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

Dani Rodrik and Arvind Subramanian

Working Paper Series from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government

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 occured around 1980, a full decade before economic liberalization. We investigate a number of hypotheses about the causes of this growth (favorable 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. We also find that registered manufacturing built up in previous decades played an important role in influencing the pattern of growth across the Indian states.

Date: 2004-03
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (184)

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Related works:
Journal Article: From "Hindu Growth" to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition (2005)
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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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp04-013

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