Table Of ContentLabour Law Reforms in India
Labour market flexibility is one of the most closely debated public
policy issues in India. This book provides a theoretical framework to
understand the subject, and empirically examines to what extent India’s
‘jobless growth’ may be attributed to labour laws. There is a pervasive view
that the country’s low manufacturing base and inability to generate jobs is
primarily due to rigid labour laws. Therefore, job creation is sought to be
boosted by reforming labour laws. However, the book argues that if labour
laws are made flexible, then there are adverse consequences for workers:
dismantled job security weakens workers’ bargaining power, incapacitates
trade union movement, skews class distribution of output, dilutes workers’
rights, and renders them vulnerable. The book:
• identifies and critically examines the theory underlying the labour
market flexibility (LMF) argument
• employs innovative empirical methods to test the LMF argument
• offers an overview of the organised labour market in India
• comprehensively discusses the proposed/instituted labour law reforms
in the country
• contextualises the LMF argument in a macroeconomic setting
• discusses the political economy of labour law reforms in India.
This book will interest scholars and researchers in economics, development
studies, and public policy as well as economists, policymakers, and teachers
of human resource management.
Anamitra Roychowdhury teaches economics at Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi, India. Previously, he taught at St. Stephen’s College,
University of Delhi. He completed his doctoral studies at Jawaharlal
Nehru University and his areas of interest include development economics,
labour economics, Indian economy and macroeconomics. He has published
a number of research articles in many renowned international and national
journals including International Labour Review, Agrarian South: Journal
of Political Economy, Economic and Political Weekly and Social Scientist.
His commentaries on contemporary economic issues have appeared in
Global Labour Column, Mainstream and Macroscan.
Critical Political Economy of South Asia
Series editors: C. P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh, both at the
Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi, India
At a time when countries of the South Asian region are in a state
of flux, reflected in far-reaching economic, political and social
changes, this series aims to showcase critical analyses of some of
the central questions relating to the direction and implications of
those changes. Volumes in the series focus on economic issues and
integrate these with incisive insights into historical, political and
social contexts. Drawing on work by established scholars as well
as younger researchers, they examine different aspects of political
economy that are essential for understanding the present and have
an important bearing on the future. The series will provide fresh
analytical perspectives and empirical assessments that will be use-
ful for students, researchers, policy makers and concerned citizens.
The first books in the series cover themes such as the economic impact
of new regimes of intellectual property rights, the trajectory of financial
development in India, changing patterns of consumption expenditure
and trends in poverty, health and human development in India, and land
relations. Future volumes will deal with varying facets of economic pro-
cesses and their consequences for the countries of South Asia.
Books in this Series
Women, Health and Public Services in India
Why are States Different?
Dipa Sinha
Labour Law Reforms in India
All in the Name of Jobs
Anamitra Roychowdhury
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.
com/Critical-Political-Economy-of-South-Asia/book-series/CRPE.
‘This excellent study skillfully combines information about labour laws
with theoretical analysis. It deserves to be read by all, researchers, politi-
cians and practitioners in the field who are not swayed by oversimplified
rhetoric of labour market reform.’
Amit Bhaduri, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi, India
‘Dr Anamitra Roychowdhury’s book Labour Law Reforms in India: All in
the Name of Jobs is a careful analysis of one of the major economic ques-
tions in recent times. After critically evaluating the voluminous literature,
the author builds formal analytical models to explain the empirical find-
ings. The book is a valuable addition to the academic and policy discourse.’
R. Nagaraj, Professor of Economics, Indira Gandhi Institute of
Development Research, Mumbai, India
‘This book alerts us that increasingly employers will offer contract rather
than permanent work. It examines the theory behind labour market flex-
ibility and offers us a macroeconomic perspective that contradicts the
one which focuses solely on the labour market without considering the
repercussions at the aggregate economy wide level. It is important reading
for those concerned about the future of livelihoods and how developing
nations should respond to that.’
Errol D’ Souza, Professor of Economics and Director,
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India
‘That the inevitable result of flexibility in the labour market – either by
legislation or by stealth – has been widening gaps in income and well-
being is now accepted by many economists with greater equanimity than
before. This book will have further sobering effect on the supporters of the
so-called labour market flexibility as it critically looks at the theoretical
arguments that provide justification for flexibility. With a balanced com-
bination of theoretical arguments and empirical evidence, the book emi-
nently accomplishes what it sets out to do – to show convincingly that the
measures advocated to make the labour market more flexible are unlikely
to produce the results they are supposed to produce.’
Achin Chakraborty, Director, Institute of Development
Studies, Kolkata, India
Labour Law Reforms
in India
All in the Name of Jobs
Anamitra Roychowdhury
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Anamitra Roychowdhury
The right of Anamitra Roychowdhury to be identified as author
of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested.
ISBN: 978-1-138-71363-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-05887-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To those who reposed faith in me:
My parents, Sipra and Tapan K. Roychowdhury, for
teaching me to look beyond the everyday;
Nivedita and Aniket, for making every day joyful.
Contents
ContentsContents
List of figures xi
List of tables xiv
Foreword xv
Acknowledgements xix
List of abbreviations xxi
Introduction 1
1 Present status of labour laws in India and their
proposed amendments 12
2 A critical examination of the labour market
flexibility debate in India 42
3 Explanation of jobless growth in Indian
manufacturing and trends in labour conditions 117
4 Identifying the theoretical structure underlying
labour market flexibility and its critical
examination 145
5 Some market clearing models on labour
market flexibility 190
6 Effectiveness of labour market flexibility in
face of effective demand constraint 238
