Inequality in India: A survey of recent trends

Parthapratim Pal and Jayati Ghosh

Working Papers from United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs

Abstract: This paper analyses the nature and causes of the patterns of inequality and poverty in India. Since the economic liberalization in the early 1990s, the evidence suggests increasing inequality (in both spatial and vertical terms) as well as persistent poverty. The macroeconomic policies possibly responsible for these trends include—fiscal tightening, regressive tax policies and expenditure cuts; financial sector reform that reduced institutional credit flow to small producers and agriculturalists; liberalization of rules for foreign and domestic investment, leading to more regional imbalance and skewed investment patterns, and trade liberalization, which has affected livelihoods and employment generation.

Keywords: India; inequality; poverty; growth and distribution; macroeconomic policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O15 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2007-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa and nep-dev
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (48)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:une:wpaper:45

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