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Subrata Dutta ¹

Affiliations
1 Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, Thaltej Road, Ahmedabad-380054, IN

Abstract

World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked 139 countries in 2010-11 in order to assess each country's global competitiveness. The assessment has been made on the basis of 12 pillars, further classified under: 'basic requirements' (four pillars), 'efficiency enhancer' (six pillars) and 'innovation and sophistication factors' (two pillars).India is significantly lagging behind in 'basic requirements' as far as its global competitiveness is concerned. In only 'national savings rate' within the 3rd pillar (macroeconomic environment) under 'basic requirements', India is found to be highly competitive (rank 9). In the 10th pillar, (market size) India ranked as high as 4. In order to promote entrepreneurship as well as industrialisation, India needs to pay close attention to other areas, e.g., infrastructure, government debt, inflation, health and primary education, and higher education.

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Subrata Dutta ¹

Affiliations
1 Sardar Patel Institute of Economic & Social Research, Thaltej Road, Ahmedabad 380 054, IN

Abstract

If India's rural economy is considered to be demand deficient (due to low per capita income) then there is the need to raise the level of income of rural people through encouraging rural economic activities (both agricultural and non-agricultural); rural entrepreneurship needs to be encouraged. Better rural infrastructure removes supply-side bottlenecks and helps enterprises to grow. For rural infrastructure not only the level of capital outlay has to be increased, but a clear-cut policy also needs to be adopted. If a significant proportion of the capital outlay is diverted towards infrastructure in 'core' urban areas, mitigation of income disparity between rural and urban areas will continue to remain a far-cry.

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Subrata Dutta ¹, Subhendu Chakrabarti ²

Affiliations
1 Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, Thaltej Road, Ahmedabad 380054, IN
2 Economic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 700108, IN

Abstract

This article focuses on the process of rural-urban continuum as one of the basic determinants of rural-urban linkages. The authors discuss labor migration (both short and long term) from rural to rural areas and rural to urban areas and try to understand whether rural industrialization helps find gainful employment in local villages or nearby small towns/growth centers. Livelihood pressure on farm land has been tremendously increasing whereas modern industries have very limited scope for absorbing unskilled rural labor. The case of West Bengal elaborates and establishes the arguments in favor of rural industrialization.

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Subrata Dutta ¹, Auke R. Leen ²

Affiliations
1 Sardar Patel Institute of Economic & Social Research, Thaltej Road, Ahmedabad-380054, IN
2 Tax Law and Economics Department, Leiden University, Steenschuur 25 (Room A.2.59, 2nd Floor, Wing A), 2300 RA Leiden, NL

Abstract

The emerging economies including India have shown symptoms of quicker recovery from the world-wide recession than the economies in the global north. The financial sector in euro-zone is still in deep trouble. High deficit countries, for example, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain, among some others, are being blamed for the trouble. If solutions are not found to rescue the troubled zone, the developing countries may be further adversely affected. India’s goods export to Europe has already moderated. Although Europe is no longer India’s biggest export destination, the economy may be indirectly hit via other trading partners. Structural fiscal imbalances in the European countries are currently being tackled with common strict rules under the European "Fiscal Compact" which is the new version of the Stability and Growth Pact. Until the middle of the last decade, both the Indian central government and the state governments were found to be trapped into similar chronic problems. To address such structural issues, in India, the central and state governments have enacted the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Acts in the national parliament and state assemblies, respectively. This paper looks into the fiscal consolidation processes in India and the EU and seeks to derive some understandings from the political economy perspectives of the processes.

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