, but this effect disappeared after accounting for the amount of alcohol consumed in the previous 30 days. When current drinkers only were studied and adjustment made for the amount of alcohol consumed in the previous 30 days, the risk of being hypertensive increased (64%) only in those who said they drank without food. Preference for any one type of beverage did not influence the association but the important potential confounder of dietary habits was not assessed. Nevertheless this finding was consistent with an earlier study of Italian wine drinkers coming from a different cultural background,4 and a follow-up in that population showed drinking alcohol outside of meals was associated with higher risk of death from all causes and cardiovascular disease. Similar relationships were seen between drinking outside of meals or snacks and increased risk of myocardial infarction in a recent case control study in men.5

Is economic growth sustainable? Environmental quality of Indian States after 1991

This study attempts to investigate the relationship between Environmental Quality (EQ) and per capita NSDP (i.e., Environmental Kuznets Curve, EKC) of 14 major Indian States, in the light of their high economic growth in the post-liberalisation period. The analysis involves first ranking the States on the basis of their EQ, and then checking the relationship. The results indicate that the relationship between EQ and per capita NSDP is slanting S-shaped. Except Bihar, all the States are on the upward sloping curve of the EKC. The results suggest that the economic growth is mostly at the cost of EQ.

A decomposition of total productivity growth

PurposeTo measure total factor productivity (TFP) growth in industrial manufacturing for 15 major Indian states for the period 1982‐1983 to 2000‐2001.Design/methodology/approachUses non‐parametric linear programming methods; TFP growth is decomposed into efficiency and technological changes and also measures for the bias in technical change. The resulting information is used to examine whether the post‐reform period shows any improvement in productivity and efficiency in comparison with the pre‐reform period.FindingsFindings of the present exercise indicate the improvement in TFP. The recent change in TFP is governed by the technical progress in contrast with similar gain caused by the improvement in technical efficiency in the pre‐reform regime. The technological progress in state manufacturing exhibited a capital‐using bias during the study period. Regional differences in TFP persist, although the magnitude of variation has declined in the post‐reform period. Moreover, it is also found that there is a tendency for convergence in terms of TFP growth rate among Indian states during the post‐reform years and only the states that were technically efficient at the beginning of the reforms remain innovative.Originality/valueDecomposing state level data on manufacturing into technical change and efficiency change helps in identifying the directions biases in favour of labour or capital. Also, this analysis demonstrates the richness of linear programming technique that allows for an investigation of important research questions on the underlying processes that influence TFP growth.

Variation in Health Expenditures: Is It Just Income or other Factors? Empirical Investigation Using a Panel of Indian States

The primary query of this paper centres on the role played by income in determining the extent of fund allocated by Indian states for improvement of health of its population. Drawing data from the fourteen major states of India over a time span of twenty-three financial years (1974–75 to 1996–97) and using recent advances in panel data time series econometrics, this paper documents the presence of a long run relationship between income and health expenditure. The long-run elasticity estimates reiterate that publicly provided health services should be considered as “necessities”. Results the panel error correction model demonstrate that ageing of the population and proportion of rural population are the only non-income factors, which exert a significant positive impact on real per capita health expenditure. This is particularly important given the demographic transition that India is passing through.