Sacchidananda Mukherjee

Is Economic Growth Sustainable? Environmental Quality of Indian States Post 1991

This study attempts to investigate the relationship between Environmental Quality (EQ) and per capita NSDP (i.e., Environmental Kuznets Curve, EKC) of 14 major Indian States, in the light of their high economic growth in the post-liberalisation period. The analysis involves first ranking the States on the basis of their EQ, and then checking the relationship. The results indicate that the relationship between EQ and per capita NSDP is slanting S-shaped. Except Bihar, all the States are on the upward sloping curve of the EKC. The results suggest that the economic growth is mostly at the cost of EQ.

Environment, human development and economic growth: a contemporary analysis of Indian states.

This study investigates the relationships among Environmental Quality (EQ), Human Development (HD) and economic growth for 14 major Indian States. To capture the temporal aspects of EQ, the sample period is divided to Period A (1990-1996) and Period B (1997-2004). For both the subperiods, 63 environmental indicators have been clustered under eight broad environmental groups and an overall index of EQ is created using HDI methodology. Ranking of the States across different environmental criteria (groups) shows that different States possess different strengths and weaknesses in managing various aspects of EQ. The test for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis indicates non-linear relationship between several individual environmental groups and per capita income. The regression results involving individual environment groups and HDI score indicate slanting N-shaped relationship. On the basis of the obtained results, this paper concludes that individual States should adopt environmental management practices based on their local environmental information.

Ground Water Pollution and Emerging Environmental Challenges of Industrial Effluent Irrigation: A Case Study of Mettupalayam Taluk, Tamilnadu

Industrial disposal of effluents on land and subsequent pollution of groundwater and soil of surrounding farmlands – is a relatively new area of research. Environmental and socio-economic aspects of industrial effluent irrigation have not been studied as extensively as domestic sewage based irrigation practices, at least for developing countries like India. Disposal of treated and untreated industrial effluents on land has become a regular practice for some industries. Industries located in Mettupalayam taluk, Tamilnadu dispose their effluents on land, and the farmers of the adjacent farmlands have complained that their shallow open wells get polluted and also the salt content of soil has started building up slowly. This study attempts to capture the environmental and socio-economic impacts of industrial effluent irrigation in different industrial locations at Mettupalayam taluk through primary surveys and secondary information. This study found that continuous disposal of industrial effluents on land, which has limited capacity to assimilate the pollution load, has led to groundwater pollution. Ground water quality of shallow open wells surrounding the industrial locations has deteriorated, and the application of polluted groundwater for irrigation has resulted in increased salt content of soils. In some locations drinking water wells (deep bore wells) also have high concentration of salts. Since the farmers had already shifted their cropping pattern to salt tolerant crops (like jasmine, curry leaf, tobacco etc.) and substituted their irrigation source from shallow open wells to deep bore wells and/or river water, the impact of pollution on livelihood was minimised. It is observed that with the rise in concentration of electrical conductivity of groundwater samples, revenue from banana cultivation (in Rs. per acre) has gone down. However blending open well water with the river water and/or water from deep bore wells has arrested the fall in revenue. For salt tolerant crop like jasmine, the rise in EC did not seem to have significant impact on productivity. Since the local administration is supplying drinking water to households the impact in the domestic sector has been minimised. It has also been noticed that in some locations industries are supplying drinking water to the affected households. However, if the pollution continues unabated it could pose serious problems in the future.

Political Competition and Human Development: Evidence from the Indian States

Abstract Recently, it has been argued that political competition may have similar effects on economic performance as it does on market competition. This study empirically examines this proposition by linking political competition with the Human Development Index (HDI) of the Indian states. The findings suggest that politically-competitive governments perform well along the HDI. A more detailed analysis also shows that rural India benefits most from the intense political competition compared to urban India. We also found that if the same government rules a state for a relatively long period, it helps the state to achieve a higher HDI score. Increasing voter participation is found to be positively associated with HDI score, but this finding is confined to the sample of major Indian states. Increasing public spending on developmental activities is also found to have a positive and significant effect on HDI performance.

Is There Any Interdependence between Economic Growth and Human Development? Evidence from Indian States

This paper attempts to analyse the evolving relationship between economic growth and human development for 28 major Indian states during four time periods ranging over the last two decades, viz. 1983, 1993, 1999-2000 and 2004-05. The objective of this exercise is to understand whether per capita income (as an indicator of economic growth) is influenced by human development and vice versa across Indian states. The National Human Development Report 2001 methodology has been applied for constructing the Human Development Index (HDI) for the Indian states. The HDI has been constructed separately for rural and urban areas for each of the states in order to highlight the importance of rural–urban disparity in determining human development. The result indicates that per capita income is not strictly being translated into human well-being, which should be an area of concern for the policy-makers. The obtained result also indicates the rising influence of other variables in the determination of the HD achievements of a state.

Is There any Relationship Between Economic Growth and Human Development? Evidence from Indian States

The paper attempts to analyse the relationship between economic growth and human development for 28 major Indian States during four time periods ranging over last two decades: 1983, 1993, 1999-00 and 2004-05. To construct Human Development Index for Indian States, we consider the National Human Development Report 2001 Methodology. The objective of this exercise to understand at what degree and extent the per capita income (as an indicator of economic growth) has influenced the human development across Indian States. To understand the rural – urban disparity in the achievement of human development, the Human Development Index is constructed for rural and urban areas separately for each of the States. The result shows that that per capita income is not translating into human well being. This perhaps in another way might signify the rising influence of other variables in determination of the HD achievements of a state. The result shows the need for further investigation to determine the underlying factors (other than per capita income) which influence HD achievements of a State.

Fiscal Subsidies and Environmental Sustainability: What does the Cross-country Empirical Estimates Suggest?

A number of developed as well as developing countries provide subsidies to domestic players, leading to overproduction and over-exploitation of natural resources, which pose a serious threat to environmental sustainability. The analysis in this article attempts to understand the role of government budgetary subsidies on the overall environmental performance index through panel data model estimation for a set of 74 countries over an 11-year period (2000–2010). The empirical findings confirm the theoretical prediction that subsidies lead to environmental degradation, which is of particular concern for developing countries.

The Relationship between Trade, Investment and Environment: Some Empirical Findings

The interlinkage between economic openness and environmental repercussions is a widely researched area. The current study contributes in the existing pool of research by conducting a cross-country empirical analysis for the year 2008 by exploring the interrelationship between openness indicators (trade and investment) and environmental performance of a country. For this purpose, the analysis separately considers export orientation, import orientation, FDI inwardness and FDI outwardness of the countries in different variations of the proposed empirical model. The regression results do not provide strong support to the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH). The findings also confirm a relationship between socio-economic and socio-political factors in a country and its environmental performance. JEL Classification Codes: F18, F21

Environment, Human Development and Economic Growth After Liberalisation: An Analysis of Indian States

Economic growth does not necessarily ensure environmental sustainability for a country. The relationship between the two is far more complicated for developing countries like India, given the dependence of a large section of the population on natural resources for livelihood. Under this backdrop, the current study attempts to analyze the relationships among Environmental Quality (EQ), Human Development (HD) and Economic Growth (EG) for 14 major Indian States during post liberalisation period (1991-2004). Further, for understanding the changes in EQ with the advancement of economic liberalisation, the analysis is carried out by dividing the sample period into two: Period A (1990–1996) and Period B (1997–2004). For both the sub-periods, 63 environmental indicators have been clustered under eight broad environmental groups and an overall index of EQ using the HDI methodology. The EQ ranks of the States exhibit variation over time, implying that environment has both spatial and temporal dimensions. Ranking of the States across different environmental criteria (groups) show that different States possess different strengths and weaknesses in managing various aspects of EQ. The HDI rankings of the States for the two periods are constructed by the HDI technique following the National Human Development Report 2001 methodology. We attempt to test for the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis through multivariate OLS regression models, which indicate presence of non-linear relationship between several individual environmental groups and per capita net state domestic product (PCNSDP). The relationship between EQ and economic growth however does not become clear from the current study. The regression results involving individual environment groups and HDI score indicate a slanting N-shaped relationship. The paper concludes that individual States should adopt environmental management practices based on their local (at the most disaggregated level) environmental information. Moreover, since environmental sustainability and human well-being are complementary to each other, individual States should attempt to translate the economic growth to human well-being.

Can Economic Development Influence General Election Outcomes? Evidence from Consumption Expenditure Trends of Indian States

Abstract India left aside the economic philosophy of the import-substitution-led growth model in 1991, and increasingly integrated itself with the world economy. 1 1 The views expressed by the authors are personal and in no way represent the same of their respective institutes. While the country’s GDP growth is commendable in global comparison, devolution of actual development at the state level is a relevant research question. It is argued that India’s poor growth prospect in recent times is a result of the counterproductive policies adopted over the last decade, particularly since 2009. The present analysis contributes to this debate by exploring two key questions. First, it enquires how the government’s social sector policies, measured by inflation-adjusted average per capita social sector expenditure (PCSSE) and per capita grants-in-aid disbursement (PCGAD), contribute to economic development, as reflected through inflation and inequality-adjusted monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE), across various states over the last two decades. Second, the paper also attempts to explain the influence of development dynamics, as reflected through growth in MPCE, on general election outcomes. The analysis indicates that government policies in the social sector influence the development process, which in turn may affect general election outcomes. Given these findings, it is argued that there is room for introspection on recent restructuring of centre–state financial devolutions.