Considering Aquacultural Externality in Coastal Land Allocation Decisions in India

Commercial aquaculture in India has come under attack for having caused negative agricultural and environmental impacts. This paper formulates an interactive model of non-renewable and renewable resources to characterize land allocations between aquaculture and agriculture in ecologically and economically sustainable fashion. Through an empirical application, various economic and policy circumstances that affect the optimal land allocation mix are evaluated. The aquaculture industry must address two economic effects: off-site negative effects on renewable food and other coastal resources, and on-site self-pollution of shrimp ponds. Current regulatory and land-use policies are inadequate to address these effects.     

Are emerging economies less efficient? Performance persistence and the impact of business group affiliation

By drawing a theoretical distinction between the persistence of superior and poor performance, we reconcile the conflicting predictions of the ‘revisionist’ and accepted views on the persistence of firm performance in emerging economies. Using a sample of manufacturing firms in the United States and India, we show that superior firm performance in emerging economies persists only as much as developed economies in line with the revisionist argument. We also provide evidence consistent with the accepted view that poor firm performance persists longer in emerging economies compared to developed economies. Further exploration of the latter shows that, contrary to predictions of extant theories, firms in emerging economies that are affiliated with an MNC or a business group have a greater persistence of poor performance than firms that are unaffiliated with these intermediate governance structures, and hence would be better off operating at arm's length. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Common pool resources and contextual factors: Evolution of a fishermen's cooperative in Calcutta

The CPR school has successfully rebutted Hardin's pessimistic Tragedy of the Commons model. However, in recent years, critics have focussed on the inward orientation and lack of contextual analysis characterising the writings of the CPR school.Oakerson [A Model for the analysis of common property problems. Working Paper R86-13. Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, 1986] and Ostrom [Governing the Commons. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990] have detailed the list of variables that have to be studied to understand the mechanics of collective action. However, these factors are internal to the community. Recent critics' point out that the actions of individual agents are also influenced by the alternatives embedded outside the system. These variables are collectively labelled contextual factors.In our paper, we have analysed the case of a fishermen's cooperative in the Calcutta Metropolitan District to show how the historic and economic context shapes targets of resource users and affects the feasibility of alternative courses to achieve the target by determining opportunity and transaction costs of actions. This indicates the importance of contextual factors in explaining the formation and evolution of the resource regime.     

A hierarchical model of the determinants of non-performing assets in banks: an ISM and MICMAC approach

The banking systems of emerging economies in general and India in particular are facing sustained impairment due to mounting non-performing assets (NPAs). In the absence of stringent policies and their implementation, the results will be detrimental and may eventually lead to an economic crisis. Thus, it is imperative to unearth the causal factors and mitigate the risks involved with rising NPAs. The study attempts to identify the determinants of NPAs from the existing literature and subsequently, explore the interlinkages between the identified factors. A model of these factors is developed using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and MICMAC approach. Key managerial insights were obtained by the suggested model, specific to the Indian context. The hierarchical model provides a clearer perspective about the relationship between the factors and suggests that economic conditions and political factors are the key drivers which impact the ownership pattern and adherence to the regulatory framework; these further impact the internal factors related to the banks and borrowers’ capacity to repay. The study will act as a scaffolding for policymakers and bankers. Based on these findings, better instruments and mechanisms for recovery/management of NPAs can be put in place.     

试析印度发展风电产业的经验对我国的启示

随着世界经济的快速发展,全球能源和环境问题日益突出,风力发电已成为产业化发展最快的可再生清洁能源技术。印度作为发展中国家,其风电产业发展迅速并取得了显著成就。本文结合印度发展风电产业的主要经验,分析了我国发展风电产业面临的主要问题并提出了相应对策。     

亚洲发展中国家现代化发展的路径选择与比较——以中国、印度、沙特为考察对象

儒家文化、印度文化和伊斯兰文化构成了亚洲东方文化的主体。在这三大文化圈中,中国、印度和沙特阿拉伯无疑是各自文化圈中最具代表性的国家,从地域上也都是区域性的大国。它们的发展道路的选择和效用在各自区域内都具有明显的示范效应。在迈向现代化的征途中,中国、印度、沙特因现实国情和历史各异,致使实现现代化的方式和选择的社会发展道路存在着明显差别,各具特色。     

Cashlessness and scalable multi-pay practices: Capturing the everyday financial transactions in local contexts

While macro-level volume growth in India's move towards cashless payment systems is captured relentlessly, most often what gets ignored is a realization that everyday financial transactional practices are socially and culturally embedded in the local contexts. This paper drawn from an anthropological ethnography explores how people use and hierarchically order different payment systems in their everyday financial transactions for products and services. It explores how aspects such as trust, economic and social values, demographic differentials and scalable multi-pay practices influence such ordering and usage of the payment systems within their everyday local contexts.     

Women’s empowerment and nutrition status: The case of iron deficiency in India

In this paper we study the relationship between women’s empowerment in agriculture and their iron deficiency status in Maharashtra, India. This is the first time the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) has been used in association with explicit measurement of medical biomarkers for women’s iron deficiency status. Using primary data for 960 women we find that the log odds of a poor iron status in women decline as women’s empowerment levels in agriculture improve. Further, this decline is seen in the presence of multiple dietary diversity measures (dietary diversity score, share of rice and wheat in the diet, total iron intake and iron intake from iron-rich food groups – all for 24-h and 30-day recalls) suggesting that in addition to dietary pathways women’s empowerment can play a role in addressing micronutrient deficiencies like those of iron in a vulnerable sub-group of the population. It also reinforces the need to move away from the ‘staple grain fundamentalism’ that has characterized agricultural policy in India, towards more nutrition-sensitive food systems.     

Club convergence and drivers of digitalization across Indian states

Disparity in the level of digitalization is a crucial driver of economic inequality in an economy. Although a pocket of its population is still bereft of the benefits of digitalization, India currently has the second highest number of internet subscribers in the world despite the nation's late adoption of digital technology. An accurate assessment of the current state of digitalization in the country is required for devising effective initiatives towards building a Digital India and bridging the nation's internal digital divide. Considering 17 major Indian states and 21 variables for 10 years, we constructed a composite index of digitalization with the help of Principal Component Method (PCM). This paper identifies factors responsible for the digitalization divide across states. In the second part of the analysis, the study confirms, with the help of club convergence test, the absence of overall convergence towards digitalization and the existence of the non-convergent group. This paper also shows that the non-convergent group of states are at the bottom of the ranking table which indicates the need for greater attention to initiatives to bridge the digital divide.     

全球经济衰退背景下的中印自由贸易区建设——基于实证的研究

中国和印度作为世界上最大的两个发展中国家,相互间经贸合作稳步推进,已互为对方的对外贸易、投资和经济交流的重要伙伴。在全球经济衰退的大背景下,"龙象"合作对包括两国和全球在内的三方都是有好处的。本文通过对双方经济开放度、贸易结合度、贸易竞争性与经济互补性、以及贸易量与GDP之间关系的实证研究,计算了GDP对贸易额的弹性系数,分析表明,中印两国构建自由贸易区不仅具有现实的政治经济基础,更是在日益恶化的世界经济环境下中印和世界的理性选择,只有中印两国携手,才可以稀释衰退的负面影响。