The Employment Effect of Place-Based Policies : Evidence from India

Many governments in developing countries have pursued policies targeting specific geographic areas over the past several decades. However, only a few have rigorously evaluated the causal impact of these interventions. This paper examines the effect...

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Main Authors: Li, Yue, Sinha Roy, Sutirtha
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/785411605819935532/The-Employment-Effect-of-Place-Based-Policies-Evidence-from-India
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34832
id okr-10986-34832
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-348322022-09-20T00:12:02Z The Employment Effect of Place-Based Policies : Evidence from India Li, Yue Sinha Roy, Sutirtha POVERTY REDUCTION NEW INDUSTRIAL POLICY SPATIAL ECONOMICS AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES TAX INCENTIVE EXCISE TAX COAGGLOMERATION EMPLOYMENT BOUNDARY DISCONTINUITY SOCIAL DISPARITY Many governments in developing countries have pursued policies targeting specific geographic areas over the past several decades. However, only a few have rigorously evaluated the causal impact of these interventions. This paper examines the effectiveness of a prominent place-based policy in India: the centrally sponsored New Industrial Policy for the state of Uttarakhand. Using georeferenced economic census data, the analysis applies a boundary discontinuity research design and zones in on the unique border between Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, two states that were officially one before the implementation of the New Industrial Policy. The findings show that there was a significant and abrupt increase in employment at the town and village level when crossing the state border from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand after the full implementation of the New Industrial Policy. The conclusion even holds for firms within the same sector. The increase is mainly due to larger firm sizes and expansions into new industries. A main component of the New Industrial Policy was excise tax incentives for certain industries. The paper finds that the increase in cross-border employment is higher for sectors receiving excise tax incentives than others. Additionally, exploring spillovers between industries, the paper shows that, controlling for the direct effects, the sectors with labor requirements similar to those receiving excise tax incentives also experience an increase in employment. Finally, the growth in the number of firms in Uttar Pradesh close to the border remained stable before and after the New Industrial Policy, which suggests the results are not fully driven by firms relocating from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand. 2020-11-30T20:41:50Z 2020-11-30T20:41:50Z 2020-11 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/785411605819935532/The-Employment-Effect-of-Place-Based-Policies-Evidence-from-India http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34832 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9477 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper South Asia India
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic POVERTY REDUCTION
NEW INDUSTRIAL POLICY
SPATIAL ECONOMICS
AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES
TAX INCENTIVE
EXCISE TAX
COAGGLOMERATION
EMPLOYMENT
BOUNDARY DISCONTINUITY
SOCIAL DISPARITY
spellingShingle POVERTY REDUCTION
NEW INDUSTRIAL POLICY
SPATIAL ECONOMICS
AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES
TAX INCENTIVE
EXCISE TAX
COAGGLOMERATION
EMPLOYMENT
BOUNDARY DISCONTINUITY
SOCIAL DISPARITY
Li, Yue
Sinha Roy, Sutirtha
The Employment Effect of Place-Based Policies : Evidence from India
geographic_facet South Asia
India
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9477
description Many governments in developing countries have pursued policies targeting specific geographic areas over the past several decades. However, only a few have rigorously evaluated the causal impact of these interventions. This paper examines the effectiveness of a prominent place-based policy in India: the centrally sponsored New Industrial Policy for the state of Uttarakhand. Using georeferenced economic census data, the analysis applies a boundary discontinuity research design and zones in on the unique border between Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, two states that were officially one before the implementation of the New Industrial Policy. The findings show that there was a significant and abrupt increase in employment at the town and village level when crossing the state border from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand after the full implementation of the New Industrial Policy. The conclusion even holds for firms within the same sector. The increase is mainly due to larger firm sizes and expansions into new industries. A main component of the New Industrial Policy was excise tax incentives for certain industries. The paper finds that the increase in cross-border employment is higher for sectors receiving excise tax incentives than others. Additionally, exploring spillovers between industries, the paper shows that, controlling for the direct effects, the sectors with labor requirements similar to those receiving excise tax incentives also experience an increase in employment. Finally, the growth in the number of firms in Uttar Pradesh close to the border remained stable before and after the New Industrial Policy, which suggests the results are not fully driven by firms relocating from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand.
format Working Paper
author Li, Yue
Sinha Roy, Sutirtha
author_facet Li, Yue
Sinha Roy, Sutirtha
author_sort Li, Yue
title The Employment Effect of Place-Based Policies : Evidence from India
title_short The Employment Effect of Place-Based Policies : Evidence from India
title_full The Employment Effect of Place-Based Policies : Evidence from India
title_fullStr The Employment Effect of Place-Based Policies : Evidence from India
title_full_unstemmed The Employment Effect of Place-Based Policies : Evidence from India
title_sort employment effect of place-based policies : evidence from india
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2020
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/785411605819935532/The-Employment-Effect-of-Place-Based-Policies-Evidence-from-India
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34832
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