Regional Inequality in India: A Fresh Look

Nirvikar Singh (), Laveesh Bhandari, Aoyu Chen and Aarti Khare
Additional contact information
Laveesh Bhandari: Indicus Analytics
Aoyu Chen: University of California, Santa Cruz
Aarti Khare: Indicus Analytics

Development and Comp Systems from EconWPA

Abstract: There are concerns that regional inequality in India has increased after the economic reforms of 1991. This concern is supported by various statistical analyses. In this paper, we show that the conclusions are sensitive to what measures of attainment are used. In particular, human development indices do not show the same increase in regional inequality. Furthermore, looking at consumption and credit indicators for regions disaggregated below the state level also suggests that inequality trends may not be as bad as suggested by State Domestic Product data, although the greater strength of the economies of the western and southern states emerges in our results. Finally, we briefly discuss policy implications within the context of India’s evolving federal polity.

Keywords: regional inequality; federalism; human development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 H73 O10 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-geo
Date: 2004-12-07
Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 11
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpdc:0412006

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