Articles by K J Joseph

This tribute to K K Subrahmanian, a profound scholar and a wonderful human being, who passed away on 16 October, commemorates his contributions as a teacher, adviser, innovator and a writer. His liberal approach towards sharing knowledge makes him stand head and shoulders above many in terms of the human capital he generated and the social capital he acquired.

This article analyses the impact of trade liberalisation on information and communication technology use and production in developing countries after the Information Technology Agreement came into force. Using empirical evidence on the global exports of ita goods and the performance of different groups of ita member-countries, the article makes the case for complementing trade liberalisation with capacity-building so that the ita could become an effective strategy for developing countries to bridge the digital divide. Substantial capabilities in ict production and use have been developed by some developing countries, which provide fresh ideas for a southern system of ict innovation for development.

The existing literature treats the migration-remittances phenomenon as something which has tended to moderate the influence of the crisis in the Kerala economy since mid-1970s. In sharp contrast, the present paper is an attempt to bringing in the question of migration and remittances to its rightful place within the structure of the regional economy. The study attributes the stagnation in the commodity producing sectors since the mid-1970s to the 'resource movement effect' and 'spending effect' associated with the migration-remittances boom.

The policy initiatives taken to develop the information technology sector in India have yielded rich dividends in terms of exports and established the country's credibility in international IT markets. However, the focus has mainly been to promote IT as a foreign exchange earner. This paper looks at India's performance in software exports, the implications of this boom on the availability of skilled manpower in other competing sectors, and the possible threats to the sustained growth of software exports. To combat some of the negative offshoots of the current export-centric IT scenario, the authors say a proper incentive structure needs to be looked at, and the supply of technically skilled personnel enhanced. Most important of all, the diffusion of IT into other areas of the economy should be accelerated to help in the sustained growth of the sector.

K N Harilal K J Joseph THE rubber plantation industry in India is caught in perhaps the worst crisis that it has encountered since independence. The crisis has many dimensions; the record fall in the price of natural rubber being the most striking. The market price of natural rubber recently touched the lowest level recorded during the last five years and is about half of what prevailed two years ago. With input prices and cost of living maintaining their upward trend, the plight of about nine lakh natural rubber growers and four lakh workers engaged in rubber cultivation needs no elaboration. According to a conservative estimate the accumulated loss suffered by the growers during the last one year would be around Rs 800 crore. Most of this loss would have been borne by the small holders (with an average holding size of less than 0.50 hectares) who account for nearly 85 per cent of the area as well as production.