Event

Event

Indian Economic Association

106th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEA 2023

Venue:

KIIT - Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology University

Bhubaneswar, Odisha


 
Dates: 27th - 29th December 2023
 

"Details of the Conference arrangements (venue, registration, reception, accommodation, boarding, excursion., etc., ) members are advised to contact the Local Organizing Secretary on the above mentioned address. For more details log on to http://indianeconomicassociation1917.com"

 
OVERARCHING THEME
Indian Economy @ 75 and @ G20 Approaches to Atmanirbhar Bharat

Indian Economy is 75 years’ old. During this period, the economy has not only grown, it has diversified the production base with implications for employment and output and the economy has been working with a globalised world for more than three decades now. The issue of social safety nets and the distribution of the benefits of growth to the bottom layers of the income and wealth distribution have evoked interest in contemporary discussions of the Indian economy. An assessment of the successes and challenges faced by the economy is an important task before professional economists and the present conference is dedicated to this task. The major sectors and areas in which the economy has progressed and faced new challenges over the period are chosen for in-depth analysis during the conference.

Economic development in India over the last seven decades has evoked tremendous, yet mixed, response from economists, as the analysis of different dimensions of its development have provided interesting insights to our understanding of the intricacies of development process of a less developed economy. Researches on Indian economy have generated also very interesting counterexamples to theoretical development economists, most of whom have tried to provide general propositions regarding how development takes place and draw policy conclusions based on such general principles. The difficulty of such blanket generalization is that that the outcomes do not often match with what the theory predicts, and policy interventions often provide wrong signals and create distortions. The experiences of Indian economic development over the decades provide ample evidences of mismatch between theory and practice, but there are shifts in development thinking and policy visions from time to time in response to crisis or aberrations that are observed during the course of India’s development. Also, the relative position of Indian economy in the global set up has undergone sea-changes over the years, and it is imperative to assess the strengths and challenges of our economy in the global context , and suggest ways to move further ahead.

The theme of the Conference is Indian Economy @ 75 and @G20: Approaches to Atmanirbhar Bharat. Two major milestones have been picked up to visualize the deviations from the targets and the revisions in strategies over the year. The first one is the completion of 75 years of the working of the Indian economy, and second is India’s receiving the prestige of Chairmanship of the Group of 20 nations in the world. While the first landmark induces us to look to the performance of the economy and its structural transformations over paradigms, actual growth behaviours and sectoral shifts, income distribution , poverty and deprivations, openness, liberalization, employment etc, the second one provides the opportunity to place in economy in global perspective, such that we can view the global standing of the economy and the emerging trends in the coming years.

In the context of the Pandemic driven distress in the Indian economy, and our quest for way out, Hon’ble Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi on 12th May, 2020 gave a clarion call to the nation to kickstart the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan and announced the special economic and comprehensive package towards achieving this vision of progress. This term connotes to a wonderful opportunity to revive and rejuvenate the Indian economy. The word atmanirbhar means self-sufficiency, and in the economic discourse there had been a vast literature on self-sufficient import substituting industrialization as a strategy of development for the developing economies. Such a strategy, in its various forms, were pursued in many developing nations including India during 1950s through to 1980s, perhaps using the ‘infant industry’ argument for protection. There are several difficulties and costs associated with the adoption of such an import substitution policies as the Indian experience amply demonstrates. In general, the basic problem boils down to the fact that the infants often refuse to grow and pressurize for the continuation of protection in various forms, and often such pressures are difficult to sustain on pure economic grounds. That does not, however, mean that no indigenous industry or corporate could grow during such protected regimes and there are plenty of evidence of this fact too. Since 1991, Indian economy has moved with a shift of its development paradigm in favour of economic liberalization which gives maximum emphasis or support to market-based reforms. Yet we cannot afford to loose our competitiveness based on prior public investment in different sectors of the economy. To come out of the deceleration experienced by the Indian Economy due to the Pandemic Shocks, we need to combine several strategies to revive growth in output, employment and enhance well beings of the people. In general, we need to outline the process of progress and pitfalls of the development of our economy through alternative pathways to gravitate towards the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. With rising unemployment and rising inflation, the deprivation induced difficulties of the poor and marginalized population in our economy have aggravated, with important implications for the future growth prospects of the economy, in an environment of global economic volatility and recession. (Read More.... on Newsletter 2023)

  • THEME - 1 Growth and Structural Change  ( Click to Read More )
    • Indian economy and its sectors over the last 75 years have grown over the years, and there are regional dispersal of such growth patterns. There are methodological debates and search for causality of the transition from ‘Hindu Rate of Growth’ to double-digit growth trajectory, as the economy progressed from import-substituting close economy environment to global integration through policies of economic liberalization. There has been also changes in the structure of production of the economy from agriculture dominated economy to service sector led growth and recent researches have identified the nature of structural breaks in the time series and the different causes of such breaks.

      SUB-THEMES

      1. a. Growth Pattern and its acceleration from ‘Hindu’ rate of growth to double-digit growth of the economy;
      2. b. Regional patterns of growth and their implications;
      3. c. Sectoral patterns of growth and the Kuznets hypothesis;
      4. d. Structural breaks in sectoral GDP series and their proximate causality- demand linkages or technological change.
  • THEME - 2 Inequality and Poverty ( Click to Read More )
    • For economic transformation, India should prepare for increasing urbanisation and raise quality of living in urban areas. SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) also include urbanization challenges. The Goal no. 11 of SDGs deal with sustainable cities. Some of the challenges of urbanisation are: creation of adequate urban housing and office space; prevention of slum creation; reducing air pollution, municipal solid waste management; provision of greenery and common spaces for outdoor activity; provision of health, education, nutrition, electricity, water and sewage; and provision of a vibrant transportation system. Migration is another challenge in urban areas.

      SUB-THEMES

      1. Urban Housing
      2. Urban Housing
      3. Efficient Public and Private Transportation
      4. Reducing Air Pollution and Preparing for Climate Change
      5. Redevelopment of Slums
      6. Health, Nutrition and Education
      7. Safe Drinking Water and Solid Waste Management
      8. Rural-Urban Migration
      9. Urban Planning, Smart Cities And Urban Development
      10. Manufacturing and Services
  • THEME - 3 Employment and Labour Market Discrimination ( Click to Read More )
    • The development of efficient banking and financial sector is crucial for economic growth and equity. High non-performing assets of banks (NPAs), low credit growth, problems of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are some of the reasons for economic slowdown in the country. India recently completed 50 years of bank nationalization. There has been some consolidation in public sector banking.

      NPA’s of banks have been increasing particularly since 2013. After demonetisation, banks have to lend to large amounts to NBFCs. They borrowed short term credit and started lending to long term infrastructure and real estate. With the crisis in ILFS (Infrastructure leasing and financial services), there has been liquidity crisis for NBFCs. It led to decline in consumption of the economy. Cooperative banks also faced problems as shown by the recent crisis in Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative bank. There is a need for better corporate governance in banks, NBFCs and cooperative sector. Information technology should be used for improving efficiency in banking and financial services. The government has taken some steps to revive banking and financial sector including recapitalisation of public sector banks. It also introduced insolvency and banking code which helps in insolvency resolution in a time bound manner. Credit growth for MSME sector also has to be increased. Improvement in financial inclusion also helps the economy.
      SUB-THEMES

      1. NPAs and Revival of Banking Sector
      2. Measures to Improve Non-Banking Financial Companies
      3. Cooperative Banking Problems and Solutions
      4. Credit to Agriculture and MSMEs
      5. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
      6. Technology and Financial Sector
      7. Financial Inclusion
  • THEME - 4 Monetary Policy in India ( Click to Read More )
    • The widening of inter-regional disparities in recent times has been well recognised. All the earlier five year plans and the present NITI Aayog stressed the importance of balanced regional development. Policies were designed to provide more investments to the relatively backward areas. In spite of these policies, the existence of regional disparities is a serious problem in India. The degree of control of central government declined in many areas due to deregulation in many sectors of the economy. Various finance commissions also encouraged incentives for reduction in regional disparities.

      State governments can take more initiatives for economic development now than before. Also, the role of private sector is becoming more important as compared to the public sector. Apart from central government interventions, state level policies are crucial for attracting domestic and foreign investments. The role of public policy is also vital for reducing regional disparities. In this context, it would be interesting to look at changes in inter-state and intra-state disparities and suggest policies for balanced regional development.

      SUB-THEMES

      1. Disparities in Economic Development
      2. Social Development across Regions
      3. Poverty and Inequality Disparities
      4. 15th Finance Commission Recommendations and Regional Development
      5. Regional Pattern of Employment and Migration
      6. Infrastructure Development across Regions
      7. Case Studies of Selected States Including Intra-State Disparities
      8. Public Policies for Reduction of Regional Disparities
  • THEME - 5 Productivity and Growth in the Indian Manufacturing  ( Click to Read More )
    • Providing quality education is the key for raising human development in India. The goal on education under the SDGs requires ensuring inclusive and quality education for all. Improving learning outcomes in education is an important part of this goal. It creates equality of opportunity for all sections of the population. This is also important for reducing labour market inequalities. The government has prepared a new National Education Policy (NEP) for both school and higher education. One needs to examine the policies suggested by NEP. The draft report also mentions the need for higher public expenditure at about 6 per cent of the GDP on education. The NEP argues for transforming India’s higher education system to one of the globally best educational system. It also proposes to establish the National Research Foundation to fund, coordinate and promote research in the country. There is a need to suggest policies for improving quality in both school and higher education.

      Technologies are important to improve education and skills of the population. We have to be ready to approach a fourth industrial revolution which includes advanced manufacturing, quantum engineering, 3D printing and robotics. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can improve the quality of education. The new technologies can also raise the skills of the population.

      SUB-THEMES

      1. Raising Quality of School and Higher Education
      2. New Education Policy and School Education
      3. Higher Education in New Education Policy
      4. Role of Private and Public Schools in Education
      5. Privatisation of Higher Education
      6. Financing School and Higher Education
      7. Education for Disadvantaged Groups of the Population
      8. New Technological Revolution and Reforms in Education
      9. Exporting of Educational Services
  • THEME - 6 Trade and Openness ( Click to Read More )
    • Nationalization of Banks in 1969 played an important developmental role in the last 50 years including financial inclusion. In recent years public sector banks have been suffering from high NPA and twin balance sheet problem. To resolve the crisis, Government has announced bank recapitalization programmes and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

      SUB-THEMES

      1. Credit Growth: household sector;micro , small and medium enterprises and large enterprises
      2. Public Sector banks and financial sector vulnerabilities
      3. Financial literacy, financial Inclusion and consumer protection
      4. Changing consumer dynamics and digitalization in banking sector
      5. Regulatory lapses and organizational shortcomings in banking sector
      6. Rising Non-performing Assets of Scheduled commercial Banks
      7. Twin balance sheet problem of banking crisis
      8. Bad loans, cyber threats and Bank frauds
      9. Bank recapitalization
      10. Insolvency bankruptcy code
      11. Financial sector reforms – need for integrated approach between different sectors
      12. Rationale for privatization of banks
 
 

SPECIAL SESSION ON ECONOMY OF RAJASTHAN
The special session of the 106th Annual Conference will deal with the economy of Rajasthan. Papers on the same would be invited and are to be sent directly to the convener of this session.

CONVENER

Dr.S.S.Somra

Convener, Special Session on Economy of Rajasthan & Local Organizing Secretary, 106th Annual Conference
Head Department of Economics,
University of Rajasthan,
Jaipur-302004.
Phone: 9414654360
E-Mail: drsssomra@gmail.com

 
 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
LAST DATE OF SUBMISSION OF PAPERS

Papers must reach latest by 15th March 2021. Papers received after the last date will not be considered for publication in the Special issue of the Journal.
Papers submitted by members after the due date may be allowed to present only after getting permission of the Chair.

SIZE OF PAPER AND NUMBER OF COPIES
The paper should be in about 3000 words typed in Times New Roman font 12 in 1.5 space, with an abstract of 500 words. Papers without abstracts will not be considered for publication. Articles should be typed in MS-WORD only. Research Papers on other formats, like pdf will not be considered. Kindly mention your date of birth in your forwarding letter for the easy separation of papers for selecting awards.

Online paper submission is compulsory. While uploading papers online in the portal provided in the website www.indianeconomicassociation1917, authors have to keep in mind the following points.

 
 

The title page should remain separate from the manuscript throughout facilitating double blind review. The manuscript should not contain any identity of the author. The title page should contain:

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THE PAPER WRITERS

  1. The manuscript title
  2. All authors' names and affiliations
  3. A complete address for the corresponding author, including mobile number and e-mail address acknowledgements if any
  4. Identify which authors will present and/or attend, to the best of your knowledge as of the date of submission;
  5. A commitment of each presenter to register by deadline, November 30, 2020; registration portal will be opened on 6th October immediately after the notification of accepted papers in the website.
  6. Identify up to three content area keywords and one methodological keyword.
  7. Confirm that you have not submitted more than 2 submissions on which you are the lead author.
  8. Confirm that you will present at the time, date, and format scheduled by IEA.
  9. The registration fee of the IEA members is Rs.2500 and accompanying persons without IEA membership is Rs.5000.
  10. Identify if the first author is a student and whether this conference will be the student’s first IEA conference.
  11. The paper contributors, including co-authors, need to also mention in their forwarding letters their Membership Number. The latest IEA’s Membership Profile 2019 will be available at IEAs Website indianeconomicassociation1917.com for your ready reference. New applicants must mention “membership applied for” (along with the category of membership—annual or life) in the forwarding letter. Papers without membership numbers of authors and co-authors will not be considered.
  12. The manuscript should be in English and checked for grammar and language errors.
  13. All contributors included in your paper should properly acknowledge with referencing and citations and the accepted style of referencing.
  14. Papers will be selected on the double-blind peer-reviewing process which will ensure that you receive developmental feedback on your paper. If the reviewers suggest advanced revisions, authors will be provided more time to revise the manuscript. In such a scenario, the publication of the manuscript will be pushed to the abstract form.
  15. Tables, figures, and images should be properly named and of good quality.
  16. Respond to the call for reviewers to which you will proceed following completion of your submission/s.

A hard copy of the paper containing a separate title page and manuscript as instructed earlier along with a CD should be sent to the General Secretary, latest by 31st August 2020 on the addresses given below.