Indian and Chinese growth experience as case studies in the application of the E'LDMAN - Mahalanobis model strategy under a wage goods constraint

Abstract

Feldman-Mahalanobis model has played a very important role in shaping the industrialisation strategies of China and India and of course, earlier the Soviet Union. an unstated, but crucial assumptin in this model is that there exists a sufficiently large surplus of wage goods in the final/agricultural sector for the wage goods constraint not to impose limitations on the industrialisation possibilities. The paper attempts to examine the validity of this assumption in both India and China. It is argued that the wage goods constraint has been significantly constructive in both the countries. A simple theoretical model is also attempted to bring out the consequences of such a circumstances.