Economic Studies - Research Publications

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://kr.cup.edu.in/handle/32116/141

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Author: search.filters.author.Singla, Naresh

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    COVID-19, livestock supply chains and livelihoods in India: a review of�impacts and implications
    (Emerald Publishing, 2023-03-27T00:00:00) Verma, Gautami; Singla, Naresh; Singh, Sukhpal
    Purpose: The global outbreak of COVID-19 and its subsequent varied impacts on different economic activities necessitate to examine its disruptions and impacts on livestock sector in India due to its recently surging potential as an unrivaled alternative to boost farmer�s income. Design/methodology/approach: The studies for review were identified through search in different databases using relevant keywords. Only full text papers written in English language were reviewed. The review was organized and streamlined using Covidence software. Findings: Analysis of the literature reveals adverse effects of COVID-19 on functioning of input and output stages of livestock supply chains. This has resulted in upstream and downstream economic losses that affect livelihoods of the producers. Research limitations/implications: Scale of unprecedented crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic requires creative policy decisions to make livestock production systems robust, resilient and sustainable. Organized production systems are required to integrate with livestock-tech startups to modernize their supply chains, whereas local supply chains are required to reorient with government�s intervention in terms of developing on-farm production and postproduction processing facilities. Originality/value: Although there exist some evidence on COVID-19-related impacts on livestock sector of India, but an integrated review of evidence on COVID-19 related disruptions at all the stages (from input supply to marketing) of livestock supply chains was missing. � 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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    Urban informal economy and vulnerabilities of domestic waste-pickers: A case of Chandigarh, India
    (SAGE Publications Ltd, 2023-02-22T00:00:00) Singh, Kulwinder; Singla, Naresh; Sharma, Manjit; Singh, Jatinder
    In urban informal economies, waste-pickers increasingly face threat to their livelihoods due to the rapid emergence of formal systems of waste collection and lack of adequate public policies for their welfare. In this context, the study explores livelihood conditions of domestic waste-pickers and their occupational and educational mobility in Chandigarh, which is often referred as one of most well-planned cities of India. Using a semi-structured schedule, a field-based survey of the waste-pickers brings out that waste-pickers are the migrant workers from adjoining states and work as waste-pickers mainly due to non-availability of alternative employment opportunities. Employment in waste-picking is characterized by informal service charge fixation purely through interaction between house-owners and waste-pickers, where their low bargaining power leads to a surprisingly low level of income with significant variations due to gender. Child labour, even though disguised, also tends to exist. The study reveals unsafe working conditions, awful health conditions and unpleasant living conditions of the waste-pickers along with trivial upward educational mobility and no upward occupational mobility. The analysis presents a classic case of failure of both market and state in delivering optimum economic welfare to waste-pickers even in case of well-planned and highly urbanized city such as Chandigarh of India and demands immediate public policy intervention. � The Author(s) 2023.
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    Comparative Performance of Cooperatives and Producer Companies in Member Producer�s Income Enhancement: A Case Study of the Milk Sector in Indian Punjab
    (SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022-06-21T00:00:00) Kaur, Manpreet; Singla, Naresh
    Small producers� participation in milk collectives such as dairy cooperatives and producer companies is seen as one of the several ways to institutionalize the dairy value chains and leverage their production and marketing strengths. In this context, the study has explored procurement practices of a dairy cooperative vis-�-vis producer company that have recently ventured into direct procurement, processing and retailing of the milk in Indian Punjab and understood their economic impact on the milk producers in Indian Punjab. The findings of the study suggest that both the milk collectives offer higher prices to the producers, resulting in higher profitability than their counterpart non-member milk producers. The findings of the study suggest that the milk collectives need to take additional responsibilities in terms of advancing credit, introducing new production technologies to increase milk productivity and encouraging participation of women milk producers to make such linkages inclusive, effective and sustainable. � 2022 Association of Asia Scholars.
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    Market integration and price transmission in wheat markets of�India: a transaction cost approach
    (Emerald Publishing, 2022-11-02T00:00:00) Ahmed, Mumtaz; Singla, Naresh; Singh, Kulwinder
    Purpose: Wheat, which is one of the major staple food grain crops in India, continues to depict occasional fluctuation in the prices though Union government has adopted administered price policy for wheat by intervening in its procurement at assured prices and distribution. Such fluctuations in prices are usually attributed to inefficient functioning of the agricultural markets. Since spatially separated markets also play an important role to determine efficiency of the agricultural markets, the study has used market integration as one of the tools to analyze the price transmission across the spatially separated markets to identify causes of price fluctuations and suggest ways to stabilize wheat prices. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilizes monthly wholesale prices for January, 2006 to May, 2016 for dara wheat. First, the study employs augmented Dickey and Fuller (ADF), Phillips and Perron (PP) and Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin (KPSS) tests to check stationarity in wheat prices. Second, Johansen's cointegration test is applied to assess the integration of wholesale prices between selected pairs of wheat markets to determine long-run relationship among them. Third, Granger casualty test is used to find the direction of causality between the wheat market pairs. Finally, threshold vector error correction model (TVECM) and likelihood ratio (LR) tests are employed to examine long-run adjustment of prices towards the equilibrium in selected wheat markets. Findings: Since wheat wholesale prices for the selected markets are found to be integrated of the order one, that is [I(1)], Johansen's test of cointegration is employed and its findings reveal that the selected wheat market pairs exhibit cointegration and show a long-run price association among themselves. There exists a bi-directional causality among the wheat market pairs. Since LR test is in favor of threshold model (except for Etawah�Delhi pair), one and two threshold models were also performed accordingly. Findings show that wholesale prices of wheat in Delhi markets remain higher than the prices of all other regional markets as regional markets are found to adjust their prices towards Delhi market. Distance of the wheat markets from each other is directly associated with threshold parameters, which are analogous to the transaction costs. Geographically dispersed wheat markets incorporate high transaction and vice versa. Research limitations/implications: The study argues that there is need to improve rural infrastructure and connectivity of the agricultural markets and remove market asymmetries through unified market regulating mechanisms across the states. This will enable price adjustment process from primary wholesale markets (in production regions) to the secondary wholesale markets (in scarcity regions) quickly. Originality/value: The contribution of the study in the existing literature lies in the fact that there are no empirical evidences in the context of India that use price transmission as a tool of market integration among spatially separated wheat markets using TVCEM as this model examines role of transaction costs in efficient functioning of the agricultural markets. � 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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    Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Dairy Industry in Punjab: Major Concerns and PolicyOptions
    (Springer Nature, 2021-09-27T00:00:00) Singla, Naresh
    The livestock sector continues to drive rural livelihoods and contribute significantly to the agricultural economy of Punjab. Within livestock sector, milk accounts for about 80% of the total value of output of livestock. In the recent times, dairy sector has undergone rapid growth and structural shifts in terms of establishment of dairy cooperatives, producer companies and private dairy companies, which are seen as one of the several pathways to diversify and boost the rural income and livelihoods in crisis ridden agrarian state of Punjab. It is argued that imposing of lockdown and curfew disrupted all the economic activities and created disruptions in agriculture and allied sectors, which may have serious implications for food production and farmer incomes. In this context, it becomes imperative to explore how was the dairy sector in Punjab, particularly the milk producers, affected due to the outbreak of COVID-19? How did the milk producers and the state government respond to COVID-19 pandemic to ensure sustainable dairy based livelihoods which would also work in the post-COVID-19 period? The study reveals decline in milk sales and procurement, increase in cost of dairy production, rise in animal health issues resulting in low milk productivity as veterinary services and dairy input supplies were affected due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The study brings out policy implications of these changes and suggestions to meet challenges from such pandemic outbreaks to make the dairy enterprise a win-win situation for all the stakeholders. � The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.
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    Role of Contract Farming in Crop Diversification and Employment Generation: Empirical Evidence from Indian Punjab
    (SAGE Publications Ltd, 2021-11-01T00:00:00) Kaur, Pavneet; Singla, Naresh; Singh, Sukhpal
    Linking small farmers with modern agri-business firms through contract farming is viewed as one of the several ways to achieve crop diversification and enhance farmers� income, besides bringing spill-over effects of such interventions for other local stakeholders like farm workers. This article examines the role of contract farming in crop diversification and employment generation in the context of Indian Punjab. Based on a sample of 50 contract farmers and 50 non-contract farmers for three firms each, the study shows that contract farming brings crop diversification and generates farm labour employment, particularly for women, due to the high value and labour-intensive nature of crops being grown under such arrangements. But, there exists a gender gap in wages and gendering of tasks, which demand policy and corporate attention besides regulatory oversight to achieve more equitable and pro-poor impact of contract farming. � 2021 Association of Asia Scholars.
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    Financial Performance of Micro-Finance Institutions in India
    (The Society of Economics and Development, 2021-10-16T00:00:00) Singla, Naresh; Ahmed, Mumtaz; Singh, Kulwinder
    Micro-finance institutions (MFIs) in most of the developing countries, including India, are seen as essential tools to eradicate poverty and raise the standard of living of rural poor. Therefore, the sound functioning of MFIs has a huge long-run impact on the outreach of the rural poor. However, the performance of MFIs is often measured in terms of their social impact on the rural poor, while the financial indicators are ignored. In this context, the study analysed the major determinants of the financial performance of the 20 MFIs in India using panel regression. The results of the study revealed that financial indicators such as operating self-sufficiency, return on assets, and size (assets of the MFIs) had a positive impact on increasing the performance of MFIs. Further, the active borrowers increase efficiency, while passive borrowers had a negative impact on the performance of the MFIs. Similarly, a low level of debt to equity ratio, operating expenses to assets ratio, and low percentage of women borrowers could lead to the sound financial performance of MFIs. � 2021 The Society of Economics and Development, except certain content provided by third parties.
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    Irregular emigration from Indian Punjab: nature and causes
    (Routledge, 2021-12-04T00:00:00) Singh, Kulwinder; Singla, Naresh; Singh, Nirvair
    Given very well-established channels of regular emigration, the co-existence and mushrooming of irregular emigration from Indian Punjab presents a peculiar case and therefore, requires to be deeply investigated. The study finds that irregular migration is largely a forced migration rather than a wilful one. Migration policies of destination countries largely enforce irregular migration by restricting less-educated and semi-skilled Punjabis to migrate through regular mode. The prospective migrants after being rejected under the regular migration system adopt irregular migration. Thus, irregular migration compliments regular migration, rather than substituting it. Although irregular migration is found to be economically unviable in the initial years but offers net economic gains as it gets older. Liberalisation of the migration policies in destination countries, improvement in the quality of school education and its infrastructure and strictly monitoring business of travel agents in Indian Punjab can check the menace of irregular migration effectively. � 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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    Exploring state interventions in entrepreneurship development in India: Evidence from Jammu and Kashmir
    (Inderscience Publishers, 2021-02-25T00:00:00) Paray, Zahoor Ahmad; Singla, Naresh
    The Indian Government has been promoting entrepreneurship vehemently from last three decades, institutions were established and programs were launched. Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (JKEDI) as part of this series of institutions has been working comprehensively in making entrepreneurship a common phenomenon among the masses. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the impact of entrepreneurial initiatives by the state government with the support of JKEDI towards the creation of new enterprises in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir in India. Primary data has been collected with a structured schedule from 100 new JKEDI sponsored entrepreneurs from the district. Both qualitative and quantitative information was collected and analysed with simple statistical tools and analysis of the interview. The findings show that there is a positive impact of training, financial support and consultation for the overall development of entrepreneurship in both urban and rural areas of the district in particular and state as a whole. � 2021 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.. All rights reserved.