Ahmed, SadiqVarshney, Ashutosh2017-08-282017-08-282008https://hdl.handle.net/10986/28048Rapid growth since 1980 has transformed India from the world's 50th ranked economy in nominal U.S. dollars to the 10th largest in 2005. The growth of per capita income has helped reduce poverty. At the same time, evidence suggests that income inequality is rising and that the gap in average per capita income between the rich and poor states is growing. This paper reviews India's long term growth experience with a view to understanding the determinants of growth and the underlying political economy. The paper looks specifically at the political economy of India's growth transformation from a low-growth environment (pre-1980s) to a rapid-growth environment (post 1980s) and asks how sustainable is this transformation in view of concerns about regional disparity and income inequality. The paper concludes that the pledge that India's post-independence leadership had undertaken to abolish mass poverty remains only partially redeemed. Half the battle still lies ahead. Many more would like the fruits of the economic boom to come to them. The greatest challenge for India's policy makers today is to balance the growth momentum with inclusionary policies.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABSOLUTE TERMSACCOUNTINGADVERSE EFFECTSAGRICULTURAL SECTORAGRICULTUREANNUAL GROWTHANNUAL GROWTH RATEAVERAGE GROWTHAVERAGE LEVELBALANCE OF PAYMENTSBALANCE OF PAYMENTS CRISISBARGAININGBASIC EDUCATIONBENEFICIARIESCAPITAL ACCUMULATIONCAPITAL FLOWSCAPITAL INFLOWSCAPITAL MARKETSCASUAL WORKERSCENTRAL PLANNINGCOMMAND ECONOMYCORPORATE TAX RATESCOUNTRY CASECURRENCYCURRENCY DEVALUATIONCURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICITDEBTDEBT SERVICEDEMOCRACYDEREGULATIONDEVALUATIONDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING WORLDDEVELOPMENT INDICATORSDEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERSDEVELOPMENT STRATEGIESDEVELOPMENT STRATEGYDIMINISHING RETURNSDOMESTIC DEBTDOWNSIDE RISKSECONOMIC BOOMECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC EXPANSIONECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC HISTORYECONOMIC LIBERALIZATIONECONOMIC OBJECTIVESECONOMIC OUTCOMESECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC REALMECONOMIC REFORMECONOMIC REFORMSECONOMIC SECTORSECONOMIC THEORIESECONOMICSECONOMICS PROFESSIONEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTELASTICITYEMPLOYMENTEQUAL RIGHTSEQUITY ISSUESEXCHANGE CONTROLSEXCHANGE RATEEXCHANGE RATESEXPORTSEXTERNAL DEBTFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL SECTORFISCAL DEFICITSFISCAL POLICIESFISCAL POLICYFOREIGN CAPITALFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN EXCHANGEFOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVESFOREIGN INVESTMENTFOREIGN INVESTORSGDPGDP PER CAPITAGLOBAL ECONOMYGLOBAL MARKETSGNPGOVERNMENT BUDGETGOVERNMENT FINANCESGROWTH IMPACTGROWTH PERFORMANCEGROWTH PROCESSGROWTH RATESHOLDINGHUMAN DEVELOPMENTIMPORT TARIFFSINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME GROUPSINCOME INEQUALITIESINCOME INEQUALITYINCOMESINDUSTRIAL COUNTRIESINDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTINDUSTRIAL POLICYINDUSTRIAL SECTORINDUSTRIALIZATIONINDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIESINEQUALITY DATAINFANT MORTALITYINFLATIONINFLATION RATEINSTRUMENTINTEREST BURDENINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTINTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSINTERNATIONAL INVESTORSINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINVESTINGINVESTMENT RATEINVESTMENT RATESINVESTMENT REGIMESINVESTMENT REGULATIONSJOB CREATIONLABOR ABSORPTIONLABOR FORCELABOR LAWSLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET FLEXIBILITYLABOR MARKET POLICIESLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR SUPPLYLABOR UNIONSLAND REFORMSLAYOFFSLESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIESLIFE EXPECTANCYLONG-TERM GROWTHLOW-INCOME ECONOMYMACROECONOMIC CRISISMACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTMACROECONOMIC POLICIESMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMACROECONOMIC STABILIZATIONMARKET ECONOMYMARKET REFORMSMONETARY POLICYNATIONAL SAVINGNATIONAL SAVINGSNDPNET DOMESTIC PRODUCTOUTPUTPAYMENTS CRISISPER CAPITA INCOMEPER-CAPITA INCOMEPOLICY CHANGEPOLICY CIRCLESPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY PROCESSPOLICY STANCEPOLITICAL ARENAPOLITICAL ECONOMIESPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL PROCESSPOLITICAL STABILITYPOOR PEOPLEPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOWER PARITYPRICE CONTROLSPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRO-POORPRODUCTIVITYPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPROFIT MOTIVEPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC GOODPUBLIC INVESTMENTPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SPENDINGPURCHASING POWERRAPID GROWTHRAPID INDUSTRIALIZATIONRATE OF GROWTHREAL WAGESREFORM PROGRAMREMITTANCESRESERVERESERVE BANKRESERVESRETURNRURAL POVERTYSAVING RATESAVINGS RATESECONDARY ENROLLMENTSECTORAL COMPOSITIONSHAREHOLDERSSKILLED WORKERSSTOCK MARKETSTOCK MARKETSTAXTAX COLLECTIONSTAX CONCESSIONTELECOMMUNICATIONSTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRADE BARRIERSTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE POLICIESTRADE REGIMESTRANSPARENCYUNDERESTIMATESUNEQUAL SOCIETYUNSKILLED WORKERSURBAN AREASURBAN POVERTYURBAN WORKERSWAGE DIFFERENTIALSWAGE INCREASESWAGESWITHDRAWALWORK FORCEWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/28048