Papers by Jyothi Koduganti
How do urban Indians perceive their well-being? Is income an adequate determinant of well-being? ... more How do urban Indians perceive their well-being? Is income an adequate determinant of well-being? Based on a survey of 1,700 households in Bengaluru, this column shows that a majority of households perceived themselves as belonging to the middle classes, irrespective of their incomes. This suggests significant divergence between household perception of their socioeconomic class and actual incomes. Relational aspects like status in the community and infrastructure deprivations significantly impact well-being along with income.
This paper investigates the work experiences, perceptions of
security and risk of platform econom... more This paper investigates the work experiences, perceptions of
security and risk of platform economy drivers in Bengaluru, India from a
sociological perspective. The article presents these experiences and
perceptions through rich ethnographic detail from in-depth, qualitative
interviews with forty-five platform economy drivers driving on Uber or
Ola cabs platforms. Drivers’ narratives are used to bring out compelling
shifts in informal economy employment experiences in Indian cities.
These shifts are used to examine the diversity of lived experiences present in the Indian urban informal economy and to distinguish Indian platform economy drivers from their global counterparts. The conceptual tool of temporality is employed in reading through drivers’ perceptions of risk, security and their management of these. The central finding of this article is that platform economy companies have given drivers a stable, mid-term period of time to accumulate wealth, which in turn has allowed them to stabilize and take short-term decisions by making large investments in their work, and to bear the risks of flexible working conditions in the short-term with more confidence.
This paper examines the emergence of new forms of economic settlements such as Special Economic Z... more This paper examines the emergence of new forms of economic settlements such as Special Economic Zones, Special Investment Regions and Industrial Corridors and examines their role and relevance in contemporary urban India. These settlements, while not officially classified as towns or cities have distinct urban characteristics, but are products of economic and industrial policies rather than of planned urbanisation. The paper places this examination within multiple contexts by examining the policies and processes of the Indian government at the national and state levels in facilitating urbanisation and industrialisation in the country. It then discusses the development of new economic settlements such as SEZs and industrial corridors within the context of contemporary economic, urban and policy environments in India before addressing the assumptions, feasibilities and adaptabilities of this strategy. It concludes by making recommendations and observations in six arenas: integration with existing urban settlements; emphasising labour-intensive growth; addressing regional disparity; facilitating livelihood transitions; transitioning to urban governance and developing regional infrastructure.
Policy Papers by Jyothi Koduganti
Urban areas in India are currently imagined as growth engines which will generate a surplus that ... more Urban areas in India are currently imagined as growth engines which will generate a surplus that can be invested in redistribution schemes targeting the rural and urban poor. To achieve growth that can be sustained over the medium and long term, an explicit focus on employment is required along with growth. A labour intensive growth pathway is essential to create opportunities for our large, unskilled workforce, and to allow India to simultaneously achieve output growth as well as poverty reduction.
https://doi.org/10.24943/iihsrfpps2.2014, 2014
This paper argues that the recent policy rhetoric towards cities in India has been shaped by thei... more This paper argues that the recent policy rhetoric towards cities in India has been shaped by their increasing economic importance in national output generation, as well as a series of prominent global reports on the role of cities in driving growth. Policymakers have responded to this, designing urban programmes that focus on removing productivity bottlenecks, and simultaneously relegating concerns of redistribution to the rural sector. This paper argues for a shift in the policy rhetoric from viewing cities as ‘engines of growth’ to ‘engines of inclusive development’. Policymakers need to focus on the role of employment generation in order to achieve growth as well as poverty reduction in urban areas, and there needs to be greater emphasis on linking macro dynamics like urbanisation, employment generation and economic and human development. The paper uses an existing analytical tool, the urban rural growth differential, in a new way to measure the difference between employment generation in urban and rural areas. It highlights that female workforce participation is potentially a key future driver of changing urban employment trends. Finally, it offers a set of directions for governance and industrial policy in order to enable this transition to occur, and provides a set of questions for further research.
This paper examines the emergence of new forms of economic settlements such as Special Economic Z... more This paper examines the emergence of new forms of economic settlements such as Special Economic Zones, Special Investment Regions and Industrial Corridors and examines their role and relevance in contemporary urban India. These settlements, while not officially classified as towns or cities have distinct urban characteristics, but are products of economic and industrial policies rather than of planned urbanisation. The paper places this examination within multiple contexts by examining the policies and processes of the Indian government at the national and state levels in facilitating urbanisation and industrialisation in the country. It then discusses the development of new economic settlements such as SEZs and industrial corridors within the context of contemporary economic, urban and policy environments in India before addressing the assumptions, feasibilities and adaptabilities of this strategy. It concludes by making recommendations and observations in six arenas: integration with existing urban settlements; emphasising labour-intensive growth; addressing regional disparity; facilitating livelihood transitions; transitioning to urban governance and developing regional infrastructure.
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Papers by Jyothi Koduganti
security and risk of platform economy drivers in Bengaluru, India from a
sociological perspective. The article presents these experiences and
perceptions through rich ethnographic detail from in-depth, qualitative
interviews with forty-five platform economy drivers driving on Uber or
Ola cabs platforms. Drivers’ narratives are used to bring out compelling
shifts in informal economy employment experiences in Indian cities.
These shifts are used to examine the diversity of lived experiences present in the Indian urban informal economy and to distinguish Indian platform economy drivers from their global counterparts. The conceptual tool of temporality is employed in reading through drivers’ perceptions of risk, security and their management of these. The central finding of this article is that platform economy companies have given drivers a stable, mid-term period of time to accumulate wealth, which in turn has allowed them to stabilize and take short-term decisions by making large investments in their work, and to bear the risks of flexible working conditions in the short-term with more confidence.
Policy Papers by Jyothi Koduganti
security and risk of platform economy drivers in Bengaluru, India from a
sociological perspective. The article presents these experiences and
perceptions through rich ethnographic detail from in-depth, qualitative
interviews with forty-five platform economy drivers driving on Uber or
Ola cabs platforms. Drivers’ narratives are used to bring out compelling
shifts in informal economy employment experiences in Indian cities.
These shifts are used to examine the diversity of lived experiences present in the Indian urban informal economy and to distinguish Indian platform economy drivers from their global counterparts. The conceptual tool of temporality is employed in reading through drivers’ perceptions of risk, security and their management of these. The central finding of this article is that platform economy companies have given drivers a stable, mid-term period of time to accumulate wealth, which in turn has allowed them to stabilize and take short-term decisions by making large investments in their work, and to bear the risks of flexible working conditions in the short-term with more confidence.