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1. The Changing Governance of Higher Education in India

Author:
Rafiq Dossani and Martin Carnoy
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
India's higher education system is under pressure from the State and an increasingly educated youth population to achieve multiple objectives, such as growth, quality and equitable access. To reach these political targets, national and provincial policymakers take an activist approach, such as providing adequate resources, enabling private provision of higher education, and so forth.
Topic:
Education and Governance
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

2. Social Media in the Workplace

Author:
Rafiq Dossani
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Social media refers to the information and communication technology platforms designed for real-time social interaction, such as wikis, discussion forums and blogs. These platforms are available on public sites such as Facebook and private sites such as Jive and Yammer. Some sites are more specialized in their objectives than others, eg., Linked-In's objective is to enable professionals to create and share profiles and to enable HR professionals to interact with them, while Facebook's objective is to enable information creation and interaction for more general audiences. Hence, Facebook uses a large number of platforms, such as instant messaging, event planning and image-uploading. In general, more narrow objectives usually result in the use of fewer platforms: for instance, Twitter only contains a microblog platform and YouTube contains platforms for image sharing and comments, while enterprise social network Yammer contains wikis, discussion forums, blogs, text and multi-media content sharing and more.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Science and Technology

3. Understanding the Expansion and Quality of Engineering Education in India (draft)

Author:
Rafiq Dossani, Martin Carnoy, and Jandhyala Tilak
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
This is a study of higher education and quality in one of the world's largest developing economies. India. India is already an important global economic player, and, unusual for developing countries, its success is due in part to exports of information technology services. By mid-century, India could be an economic powerhouse, but one factor influencing whether it reaches this level will be how successfully it creates quality higher education to put its labor force at the cutting edge of the information society. It is difficult to imagine large economies reaching higher stages of development in the 21st century without high levels of innovative, well-trained, politically savvy professionals.
Topic:
Education and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

4. Digitizing Services: What Stays Where and Why

Author:
Rafiq Dossani and Martin Kenney
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:
The spatial extension and deepening of capitalism has been a topic of interest to geographers, other social scientists, and activists since, at least, Lenin. This topic has reappeared on the public agenda recently under the rubric of “globalization.” Once again, the spatial redistribution of economic activities is sparking enormous controversy and opinions from nearly every philosophical position. This paper considers two dimensions of this enormous topic and argues that neither dimension has received sufficient attention from geographers. The first dimension is the role of technological advancement in transportation and communication technologies in a capitalist system. The second dimension is the development of a global division of labor in service provision.
Topic:
Emerging Markets, Globalization, and International Political Economy

5. Origins and Growth of the Software Industry in India

Author:
Rafiq Dossani
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
The paper explains the evolution of India's software industry. Domestic entrepreneurship emerges as the key factor for origination, survival and innovation in a hostile industrial policy environment. The maturing of the industry required a shift to a supportive government policy; maturation was also critically enabled by the modularization of the programming function through new technologies. These changes favored domestic firms that provided programming services. Later policy and technological changes induced transnational entry and led to higher value-added output. The paper shows that technologically sophisticated industries can develop even when many conditions typically present elsewhere are missing. We provide conditions under which this may happen and show their effect on subsequent developments.
Topic:
Industrial Policy and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
India and Asia

6. Indian Federalism and the Conduct of Foreign Policy in Border States: State Participation and Central Accommodation since 1990

Author:
Rafiq Dossani and Srinidhi Vijaykumar
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
The role of subnational units (states, provinces, cantons, Lander) in international affairs is a growing subject in the literature on federalist affairs. Scholars of political science have traditionally seen the conduct of foreign policy as the exclusive domain of the national government. This would seem an especially apt observation about India's federalist system. The Indian constitution has given the center particularly strong powers—so strong, in fact, that some have described it as “quasi federal” because of the lack of autonomy it affords to the states. Yet, there is an increasing consensus that the states have not been shy of foreign policy advocacy. Some have argued that the era of coalition governance has increased such advocacy and, potentially, influence, especially in the context of globalization and economic reform and liberalization.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

7. Prospects Brighten for Long-term Peace in South Asia

Author:
Rafiq Dossani
Publication Date:
11-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Ever since 1998, the year of India and Pakistan's nuclear tests, many commentators have argued that, in the absence of U.S. intervention, the two nations are headed for armed conflict that will likely end in nuclear war. The logic underlying this view is twofold. First, that religious radicalism—defined as the participation in political and/or military activities by groups in the name of religion—has become sufficiently powerful in Pakistan to make ongoing support for the Kashmir insurgency inevitable. Second is that India's concurrent growth of nationalism and religious radicalism, as well as a rise in economic power, will make the state less willing to tolerate Pakistan's support for insurgency in Kashmir. Against this seemingly inevitable clash, Pakistani President Musharraf is viewed as a lonely holdout against the forces of religious radicalism in Pakistan. U.S. support is therefore argued to be critical for sustaining Musharraf, whether through political support for Pakistan's policies in Kashmir, or economic support. This paper reaches a different conclusion: that peace is about to “break out” between India and Pakistan. Our conclusion is based on the following analysis. First, Islamic radicalism in Pakistan relies (and has always relied) on the army to survive, as it lacks sufficient popularity to influence state policy through political parties or popular agitation. Second, the army has previously supported Islamic radicalism tactically, but not ideologically, providing such support only when it has perceived the state to be in crisis. Contrary to a common view, the elections of 2002 were no different in this respect. Third, Hindu radicalism in India, though gaining in both popular and political support, is insufficiently popular to support irrational aggression against Pakistan. At the same time, India's improved economic prospects have influenced its rulers to favor accommodation with Pakistan. Third, the outcomes of recent elections in India and Pakistan have shifted the Pakistani army's strategic priorities toward negotiating a civilian-military balance, and away from destabilizing civilian politics through “crisis-mode” tactics that have included support for Islamic radicalism.
Topic:
Nationalism, Nuclear Weapons, and Religion
Political Geography:
Pakistan, United States, South Asia, India, Asia, and Kashmir

8. Power Sector Reforms in India: Issues Relating to Agriculture

Author:
Rafiq Dossani
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Firstly, the cost-to-serve for each category of consumer varies depending on several factors. There are technical reasons such as power factor, voltage of supply and so on which are set out in the Electricity Supply Act, 1948. There are also commercial reasons. In some situations, the total quantity of power available could not be sold, unless some categories of consumers we are charged a lower tariff. There are also considerations of equity or the need to meet the merit wants of the poorer population, which prompted differential pricing.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

9. The Next Wave of Globalization? Exploring the Relocation of Service Provision to India

Author:
Rafiq Dossani and Martin Kenney
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:
The rapid increase in the ability and desire of multinational corporations to offshore services or, what are commonly termed “business processes” to developing nations is becoming a significant international development issue. This paper utilizes a case study of India, the largest recipient of offshored services, to explain the dynamics of offshoring from the perspective of the firm and the recipient nation. The explosion of offshoring is placed within a historical context. The technologies enabling offshoring and the corporate environment are discussed. Finally, the organizational forms involved in offshoring are discussed. The conclusion considers the implications of the offshoring of services for developed and developing nations and possible policy initiatives for developing nations interested in the possibility of entering the ITES sector.
Topic:
Development, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

10. Went for Cost, Stayed for Quality?: Moving the Back Office to India

Author:
Rafiq Dossani and Martin Kenney
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Will the next great wave of globalization come in services? Increasingly, components of back-office services, such as payroll and order fulfillment, and some front-office services, such as customer care, are being relocated from the United States and other developed countries to English-speaking, developing nations—especially India, but also other nations, such as the Philippines. Though moving service activities offshore is not entirely new, the pace has quickened of late. The acceleration of this business process offshoring (BPO) is intertwined, though not synonymous, with another phenomenon, namely an increasing willingness by firms to outsource what formerly were considered core activities. It is significant that a substantial number of service activities might move offshore, because it was once thought that service jobs were the future growth area for developed country economies. Manufacturing, by contrast, would relocate to lower labor cost regions offshore. Notably, the services commonly known as “business processes” (BPs) are among the fastest growing job categories in the United States (Goodman and Steadman 2002). Should these jobs begin to move offshore, a new tendency may be under way in the global economy that will be as or more important than the relocation of manufacturing offshore, and might necessitate a rethinking of government policies across a wide spectrum.
Topic:
International Relations and Globalization
Political Geography:
United States, India, Asia, and Philippines