Regional Inequality in India: A Fresh Look

UC Santa Cruz Economics Working Paper No. 532; UC Santa Cruz Center for International Economics Working Paper No. 02-23

13 Pages Posted: 11 Apr 2003

See all articles by Nirvikar Singh

Nirvikar Singh

University of California, Santa Cruz

Laveesh Bhandari

Indicus Analytics; National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)

Aoyu Chen

University of California, Santa Cruz - Department of Economics

Aarti Khare

INDICUS Analytics

Date Written: December 2002

Abstract

There are concerns that regional inequality in India has increased after the economic reforms of 1991. This concern is supported by various statistical analyses. In this paper, we show that the conclusions are sensitive to what measures of attainment are used. In particular, human development indices do not show the same increase in regional inequality. Furthermore, looking at consumption and credit indicators for regions disaggregated below the state level also suggests that inequality trends may not be as bad as suggested by State Domestic Product data, although the greater strength of the economies of the western and southern states emerges in our results. Finally, we briefly discuss policy implications within the context of India's evolving federal polity.

Keywords: regional inequality, federalism, human development

JEL Classification: H73, O10, O53

Suggested Citation

Singh, Nirvikar and Bhandari, Laveesh and Chen, Aoyu and Khare, Aarti, Regional Inequality in India: A Fresh Look (December 2002). UC Santa Cruz Economics Working Paper No. 532; UC Santa Cruz Center for International Economics Working Paper No. 02-23, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=377001 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.377001

Nirvikar Singh (Contact Author)

University of California, Santa Cruz ( email )

Department of Economics
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Santa Cruz, CA 95064
United States
831-459-4093 (Phone)
831-459-5077 (Fax)

Laveesh Bhandari

Indicus Analytics ( email )

New Delhi 110 048
India

HOME PAGE: http://www.indicus.net/

National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) ( email )

Parisila Bhawan
11 - Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi, 110002
India

Aoyu Chen

University of California, Santa Cruz - Department of Economics ( email )

Social Sciences 1 rm 317
UCSC
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
United States
831-459-5077 (Fax)

Aarti Khare

INDICUS Analytics

New Delhi 110 048
India

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