Description: Exploiting large data sets, the essays in this first volume in the series Studies in Indian Economic Policies show that trade openness has helped reduce poverty among most social groups including the Scheduled Castes. Openness has affected neither poverty nor inequality adversely. When surveyed, people in disproportionately large volumes from all groups say that their fortunes are improving. This is also reflected in election outcomes with the governments delivering good economic outcomes winning and the others losing.
Review Quotes: "India's remarkable growth trajectory of the last two decades, like many amazing developments, has provoked more conjectures than analyses and more heat than light. Bhagwati and Panagariya have assembled a wonderful group of authors and analyses to illuminate the sources of that growth and their distributional consequences. Their efforts will quickly become foundational for anyone interested in one of the great economic stories of our time."--Mihir A. Desai, Mizuho Financial Group Professor, Harvard Business School
"Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya have put together a compelling set of papers which show that India's economic reforms, carried out between 1991 and 2004, have not only increased productivity and growth of the Indian economy but have also reduced poverty and enhanced income and opportunities of disadvantaged segments of society. These empirical studies should be compulsory reading for both supporters of Indian economic reforms and their opponents. It is a very timely and well-researched volume, which will be indispensable for teachers, students, and policy-makers."--Shankar Acharya, Former Chief Economic Advisor, Government of IndiaIndia's Reforms comprises a set of high-quality papers on the impact of India's macro-economic, trade, investment and other policies undertaken mainly between 1991 and 2004 on growth, poverty, income levels and opportunities for relatively low-income households, and on electoral behaviour. Among the postive features of this edited volume is the inclusion, among the contributors, of two graduate students, researchers based in India, and an economist with the Asian Development Bank, in addition to prominent researchers from universities in the US. India's Reforms will be useful reading for a wide range of stakeholders, including academics, researchers, policy-makers, administrators and opinion-shapers. This volume is particularly instructive in demonstrating how constructive debate can be conducted on the impact of India's economic reforms since 1991 on growth, poverty, inequality and voter response."Journal of Management