Impact of India's trade reforms on the informal sector.

From:
Department for International Development
Published
1 January 2004
Country:
India
Document Type:
Technical Report
Theme:
Social Change
Authors:
Singh, N., Adam, C., Harriss-White, B., Sinha, A., Siddiqui, K.A., Munjal, P., Subudhi, S., Sudarshan, R., Kaur, R., Ghosh, P.K., Sapra, M., Sharma, P., Bala Praveen Sachdeva, S.

Abstract

This project investigated the differential impact of trade liberalisation on formal and informal sectors of India's economy in a five-fold comparative way, disaggregating by: i) formal and informal sub-sectors (and their linkages with each other), ii) two different sectors, both of which are basic wage goods with export potential: rice (a subsistence crop with a national market and subject to export liberalisation during our project) and garments (a highly differentiated commodity sector with a history of expansion (16% of manufactured exports) regulated under the MFA), iii) two regions for each sub-sector, each noted for the commodities studied (Punjab and West Bengal for rice; Delhi and Tiruppur (Tamil Nadu) for garments), iv) policy elements of international as well as domestic trade liberalisation (such as removal of inter-state trade restrictions), v) two approaches to analysis: a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model and primary field research. This final report outlines the project's background and objectives, methodology, findings, dissemination activities and highlights.

Citation

Final research report to DFID, 21 pp.

Impact of India’s trade reforms on the informal sector.

Published 1 January 2004
Contents