The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India

46 Pages Posted: 19 May 2006

See all articles by Philippe Aghion

Philippe Aghion

College de France and London School of Economics and Political Science, Fellow; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Robin Burgess

London School of Economics (LSE) - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Stephen J. Redding

Princeton University

Fabrizio Zilibotti

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Yale University

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 2006

Abstract

This paper investigates whether the effects, on registered manufacturing output, employment, entry and investment, of dismantling the 'license raj' - a system of central controls regulating entry and production activity in this sector - vary across Indian states with different labour market regulations. The effects are found to be unequal depending on the institutional environment in which industries are embedded. In particular, following delicensing, industries located in states with pro-employer labour market institutions grew more quickly than those in pro-worker environments. Our results emphasize how local institutions matter for whether industry in a region benefits or is harmed by the nationwide delicensing reform.

Keywords: Delicensing, labour regulation, economic development

JEL Classification: O14, O18, O21

Suggested Citation

Aghion, Philippe and Burgess, Robin and Redding, Stephen J. and Zilibotti, Fabrizio and Zilibotti, Fabrizio, The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India (February 2006). CEPR Discussion Paper No. 5492, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=903402

Philippe Aghion (Contact Author)

College de France and London School of Economics and Political Science, Fellow ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Robin Burgess

London School of Economics (LSE) - Department of Economics ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://econ.lse.ac.uk/staff/rburgess/index_own.html

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Stephen J. Redding

Princeton University ( email )

Princeton, NJ 08544-1021
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.princeton.edu/~reddings/

Fabrizio Zilibotti

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Yale University ( email )

493 College St
New Haven, CT CT 06520
United States

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