Description: An essential history of India's economic growth since 1947, including the legal reforms that have shaped the country in the shadow of colonial rule.
Economists have long lamented how the inefficiency of India's legal system undermines the country's economic capacity. How has this come to be? The prevailing explanation is that the postcolonial legal system is understaffed and under-resourced, making adjudication and contract enforcement slow and costly. Taking this as given, Law and the Economy in a Young Democracy examines the contents and historical antecedents of these laws, including how they have stifled economic development. Economists Roy and Swamy argue that legal evolution in independent India has been shaped by three factors: the desire to reduce inequality and poverty; the suspicion that market activity, both domestic and international, can be detrimental to these goals; and the strengthening of Indian democracy over time, giving voice to a growing fraction of society, including the poor. Weaving the story of India's heralded economic transformation with its social and political history, Roy and Swamy show how inadequate legal infrastructure has been a key impediment to the country's economic growth during the last century. A stirring and authoritative history of a nation rife with contradictions, Law and the Economy in a Young Democracy is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand India's current crossroads--and the factors that may keep its dreams unrealized.Brief description: Anand V. Swamy is the Willmott Family Third Century Professor of Economics at Williams College in Massachusetts.
Review Quotes: "This book is an excellent work that attempts to grasp the interaction between laws and the economy in India. It outlines not only how certain laws have affected India's path of development, but also how certain laws were introduced and amended in response to a changing political and economic environment. This book provides a robust economic history of India written from the viewpoint of institutional changes."-- "The Developing Economies"