Indian labour market and economic structural change / edited by L. K. Deshpande and Gerry Rodgers

The understanding of the nature and response of the labour market is essential for a proper understanding of the impact of the
structural economic changes. The efficacy and success of the new policies also depend to a large extent on the nature and operation of the labour market. A whole range of socio-economic-political issues are involved in this context and it is extremely important to understand the institutions which may emerge and to see how they may be molded in the interests of achieving both economic and social goals. Unfortunately, the broader issues involved in the Indian labour market vis-a-vis economic structural change have hardly been given adequate attention. This volume brings together a number of articles which address several aspects of this theme-aggregate employment level, institutional arrangements, technology and labour, policy issues in economic reforms, etc. How do economic reform and adjustment directly affect the labour market? What sort of complementary policies are required? Do high wages and restrictions on labour conditions lead to slow employment growth and informalisation of the conomy? Will increased competition be effective in increasing the efficiency of resource allocation? How does changing technology affect
the political economy of the labour market? What has been happening to labour market structure over time, and how do labour
market inequalities persist between different social groups, between men and women? What in particular has been hap-
pening to labour controls? The contributions included in this volume deal with these issues and bring out the broader issues of anal ysis. The vol ume will be extremely useful to all those concerned with labour market policy and analysis in India.