Articles by Dipak Mazumdar

Examining the course of inequality in terms of average per capita expenditure, it is seen that the period after the reforms were initiated registered a dramatic increase in the relative growth of welfare in the top expenditure group, even as the poorest group progressed at a rate higher than the mean. The dip in the middle of the distribution disappeared later when a “ladder” pattern of growth was observed, with each quintile group showing a higher growth rate than the preceding one. The major reasons for this changing pattern are discussed in terms of the structure of growth in the Indian economy, particularly what happened in the tertiary and manufacturing sectors. The paper is being published in two parts. Part II will appear in the issue of 12 August. 

Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector by National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised

Three periods may be distinguished showing large variations in employment elasticity in Indian manufacturing. The first period (1974-80) with an elasticity close to unity, the second (1980-86) with a negative employment elasticity ('jobless growth'), and the third (1986-96), the 'reform period' when employment started to recover along with an enhanced rate of growth of output, although employment elasticity did not reach the levels of the first period. The causes of the varying elasticities are diverse, but the decomposition analysis reported in this paper can throw some light on the relative importance of different factors affecting the variable.