10 June, 2025Manufacturing share in GDP: Comparing India with China and South Korea
: It is commonly believed that Indian manufacturing performance is weak, as the sector has not been able to capture a large enough GDP share. Presenting a comparison of manufacturing share in gross do...
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Bishwanath Goldar 
26 May, 2025
- Perspectives
Planning for ‘jobs of the future’ in a changing world
Following decades of structural transformation, in the coming years, external factors including climate change, increasing automation, and global economic policies will all play a role in determining ...
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Nikita Mujumdar
- 01 May, 2025
- Perspectives
Technological advancement and employment changes: Recent trends in India
What is the impact of rapid technological advancements on employment in the Indian economy? In this post, Kathuria and Dev analyse ‘Consumer Pyramids Household Survey’ data to explore this questio...
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Aakash Dev Rajat Kathuria
- 24 January, 2025
- Perspectives
Mirroring realities: Digital technology through the eyes of women microentrepreneurs
The expansion of markets from physical spaces to e-commerce platforms during the pandemic widened the pre-existing digital gender divide in India. Employing the method of ‘auto-photography’, the t...
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Aneysha Roy
- 29 November, 2022
- Notes from the Field
The role of political connections of firms during a crisis
Research has shown that political connections matter for a firm during times of economic crisis. This article refers to a unique data set of political connections of firms in India, and finds that fir...
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Yutong Chen Gaurav Chiplunkar Sheetal Sekhri Anirban Sen Aaditeshwar Seth
- 07 November, 2022
- Articles
Changing the frame: Making small firms compete like large ones
Although small firms have natural advantages, they face constraints when it comes to reach and scale; this prevents them from competing with larger firms. Pankaj Chandra shares business models from It...
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Pankaj Chandra
- 13 September, 2022
- Perspectives
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 secto...
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Kunal Sen Nirvikar Singh
- 12 September, 2022
- Symposium
Barriers to upgrading in developing countries
In recent decades, several countries have seen rapid development, aided in part by the adoption of advanced technologies. In this post, Eric Verhoogen looks at recent research to highlight the factors...
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Eric Verhoogen
- 02 September, 2022
- Perspectives
The effect of easing labour restrictions: Evidence on employment in Rajasthan
Stringent labour laws in India can hinder firms’ growth and increase the incidence of informal and contract employment. Looking at evidence from firms in Rajasthan after the amendment of the Industr...
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Sarur Chaudhary Siddharth Sharma
- 26 August, 2022
- Articles
The future of work from home
With the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, work from home became the norm in 2020. However, even though mobility restrictions have been lifted, many workplaces all over the world continue to follow a m...
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Nicholas Bloom Nirvikar Singh
- 29 July, 2022
- Podcasts
The future of work from home
With the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, work from home became the norm in 2020. However, even though mobility restrictions have been lifted, many workplaces all over the world continue to follow a m...
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Nicholas Bloom Nirvikar Singh
- 29 July, 2022
- Videos
Birth versus worth: Impact of the caste system on entrepreneurship in India
The prevalence of the caste system has restricted social mobility in India. This article further looks at how caste disparities have contributed to the misallocation of resources across firms. It quan...
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Sampreet Goraya
- 28 July, 2022
- Articles
Leveraging digital labour markets to increase employment opportunities
India’s relatively young population, the pace of adoption of smartphones and digital technology, and rapid urbanisation has contributed to the growth of digital labour markets. In recent years, we h...
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Farzana Afridi Sakshi Khurana K. Rajeswara Rao
- 28 June, 2022
- Videos
Leveraging digital labour markets to increase employment opportunities
India’s relatively young population, the pace of adoption of smartphones and digital technology, and rapid urbanisation has contributed to the growth of digital labour markets. In recent years, we h...
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Farzana Afridi Sakshi Khurana K. Rajeswara Rao
- 28 June, 2022
- Podcasts
Hindu-Muslim integration and firm output in Indian manufacturing: Evidence from a field experiment
Evidence suggests that ethnic diversity can lower firm output due to poor social ties and taste-based discrimination among workers. Based on an experiment in a manufacturing plant in West Bengal, this...
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Arkadev Ghosh
- 23 May, 2022
- Articles
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Tweets by Ideas4IndiaMost Popular Productivity & Innovation Posts
The impact of robotisation on the world economy: A forward-looking review
Robots have long existed in human imagination and only recently in the real world. The baggage of past imagination often intrudes into our understanding of how real robots will affect our economic liv...
- Siddhartha Mitra
- 25 July, 2018
- Explainers
Tripura’s bamboo sector: Potential and challenges
About a third of the total area of Tripura is covered by bamboo, and bamboo has emerged as a key thrust area for the state’s industrial development. Based on a field visit that was undertaken to stu...
- Bornali Bhandari
- 13 April, 2018
- Notes from the Field
An offline alternative for Aadhaar-based biometric authentication
While decision on the constitutionality of Aadhaar by the Supreme Court of India remains a matter of speculation, it has become abundantly clear that most of the use cases for Aadhaar-based biometric ...
- Subhashis Banerjee Subodh V. Sharma
- 24 September, 2018
- Perspectives