Chandan Kumar Sharma

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU, India)

Partnership in development cooperation - Access to development cooperation for marginalized groups

Prof. Dr. Praveen Jha (JNU)

Trends and Patterns of Employment, Wages and Productivity in India’s Manufacturing Sector: An Analysis of Major States since the Early 1990s

My PhD thesis is related to labour issues in India's manufacturing sector. The thesis attempts to address the following questions: How has the GDP and employment structure in the Indian economy changed and how has the structure of organised and unorganised manufacturing changed with respect to gross value added, number of factories, and employment since the early 1990s? How has the employment structure changed in organised and unorganised manufacturing across the states since the early 1990s? How has the wage structure changed in organised and unorganised manufacturing across the states since the early 1990s? How have the gender wage gap and regular-contractual employment-related wage gap changed in organised and unorganised manufacturing since the early 1990s? How has the gap between labour productivity and real wage changed in organised and unorganised manufacturing since the early 1990s? While addressing these questions, the main focus is on spatial differences as there is huge variation across the states in India. Some states are very backwards while others have achieved a significant level of industrialisation.
Since industry offers high absorption opportunities for the disguised unemployed people in agriculture and acts as an engine of growth in the early phase of economic development, there has been a consistent policy focus on industrialisation since independence through five-year plans and industrial policies in India, a low-skilled labour abundant developing country. The recent policy focus can be seen through the New Manufacturing Policy 2011 and Make in India 2014, which targeted to increase the GDP contribution of the manufacturing sector from around 15% to 25% and further add 100 million jobs in the sector. This is a very ambitious task. In this context, the thesis traces out trends and patterns of employment, wages, and productivity across the states to suggest which states can be focused to achieve these targets.

• 2017: Master of Philosophy in Economics, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, with a primary focus on wage and productivity relationship in India’s organised manufacturing sector.
• 2015: Master of Arts (with specialisation in world economy), Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
• 2013: Bachelor of Arts (Honours in Economics), Shivaji College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.

• January 2021 – Present: Teaching Economics (on contract) at Ramanujan College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.
• June 2018 – July 2018: Research Associate, Ambedkar University, New Delhi India.

• Sharma, C. K. (2020). Gender bias in household’s investment in Children’s education: Evidence from Odisha, Sodh Sarita, 7(28), 65-71. (ISSN: 2348-2397).
• Sharma, C. K. (2020). Do workers gain from productivity increase? Some evidence from Indian organised manufacturing sector, 2000-01 to 2014-15. International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, 5(11), 3649-3659. (ISSN: 2455-8834).
• Sharma, C. K. (2020). National agricultural insurance scheme: Prospects, performance, and problems. International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, 5(10), 2927-2939. (ISSN: 2455-8834).
• Sharma, C. K. (2020). Effects of education on women’s decision making: A study of independence in spouse selection in India using IHDS-II dataset. International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, 5(11), 3578-3587. (ISSN: 2455-8834).
• Report on “The XXV Krishna Bharadwaj Memorial Lecture 2017” on the topic “Power – The Bête Noire in Much of Economics” delivered by Professor Heinz D. Kurz at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi on 3rd March, 2017 published in the Bimonthly Journal (March-April 2017) of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
• Report on “The XXIV Krishna Bharadwaj Memorial Lecture 2016” on the topic “Rationality and Alienation” delivered by Professor Akeel Bilgrami at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi on 11th January, 2016 published in the Bimonthly Journal (March-April 2016) of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

• July 2017 – July 2020: Senior Research Fellowship awarded by University Grant Commission, Ministry of Education, Government of India.
• July 2015 – July 2017: Junior Research Fellowship awarded by University Grant Commission, Ministry of Education, Government of India.
• July 2013- July 2015: Means-cum-merit scholarship, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.