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This book examines the inclusive development experiences and impacts of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). It discusses the theoretical assumptions underlying the inclusive development of Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS), and draws conclusions based on robust data and real-world experiences with the MGNREGS - which has attracted global attention as India's most ambitious, rights-based development initiative and most expansive work-based social security measure, the world's largest public works programme, and people-centric approach to development. The book argues that the Scheme holds vast potential, and, in fact, has made significant contribution to the promotion of livelihoods of the poorest of the poor, but that the weak institutions of local-self-governance, entrusted for implementation of the Scheme, are incapable of exploiting them to the full. It ends with a concrete policy suggestion: the inclusive development experiences gathered with the EGS and presented here could offer a source of policy change in many developing Afro-Asian countries whose situations are similar to India's, provided the local conditions in the respective country are taken into consideration when designing the EGS. Its significance as a social security measure has increased in post-COVID loss of jobs and livelihoods of the poor.

This book is about the establishment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, in 2016, one of the most important new developments in Indian commercial law. The law has major implications for firms, their creditors, and a variety of the professional services that feed into the decisions of borrowers and lenders including lawyers, accountants and valuers. A new profession of insolvency professionals has come to exist owing to the law. There are several questions about bankruptcy reform in the mind of researchers, policy makers and practitioners. How has the reform progressed? How has it reshaped the incentives of firms? What are the difficulties faced? What are the optimal paths for borrowers and lenders and their advisors under the rubric of the law? How should laws and institutions be modified? The book has a unique set of chapters, by key people who have shaped the field which offer novel insights into these questions.The book has been edited by key people who have worked on bankruptcy reform since 2010. Dr. Sahoo has been the chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India since the establishment of this regulatory agency. Dr. Thomas was a member of the Bankruptcy Law Reforms Committee which drafted the IBC, and led the internal team of the BLRC which drafted the law. The book is an authentic and credible analysis of the happenings in the Indian insolvency and bankruptcy ecosystem from the start, with interest areas for international and domestic, economics/finance and law, researcher and practitioner communities.

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of child well-being within the context of Indian states, focusing on the progress made in eight Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets. What sets this book apart is its unique perspective, as it delves into the well-being of children, examining their experiences across six key dimensions: child poverty and deprivation, anthropometric failure and undernutrition, child health and healthcare services, quality education, violence and gender equity, and overall child well-being.The book relies on data from various data sources such as the National Family Health Survey, Unified District Information System, and National Crime Records Bureau statistics. The child well-being score is calculated following the UNDP methodology, enabling a ranking of states and districts in terms of their progress between 2015-16 and 2019-21.In addition to rigorous quantitative analysis, the book delves into the implications of key policies like the National Education Policy, National Health Policy, social protection schemes, and Poshan Abhiyan on child development and their role in achieving SDG targets. It systematically compares the performance of Indian states in relation to SDG targets, using child-specific indicators, making this book truly unique. It incorporates more than 30 child-related indicators, spanning the eight child-specific SDGs selected for analysis. The child well-being achievement score from 2015-16 serves as a baseline for assessing the progress toward SDG goals. The indicators presented in this book serve as valuable tools for tracking SDG progress and sustainably monitoring child well-being at the state level. Ultimately, the book not only reveals the depth of deprivations but also provides a roadmap for region-specific priority areas, strongly advocating for child-centric policy interventions.This book will be useful for the academicians, policy makers, government officials, civil bodies, NGOs and other research communities including doctoral researchers who are working in the field of child wellbeing.

This book provides an overview of youth labour force and workforce participation in India and explores the dynamics of changing youth labour market in India. Despite notifying a demographic dividend phase, a significant share of youth witnessed higher exclusion (unemployment and not in employment, education or training) from the Indian labour market. Therefore, this book investigates the role of education in labour market and examines open unemployment. It conceptualizes the not-in-employment-education-or-training (NEET) status of youth in Indian context and explores the heterogeneity of NEET youth by analysing the push and pull role of demographic and socio-economic variables. Furthermore, this book examines the nexus of youth labour market status and economic growth in India to provide plausible recommendations for youth's higher, inclusive and sustained participation in the labour market and the country's development pathway. The book creates room for necessary policy interventions considering the changing dynamics of youth labour market and contemplating the challenges of skill, technology and Industry 4.0., which entails a higher emphasis on ¿re-shape¿, ¿re-focus¿ and ¿re-share¿ for enhanced and sustained inclusion of youth in labour market. It is a necessary resource for students, researchers, policymakers, and industry partners interested in exploring and understanding the political economy of youth labour market in India.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of India's pulses sector in terms of production, prices, markets, and trade. Pulses play a pivotal role in a developing country like India for all categories of people due to its rich protein content (double that of wheat and three times more than that of rice).  Despite being an important crop from the point of view of food, nutrition, and environmental security, the focus of food security policies in developing countries has been more on wheat and rice production. This book analyses factors influencing the supply of pulses with a greater emphasis on government interventions such as minimum support price (MSP) and National Food Security Mission (NFSM), the effectiveness of MSP and factors influencing farmers' access to MSP, the import dependency implications through a detailed import pricing behavior of major importers of major pulses. It investigates production, market dynamics, and trade implications related to two major pulses, chickpea and pigeonpea, produced by all pulse-producing States in India. Analysis of farmer's awareness of MSP and factors influencing access to MSP are undertaken through a comprehensive household survey from the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh. Finally, the book analyses import implications and import pricing behaviour for all major pulses imported by India.  The book would be very useful for researchers working on the issues of agricultural production and food security, for agriculture and agri-business students, as well as for policy makers to understand the inherent dynamics in the pulses sector.

This book extensively examines various contemporary macroeconomic themes of India, namely growth and macro policies, tax reforms, government finances and intergovernmental fiscal transfers, banking and monetary policy, and environment and social sector policies. It has three to six chapters devoted to each of these broad themes, with the contributors being eminent economists from the region. The book serves as an excellent reference for students in economics, finance, and management, and a valuable tool for professionals such as policymakers and investment analysts and other stakeholders in the areas of global economics and finance, in general, and India in particular.Excerpt from the Foreword:"This book examines various contemporary macroeconomic themes of India: growth and macro policies, fiscal reforms, government finances and intergovernmental fiscal transfers, banking and monetary policy, and environmental and social sector policies. Forty-four eminent economists who have had the privilege of working with and learning from Dr. C. Rangarajan have contributed 25 chapters.I am sure that this book will serve as an excellent reference for professionals such as policymakers and financial analysts, students, and other stakeholders interested in the field of economics and finance." - Dr. Manmohan Singh, Former Prime Minister of India and eminent economist

This book brings together contributions that explore various dimensions of the pandemic from a long-term development perspective. It also analyzes the existing policy responses and the gaps therein, to enable a greater understanding of how public policy ¿ during a pandemic like COVID-19 ¿ can be better aligned with the developmental challenges faced by individuals and households in India. Through its thirteen contributions, the book highlights the connection between the pandemic and development as deep and multilayered, and not unidirectional. It highlights how the existing inequalities and inequities in the system determined who gets impacted and to what extent, and how soon they can recover, if at all. It analyzes policies and programmes that have been implemented based mostly on the immediate pandemic crisis, and responded less to the pre-existing conditions that have shaped socio-economic outcomes. The book would be a great resource to study possible future responses to similar health disasters in a multi-cultural, multi-religion, multi-caste and multi-class melting pot like India.

This book contributes to growing literature on the role of business groups in the development of corporate sector and contains perspectives from the Indian economy. It brings together an array of well-researched papers that provide a comprehensive understanding of evolution and nature of the Indian business groups, as well as various aspects of their functioning. All chapters are primarily empirical, use appropriate quantitative techniques and are strongly grounded in relevant theories. This fine combination of data, techniques and theories is expected to provide the reader with in-depth understanding of the complex structures and behaviour of firms affiliated to business groups. Readers interested in the Indian corporate sector, especially Indian business groups, will find the book useful.

This book explores the practices and policies of human resource management (HRM) in higher education institutions (HEI), while also analyzing the governance and structural challenges. It explains the assessment of university as an organization, outlining the distinction between universities and firms from an HRM point of view by analysing various objectives, parameters and outcomes. The book broadly probes the relevance of HRM systems in HEIs in India and their potential impact. It also examines whether existing HRM practices and policies in HEIs in India drive motivation and enable employees to perform their functions to achieve the highest possible levels of excellence. It explores whether the enhanced motivation of employees consistently impacts students, their placements, progress to higher education, and quality teaching and research output. To strengthen the research output, to better understand the functioning of HRM practices in foreign HEIs and for comparative reasons, the book also studies HEIs in the United States against a diverse set of HEIs in India. It concludes by highlighting the impact of Indiäs National Education Policy 2020 and its scope to transform and professionalise the higher education system in the country. The book is indispensable for researchers in education management and policy studies and those in governing positions in higher education institutions. It is also a valuable resource for regulatory and government bodies, and policy-formulating think tanks in South Asia which have a similar education system as India.

This book is an innovative exercise to unravel recent advances in development fundamentals in emerging economies through Indian lens that include various aspects of macroeconomics, international trade, finance, and issues connected to social sector that have become more important in post-pandemic world. The book throws light on efficacy of existing policies and need of reform in policy framework to enhance growth and development and reduce gender disparities in the context of India and other emerging economies. The papers included in different chapters use frontline techniques to discuss various issues that in turn will be of great help for graduate and postgraduate teaching as well as for research. The book substantially contributes to the growing literature on issues relating trade, development, finance, and social sector in light of threat posed by COVID-19 pandemic in emerging market economies and extends the frontiers of knowledge.

In this edited book, we provide foundational tenets of Gandhian perspective, and present examples of social organizations that are aiming to insulate themselves by adopting community and village-centered approaches to restructuring socially-embedded economic activities that align with Gandhian principles. These cases highlight the relevance of Gandhi's thoughts in the field of social entrepreneurship. We examine key principles such as Sarvodaya (the welfare of all), Antodaya (the upliftment of the weakest), self-sufficiency, self-reliance, Nai Talim (holistic education), and Trusteeship. We explore how social organizations implement these principles to promote resilience and well-being at the community level.The COVID-19 pandemic revealed unsustainable practices in the world, including disrupted supply chains, contagious effects of integrated global economy that ignore the local self-reliance, and unsustainable internal displacement that make cities dependent on rural labor and rural population dependent on urban areas for jobs. These issues show that there are systemic problems with how our society and market are structured. The traditional way of development that focuses on profit maximization and unlimited wants has caused problems like inequality, resource depletion, and disproportionate wealth accumulation. Unlimited growth in a limited world has led us to social, economic, and ecological crises. However, degrowth, as an approach has been criticized for wanting to go back to pre-industrial times. In this context, Gandhi's ideas offer alternatives. Gandhi promotes moderation in how market activities are structured and how individual consumption practices are followed. This can help reduce the negative impact of economic activities on people and the planet, and move towards a more structured and inclusive economy.

This book presents perspectives by eminent economists, social scientists and policy makers, exploring in depth the post-reform developments in India, including issues pertaining to growth and equity, issues which have been at the core of life-time work of Prof. R. Radhakrishna. The book brings out how some public policy instruments created to promote growth have turned out to be regressive, promoting inequalities and creating a highly asymmetric federalism in India. It examines the efficacy of fiscal and monetary reforms and also emphasises the need for strengthening the institutions of governance, particularly judiciary and police, in order to boost investors' confidence. It presents exercises in econometric modelling for explaining factors in growth and vetting policies, and explores the issue of governance and institutions. The book provides insights into the working of an emerging economy and a large democracy which has to strive for public acceptability of the tensions of its negotiations between equity and growth. With its depth of academic excellence and breadth of topics covered, it is a 'must read' for researchers, policy makers, industry watchers, think tanks, and NGOs.

This book discusses the Indian economic crisis and brings out what went wrong and the correction necessary for getting the economy back to high growth trajectory, leading to economic transformation. To do so, the book covers trends in performance of Indian economy since the Global Financial Crisis to the COVID-19 effect, bringing out factors that have determined the same.The book questions the approach to macroeconomic policy of both the RBI and the government and brings out what it takes for macroeconomic policy to be supportive of high growth. It contains revealing contrasts with East Asia and China, although India has the same potential to grow with an expansion of manufacturing. Overall, it argues that macroeconomic policies (as much as structural, industrial, and trade policies) have been deficient and even good initiatives on the industrial policy and trade flounder for the lack of a strategic approach to macroeconomics. The book highlights the special opportunities present in an emerging economy with vast under and utilised labour and the macroeconomic policy initiatives that can take advantage of this key feature.It covers the macroeconomic data on growth using multiple indicators, then the external shocks and the internal policy measures/responses; besides, GVA/GDP, credit, exports, external transactions, interest and policy rates, yields, exchange rates,  money, capital flows, indices of industrial sector, price indices and inflation, government expenditures, tax rates, fiscal deficits, market uncertainty measures to present a holistic picture of the economy and the shocks and policy actions that have followed. The book uses an innovative method of presentation and the consistency of the trends/stances of both monetary and fiscal policy using these large number of variables. It discusses the debate on overestimation of GDP/GVA growth estimates over the years from 2011-12 to about 2016-17 comprehensively. There is special coverage of GST with a comparison with China. Coverage also includes performance since the COVID-19 crisis again using a large number of indicators and an explanation for the same in terms of the limitations of the government's initiatives to counteract.The book is a quick and ready reference of what has happened in macroeconomic terms to those interested in the relevant facts. It is of interest to international economists, policy analysts, and investors whose need to understand that the Indian economy in macroeconomic terms and in terms of the stances and penchant of the government and the RBI is of value.

This book presents a multidimensional perspective on the interlinkage between human development, community characteristics and public service delivery with special reference to India. The chapters in the book analyze the influence of public service delivery on human development from neo-classical as well as Marxian point of view. Thus, the expositions in the book provides a balanced mix of macro and micro approaches in the study of development. The analytical discussions are supplemented by case studies and empirical estimates so as to demonstrate the applicability of the theory and the theoretical discourse about human development, community network and the success and failures of critical public services in the Indian context. The methodology followed in the chapters involves critical survey of existing literature, case studies, field survey and use of econometric techniques as well as statistical tools of index construction. While contributors are primarily scholars from neo-classical economics discipline, some are intellectuals from the field of political economy and development studies. Given the wide array of development perspectives, this book is of interest not only to students and researcher of development economics, social science and management, but also a valuable reading for development practitioners and policy makers, who would be interested in understanding how community and public institutions interact to determine access to health, education and social security services that shapes the wellbeing of disadvantaged populations. The lessons and implications are extremely pertinent to other emerging economies, in particular those in South Asia.

This book begins by analysing the various corporate governance mechanisms explored in the extant literature and determining their effectiveness in enhancing the firm value using multivariate analysis. The findings are of global relevance as the corporate governance regulations of most countries focus on independent directors as the mainstay of good governance. The empirical evidence from the first objective of this study corroborates the claim that independent directors do not strengthen the firms¿ governance quality. The book is one of the few works to have analysed the possible reasons behind the ineffectiveness of the independent directors. Also, in view of the famous concept of the bundle of governance mechanisms, it might be possible that the independent directors strengthen the firms¿ governance quality indirectly by strengthening other governance mechanisms. This aspect too has little precedence. This study adopts a novel moderation and mediation approach to analyse the monitoring behaviour of independent directors in relation to other governance mechanisms. The work is a must read for corporate players as well as researchers and scholars studying this discipline.

This festschrift volume presents discussions on contemporary issues in international economics and finance. It is aimed to serve as a reference material for researchers. There are two broad sections of the book -- International Macroeconomics and International Finance. The chapters in the International Macroeconomics section discuss critical topics like aggregate level macro model for India with a new Keynesian perspective, balance of payments, service sector exports, foreign exchange constraints for import demands, foreign direct investment and knowledge spill over, the relationship between forex rate fluctuation and investment, Institutional quality-trade openness-economic growth nexus, currency crises and debt-deficit relationship in the BRICS countries in the backdrop of COVID-19. Apart from these, various analytical issues related to macroeconomic policies are also covered in this section. The topics discussed includes the nature of forex market interventions, the issue of disinvestment and privatization, changing nature of fiscal policy, the inflation-growth nexus, macroeconomic simulation modelling, measuring core inflation, central bank credibility, monetary policy, inflation targeting, Infrastructure, trade, unemployment and inequality nexus. In the International Finance section, topics such as COVID-19 induced financial crisis, commodity futures volatility, stock market connectivity, volatility persistence, determinants of sovereign bond yields, FII and stock market volatility, cryptocurrency price formation, financialization of Indian commodity market, and a Keynesian view of the financial crisis are discussed. Overall, thirty two chapters in the volume discuss cutting edge research in the areas of the two sections. A tour de force... a lucid guide to some of the diverse and complex issues in International Macroeconomics and Finance. This collection of scholarly works is a fitting tribute to respected Prof. Bandi Kamaiah and his enviable academic contributions.- Prof. Y V Reddy, Former Governor, Reserve Bank of India This volume comprising thoughtful essays by our leading scholars on some of important policy issues that India is facing is indeed a rich tribute to Professor Bandi Kamaiah . This book will greatly benefit the academic community as well as our policy makers.- Prof. Vijay Kelkar, Chairman, 13th Finance Commission of India; Chairman, India Development Foundation, Mumbai, India Noted economists from India and abroad gather to apply the rigorous searchlight that Professor Bandi Kamaiah used so effectively in his career. Major current topics in macroeconomics and international finance are effectively explored in the volume.- Prof. Ashima Goyal, Emeritus Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India; and Member, Monetary Policy Committee of Reserve Bank of India This volume of 32 papers in macroeconomics, international economics, and international finance is intended as a tribute to the eminent econometrician , Prof B Kamaiah. Post-graduate students and researchers will find much valuable literature in the volume, which is a fitting tribute to Prof Kamaiah. The editors and authors deserve rich compliments.- Prof. K L Krishna, Former Director, Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi, India I am so happy to hear that Dr. Kamaiah's colleagues and ex-students are bringing out a special volume of articles in his honor. Nothing can be more appropriate. Dr. Kamaiah, being a man of tremendous publications, deserves this tribute. I wish all the luck and success to the new book. - Prof. Kishore Kulkarni, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Metropolitan State University of Denver, USA

This book covers a wide range of the issues in development studies. Recognizing the existence of manifold challenges in achieving and sustaining economic development, it is divided into four sections-(i) The Macroeconomy: Foreign Trade, Structural Transition and the Environment, (ii) Health and Standard of Living, (iii) Education, Human Capital and Evolution of the Employment Quality in India, and (iv) Banking and Credit: Access, Efficiency and Stability. The book brings together a right mix of senior and young economists who use cutting edge econometric techniques and/ or revisit a perennial question with much sharper focus and tools to unravel insights that are important and will inform tomorrow's theorisation and policy making. The volume looks at important questions like spatial concentration of low infant and child health outcomes, trade liberalisation and export quality, intergenerational occupational mobility, multidimensional poverty incidence in rural India, robustness of the banking sector, to name a few. To do so, the contributions use novel and esoteric methods like machine learning, spatial econometrics, system GMM, quintile regression and counterfactual decomposition (QRCD), and so on. The rich collection holds importance for researchers and policy makers alike, and also for practitioners working in different developmental sectors..

This book examines the various issues and concerns faced by Indian agriculture under the obligations of WTO and the Free Trade Agreements. While the issues discussed pertain mainly to India, the lessons can also be derived for many other similarly placed developing countries. The book delves into various aspects of Indian agricultural trade and evaluates the domestic policies and regulations of government while also looking at external factors like WTO, free trade agreements and non-tariff barriers. Chapters of this book have been contributed by eminent agricultural economists, lawyers and social scientists providing the perspective from their sector. This book highlights the challenges and opportunities for agriculture sector under the rapidly growing regional trade agreements and results of negotiations under the WTO. It also provides critical insights into the ongoing fisheries subsidies negotiations at the WTO and issues relating to non-tariff measures. The findings have broad implications for developing countries in general and India in particular. This book will greatly benefit trade negotiators, policymakers, civil society, farmer groups, researchers, students, and academics interested in issues related to the WTO, FTAs, tariff and non-tariff barriers and other allied issues concerning Indian agriculture. The techniques used in analytical part will mostly benefit the researchers as they can not only use these techniques and methodologies for their future research, but to also carry the research forward. The book is useful for many educational institutes which teach international trade, agricultural economics, and WTO and FTAs studies.

This book engages a comprehensive approach to understand both traditional and non-traditional security issues in addressing dimensions of Indiäs national security. The issues highlighted in the book through fourteen distinct, yet inter-related, chapters offer insightful reading to Indiäs national security. This edited book explores the criticalities of various security issues in India, internal and external, and digs deep into the government responses to each of these issues. Stepping away from merely focusing on the state-centric understanding of national security, this book also includes human security perspectives. In this process, this book also offers set of policy recommendations which could be used for effectively dealing with the national security challenges. The themes covered in this edited book range from offering a conceptual framework of national security to issues such as energy security, maritime security, nuclear security, internal security, neighborhood policy, dumping, terrorism, economic security, cyber security, role of media, defense preparedness, and use of GIS in security domain. This book highlights some of the important security issues around the larger perspective of Indiäs national security. This book will be highly useful for the students and scholars of security and strategic studies and international relations and also to the policymakers in the region.

This book discusses the extent and nature of COVID-19 pandemic in India and its effect on the society and economy. The suggested management practices discussed here are also not stereotype. At the same time, it highlights deficiency in development fundamentals in India on several dimensions, especially health, education, quality of public spending, taxation orientation, external trade involvement across states, etc., deficiencies which create an inbuilt bottleneck toward the creation of a more equal society. While discussing these, the book throws light on how they were expectedly exacerbated by the sudden negative shock in the form of COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the book has highlighted the COVID pandemic and its response in India in the background of certain less discussed aspects of development fundamentals. The contents would be of interest to researchers and students studying socioeconomic aspect of developmental economics and also to policy makers and non-government entities involved in mitigating effects of pandemic in the socioeconomic sphere.

This volume is a collection of essays that provide a comprehensive coverage of multiple aspects of the discourse on environment, development and sustainability. It is designed to bring in a host of perspectives highlighting the synergies and the trade-offs in this debate, showcasing research along with policy implications of putting research into use.The global discussion on sustainability paints the broad canvas for this book. This volume aims to probe some contemporary issues that will help in understanding the sustainability narrative in India. The topics span over a host of questions on energy, environment, natural resources and related constituents of development. The discourse further extends to the role of economic modelling, public policy debates, political intervention, stakeholders' response, community participation and so on. The discussions are often based on empirical support, review of existing literature as well as policy analysis. With an ultimate aim to understand the overall development narrative of the people of India, the discourse takes in its ambit the nuances of resource utilisation, economic growth, COVID-19 impacts, competitiveness and market structures, urbanization, sectoral reforms, environmental hazards, climate change, pollution, natural resource accounting and management to name a few.The book is divided into four sections, namely, The Big Picture: Evolving Perspectives; The Energy Scenario: Dilemmas and Opportunities; Sustainability Cross-Cuts: Developmental Aspects and Externality Empirics: Knowledge and Practice. The first section contains commentaries on the overarching themes of economic growth, development and sustainability. It presents some emerging perspectives on the developmental crisis that has emerged through the environmental lens with additional focus on the need for inclusion of creativity, knowhow, technology and financial resources to achieve the ambitious SDG targets. The second section brings out the dilemmas and opportunities in the energy sector, that has been a key player in discussions of sustainability, especially for India where significant technological advances in conventional forms of energy supply coexists with fairly low levels of per capita energy consumption and energy security is a key challenge. The section on sustainability crosscuts attempts to highlight the problems and processes of mainstreaming the sustainability question into conventional thinking through the concepts of a circular economy, green accounting techniques, institutional and governance structures, public policy and inclusive growth, amongst others. The last section presents some empirical studies on environmental externalities, the unaccounted environmental effects of economic production and consumption and finally the behavioural aspects of the stakeholders that are crucial in the larger narrative of sustainable development.This edited volume contains contributions of reputed scholars from various Indian universities, research institutions and professionals from outside academia, who are proven experts in their fields. The link between policy, practice, and well-being of the large vulnerable population of India is the major focus of enquiry that will help researchers, practitioners and policy planners in conducting further research in energy, environment, resource and linked areas of development economics. General readers with an active interest in energy, environment, and economic development are also likely to find this book an interesting read, especially in the times of several environmental challenges facing humankind.

This book examines the transition, transformation and future of the informal sector, informal work and informal workers in India from the perspectives of development economics as well as those of international organisations.Though the informal sector has a long tradition in India, it has been  transformed in the wake of neoliberal economic policy. The sector took on new prominence in the 1980s, and has since grown much stronger and established itself as the countryΓÇÖs dominant sector.  Several reports on the informal sector appeared during this period, and the status of the sector in India is positioned in the context of this international scenario.The major debate concerns the definition of this sector. While international labour statisticians had suggested a mechanism of definition and measurement of the sector, Indian official statistics took a different approach. The book analytically elaborates the different definitions and measurement controversies in different countries and contextualises the official Indian position.  While deliberating on the size, contribution, productivity, and potential of the informal sector, the heterogeneity and decomposition of the sector with respect to these aspects are also suggested. The book develops a political economic interpretation of the historical transition of the informal sector in India, employing heterodox economics as a theoretical basis, with a critical note on standard neoclassical economic analysis. The final part of the book focuses on understanding the development of capitalism in the country under neoliberalism, as that development is crucial to understanding the informal sector in any country, and particularly in India. In the current context, the volume will be of great relevance to researchers, non-government organizations, policy makers and international organisations working on the topic.

At this backdrop of increasing financial integration, the impact of financial liberalisation on the overall development of the sector, and how the global policies and events influence the Indian financial sector, are analysed in the book.

This volume analyses the process and structure of ecotaxes in India to bring forth its rationale, application and incidence on emerging environmental problems on the backdrop of the environmental issues confronted by the Indian economy.

This book provides different facets of India's agro and food processing industry in both organised and unorganised segments.

This book examines the various issues and concerns faced by Indian agriculture under the obligations of WTO and the Free Trade Agreements.