From 'Hindu Growth' to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition

Abstract

Most conventional accounts of India's recent economic performance associate the pick-up in economic growth with the liberalization of 1991. This Paper demonstrates that the transition to high growth occurred around 1980, a full decade before economic liberalization. We investigate a number of hypotheses about the causes of this growth - favourable external environment, fiscal stimulus, trade liberalization, internal liberalization, the green revolution, public investment - and find them wanting. We argue that growth was triggered by an attitudinal shift on the part of the national government towards a pro-business (as opposed to pro-liberalization) approach. We provide some evidence that is consistent with this argument.

Keywords: India, economic growth, liberalization

JEL Classification: O40, O50