Whither the Indian Federation? Regional Disparities and Economic Reforms

The last two decades have seen increased divergence among the states of the Indian Federation in terms of their economic performance. This paper uses spatial econometric methods to examine how the regional pattern of growth has been influenced by the economic reforms implemented since the early 1990s. The process of liberalization and increased openness to international markets has imparted a clear spatial connotation to the gap dividing low and fast growing states. Winners were those states that benefited the most from the recent process of reform and liberalization, thanks also to their geographical advantage and to the presence of a developed service sector. Losers were instead the landlocked and highly populated states with a predominant agricultural sector and a low level of innovation

Whither the Indian Federation? Regional Disparities and Economic Reforms

The last two decades have seen increased divergence among the states of the Indian Federation in terms of their economic performance. This paper uses spatial econometric methods to examine how the regional pattern of growth has been influenced by the economic reforms implemented since the early 1990s. The process of liberalization and increased openness to international markets has imparted a clear spatial connotation to the gap dividing low and fast growing states. Winners were those states that benefited the most from the recent process of reform and liberalization, thanks also to their geographical advantage and to the presence of a developed service sector. Losers were instead the landlocked and highly populated states with a predominant agricultural sector and a low level of innovation.India; Regional Convergence; Spatial Econometrics

Oil and gas:a blessing for the few. Hydrocarbons and inequality within regions in Russia

Building on earlier work on regional inequality in Russia the article seeks to demonstrate that the regional oil and gas abundance is associated with high within-region inequality. It provides empirical evidence that hydrocarbons represent one of the leading determinants of an increased gap between rich and poor in the producing regions. The discussion focuses on a possible cluster of geographic, economic and political factors underlying the phenomenon

The impact of the recession on different sized firms ‐ A view from the micro‐data

SummaryThis article uses quarterly data on turnover to analyse the performance of small, medium and large firms between 2001 and 2009. The analysis draws on two firm‐level datasets which are the Monthly Inquiry into Distribution and Services Sector (MIDSS) and the Monthly Production Inquiry (MPI). For the services sector, it is found that small firms were hardest hit by the downturn, followed by medium‐sized firms, which in turn have done worse than large firms. For the manufacturing sector the opposite results were reported. The turnover of large firms fell the most, followed by medium‐sized firms, with smaller firms contracting the least. In both the services and production sector, volatility in turnover has increased during the sample period and in the run up to the recession ‐ a reflection of greater price and output fluctuations in the last three years.