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Productivity & Innovation

Share of manufacturing in India’s total employment: No mean performance

  • Perspectives

Patent protection in India: Impact on innovation, pricing and competition

When stronger patent laws were introduced in India, there were fears that it would lead to higher prices without substantial gains in innovation. This article provides evidence that stronger patent pr...

  • Articles

Subcontracting linkages in India’s informal economy

Subcontracting relationships with larger firms are considered key to facilitating the growth of informal enterprises. Using four rounds of National Sample Survey data on Indian informal manufacturing ...

  • Articles

Bringing work home: Flexible work arrangements as ‘gateway jobs’ for women

Millions of women stay out of the workforce despite having a desire for paid work, often because available opportunities are incompatible with traditional norms of household roles. Based on an experim...

  • Articles
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Covid-19 lockdown and migrant workers: Survey of vocational trainees from Bihar and Jharkhand - II

Covid-19 and the associated lockdowns have led to widespread job losses, and a subsequent exodus of migrant workers from the cities. In this note, Chakravorty et al. discuss findings from their survey...

  • Notes from the Field

Would a four-day work week benefit women?

In February 2021, the Indian government stated that it may allow firms the flexibility of having a four-day work week, while retaining the norm of 48 hours of work per week. In this post, Koustav Maju...

  • Perspectives

Can technology mitigate the impact of heat on worker productivity?

Exposure to high heat causes productivity losses, with reduction in cognitive function as a key channel. A direct reduction in heat exposure via technologies such as air conditioning is not possible f...

  • Articles

India’s new labour codes: A pre-condition for long-run growth

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has recently notified four new labour codes, which are expected to be implemented from April 2021. Assessing the impact of the policy changes around hiring-and-fi...

  • Perspectives

‘Outside’ managers’ productivity, firm dynamics, and economy growth

In developed countries, many industrial giants have humble beginnings as small, family-owned businesses, but nonetheless expand to hundreds of thousands of employees over time by relying on professio...

  • Articles

Expectations, wage hikes, and worker voice

Understanding how exit decisions of workers are affected by their ability to voice their concerns, is a central question in labour economics. Based on an experiment in 12 garment factories in Karnatak...

  • Articles

No line left behind: How firms match workers and managers

Various studies consistently affirm the importance of strong worker-manager dynamics in driving productivity. Based on analysis of worker-level productivity data, information on orders, and interviews...

  • Articles

Managerial quality and productivity dynamics

It is well known that managerial quality impacts firm productivity and growth. Which managerial skills, traits, and practices contribute most to productivity? Are all such traits easily observable? Ar...

  • Articles

Does India gain from high-skilled migration to the US?

India is the most important source of migrants globally, and the US is the main host country for its high-skilled migrants. Is the phenomenon of high-skilled emigration ‘brain drain’, or is it cre...

  • Articles

The changing task content of jobs in India

The ongoing wave of technological revolution across the globe is set to fundamentally change the way goods are produced and services are delivered. Using a task-based framework, this article seeks to ...

  • Articles

Mapping the Urban World: Integrating High-resolution Satellite Imagery and Night Light Data

This project aims to improve current approaches to chart urban extent across the globe by integrating night light (NTL) data with Landsat 30m resolution satellite images. By applying state-of-the-art ...

  • IGC Research on India

An offline alternative for Aadhaar-based biometric authentication

While decision on the constitutionality of Aadhaar by the Supreme Court of India remains a matter of speculation, it has become abundantly clear that most of the use cases for Aadhaar-based biometric ...

  • Perspectives

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Bishwanath Goldar

Institute of Economic Growth

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Apoorva Gupta

Heinrich Heine University

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Joel Stiebale

Heinrich Heine University

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Ejaz Ghani

Pune International Centre

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Surbhi Kesar

SOAS University of London

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Suhani Jalota

Stanford University

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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University of British Columbia

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Most Popular Productivity & Innovation Posts

The impact of robotisation on the world economy: A forward-looking review

Robots have long existed in human imagination and only recently in the real world. The baggage of past imagination often intrudes into our understanding of how real robots will affect our economic liv...

  • Explainers

Tripura’s bamboo sector: Potential and challenges

About a third of the total area of Tripura is covered by bamboo, and bamboo has emerged as a key thrust area for the state’s industrial development. Based on a field visit that was undertaken to stu...

  • Notes from the Field

An offline alternative for Aadhaar-based biometric authentication

While decision on the constitutionality of Aadhaar by the Supreme Court of India remains a matter of speculation, it has become abundantly clear that most of the use cases for Aadhaar-based biometric ...

  • Perspectives