.svg){kind=icon}
.svg){kind=icon}
%201.svg){kind=icon}
%201.svg){kind=icon}
.svg){kind=icon}
.svg)
.svg)
Kunal Sen
Kunal Sen is the Director of UNU-WIDER, and is on leave as Professor of Development Economics at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester.
He was educated at Elphinstone College, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and Rutgers University, USA. His main research areas are economic growth, the analysis of poverty and labour markets, international trade and finance.
Until 2011, Professor Sen was the Chair of the British Association for South Asian Studies, one of the world’s largest learned societies on South Asia. His published books include State-Business Relations and Economic Development in Africa and India; Trade Policy, Inequality and Performance in Indian Manufacturing; International Competitiveness, Investment and Finance: A Case-study of India (with A.G. Kumar and R. Vaidya); and Saving, Investment and Growth in India (with P. Athukorala). He has been awarded the Sanjaya Lall Prize in 2006 and Dudley Seers Prize in 2003 for his publications. He is a member of the ESRC Peer Review College, and South Asia Area Panel of the British Academy, as well as a Research Fellow of IZA, Bonn.
.svg)
‘मेक इन इंडिया’ में अवरोध
वर्तमान सरकार ने, सीमित सफलता के साथ, वर्ल्ड बैंक के डूइंग बिजनेस संकेतकों में भारत की रैंकिंग को सुधारने का प्रयास किया है। यह लेख बताता है कि राज्य और कारोबारों के बीच 'सौदे' - नियमों के बजाय - राज्य-व्यापार संबंध का विवरण प्रस्तुत करते हैं। कमजोर गुणवत्ता शासन वाले भारतीय राज्यों में लाइसेंस प्राप्त करने की गति के मामले में 'अच्छे सौदों’ का अनुपात अधिक है। इसी प्रकार आवश्यक नहीं है कि कारोबार नियमों को आसान बनाने से उच्च उत्पादकता प्राप्त हो।
Unmaking ‘Make in India’
The current government has attempted to improve India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business Indicators, but with limited success. This article shows that ‘deals’ between the State and businesses, rather than the rules laid out by the State, characterise the State–business relationship. Indian states with weaker quality of governance provide higher proportions of ‘good deals’ in terms of the speed of obtaining licences, such that easing business regulations does not necessarily lead to higher productivity
जनसंख्या की आयु संरचना और कोविड-19
नए कोविड-19, विकासशील देशों की तुलना में पश्चिमी विकसित देशों को अधिक प्रभावित कर रहा है। इस पोस्ट में, बसु और सेन ने दिखाया हैं कि कोविड-19 से हुए हताहत लोगों की संख्या उन देशों में अधिक है जहां बुजुर्ग लोगों की आबादी ज्यादा है, इसलिए यह सवाल उठता है कि क्या कठोर लॉकडाउन भारत के लिए उपयुक्त व्यावहारिक नीति है जहां बुजुर्ग आबादी का अनुपात कम है।
Age composition of population and Covid-19
The novel Covid-19 is affecting the advanced countries in the Western Hemisphere disproportionately more than developing countries. In this post, Basu and Sen show that Covid-19 casualty is higher in countries where there is a large ageing population, and therefore question whether a draconian lockdown is a practical policy for India going forward, where the proportion of elderly population is low.
Boom and Bust: Institutional causes of India's growth slowdown in 2011
The slowdown in India’s growth in 2011 is generally attributed to the global financial crisis and domestic policy paralysis. In this article, Kunal Sen argues that the high growth rates in the 2000s were driven by ‘closed deals’ between the political and business elites. Mobilisation of the masses against corruption and actions by accountability institutions in 2011 disrupted this trend and halted the growth.
What explains the increasing use of contract workers in Indian manufacturing?
Contract workers constituted about one-fourth of all workers in formal manufacturing in India in 2008. This column analyses the extent to which trade liberalisation and lack of labour reforms explain the increasing use of contract workers. It finds that in the presence of labour rigidities, increasing import penetration contributes to the ‘flexibilisation’ of the workforce.
The puzzle of declining labour intensity in organised Indian manufacturing
It is surprising to note that labour intensity in the organised manufacturing sector in India, particularly in industries with greater labour requirements, has shown a sustained decline over the past three decades. This column finds that the key explanation is trade reforms that targeted capital goods and brought their prices down over time. This inadvertently incentivised firms to invest in machines and employ fewer workers
Grandads, dads, and sons: Examining multigenerational mobility in India
While studies have examined the association in socioeconomic status between parent and offspring, there has been relatively little research on multigenerational mobility, especially in the developing country context. Analysing data from the India Human Development Survey, this article shows that there is upward mobility in terms of education but not for occupation – with stark differences across social groups.
Do Gram Panchayat leaders favour their own constituencies in MNREGA fund allocation?
Political incentives are known to play a role in the allocation of public resources from upper- to lower-tier governments. This column seeks to examine whether ruling parties in local governments favour their own constituencies in allocating MNREGA funds, if they target their core supporters or swing voters, and if this has any electoral returns.
Do minimum wages reduce inequality in India?
Wage inequality in India has declined over the past two decades. This article examines the role of rising minimum wages in driving this trend. Exploiting state-level variations in legislative minimum wage changes, it finds that minimum wage increases account for 26% of the decline in wage inequality between 1999 and 2018. Moreover, these gains were achieved without adverse effects on employment.
Rags to riches? Understanding social mobility in India
To what extent is an individual’s status in society determined by the position of his or her parents? Analysing data from the Indian Human Development Survey, 2011-2012, this column finds that the probability of large intergenerational, occupational ascents in India is very low, and in fact, many face high risk of downward mobility.
MNREGA, 10 years on: Glass half-full or half-empty?
In this article, Kunal Sen, Professor of Development Economics and Policy at the University of Manchester, evaluates whether MNREGA has achieved its broader development objectives. He further analyses why the programme’s implementation has been challenging, and what the implications of weak implementation have been for its objectives.
Introduction to e-Symposium: The good jobs challenge in India
One of the primary concerns for India is the question of jobs – specifically good quality jobs. Why has India lagged in creating opportunities for its working age population, and how different sectors can be leveraged to create good jobs? In this e-Symposium, anchored by Kunal Sen and Nirvikar Singh, six experts will weigh in on the different facets of the job-creation conundrum, from the perspective of the manufacturing sector, cities, trade, clusters, financing small firms, and the tradeable service sector.
Helping India's informal manufacturing sector to grow
India’s informal manufacturing sector is dominated by small household enterprises that keep everything within the family – but these firms are often the least productive. Why aren’t these small enterprises making the changes needed to bloom and grow? This column asks whether the problem is access to finance and what can be done about it.
How Important are credit constraints for small firm growth?
This project focusses on the role of financial constraints in determining the lack of transition of firms from the very small family firms (OAMEs) which are the predominant type of firms in the informal sector to the larger firms that employ non-family labour (DMEs and NDMEs).