What a long, strange trip it's been: reflections on the causes of India's growth miracle.

After an extended period of indifferent economic growth, the Indian economy has been one of the fastest growing economies of the world since the 1980s. Both the timing of India's growth acceleration and the causes of India's economic growth remain contested. The paper argues that India's growth turnaround occurred in the late 1970s, and not in the 1980s or 1990s as commonly understood. Furthermore, most interpretations of India's growth acceleration have tended to privilege one dimension of the growth experience over another, and that an analysis of the causes of India's growth suggest a more complex story and that no single perspective can provide a convincing explanation of India's growth phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]