ICTs and Indian Economic Development: Economy, Work, Regulation

The enormous potential of ICTs to fundamentally transform the nature of economic growth and development has induced both wide-ranging hopes and apprehensions. While debates on these issues in the context of advanced market economies are relatively old, their significance for low-income economies, like India and China, is only beginning to be appreciated now. This pioneering volume gives a comprehensive overview of the diverse linkages between ICTs and Indian economic development. Providing an excellent analysis of the macro-economic dimensions of these linkages, the contributors discuss questions such as: Can the growth be sustained? How far can an ICT revolution go towards modernizing India’s economy? What is the capacity of ICTs to prepare the conditions for rapid social and economic change? Can India navigate all the pitfalls and hazards and retain its current competitive advantage in the field of ICT? Collectively, the 14 papers in this volume: Provide a systematic overview of the major developments and trends in the Indian ICT sector, especially with regard to the production and diffusion of ICTs. Investigate the dynamism of the IT sector and whether it has contributed to economic development in any significant measure. Assess the role of the state and of government policy and regulation, particularly with regard to the opportunities for shaping the future of this sector. Examine the location of the Indian software sector in the global value chain. Explore the processes of the restructuring of work and employment in the wake of the IT revolution. Set the Indian experience in a wider context through a discussion of the Chinese experience, along with a comparative analysis of ICT clusters in the two countries. Lucidly written and based on up-to-date empirical information, this volume will be of particular use to students of information systems and technologies, technology and development, international development and public policy. It will be of equal interest to scholars of development studies, and science technology and society.