India: The state, globalization and industrial development in India: the political economy of regulation and deregulation

This project studies the role of the state in industrial development in India. The focus of the project is on the nature and extent of state policies and forms of regulation and intervention in industry. It focuses on overall industrial policy, but also includes a specific focus on the pharmaceutical industry. The project aims to contribute to ongoing debates about globalization, the economic role of the state and varieties of contemporary capitalism. First, the evolution of the regulation regime can be used to assess the extent to which global pressures towards convergence emanating either from world market competition or from global institutions such as the WTO and TRIPS have led to a liberalization of Indian policies and thereby to a convergence towards a liberal, market-oriented form of rule. Second, it contributes to the debates about the role of the state in promoting economic development and the viability and relevance of the idea of the developmental state in contemporary globalized capitalism. The overall conclusion is that the role of the state in India conforms neither to the market-based neoliberal model nor to the social-liberal model, where the state has an active economic role and provides a minimum level of social security to all citizens. Economic policies have been gradually liberalized, but the shift was mainly caused by internal political and economic dynamics within India, and not by a shrinking space for state intervention resulting from global integration.However, India still remains one of the least economically liberalized countries in the world. State ownership is still prevalent, both in industry and in finance, and significant forms of non-liberal regulation persist. At the same time, there has not been a broad movement to oppose liberalisation. We link this lack of mobilization to the fact that the vast majority of Indians rely on the informal sector for their livelihood. Workers in informal employment are less affected by official economic policies. While there have been local protests, especially related to land acquisition and dispossession, there has not been a broad mobilization against economic liberalization.

Why have some states been able to promote rapid industrialization and economic growth and not others? This is one of the key questions facing students of political and economic development. This project will study the role of the state in industrial devel opment in India. The focus of the project will be on the nature and extent of state policies and forms of regulation and intervention in industry. The project aims to contribute to ongoing debates about globalization, the economic role of the state and va rieties of contemporary capitalism. The project aims to contribute to ongoing debates about globalization, the economic role of the state and varieties of contemporary capitalism. First, the evolution of the regulation regime can be used to assess the e xtent to which global pressures towards convergence emanating either from world market competition or from global institutions such as the WTO and TRIPS have led to a liberalization of Indian policies and thereby to a convergence towards a liberal, market -oriented form of rule. Second, it can illuminate forms of institutional variation of capitalist organization. And finally, the project can contribute to the debates about the role of the state in promoting economic development and the viability and relev ance of the idea of the developmental state in contemporary globalized capitalism.