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2773 items in total found

Working Papers | 1979

Some Aspects of the Structure of Consumer Demand for Foodgrains in India

George P S

The study analyses the changes in consumption pattern of foodgrains in India during 1960-61 to 1973-74 using data from NSS rounds. The changes in per capita consumption levels, consumer price, expenditures on foodgrains, income distribution and relevant elasticities are analysed. The analysis also covers the difference in demand pattern according to urbanisation, income groups, and commodity composition of foodgrains. The analysis indicates a fall in the per capita consumption of cereals. This fall can be partially explained by the changes in the prices and income levels over this period. The changes in income distribution indicate no decline in the percentage to low income consumers in rural areas. There had been a tendency among consumers belonging to the low income groups to increase the share of coarse grains in the total consumption of cereals. Though there had been an overall reduction in the per capita consumption levels of the cereals, this reduction was least for consumers belonging to the low income groups in urban areas. This result indicates that the public distribution system, in urban areas has made some contributions in maintaining the consumption levels of the low-income groups. The study also raises some reservations on the desirability of depending on growth linkages of agricultural development as the major policy measure for improving the consumption levels of the poor.

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Working Papers | 1979

Transnational Corporations and Developing Countries: Some Issues in Industrial Policy

Paul Samuel

A variety of efforts are underway at the international level to strengthen the capability of developing countries in dealing with transnational corporations which are a global source of technology, capital, and management. It is argued in this paper that while international proposals such as the adoption of a code of conduct for TNCs are desirable, the crucial determinant of the effectiveness of host governments in dealing with TNCs will be their ability to formulate and implement deliberate and carefully worked out strategies in relation to TNCs, both at the policy and negotiating levels. The formulation of policies should be based on a careful orchestration of the national objectives relating to production, technology, and control, and take into account the indigenous strengths and resources of the country and the likely strategies TNCs might employ. Our analysis shows that policies towards TNCs which are based on uniform treatment for all or on conventional criteria such as import substitution and export promotion are inadequate and that there is a need to more consciously take into account the end uses of goods and the types of technology being imported.

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Working Papers | 1979

Use and Marketing of Plant Protection Appliances

Patel Gunvant A, Gopinath C, and Pichholiya K R

Research work is being conducted on use and marketing of plant protection appliances. The work has tried to analyse a hypothesis that the number of plant protection appliances tend to be concentrated in cash crop area and are owned by farmers with large land holding. The working paper analyses the first part of the hypothesis. The second part will be analysed after field survey data become available. Correlationship analysis was attempted from the available data of the number of plant protection appliances in the various districts of Gujarat and the factors which empirical knowledge would suggest as influencing the number of such appliances. The analyses has revealed a negative correlationship of number of such appliances with net sown area and per cent area double cropped. The correlationship with area under crops other than cotton was very small. The degree of correlationship of number of appliances and number of agricultural workers, as also per cent area irrigated was small, Highest degree of correlationship of number of appliances was with hybrid cotton.

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Working Papers | 1979

Trends in the Economic Efficiency of Indian Railways

Dholakia Bakul H

This paper aims at examining the performance of Indian railways based on the criterion of total factor productivity. The paper makes an attempt to analyse the available data on output and factor inputs to estimate the rate at which the overall economic efficiency of Indian railways has changed during the period 1950-51 to 1977-78. An attempt is also made to analyse the sources of output growth in the railways by estimating the contribution made by factor inputs and total factor productivity of the observed growth rate of net product. The main conclusion that emerges from the study is that there has been a considerable increase in the overall economic efficiency of resource utilisation in Indian railways during the period under consideration. Moreover, there has been a significant acceleration in the rate of growth of total factor productivity in the railways during the period following 1970-71 as compared to the earlier period.

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Working Papers | 1979

Academics and Rural Development - Lessons from the Dharampur Project

Vyas Vijay Shankar

There is a growing demand on the educational institutions to contribute to the development process, particularly in the rural areas. The academicians have responded to this demand in a favourable manner. In the IIMA a faculty group is working on an action research programme titled 'Rural Development for Rural Poor'. The experiences of this project have brought in relief the comparative advantages and handicaps of academics as 'activists'. Acceptability by bureaucrats and public at large, objective and independent approach to problems, freshness of outlook and approach in resolving issues, possibility of building bridges between different institutions, and capability of mobilising young and enthusiastic support, constitute favourable features of an action programme that is sponsored by the academics. At the same time the academics have serious handicaps. These include a conflict between career goals and ideological predilections; their difficulty in working as a member of team, inability to relate simultaneously to multitude of agencies and actors, reluctance to take decisions which have political connotation, and, desire to approximate the realities in the framework of a model. Some of these handicaps can be minimised and the comparative advantages be enhanced if the academicians' action is organised in a well conceived institutional framework.

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Working Papers | 1979

Measures of Efficiency for Family Planning Evaluation

Simmons George B

Working Papers | 1979

The Determinants of Family Planning Acceptance and of Worker and Organizational Performance in Rural Uttar Pradesh

Simmons Ruth, Simmons George B, Misra B D, and Ashraf Ali

Working Papers | 1979

A Generalised Scale for Pretesting Print Advertisements

Mehta Subhash C, Raju V R, and Raju V R

The Working Paper presents the findings of a research study which was initiated to develop a generalised scale which could be used to pretest an advertisement prepared by an agency or to compare alternate advertisements for the purpose of selecting the most appropriate one which best meets the objectives of the management. Six different advertisements were rated by a sample of 100 consumers each on as many as 197 different variables representing all the important dimensions on which a print ad can possibly be evaluated. These ratings were first subjected to an analysis of variance screened for variables which significantly discriminated between the 6 ads. Factor analysis with varimax rotation was conducted on the remaining variables to develop a simple structure to identify the major dimensions which are most pertinent in the evaluation of a print advertisement. The important dimension that emerged in this study were: 1. Sensuousness (Positive feelings and emotions; 2. Sensuousness (Negative feelings and emotions); 3. Credibility (Message and claims); 4. Sex Appeal; 5 Eye Appeal. A total of 21 variables were finally selected as the most relevant representation of these dimensions and these have been finally selected to form a generalised pretesting scale. The study should be viewed primarily as a demonstration of a methodology and the suggested pretesting scale may need to be further validated for any wide-scale use.

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Working Papers | 1979

Energy Economic Planning in the Developing Countries: A Cenceptual for India

Mukherjee Shishir K

Developing countries have been adversely affected by the four-fold increase in oil prices of late 1973. As Energy sectors and other economic sectors are competing for the limited investible resources, increasing energy import and development costs might constrain the economic growth rate in the developing countries in the foreseeable future. Integrated planning for energy and non-energy sectors should be given high priority in these countries to analyse energy policy and development plans within a framework of economic planning. The methodologies used for energy sector planning are not usually applicable to the developing countries due to various reasons. The present paper describes an approach for integrated Energy-Economic Planning for the developing countries and illustrates this approach in the Indian context. An Energy-Economic Planning Model is considered for India, linking a macro-economic input-output model with Energy Supply Models representing production/conversion and transportation activities and Energy Demand Forecasting Models through an Energy Impact Model. The objective is to determine optimal energy sector development plans for meeting energy demands from productive activities and final consumption, based on alternative future growth scenarios. The Impact of the energy sector on the economy would also be analysed in the Energy-Economic Modelling framework.

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Working Papers | 1979

Rural Banking in India - It Performance and Problems

Desai B M

This paper discusses in aggregate terms the performance of the formal rural financial market (RFM) in India. Considering three different aspects of this market several criteria are applied for this purpose. Thee three aspects are: (1) Sectoral mobilization of deposits and sector's contribution to national income, (2) rural loan-term structure, extent of financial independence, default rate and the distribution of rural credit and (3) purchasing power of rural credit and the distribution of benefits from the concessional lending rates among different sized farms. Considering the criteria related to the first aspect the recent performance of the RFM is impressive. However, growth in the factors associated with these criteria seems to have now stagnated. There also appear insignificant relationship of these factors with the real rate of interest. But, judged from the viewpoints of the criteria related to the second and the third aspect, the performance leaves much to be desired. The aggregate performance of the formal segment of the RFM is examined by utilizing data for 1961-62, 1967-68-69, and 1971-72 through 1976-77.

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