From 'Hindu Growth' to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition

Dani Rodrik () and Arvind Subramanian

No 4371, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: Most conventional accounts of India’s recent economic performance associate the pick-up in economic growth with the liberalization of 1991. This Paper demonstrates that the transition to high growth occurred around 1980, a full decade before economic liberalization. We investigate a number of hypotheses about the causes of this growth – favourable external environment, fiscal stimulus, trade liberalization, internal liberalization, the green revolution, public investment – and find them wanting. We argue that growth was triggered by an attitudinal shift on the part of the national government towards a pro-business (as opposed to pro-liberalization) approach. We provide some evidence that is consistent with this argument.

Keywords: economic growth; india; liberalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O40 O50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-04
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Working Paper: From "Hindu Growth" to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition (2004)
Working Paper: From "Hindu Growth" to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition (2004)
Working Paper: From "Hindu Growth" to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition (2004)
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