Understanding Indian economic growth: some observations

Abstract

The history of economic growth after independence in India has been an active field of empirical research leading to debates on effectiveness of policy regimes. The latest contribution by Balakrishnan and Parameshwaran (henceforth B-P, 2007), published in EPW on July 14, applying the state of the art statistical techniques to find breakdates in the time trend of the gross domestic product (GDP) endogenously, is a welcome addition to this literature. The purpose of this note is to consider a few findings of earlier studies (missed out by B-P 2007) and thereby add to our outstanding of Indian economic growth. Had B-P gone back to 1992 for selecting their references, they would have found at least three studies directly relevant to their methodology and findings.