Is Economic Growth Sustainable? Environmental Quality of Indian States Post 1991

This study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP (i.e., Environment Kuznets Curve, EKC) of 14 major Indian States in the light of their very high economic growth in the post-liberalisation period. The analysis involves first ranking the States on the basis of their environmental quality, and then checking the relationship. The analysis captures both temporal and spatial aspects of environmental quality by ranking the States in two time periods – (i) early 1990s (1990 - 1996) and (ii) late 1990s (1997 - 2001). The results indicate that the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP is slanting S-shaped. Except Bihar all other States are on the upward sloping curve of the EKC. The results suggest that the economic growth is mostly at the cost of environmental quality.Environment and development; economic growth; Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC); Environmental Quality (EQ); liberalisation; India

Monitoring and Enforcement: Is Two-Tier Regulation Robust?

The regulation of industrial pollution is clearly difficult in a rapidly industrializing, low-income setting. In addition to the general lack of resources for monitoring and enforcement, authorities must deal with the asymmetric nature of the information and multiple nonpoint sources of pollution. In this study we look at efforts to regulate chemical plants in Ankleshwar, in the Indian state of Gujarat. The plants are located in an industrial estate, which provides interesting preconditions for a form of two-tier regulation, in which an industry association becomes an intermediary between the government and individual firms: it monitors its members’ pollution and promotes compliance with the government’s environmental regulations. The Indian agency responsible for environmental protection cannot effectively control the many small individual plants within such estates. The local industry association is much better informed and has an incentive to regulate its members to maintain a good reputation but does not possess much formal authority, and its voluntary monitoring and abatement program is akin to managing a common property resource. We study four preconditions for the success of such management: suitable design principles, effective monitoring, objective implementation of rules, and enforcement. We show that these conditions are satisfied at least to some extent in Ankleshwar and that the fines decrease pollution.Industrial estate, two-tier monitoring, common property resource, industry association, nonpoint sources of pollution

Is Economic Growth Sustainable? Environmental Quality Of Indian States Post 1991

This study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP (i.e., Environment Kuznets Curve, EKC) of 14 major Indian States in the light of their very high economic growth in the post-liberalisation period. The analysis involves first ranking the States on the basis of their environmental quality, and then checking the relationship. The analysis captures both temporal and spatial aspects of environmental quality by ranking the States in two time periods (i) early 1990s (1990 - 1996) and (ii) late 1990s (1997 - 2001). The results indicate that the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP is slanting S-shaped. Except Bihar all other States are on the upward sloping curve of the EKC. The results suggest that the economic growth is mostly at the cost of environmental quality.Environmental Quality, per capita NSDP, economic growth, post-liberalisation period, S-shape, Environment Kuznets Curve, economic growth

Does the institution of State Business Relations matter for Firm Performance? – A study of Indian Manufacturing

This paper examines the role of the external institutional environment captured by effective state-business relations on firm performance. By effective state-business relations, we mean a set of highly institutionalized, responsive and public interactions between the state and the business sector. We find that effective state-business relations have had a discernible positive impact on firm performance in Indian formal manufacturing for the years 2000-01 and 2004-05. We also find internal and external institutional factors are complementary to firm performance - smaller firms, firms in urban areas, older firms and firms in simpler organizational forms benefit more.State business relations; firm productivity; manufacturing sector; India

Rain, Rain, Go Away? The Investment Climate, State Business Relations and Firm Performance in India

It is commonly argued that a better investment climate reform – that is, lower distortions in the institutional, policy and regulatory environment in which firms operate - lead to discernible improvements in firm performance. In this paper, we argue that effective state business relations condition better investment climate outcomes and that the deeper institutional determinants of firm performance are the former. We examine the effect of effective state-business relations of total factor productivity (TFP) for formal sector firms in India for the years 2000-01 and 2004-05 and find support for this hypothesis.State business relations, total factor productivity, India

Organized versus Unorganized Manufacturing Performance in India in the Post-Reform Period

This paper analyses the productivity performance of the Indian manufacturing sector using unit level data, which is aggregated at four-digit industry level for the period 1994-95 to 2004-05 for 15 major states. The study focuses on both the organized and unorganized segments of the manufacturing sector. Both partial and total factor productivity (TFP) measures have been employed to trace the productivity performance of formal and informal manufacturing sector. TFP is estimated using Cobb-Douglas production functions at the four-digit industry level. The estimation is carried out by employing the Levinsohn-Petrin method, which uses intermediate inputs as the proxy to address the potential simultaneity bias in production function estimations. Our analysis reveals that labour productivity has increased for the organized sector over time whereas both labour productivity and capital intensity growth have slowed down in the unorganized sector during the 2000-01 to 2004-05 period. The production function analysis shows that capital has played a more significant role in the production process in both the sectors. TFP growth accelerated in the organized manufacturing sector during 2001-05 over 1995-2001 while the TFP decline that started in the first period (1995-2001) continued unabated even in the second period (2001-2005) in the unorganized manufacturing sector. We also find that output growth in both the sectors is productivity driven and not input driven. The improvement in TFPG of organized manufacturing in the post-2000 period as compared to the second half the 1990s across most states in India and that output growth was mostly productivity driven are important positive features of manufacturing performance in the post-reform period. However, the declining total factor productivity on one hand and increasing capital intensity of the unorganized sector is a cause of worry and raises several important questions.Productivity, Organized manufacturing, Unorganized sector, Industrial Sector

State business relations and manufacturing productivity growth in India

Empirical studies on total factor productivity growth (TFPG) in developing countries highlight trade open-ness, research and development and market structure as being the most important determinants of TFPG. The role of institutions remains overlooked in the literature on the determinants of TFPG. In this paper, we look into the role of institutional quality as captured by effective state-business relationships (SBRs) in influencing TFPG, using Indian manufacturing as a case-study. By SBRs we mean a set of highly institutionalised, responsive and public interactions between the state and the business sector. To compute TFPG, we use firm level data for both the formal and informal manufacturing sector. We correct for the simultaneity bias associated with the production function approach for TFPG estimation by employing a method developed by Levinsohn and Petrin. We propose measures of effective SBRs for 15 Indian States over the period 1994-2005, and then use them in TFP growth equations to estimate the effect of SBR on TFPG. The results indicate that SBR has positively affected the TFP growth of Indian industry. The effect however is primarily for the formal sector.State-business relations; Indian Manufacturing; Total Factor Productivity Growth

Testing for Pollution Haven Hypothesis for Indian States

This paper tries to see the role of the actual expenditure on pollution and control equipment in a particular State on the location choice of foreign firms in India. Based on Levinson (2001), we compute Industry-adjusted pollution abatement expenditure index for 25 States for different time periods using Annual Survey of Industries data to see if FDI inflow is affected by any variation in pollution abatement expenditure (reflecting environmental governance). The index compares the actual pollution abatement expenditure in a particular State, unadjusted for industrial composition, to the predicted abatement expenditure in the same State (where the predictions are based on nationwide abatement expenditures by industry and each State’s industrial composition). If adjusted index is low for a State, this implies that the State has poor environmental governance and this would induce foreign firms to invest. In other words, our study tests for ‘pollution haven’ hypothesis. Our results do not find any evidence of pollution haven hypothesis for 21 Indian States. Other variables are more important in influencing foreign firms’ decision than environmental stringency

Is Economic Growth Sustainable? Environmental Quality of Indian States Post 1991

This study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP (i.e., Environment Kuznets Curve, EKC) of 14 major Indian States in the light of their very high economic growth in the post-liberalisation period. The analysis involves first ranking the States on the basis of their environmental quality, and then checking the relationship. The analysis captures both temporal and spatial aspects of environmental quality by ranking the States in two time periods – (i) early 1990s (1990 - 1996) and (ii) late 1990s (1997 - 2001). The results indicate that the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP is slanting S-shaped. Except Bihar all other States are on the upward sloping curve of the EKC. The results suggest that the economic growth is mostly at the cost of environmental quality

Is Economic Growth Sustainable? Environmental Quality of Indian States Post 1991

This study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP (i.e., Environment Kuznets Curve, EKC) of 14 major Indian States in the light of their very high economic growth in the post-liberalisation period. The analysis involves first ranking the States on the basis of their environmental quality, and then checking the relationship. The analysis captures both temporal and spatial aspects of environmental quality by ranking the States in two time periods – (i) early 1990s (1990 - 1996) and (ii) late 1990s (1997 - 2001). The results indicate that the relationship between environmental quality and per capita NSDP is slanting S-shaped. Except Bihar all other States are on the upward sloping curve of the EKC. The results suggest that the economic growth is mostly at the cost of environmental quality