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Are All Labor Regulations Equal? Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

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Author Info
Ahsan, Ahmad () (World Bank)
Pagés, Carmen () (Inter-American Development Bank)

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Abstract

Using manufacturing data for India, this paper studies the economic effects of legal amendments on two types of labor laws: employment protection and labor dispute resolution legislation. We find that laws that increase employment protection or the cost of labor disputes substantially reduce registered sector employment and output. These laws do no seem to benefit workers either, as they do not increase the share of value added that goes to labor. Labor-intensive industries, such as textiles, are the hardest hit by amendments that increase employment protection while capital-intensive industries are the most affected by laws that increase the cost of labor dispute resolution. These adverse effects are not alleviated by the widespread and increasing use of contract labor, particularly in regards to employment. Results are robust to an alternative codification of legal amendments suggested by Bhattacharjea (2006).

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 3394.

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Length: 54 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2008
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3394

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Related research
Keywords: employment protection; labor dispute resolution; contract labor; employment; India;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation
K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Bertola, Giuseppe, 1990. "Job security, employment and wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 851-879, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Cahuc, Pierre & Postel-Vinay, Fabien, 2002. "Temporary jobs, employment protection and labor market performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 63-91, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Lawrence M. Kahn, 2007. "The Impact of Employment Protection Mandates on Demographic Temporary Employment Patterns: International Microeconomic Evidence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(521), pages 333-356, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. James Heckman & Carmen Pages, 2003. "Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean," NBER Working Papers 10129, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Dutta Roy, Sudipta, 2004. "Employment dynamics in Indian industry: adjustment lags and the impact of job security regulations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 233-256, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Fallon, Peter R & Lucas, Robert E B, 1991. "The Impact of Changes in Job Security Regulations in India and Zimbabwe," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 395-413, September.
  8. Amin, Mohammad, 2007. "Labor regulation and employment in India's retail stores," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4314, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Juan Botero & Simeon Djankov & Rafael Porta & Florencio C. Lopez-De-Silanes, 2004. "The Regulation of Labor," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(4), pages 1339-1382, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    • Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silane & Andrei Shleifer & Juan Botero, 2003. "The Regulation of Labor," NBER Working Papers 9756, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Rana Hasan & Devashish Mitra & K.V. Ramaswamy, 2003. "Trade Reforms, Labor Regulations and Labor-Demand Elasticities: Empirical Evidence from India," NBER Working Papers 9879, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2004. "Can Labor Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(1), pages 91-134, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Fallon, Peter R. & Lucas, Robert E. B., 1993. "Job security regulations and the dynamic demand for industrial labor in India and Zimbabwe," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 241-275, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Aterido, Reyes & Hallward-Driemeier, Mary & Pages, Carmen, 2009. "Big constraints to small firms'growth ? business environment and employment growth across firms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5032, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou & Khandelwal, Amit & Pavcnik, Nina & Topalova, Petia, 2008. "Multi-product Firms and Product Turnover in the Developing World: Evidence from India," CEPR Discussion Papers 6881, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Kaplan, David S., 2008. "Job creation and labor reform in Latin America," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4708, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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