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Informal Economy in India: Persistence and Meagreness

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Abstract

This article offers an estimate of the informal sector in non-agricultural activities in the rural and urban areas. It brings out the supply-push segment within the informal sector. The findings of micro-surveys are utilized to construct the well-being index of the households, the members of which are largely engaged in the informal sector. Findings from the qualitative survey are also cited to understand how contractualization and ancillarization have impacted on the work practices and performance of the informal sector. Finally, the article looks into policy issues.

Originally published in Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 4 No. 2 Copyright 2015 © Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South (CARES), New Delhi. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holders and the publishers, SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This project and survey sponsored by UNDP-GOI were undertaken by the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi.

  2. 2.

    The clusters act as political vote banks and in return, they are assured of legal tenure and accessibility to basic amenities.

References

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Correspondence to Arup Mitra .

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Mitra, A. (2021). Informal Economy in India: Persistence and Meagreness. In: Jha, P., Chambati, W., Ossome, L. (eds) Labour Questions in the Global South. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4635-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4635-2_11

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-33-4634-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-33-4635-2

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