India Policy Forum
2006-07 comprises papers and highlights
of the discussions from the
third India Policy Forum (IPF) conference, held
July 31-August 1, 2006, in New Delhi. IPF is a joint venture of the Brookings
Institution and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) that
examines India's reforms and economic transition using policy relevant
empirical research.
Current Volume Highlights
Sources
of Growth in
the Indian
Economy
Trade
Liberalization,
Labor-Market
Institutions
and Poverty
Reduction
Teacher
Compensation
in India
Whether
Economic
Growth Reduces
Fertility
Forest
Degradation in
Indian
Mid-Himalayas
Selected Excerpts from the Editor's Summary on the
issue
"The
papers cover a diverse set
of macro and microeconomic
topics of relevance to
policymakers. The first
two papers focus on India’s
economic growth
performance over the past
quarter century and the
impact of trade
liberalization on the
distribution of income and
poverty. The third paper
highlights the
distressingly poor
performance of India’s
elementary schools. The
fourth paper examines the
role of economic factors
on the decline of the
Indian birth rate. The
last paper explores the
link between economic
growth and environmental
change by assessing the
interaction between local
living standards and
forest degradation in the
Indian mid-Himalayas.
During the first
"
"During
the first three decades of
its development, the
Indian economy grew at the
so-called Hindu rate of
growth of 3 to 4 percent.
But India has now turned a
corner, growing at a much
higher rate of 6 to 7
percent during the last
two decades. How has this
transition been achieved
and what implications does
it have for the future
transformation from a
primarily rural and
agricultural economy to a
more modern one? "
"A
key finding of the paper
is that services have
shown very substantial
productivity growth since
the early 1980s—a result
in sharp contrast to that
obtained for other
countries at a similar
stage of development.
Productivity gains in
agriculture and industry
have been modest, which is
consistent with both the
findings of prior studies
of India and those for
other comparable countries
such as Korea and Taiwan
in the 1960s and 1970s. "
