Ajitava Raychaudhuri

OPTIMAL ENFORCEMENT AND ANTI‐COPYING STRATEGIES TO COUNTER COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT*

In this paper we study the mix of anti-copying investment strategies by an incumbent firm and the enforcement policies of a government that consists of monitoring and penalizing the copier to address the issue of commercial piracy. If monitoring is socially optimal then the subgame perfect equilibrium anti-copying investment does not guarantee the prevention of copying. If not monitoring is socially optimal then the subgame perfect equilibrium anti-copying investment may guarantee the prevention of copying.

Information technology sector in India and gender inclusivity

Purpose – This paper aims to address the issue of gender inclusivity in the information technology (IT) sector of India. The main objective of the paper is to find out the factors influencing female participation in the IT industry. It proposes some policy initiatives to support involvement of women in adequate proportion in the workforce. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a unique set of data from 63 IT companies from three big cities of Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru and Kolkata. An ordered logit model is applied to find out the determinants of female absorption in the IT industry. ANOVA is used to study the variations between and within the IT industry of female labor force participation. Findings – Result reveals that the percentage and mobility of female employees in an organization does not depend on the turnover or the total number of skilled employees in the organization. It depends on the location. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of the paper is ...

Trade, Infrastructure and Income Inequality in Selected Asian Countries: An Empirical Analysis

This paper attempts to unravel the interlinkages and interconnections among infrastructure, trade openness and income inequality, using panel data of 14 Asia-Pacific countries at different levels of development.

Development and welfare in the presence of an urban informal sector: a three-sector general equilibrium approach

Existing theoretical models on the urban informal sector (UIS) are extensions of the Harris-Todaro (H-T) framework of rural-urban migration. Thus the models are partial equilibrium in nature stressing the supply-side adjustments; and policy ranking is guided by an SWF which is solely based on greater resource utilization in terms of unemployment reduction. The present paper allows UIS development to be spontaneous, unlike most H-T-type models. The model also emphasizes that general equilibrium modelling highlights the importance of demand-side adjustments along with supply-side; and that policy ranking should try to admit the hazardous aspect of UIS which might be independent of the unemployment problem in the economy and as such makes the H-T-type model conclusions ambiguous.

Endogenous growth in a North - South framework with human capital accumulation and technology transfer

The purpose of this paper is to study the long run evolution of a world economy (divided into a North and a South) and to re-evaluate some conventional ideas regarding the inter-relation between the two economies. Here, a technologically backward South adopts the Northern technology by importing R&D-intensive intermediate inputs from the North. However the capability of its technology adoption (shown by the number of varieties of intermediate goods it uses) is constrained by its level of human capital. The results of the model suggest that (i) at the steady state, the two countries need not grow at the same rate and that the South can manipulates its own growth rate, (ii) the terms of trade (TOT) may rise, fall or remain static at the long run steady state depending on the growth rates of the two regions. A decline in the TOT of the South is associated with a higher growth rate and higher welfare (under certain conditions). This conclusion follows as a result of the incorporation of endogenous growth theory that generates increasing returns to scale through the use of different varieties of intermediate goods.

Is the Value Added Tax Reform in India Poverty-Improving? An Analysis of Data from Two Major States

The Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced in India in place of Sales Tax, taking effect in April 1, 2005. These taxes are in the domain of different state governments within the countrys federal set up. Although VAT is widely acclaimed to be a better system than the sales tax on grounds of efficiency in tax collection, no study has been undertaken to assess the impact of this reform measure on social equity. This paper addresses this need with the use of concentration curves and consumption dominance curves of various orders. The simulations were done on two major states in India, namely Maharashtra and West Bengal, using National Sample Survey Unit Level data for the 55th round. The results show that the reform is largely pro-poor, although there are ways to improve it with respect to some items predominantly consumed by the relatively poorer groups.

Determinants of Exports of Information Technology in India

The information technology (IT) sector has contributed significantly to the economic growth in India and is one of the fastest-growing export-oriented sectors in India. The objective of this article is to explore the determinants of exports of IT companies of India from 2000 to 2012 using company-level data. Applying ordinary panel data regression, the article finds that world demand and real effective exchange rate have expected signs on company exports. Surprisingly, foreign capital, which played a crucial role in IT sector development in India, has a negative coefficient, highlighting substitution relation between export and domestic demands. The dynamic panel data regression exhibits persistence of exports which acts as a moderating factor on demand fluctuations and its high impact. Further, the dynamic panel estimations clearly show the predominant influence of past exports on gross domestic product (GDP) growth in India, which makes world demand, standardized as relative to India’s GDP, inconsequential for its future exports.

Does Trade Openness Increase Wage Elasticity of Labour Demand in Indian Manufacturing Industries

This chapter estimates the effect of trade openness on wage elasticity of labour demand for both production and non-production workers in aggregate as well as disaggregate manufacturing in India during the post-reform period. Econometric estimation is carried out for a panel dataset comprising fifteen disaggregated manufacturing industries for the period 1991–2010 using dynamic panel data-estimation methods. The previous studies ignored the impact of export on wage elasticity of derived labour demand, and considered import liberalisation as the sole measure of trade liberalisation. This chapter intends to include import as well as exports measures. Here, a more comprehensive measure of trade liberalisation, trade openness index, is considered for the analysis.

Myanmar’s Growth and Employment Potential Through Trade and Investment: Some Challenging Issues

Myanmar is a late entrant in post-WTO international trade regime. As a result, although it enjoys the perceived flexibility of adjusting its heavily biased trade basket according to need, it also faces cut-throat competition from its more established neighbours. Sometimes it is believed that participation in regional economic groupings is the way out but this chapter shows that it is only a necessary condition as success in this route depends on the prior market interaction among businesses across countries. The other important aspect which is highlighted is the unambiguous role of the manufacturing activities in trade which will simultaneously create jobs since it will also give a boost to the service sector. In this context, this chapter argues that Myanmar’s participation in global or regional value chains holds the key to such development.

Structure, Conduct and Performance Analysis of Indian Commercial Banks:

The market structure, conducts and performance of the Indian banking sector have changed since the introduction of banking sector reforms. Slower economic growth, coupled with asset quality problems in recent years, has taken a toll on the overall health of the Indian banking sector. Higher statutory capital requirement under Basel III has posed another major challenge to the Indian banks. The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of structural changes and conduct of Indian commercial banks on their profitability in the paradigm of structure–conduct–performance (SCP) framework. Market concentration, bank-specific/macroeconomic variables have been considered as important determinants of the profitability. The regression results find a negative relationship between profitability and market concentration and reject SCP hypotheses. The study found that capitalization, credit risk, leverage and ownership structure are the most important determinants of the profitability of Indian banks. The study also found that financial crisis had no significant impact on the profitability of Indian banks. JEL Classification: C4, G21, G28, L19