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Development Policy Implications for Growth and Regional Inequality in a Small Open Economy: The Indian Case

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  • Alokesh Barua
  • Aparna Sawhney

Abstract

Inclusive economic development has become a pressing goal of government policy in India in the face of rising regional inequality. This paper examines the role of targeted development policy action in inducing economic growth and also in reducing regional income inequality during the last two decades (since the beginning of the 1990s)—a period marked by increasing trade openness. In our disaggregated analysis of the states, we find that while the government capital expenditure policy has had significant positive impact on output growth of the poorer states, it failed to break the trend of escalating regional inequality. The policy has been significantly more effective in enhancing manufacturing sector output in the poorer states compared with the richer states. On the trade front, while the poorer states gained somewhat in income growth from greater openness, the gains were not large enough to offset the increasing regional disparity.

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  • Alokesh Barua & Aparna Sawhney, 2015. "Development Policy Implications for Growth and Regional Inequality in a Small Open Economy: The Indian Case," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 695-709, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:19:y:2015:i:3:p:695-709
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    1. Piyali Majumder & Aparna Sawhney, 2020. "Manufacturing agglomeration and export dynamics across Indian states," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 3-26, June.
    2. Kadigi, Reuben M.J. & Robinson, Elizabeth & Szabo, Sylvia & Kangile, Joseph & Mgeni, Charles P. & De Maria, Marcello & Tsusaka, Takuji & Nhau, Brighton, 2022. "Revisiting the Solow-Swan model of income convergence in the context of coffee producing and re-exporting countries in the world," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115636, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Azam, Mehtabul & Bhatt, Vipul, 2016. "Spatial Income Inequality in India, 1993-2011: A District Level Decomposition," IZA Discussion Papers 9892, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Alokesh Barua & Bishwanath Goldar & Himani Sharma & Priyanta Ghosh, 2017. "Do Technological Conditions of Production Explain Industrial Growth? The Indian Manufacturing, 1998–1999 to 2007–2008," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 15(3), pages 509-541, September.

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