This book examines the transition, transformation and future of the informal sector, informal work and informal workers in India from the perspectives of development economics as well as those of international organisations.
Though the informal sector has a long tradition in India, it has been transformed in the wake of neoliberal economic policy. The sector took on new prominence in the 1980s, and has since grown much stronger and established itself as the country’s dominant sector. Several reports on the informal sector appeared during this period, and the status of the sector in India is positioned in the context of this international scenario.
The major debate concerns the definition of this sector. While international labour statisticians had suggested a mechanism of definition and measurement of the sector, Indian official statistics took a different approach. The book analytically elaborates the different definitions and measurement controversies in different countries and contextualises the official Indian position. While deliberating on the size, contribution, productivity, and potential of the informal sector, the heterogeneity and decomposition of the sector with respect to these aspects are also suggested. The book develops a political economic interpretation of the historical transition of the informal sector in India, employing heterodox economics as a theoretical basis, with a critical note on standard neoclassical economic analysis. The final part of the book focuses on understanding the development of capitalism in the country under neoliberalism, as that development is crucial to understanding the informal sector in any country, and particularly in India. In the current context, the volume will be of great relevance to researchers, non-government organizations, policy makers and international organisations working on the topic.
Author(s): Ishita Mukhopadhyay
Series: India Studies in Business and Economics
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 157
City: Singapore
Foreword
Preface
Contents
About the Author
1 Introduction
2 Expansion and Expectation: Footlooseness
2.1 Urban Phenomenon
2.2 In the Eyes of Global Neoliberalism
2.3 Footlooseness
2.4 Expansion in Numbers
2.5 Indian Story
References
3 Did We Explain?
3.1 General Equilibrium Approach
3.2 Choice Theory Approach
3.3 Labour Market Segmentation Approach
3.4 Institutional Approach
3.5 Political Economy Approach
3.6 The Riddle
References
4 Alternative Explanations from the Labour Studies
4.1 Within and Without Dualism
4.2 Marginalization
4.3 Case Studies and Further Evidences
References
5 Transition in Indian Employment
5.1 Situational Analysis
5.2 What Indian Official Statistics on Employment Reveals
5.3 The Process of Fragmentation of Units
5.4 Invisibility of Informal Employment
5.5 Informal Sector Under the Pandemic
References
6 Definitional Dilemma
6.1 ILO Definitions
6.2 Evidence-Based Definitions
6.3 Statistical Challenge of Measuring Informality
6.4 Why Dilemma?
References
7 Process of Informalization of Employment
7.1 Evolution and Change
7.2 Can We Have an Indicator of informalization as a Process?
7.3 Neoliberal Economy and Informalization
7.4 Informalization in a Continuum
7.5 Formalization and Informalization
References
8 Primary Surveys of Kolkata Informal Employment
8.1 Evidences Prior to Neoliberal Economy
8.2 Experiences Under Neoliberalism
8.3 Informal Sector in West Bengal
8.4 COVID Lockdown and Informal Employment in Kolkata
References
9 Urban Informal Sector and Communal Violence: Case Study of 1992 Riots in Kolkata
9.1 Context of Exogenous Shock on the Informal Sector
9.2 Extent of Shock on Kolkata Informal Sector
9.3 Quantitative Estimate of the Differential Impact of Shock
References
10 Kolkata’s Informal Sector: Changing Pattern of Labour Use
10.1 Pattern of Labour Use in Third World Urban Agglomerate
10.2 Change in Pattern of Labour Use and Informalisation in Kolkata Urban Agglomerate
10.3 Primary Evidences in Kolkata in 1996
References
11 Is Informal Urban in India?
11.1 Rural–Urban Divide in the Country
11.2 Expansion of Urban Informal Employment
11.3 Urban Informal Workers Emerging as a Social Class
11.4 Rise of Rural Informal Employment in India
11.5 What the Official Statistics Show in India
References
12 Women in Informality
12.1 Does Bulk of Women’s Work Suffer from Marginality?
12.2 Engagement of Women in Informal Sector Activities
12.3 Women in Indian Informal Employment
References
13 Informal Employment in India’s Development Trajectory
13.1 Pattern of Informal Sector Before Neoliberalism
13.2 Informalization as a Part of Neoliberal India
13.3 Informal Employment After Decades of Neoliberalism
References
14 Concluding Notes
Index
