Articles by M Suresh Babu

Implications of the persistence of market power in the economy are not limited to higher prices. It has ramifi cations on income distribution, demand, and industrial performance. While higher prices are a visible outcome of the exertion of market power, other latent effects need a closer empirical scrutiny. The role of large conglomerates in shaping India’s industrial performance needs to be analysed against this backdrop.

The Indian economy faces an uphill task of reviving industrial growth in the post-pandemic scenario. The early onset of domestic slowdown and global disruptions have affected the industrial sector, both in terms of demand and supply factors. What is required at this juncture is not a set of scattered short-term policies, but a coherent heavy lifting of the sector through demand injection and stimulation, because the slowdown started much earlier and is structural in nature.

Mega infrastructure projects such as industrial parks and special economic zones are increasingly seen as a means to jump-start urban economies in India. This paper contributes to understanding the politics of urban mega-projects by examining the quality of local economic linkages of an information technology park, located in what is popularly referred to as the "IT corridor" in Chennai. Based on a survey of employees in software firms and support services for IT parks along the corridor, the paper maps patterns of employment creation, new consumption and mobility patterns of those employed in the IT parks and implications for the quality of urban development.

This article reviews the quick estimates of savings, investment and consumption released by the Central Statistical Organisation in the National Accounts Statistics 2007. It is clear that both savings and investment have risen sharply in the past two years, but there remain some concerns about the trends.

In a study of the evolution of the Indian manufacturing sector over close to three decades we find the annual average rate of growth in the nineties to have risen almost across the board at the two-digit level of industry. Nevertheless, the acceleration is not particularly impressive for what is often hailed as the most significant policy-regime shift since 1950. There is a hefty rise in investment, however, though without a corresponding increase in its efficiency. And distribution has shifted sharply with labour's share declining. This paper attempts to link these developments in a coherent way.