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A stylized prediction of the development economics discourse is that informality will disappear with development, and yet in the last 20 years conventional measures of informality, far from declining, have either remained stagnant or have actually increased. This includes countries such as India where economic growth has been at historically high levels. What exactly is informality and what are its magnitudes and trends? What are the causes of informality and why is it not decreasing as predicted by standard theories of development? What are the consequences for inclusive economic growth of a large and increasing informal sector? What are feasible and desirable policy responses to informality? These are the questions that motivate this broad based overview of informality. The questions will be addressed based on recent and ongoing research on India and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective relations between states and business have been increasingly identified as an important institution for sustaining economic development. This paper constructs quantitative indices measuring the quality of state-business relations (SBRs) across Indian states in the 1985-2008 period. It represents the first effort to systematically characterise SBRs across sub-national units within a country without resorting to subjective surveys. We discuss the possible sensitivity of the indices to minor and major definitional changes and examine the evolution of SBRs across Indian states and at the national level through the study of cross-sectional and secular trends in these indices. The results suggest that SBRs have improved over time in all states barring Bihar. Rankings of states in terms of the SBR index show varying time trends-stable and high ranks for states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, stable and low ranks for states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, rapidly improving ranks for states like Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan and swift deterioration in ranks for states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Book reviewed in this Article A nstey, V era, and M artin, A nne. An Introduction to Economics-For Students in India and Pakistan. B axa, J akob. Adam Müllers Lebenszeugnisse. B ergler, R einhold (Ed.). Psychologische Marktanalyse. C ampbell, R obert W. Soviet Economic Power C ohen, B enjamin J. Adjustment Costs and the Distribution of new Reserves C outsoumaris, G., W estebbe, R. M., P silos, D., M ichalakis, A., and X anthakis, N. Analysis and assessment of the economic effects of the U. S. -PL 480 Programm in Greece F riedmann, K aren J. German Grain Policies and Prices: G urvitch, G eorges. The Spectrum of Social Time. H eide, H olger. Die langfristige Wirtschqftsplanung in Schweden H elleiner, K arl F. The Imperial Loans H ershlag, Z. Y. Introduction to the Modern Economic History of the Middle East. Leiden H icks, J ohn. Capital and Growth. ISEA. Planification et analyse économiques J ohri, C. K. Monetary Policy in a Developing Economy J oint E conomic C ommittee (Congress of the United States). New Directions in the Soviet Economy K iss, G ábor. Gibt es eine ≪marxistische≫ Soziologie? L ebrecht, R obert G. Automatische Konjunkturstabilisatoren oder be-wusste Konjunkturpolitik ? L eontief, W assily. Input-Output Economics. M alinvaud, E. Statistical Methods of Econometrics M artin, A lfred VON. Mensch und Gesellschaft heute. N eufeld, M aurice F. Poor Countries and Authoritarian Rule. Ø lgaard, A nders. Growth, Productivity and Relative Prices. O ulÈs, F. Economic Planning and Democracy. P opper, K arl R. Logik der Forschung. R obinson, J oan. Economics-An Awkward Corner. S achverstÄndigenrat zur B egutachtung DER GESAMTWIRTSCHAFTLICHEN E ntwigklung. Jahresgutachten S eitz, T ycho. Preisführerschaft im Oligopol. T amagna, F rank. Central Banking in Latin America. T heil, H enri. Economics and Information Theory T illy, R ichard. Financial Institutions and Industrialization in the Rhineland T ouraine, A. (et al.). Workers' Attitudes to Technical Change T ullock, G ordon (Hrsg.). Papers on Non-Market Decision Making. Y eager, L eland B. International Monetary Relations; Theory, History and Policy. Y oung, J ohn P arke. United States Gold Policy: The Case for Change [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interrelation between changes in the economic structure, i.e., industrial distribution of income and labor force, and the size distribution of income is studied in this paper in a case study of India (1961–1960). The change in the size distribution of income is the sum of changes due to (1) inter-sectoral factors and (2) intra-sectoral factors. The need for this distinction is emphasized by the result obtained for India, that 85% of the changes in the size distribution may he assigned to inter-sectoral factors, and only 16% to intrasectoral factors. Since the inter-sectoral factors are significantly influenced by changes in the industrial distribution of income and labor force, our result points out a relation between economic growth and the size distribution which quite often is overlooked in studies of the size distribution. The results obtained in this paper support several cross-section results of Professor Kuznets. In particular some of these are: (a) inter-sectoral inequality in the economic structure widened with economic growth, (b) the inequality in the size distribution of India widened, (c) the level of inequality in India is higher than in any of the eight developed countries considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a panoramic view of the economic development of India and the major reforms it implemented for the dynamic transformation into a global economy. The article discusses various challenges faced by India like poverty, unemployment, infrastructure development and the prospects of export oriented manufacturing. The article also discusses the prospects of foreign direct investment and currency convertibility, which helps India emerge as one of the largest economies in the world.

An interview with sociologist Ramachandra Guha is presented. When asked about what brought him into becoming a sociologist and why his economics training doesn't reflect in his work he refers to the many personalities who had influenced his career. Guha believes that lately he is more of a historian. He also comments on India's pattern of development.

The article focuses on the improvement of the human development indicators in India. It mentions that life expectancy at birth and mortality rates of infants decreased by at least one-half. It states that despite the population improvement of the country, progress is still slow and unequal, and falling behind its economic performance. However, gender differences remains in spite of the improvement in human development indicators.

Consistent with real option theory, the authors argue that the value of the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) in rural India and its impact on workers' behavior does not depend so much on its income supplementation as on enlargement of opportunities in the uncertain local labor market. The choice between the EGS and other activities is modeled in a dynamic optimization framework, taking into account a fixed wage rate and certainty of employment under the EGS and a stochastic wage rate under other activities. Specifically, volatility of wages in the rural labor markets has important implications for switches into the EGS and for concomitant welfare effects. Under such conditions, the higher the EGS wage, the greater is its attractiveness to relatively skilled and affluent workers, and for those already in it to continue. These and related predictions of the model are validated by panel data estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]