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21. Markets and Manu: Economic Reforms and Its Impact on Caste in India

Author:
Chandra Bhan Prasad
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
In this paper, I study the impact of economic reforms in India, and its impact on the centuries-old caste order. Specifically, I argue that capitalism, like caste, is a social order and therefore uniquely qualified to subvert and destroy the caste system from the inside, as opposed to the State, which is a political order and intervenes in the caste society from the outside. The fourfold caste system in India, as preached by Manu and practised for millennia thereafter, is based on the twin principles of blood purity and occupational purity, whereas Dalits, or the untouchables, are left outside of the caste system. We surveyed the backgrounds of the employees of multinational fast-food outlet in a large mall in eastern Delhi, the capital of India, the housekeeping staff and a few street food joints just outside of the mall. We find that the new capitalist economy, with an emphasis on wealth creation, is disrupting the caste system wherein a large number of the workers at the fast food outlet are upper castes, as in the housekeeping department, effectively destroying occupational purity.
Topic:
Reform
Political Geography:
India

22. The Internationalization of Indian Companies: The Case of Tata

Author:
Andrea Goldstein
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
The Tata Group plays a central role in the Indian economy and is currently at the fore in the internationalization of Indian companies. Tata has some specific features, including the role played by Tata Sons and Tata Industries in coordinating financial and managerial activities and managing the Tata brand, as well as the strong emphasis on corporate social responsibility, mainly though not exclusively through the Tata trusts. This paper first assembles available evidence on the internationalization of Tata firms through both mergers and acquisitions and green field investments and considers the relative importance of underlying factors driving the process: market access for exports and delivery of services, sources of raw materials, and horizontal or vertical integration. It then analyzes how internationalization is changing the nature and corporate culture of Tata, before discussing the post-merger integration of Tetley into Tata Tea, seven years after this acquisition-then the largest-ever by an Indian company in a foreign country-was finalized. In the conclusions, the paper explores the implications of the Tata experience for the internationalization of large firms from India and other emerging economies.
Political Geography:
India

23. Beyond the ABCs: Higher Education and Developing Countries

Author:
Megan Crowley and Devesh Kapur
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
This paper analyzes a relatively neglected facet of the complex debate regarding human capital–higher (or tertiary) education. It addresses five broad questions examining higher education in developing countries. One, are the economic effects of higher education on developing countries different from those in industrialized countries, with its links with labor markets of lesser importance than its impact on institutional development? Two, how does the impact of higher education depend on the type of education and its beneficiaries? Three, with the state unable to meet growing demand pressures, what should be the proper role of the state to ensure not just quality but also equity and access? Four, how should countries rethink the provision of higher education in an "open economy" from seeking education abroad or encouraging foreign providers into the country or simply linking domestic institutions with foreign quality assurance mechanisms? And five, do new technologies offer developing countries a new paradigm to expand the provision of high quality but low cost higher education? The aim is not to provide categorical answers to these complex questions, but rather highlight the analytical and empirical lacuna with regard to each of these questions.
Topic:
Education
Political Geography:
India

24. Will India Emerge as an Eastern or Western Power?

Author:
Kishore Mahbubani
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
Founded in 1992, the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania is the only research institution in the United States dedicated to the study of contemporary India. A national resource, it fills an urgent need for objective knowledge of India's rapidly changing society, politics and economy, and the processes of transformation underway in an ancient civilization emerging as a major power.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
United States, India, East Asia, and Asia

25. Economic Growth and India's Future?

Author:
Joydeep Mukherji
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
Recent optimism about India is based on the view that the country may finally be on a higher growth trajectory after more than a decade of halting economic reform. Spurred by a balance of payments crisis a decade ago that pushed the government of India to nearly defaulting on its foreign debt, a series of coalition governments have slowly deregulated the once most-regulated economy outside the communist world. Over the years, the government has enlarged the role of market forces, given more freedom to the private sector, and cut barriers to domestic and foreign competition. At the same time, India's state governments have gained considerable autonomy from the central government, making India into the federal state envisaged in its constitution.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
India, East Asia, and Asia

26. India's New Entrepreneurial Classes: The High Growth Economy and Why it is Sustainable?

Author:
Sunil Bharti Mittal
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
I am Francine Frankel, director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, and it is my great pleasure this evening to introduce our speaker for CASI's Annual Lecture, Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder, chairman, and group managing director, Bharti Enterprises. I hardly need tell this audience that Bharti Tele-Ventures is India's leading telecom conglomerate and its largest mobile service operator.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
India, East Asia, and Asia

27. Indo-US Relations: Where Are They Headed?

Author:
Ronen Sen
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
I am Francine Frankel, director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India. It is a very special pleasure to extend a warm welcome to all of you for this special occasion. We are honored to welcome Ambassador of India Ronen Sen for a very unusual event. This is the opportunity to participate in a dialogue with India's most distinguished diplomat and active participant in ongoing discussions of the potential for changing the direction of India-US relations and potentially the future great power balance in Asia.
Topic:
International Relations and Development
Political Geography:
United States, India, East Asia, and Asia

28. From Estrangement to Engagement: U.S. - India Relations since May 1998

Author:
Strobe Talbott
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very, very much for coming. My name is Peter Geithner. I have the privilege of welcoming you this afternoon, but I have to confess that I'm standing in for the Chairman of the International Advisory Board of CASI, Marshall Bouton. To his great regret, Marshall has had to lead a delegation from the city of Chicago, chaired by the mayor, on an overseas trip that he simply could not change in order to be here, but he sends his warmest regards and again expresses his great regrets at not being able to be part of this event this afternoon.
Topic:
International Relations and Development
Political Geography:
United States, South Asia, India, and Chicago

29. Financial Sector Reform in India: Is There a Grand Design?

Author:
Rajrishi Singhal
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
The Planning Commission of India, in its Approach Paper for the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002- 07), set its sights on two lofty targets: doubling per capita income over the next 10 years—compared to similar goals over 20 years as was previously the norm—and reducing the incidence of poverty by five percentage points.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

30. New Horizons in United States Relations with South Asia

Author:
Christina Rocca
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:
Good afternoon and welcome. Those of you who have received the invitation will know what Ms. Rocca is engaged in and what her background is. I simply want to express my personal appreciation and delight that we are able to host Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca this afternoon. Ms. Rocca has specialized in issues relating to some of the most complex cultures and political conflicts affecting United States foreign policy right now, and as you might have noticed, her range goes from the Middle East, to Central Asia, to the Caucasus, to South Asia—and I know she has many stories she could tell us that we would love to hear.
Topic:
International Relations and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, South Asia, Caucasus, and Middle East