An alternative model of development? Co-operation and flexible industrial practices in India

✍ Scribed by Anthony P. D'Costa

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 231 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0954-1748
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1328(199805/06)10:3<301::aid-jid423>3.0.co;2-f

✦ Synopsis

Going beyond the notion of macroeconomic ¯exibility, this paper argues that ¯exibility at the ®rm/industry level is crucial to rapid adjustment to changing economic circumstances. By examining various kinds of Japanese-type ¯exible industrial practices adopted by a few ®rms in the Indian automotive industry, I show that aside from promoting competitiveness and externalities, such practices institutionalize co-operation. Developing countries, like India, undergoing economic reforms and requiring industrial investments, need to strengthen such institutional arrangements, thereby ensuring employment security, skill development, and social stability.