Economy

The India Forum's articles on economy that have been published since 2019.

Reimagining the Road to a More Equitable India

India’s leaders face a crucial decision – persist with Western-inspired economic policies adopted after the 1991 shift away from industrial planning and socialism, or explore alternative approaches.…
▶22-Apr-2025
Arun Maira

Caste and Careers: Limited Mobility Over Three Generations

Does caste still dictate occupation and occupational mobility? A socio-economic survey in Uttar Pradesh reveals that aside from modest Dalit upward mobility, the occupational gap between upper-caste…
▶09-Apr-2025
Rukmi Pradeep, Srinivas Goli

Will the Centre Hold or Will it be Anarchy for the World Economy?

The global economic outlook has become uncertain with all the extreme rhetoric of Donald Trump. Will this translate into action and is there a coherent strategy to deal with the fallout? Regardless,…
▶17-Mar-2025
Partha Ray, Parthapratim Pal

Is the Rise in Female Work Participation due to an Odd Set of Instructions to Enumerators?

Given the high degree of informality in the Indian economy, national employment surveys have drawn up complex instructions to capture all those who work. This however also comes with the risk that…
▶10-Feb-2025
Aloke Kar, PC Mohanan

Stepping Out to Work

Gender-sensitive public infrastructure that enables women to balance care and market activities, is essential for work outside the home. Including a gender perspective in village-level infrastructure…
▶29-Jan-2025
Akash Sawarkar, Savita Kulkarni, Rajani Mathur
Book
Behind the Rise in Women’s Work-II

The Rise in Female Labour and Work Force Participation Rates

The increasing participation of women in work in recent years as revealed by official surveys, especially in 2023-24, appears to arise from definitional changes that now include groups of women as…
▶16-Jan-2025
Avanindra Nath Thakur, Priyanshi Chaudhary
Book
Behind the Rise in Women’s Work-I

What Does Self-Employment Mean for Women in India?

Contrary to official claims that we have “an equitable, vibrant labour market where women play a leading role”, there has been a decline in real incomes of self-employed women and falling real wages…
▶14-Jan-2025
Jayati Ghosh

Assumptions Matter: Revisiting India’s Multidimensional Poverty Index

Even small methodological changes can impact poverty estimates, as illustrated by the results of the Niti Aayog's tweaking of the Multidimensional Poverty Index. Methodologies should not be…
▶14-Jan-2025
Sandhya Krishnan, Savita Kulkarni, Puja Guha, Amalendu Jyotishi, Neeraj Hatekar
Book
Book Review

Blindness of US Economists to Inequalities in the Land of the Free and (Un)equal

With its focus on growth and efficiency, mainstream Economics in the US has by and large ignored inequality. As a result, it has not tackled the big question: Is American capitalism today compatible…
▶11-Dec-2024
Avanti Mukherjee

Parallel but Intersecting: Why Duplicate Electricity Distribution Networks Won’t Work

The Electricity Act of 2003 allows multiple power distributors in an area, intended mainly for rural areas. Now private companies are eyeing distribution in urban and industrial areas. Instead of…
▶12-Nov-2024
Saumya Vaishnava, Ashwini Chitnis