The study utilizes data on major Indian states for 1980-2004 to explore the impact of political competition on state-level income and fiscal variables. The findings suggest that increase in political competition leads to an increase in state per capita income and growth. Focusing on fiscal...

The singular contribution of SMEs is on account of their unique characteristics .Their role in economic activity is manifest in both tangible and intangible ways. If this contribution is to be sustained, then their uniqueness needs to be nurtured in an overt and explicit manner. The Indian...

This paper undertakes an econometric analysis of the constellation of factors that serve to determine some outcomes with respect to demography and to schooling in India. These are: the numbers of pregnancies, live births and infant survivals to women and the chances of children being enrolled at...

This paper uses some available but not necessarily commonly known information on Indian business groups as the basis for interrogating some of the recent analysis of the business group in developing countries, analysis which seeks to explain why such groups exist and their consequences. The...

This paper attempts to identify the important determinants of foreign institutional investments (FII) into India. The issue is extremely important for contemporary policy making since managing the large foreign inflows into India in recent times has come to haunt both the RBI and the Government....

According to economic theory, there are at least three indicators of excess capacity in banking: (a) low loan-to-asset ratio, (b) low profitability and (c) high per unit operating expense. If excess capacity exists, it will be easiest to identify, through these indicators, at regional rural...

The paper examines the process of banking sector reforms in India. It notes the beneficial impact to the financial system consequent upon the reforms and highlights the current weaknesses in the banking system. Against this background, the paper identifies the emerging challenges and discusses...

The capital structure of a company consists of a particular combination of debt and equity issues to relieve potential pressures on its long-term financing. To examine such issues, many theories have been developed in the literature and they generally focus upon what determinants are likely to...

Inflation, especially the food inflation has become a major economic challenge for the public policy in the contemporary India. Inflation pressure on food products is caused by interplay of multiple factors. The literature has identified various sources of food price inflation that included...

Most countries of the world are reducing infant and child mortality too slowly to meet the Millennium Development Goal of a two-thirds reduction by 2015. Yet, some countries and regions have achieved impressive reductions, Kerala in India being one example. This paper examines the determinants...