Productivity Trends in India's Manufacturing Sectors in the Last Two Decades

IMF Working Papers, January 1, 2003

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Productivity Trends in India's Manufacturing Sectors in the Last Two Decades

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Bibliographic details

• Authors: Bulent Unel
• Published: January 1, 2003
• Series: IMF Working Papers
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451843996.001

Summary and main findings

• The paper investigates productivity trends in India's (registered) manufacturing sectors during the 1980s and 1990s.
• Main findings:
  • Labor and total factor productivity (TFP) growth in total manufacturing and many of the component sectors since 1980 were markedly higher than that in the preceding two decades, although the extent of the acceleration in TFP growth depends critically on the underlying assumptions about factor elasticities and the assumed structure of the production function.
  • Productivity growth for total manufacturing as well as for many subsectors picked up further after the 1991 reforms.
  • Classification of the best performing sectors and the weakest performing sectors, based on comparative TFP, remains robust to changes in underlying assumptions.

Data scope and methodological notes

• Coverage: India's registered manufacturing sectors.
• Time periods analyzed: 1980s and 1990s, with comparisons to the preceding two decades.
• Methodological caveat highlighted by the author: the measured extent of TFP acceleration is sensitive to assumptions about factor elasticities and the production function structure.

Subject areas and keywords

• Subject: Capital productivity, Economic sectors, Labor productivity, Manufacturing, Production, Productivity, Total factor productivity
• Keywords: Capital productivity, factor productivity, growth rate, Labor productivity, Manufacturing, Productivity, productivity analysis, productivity change, productivity literature, productivity performance, productivity trend, TFP contribution, Total factor productivity, WP

Content in this bundle

• Productivity Trends in India's Manufacturing Sectors in the Last Two Decades - WP/03/22
  • Productivity Trends in India's Manufacturing Sectors in the Last Two Decades - WP/03/22 (Markdown version)
  • Productivity Trends in India's Manufacturing Sectors in the Last Two Decades - WP/03/22 (PDF)