Human Capital and Development

 The papers included in this volume cover several aspects of human capital. It starts with the role of human capital in influencing productivity, employment and growth of employment. The chapters show that Indian States that have been neglecting schooling and health facilities have become victims in terms of low productivity and lower rates of employment. Consequently, employment cannot be increased without spending on education and health. Furthermore, the unorganised sector in India cannot provide gainful employment as productivity in this sector is low and is also declining. Skill intensity influences mainly productivity in the organised sector. As a result, states that have been neglecting human capital would lose on both counts. The chapters also reveal that human capital could be substituted for energy use and help in reducing energy consumption and pollution. India is also one of the important exporters of human capital and the non resident Indians send remittances back to India. The volume indicates that remittances play a significant role in poverty reduction and increase in per capita consumption levels. In addition remittances, unlike foreign direct investments and portfolio investments, are less erratic and are not influenced by slowdown in the world economy. Poverty could also be directly attacked through the use of anti poverty programmes like NREGA. This volume provides an analytical framework and a theoretical model to analyse the impact of these programmes to examine their influence on labour demand, income, prices and productivity. The volume also emphasises the crucial role of the government in directly running education institutions. As seen from the volume government run engineering institutions are technically more efficient than the private run ones.

N. S. Siddharthan retired as Professor and Head, V.K.R.V. Rao Centre for Studies in Globalisation, Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi, and is currently Honorary Professor at the Madras School of Economics, Chennai and Honorary Director, Forum for Global Knowledge Sharing. His current research interests include technology and globalisation, international economics, multinational corporations, and industrial organisation. His latest published works include Changing Policy Regimes and Corporate Performance (co-authored with B.L. Pandit, OUP, 2009) and High-tech Industries, Employment and Global Competitiveness (co-edited with S.R. Hashim, Routledge, 2008) among others. K. Narayanan is Institute Chair Professor & Head, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. His research areas are development economics, industrial economics, international business, industry–environment linkages, socio-economic impacts of climate change. His recent publications include research papers in Technovation, Oxford Development Studies, International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, and Indian and Chinese Enterprises: Global Trade, Technology and Investment Regimes (co-edited with N. S. Siddharthan, Routledge, 2010).