Anthony P. D'Costa

THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE INDIAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY: INDIAN STATE AND JAPANESE CAPITAL

Abstract This paper analyzes the changing institutional context in which the restructuring of the Indian automobile industry is taking place. It explains the internationalization of the industry under the aegis of deregulation of a heavily statist economy. Economic liberalization, however, has not resulted in withdrawal of the state from the industry. Transnational corporations have not necessarily weakened domestic capital. Instead Japanese capital and technology have transformed the industry with mixed outcomes, creating both benefits of and constraints to restructuring. The reorganization of the Indian automobile industry reflects not only global forces but rather the interplay of changing institutional factors in influencing industrial restructuring in a developing economy.

Exports, University-industry Linkages, and Innovation Challenges in Bangalore, India

The success of the Indian software industry is now internationally recognized. Consequently, scholars, policymakers, and industry officials everywhere generally anticipate the increasing competitiveness of India in high technology activities. Using a structural framework, the author argues that Bangalores (and Indias) information technology (IT) industry is predicated on an Indian business model which does not encourage thick institutional linkages such as those encapsulated by the triple helix model. Under this institutional arrangement there is cross-fertilization of new ideas and new modes of institutional interaction between industry, academia, and government. Though there are several hundred IT businesses in a milieu of numerous engineering and science colleges and high-end public sector research institutes, the supposed thick institutional architecture is in reality quite thin. This is due to a particular type of an export-oriented model which is based on off-shore development of software services, targeted mainly to the United States. Neither domestic market nor non-U.S. markets such as East Asia are pursued aggressively by Indian firms, which offer alternative forms of learning. Consequently, Bangalores dynamism in the IT industry stems from linear and extensive growth rather than nonlinear and intensive growth. The author argues that Bangalore has serious innovation challenges with weak university-industry linkages, lack of inter-firm collaboration, and the absence of cross-fertilization between the knowledge-intensive defense/public sector and the commercial IT industry. To strengthen Bangalores and Indias innovation system, the Indian business model must be reformed by diversifying geographical and product markets, stemming international and internal brain drain, and contributing to urban infrastructure.

Economic nationalism in motion: Steel, auto, and software industries in India

ABSTRACT With increasing economic interdependence, the scholarly treatment as well as the practice of economic nationalism is either seen as theoretically redundant or practically impossible. Contrary to this conclusion, I argue that economic nationalism is not inconsistent with globalization. States are not only active participants in globalization but they continue to strategically express nationalism in new global settings by supporting national firms and citizens overseas. By redefining economic nationalism from protectionism to the leveraging of national resources to secure economic benefits from the world economy, this paper provides an alternative view of economic nationalism. This paper analyzes economic nationalism as a dynamic concept. Empirically, it takes up three Indian industries (steel, auto, software) since 1950 to understand how nationalism was practiced and how it has changed under globalization. The paper establishes Indias pursuit of economic nationalism under globalization through its support of Indian businesses and citizens abroad. Though the coherence of nationalism may be weak, it can still be expressed in looser forms of national ‘presence’ abroad.

State, steel and strength: Structural competitiveness and development in South Korea

This article introduces the concept of structural competitiveness to explain the rapid development of South Korean steel industry. Three elements of structural competitiveness are: state autonomy, sound economic policy and indigenous technological capability. These elements have a significant bearing on the bargaining capacity of the state, autonomous investment decisions, labour control, the acquisition and absorption of modern technology, and ultimately international competitiveness. Global competitiveness of South Korea does not refute the technological dependence of developing countries. Rather it suggests the kind of socio‐institutional and economic policy contexts that are often necessary to foster competitive industries.

Capitalist maturity and corporate responses to economic liberalization in India: The steel, auto, and software sectors1

This paper presents the creative adjustment undertaken by some segments of the Indian corporate sector to economic reforms. While economic dynamism has been far short of expectations, the commercial maturity of Indian firms in certain segments has been noteworthy. The steel, auto, and software industries in India are examined to outline some of the broader strategies of Indian firms. The diversity of strategies reflects the evolving institutional arrangements which continue to filter, regulate, and accommodate increased market pressures in contingent ways. Moving away from the historically correct but static perception that family-owned conglomerates are non-innovative, I show that today Indian capitalists, even if family-controlled, have matured considerably. The introduction of professional management and deployment of modern technologies are indicators of greater corporate dynamism. The steel, auto, and software sectors, none of which revealed any competitive strength in the pre-reform period, are good examples of Indian firms coping with market pressures at home and taking advantage of global opportunities as well. Notwithstanding such successes, the study concludes that most Indian firms remain structurally dependent on foreign technology and constrained by limited domestic markets.

An alternative model of development? Co‐operation and flexible industrial practices in India

Going beyond the notion of macroeconomic flexibility, this paper argues that flexibility at the firm|industry level is crucial to rapid adjustment to changing economic circumstances. By examining various kinds of Japanese-type flexible industrial practices adopted by a few firms in the Indian automotive industry, I show that aside from promoting competitiveness and externalities, such practices institutionalize co-operation. Developing countries, like India, undergoing economic reforms and requiring industrial investments, need to strengthen such institutional arrangements, thereby ensuring employment security, skill development, and social stability.

COMPRESSED CAPITALISM AND DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT The global capitalist system is at a particular historical juncture with a dilution of the capitalist core away from Western (and Japanese) centers of accumulation to China and India, among other countries. What is the nature of capitalism in these countries? Are China and India going along the same development trajectories that advanced capitalist countries followed earlier? Is their accumulation model the same as that of the OECD economies or is accumulation different under late capitalism? The author argues that capitalism in India and China is “compressed,” meaning that the phases of capitalism do not follow one another in sequential order. Instead, some phases, such as primitive accumulation, may be delayed or be experienced at the same time as advanced accumulation under the corporate sector, thereby producing a mode of development that does not generate widespread employment. The author contends that capitalism in India and China is compressed and he demonstrates empirically that primitive accumulation, petty commodity producing sectors, and mature capitalism in late-industrializing countries reinforce each other, creating precarious forms of employment in the process.

Globalisation, crisis and industrial relations in the Indian auto industry

This paper examines how the pattern of investment in the Indian auto industry has changed. The author argues that the industrial relations climate has been an important determinant of that pattern. Industrial relations climate is politically and institutionally determined hence any shift in the broader capital-labour relation in the wider global economy due to globalisation is argued to be tempered by Indias particular national and local institutions governing industrial relations, unionisation, the specific trajectory of the Indian auto industry, and economic development strategies. When much of the global industry is reeling under the financial crisis, Indias industry has been expanding. However, the power of workers has been declining in conflict-ridden states just as globalisation and deregulation have hastened capital flight to more pro-business regions. The paper draws some policy implications for employment security and lessons for other countries in these turbulent times.

A new India? : critical reflections in the long twentieth century

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THE BARBARIANS ARE HERE

This article examines why Japan is not perceived to be attractive by foreign technical talent even though there is growing demand for such professionals. It examines three sets of barriers: Japanese business practices, immigration policies and social-cultural factors. Given Japans sluggish growth and demographic crisis, the study also suggests that countries and cities, when playing the globalisation game of attracting talent for national competitiveness, must balance domestic and expatriate needs. Based on both published data from Japanese and other sources as well as primary data collected through field surveys of Indian technical professionals in Japan and India, this study places Japan in the wider context of globalisation and mobility of international talent. Based on the patterns of Asian flows of talent, especially Chinese and Indian talent, the paper concludes that Japan must create a conducive professional and social environment to attract talent.