Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-q6k6v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-08T07:53:22.907Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Business and labor market flexibility in India: the importance of caste

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Lawrence Saez  and
Zaad Mahmood
Lawrence Saez*
Affiliation:
SOAS – Politics, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Zaad Mahmood
Affiliation:
Political Science, Presidency University, 86/1 College Street, Kolkata 700023, India
*
Corresponding author: Lawrence Saez, e-mail: ls4@soas.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Since the enactment of economic liberalization in India in the early 1990s, variation in investment climate and labor market reforms across sub-national states has been linked to the increasing relevance of business in policy making. This article argues that the influence of business on policy is conditioned by wider political dynamics. We argue that the reform orientation of states correspond to the position of business classes and caste-based groups within the support base of political parties. We show that caste identification plays an important role on the position of political parties towards business liberalization policies. Thus, we conclude that the relative power of business across the states appears to vary due to the relation between business and government, which in turn is structured by the salience of business castes as an electorally relevant group.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , August 2016 , pp. 171 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aghion, Philippe, Burgess, Robin, Redding, Stephen J., and Zilibotti, Fabrizio. 2008. “The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India.” American Economic Review 98 (4): 1397–1412.Google Scholar
Ahluwalia, Montek S. 2002. “Economic Reforms in India Since 1991: Has Gradualism Worked?.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 16 (3): 67–88.Google Scholar
Alivelu, G., Srinivasulu, K, and Gopinath Reddy, M. 2009. “State Business Relations and Performance of Manufacturing Sector in Andhra Pradesh - A Case Study.” Discussion Paper Series. Manchester: University of Manchester.Google Scholar
Alvarez, Michael, Garrett, Geoffrey, and Lange, Peter. 1991. “Government Partisanship, Labor Organization and Macroeconomic Performance.” American Political Science Review 85 (2): 539–556.Google Scholar
Bajpai, Nirupam and Sachs, Jeffrey. 1999. “The Progress of Policy Reform and Variations in Performance at the Sub-National Level in India”, Development Discussion Paper No. 730, Harvard Institute for International Development.Google Scholar
Becker, Gary. 1983. “A Theory of Competition Among Pressure Groups for Political Influence.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 98 (3): 371–400.Google Scholar
Besley, Tim and Burgess, Robin. 2004. “Can Labor Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 119 (1): 91–134.Google Scholar
Cali, Massimiliano, and Sen, Kunal. 2011. “Do Effective State-Business Relations Matter for Economic Growth? Evidence from Indian States.” World Development 39 (9): 1542–1557.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. 2005. Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in an American City. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Damodaran, Harish. 2008. India's New Capitalists: Caste, Business and Industry in a Modern Nation. Houndsmill, Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Dunning, John. 1997. Governments, Globalization, and International Business. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fallon, Peter and Lucas, Robert. 1993. “Job Security Regulations and the Dynamic Demand for Industrial Labor in India and Zimbabwe.” Journal of Development Economics 40 (2): 214–275.Google Scholar
Frieden, Jeffrey and Rogowski, Ronald. 1996. “The Impact of the International Economy on National Policies: An Analytical Overview.” In Internationalization and Domestic Politics, edited by Milner, Helen and Keohane, Robert, pp. 25–47. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Furlong, Scott. 1997. “Interest Group Influence on Rule Making.” Administration and Society 29 (3): 325–347.Google Scholar
Garrett, Geoffrey. 1998. “Global Markets and National Politics: Collision Course or Virtuous Cycle?” International Organization 52 (4): 787–824.Google Scholar
Godbole, Madhav. 2004. “Good Governance: A Distant Dream.” Economic and Political Weekly 39 (11): 1103–1107.Google Scholar
Hall, Peter and Soskice, David. 2001. Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hankla, Charles. 2006. “Party Strength and International Trade: A Cross-National Analysis.” Comparative Political Studies 39 (9): 1133–1156.Google Scholar
Hazan, Reuven and Rahat, Gideon. 2006. “Candidate Selection: Methods and Consequences.” In Handbook of Party Politics, edited by Katz, Richard and Crotty, William. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Heinz, John, Laumann, Edward, Nelson, Robert, and Salisbury, Robert. 1993. The Hollow Core: Private Interests in National Policy Making. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Held, David. 1999. Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, and Culture. Stanford, Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Iarossi, Giuseppe, Mousley, Peter, and Radwan, Ismail. 2009. “An Assessment of the Investment Climate in Nigeria.” In Directions in Development, Private Sector Development. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Labor Organization. 1997. World Labor Report, 1997-98: Industrial Relations, Democracy and Social Stability. Geneva: International Labor Office.Google Scholar
Jenkins, Rob. 2004. “Labor Policy and the Second Generation of Economic Reform in India.” India Review 3 (2): 333–363.Google Scholar
Katzenstein, Peter. 1976. “International Relations and Domestic Structures: Foreign Economic Policies of Industrial States.” International Organization 30 (1): 1–45.Google Scholar
Kennedy, Loraine, Robin, Kim, and Zamuner, Diego. 2013. “Comparing State-Level Policy Responses to Economic Reforms in India: A Subnational Political Economy Perspective.” Revue de la régulation. Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs Spring (13), consulted 15 april 2014. URL: http://regulation.revues.org/10247 Google Scholar
Kochanek, Stanley. 1974. Business and Politics in India. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Kohli, Atul, and Bardhan, Pranab. 1988. India's Democracy: An Analysis of Changing State-Society Relations. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lindblom, Charles. 1977. Politics and Markets: The World's Political Economic Systems. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Lucas, John. 1997. “The Politics of Business Associations in the Developing World.” Journal of Developing Areas 32 (1): 71–96.Google Scholar
Martin, Cathie Jo, and Swank, Duane. 2004. “Does the Organization of Capital Matter? Employers and Active Labor Market Policy at the National and Firm Levels.” American Political Science Review 98 (4): 593–611.Google Scholar
Mazumdar, Dipak and Sarkar, Sandip. 2008. Globalization, Labor Markets and Inequality in India. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mukarji, Nirmal. 1989. “Decentralisation below the State Level: Need for a New System of Governance.” Economic and Political Weekly 24 (9): 467–472.Google Scholar
Nagaraj, R. 2004. “Fall in Organised Manufacturing Employment: A Brief Note.” Economic and Political Weekly 39 (30): 3387–3390.Google Scholar
Palshikar, Suhas, and Deshpande, Rajeshwari. 1999. “Electoral Competition and Structures of Domination in Maharashtra.” Economic and Political Weekly 34 (34/35): 2409–2422.Google Scholar
Quinn, Dennis, and Shapiro, Robert. 1991. “Business Political Power: The Case of Taxation.” American Political Science Review 85 (3): 856–871.Google Scholar
Shyam Sundar, K. 2008. Labour Regulation in Indian Industry. edited by Papola, T. S. 10 vols. New Delhi: Bookwell on behalf of ISID.Google Scholar
Sinha, Aseema. 2005. The Regional Roots of Developmental Politics in India: A Divided Leviathan. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Spiller, Pablo. 1990. “Politicians, Interest Groups, and Regulators: A Multiple-Principals Agency Theory of Regulation, or “Let Them Be Bribed.”” Journal of Law and Economics 33 (1): 65–101.Google Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph. 2002. Globalization and its Discontents. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Suri, K. C. 2004. “Telugu Desam Party: Rise and Prospects for Future.” Economic and Political Weekly 39 (14/15): 1481–1490.Google Scholar
Yackee, Jason and Yackee, Susan. 2006. “A Bias Towards Business? Assessing Interest Group Influence on the US Bureaucracy.” Journal of Politics 68 (1): 128–139.Google Scholar