Growth and Distribution Lab

India’s informal economy is established as the largest in the world – comprising almost all employment and probably just under half of GDP, though this is thought to be declining. The theoretical genealogy of informal activity – as with the categories of the state which academics have to use – is marked by binaries and duality (unorganised, unprotected, unincorporated etc). In this lecture I’ll explore a different conjecture: that, irrespective of their state categorisation, informal economic activity negotiates the politics of selective enforcement of state-regulative laws and the politics incentivising selective adherence (voluntary) and selective compliance (for fear of penalties) to them. I use an experiment with AI, corroborated with material from seven cases using my own fieldwork, to make an initial, incomplete exploration. It indicates that the informal economy is pervasive.About the speakerProfessor Barbara Harriss-White’s research interests have developed from the economics of agricultural markets to India’s socially regulated capitalist economy and corporate capital; and from the malnutrition caused by markets to many other aspects of deprivation: notably poverty, gender bias and gender relations, health and disability, destitution and caste discrimination. She has a long term interest in agrarian change in southern India and has also tracked the economy of a market town there since 1972.She held academic posts at Oxford from 1987 until her retirement in 2011. Since then she has directed an ESRC-DFID research project entitled Resources, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Technology And Work In Production And Distribution Systems: Rice In India.She has been an adviser to the UK’S Department of International Development (DfID) and to seven UN organisations; as well as a trustee of the International Food Policy Research Institute and of Norway's Institute for Environment and Development.Thanks for reading Growth and Distribution Lab! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kosalnith.substack.com

What happens when the foundations of today’s economy no longer match how value is actually created? That question sat at the center of the discussion with Professor Rohinton P. Medhora, part of the Young Scholars initiative’s Webinar Series on Rethinking Capitalism and Economic Orders. This series connects economic ideas with the real world, aiming to describe, reform, and ultimately transform it.The session examined how intellectual property, data, and digital technologies now drive economic growth, while governments continue to rely on outdated tools such as GDP. A tool that was designed in the aftermath of World War II, the measure struggled to capture value created by digital platforms, freelancers, informal work, and intangible assets. As Prof. Medhora argued, the world has faced similar moments before—and responded by building new global systems. Today, he suggested, the challenge is to create an international framework that properly measures intangibles as a global public good.The discussion focused on developing countries. While weak data systems and limited institutional capacity remain real obstacles, participants rejected the idea that these countries lack agency. Examples such as India, South Korea, Estonia, Israel, and Taiwan show that strategic digital infrastructure and policy choices can help economies move up the value chain. India’s digital public infrastructure, in particular, was highlighted as an inclusive alternative to purely commercial, IP-driven models.Data emerged as the defining asset of the new economy. Often described as a possible “fifth factor of production,” data fuels artificial intelligence and digital innovation. Yet much of this data is generated in developing countries, which often lack the power to control or monetize it. If governance is not careful, unequal data deals risk deepening global inequality instead of reducing it.The conversation also tackled the growing market concentration. Network effects and economies of scale allow a handful of firms to dominate digital markets, accumulating extraordinary profits and political influence. To counter this, Prof. Medhora pointed to stronger competition policy, renewed antitrust enforcement, and a shift back toward taxing profits rather than consumption. He also stressed the importance of “predistribution”—sharing the benefits of innovation early through mechanisms like data trusts, public stakes in publicly funded research, and international research institutions that hold intellectual property in the public interest.Beyond economics, the session raised deeper questions about power, ethics, and democracy. Human rights frameworks written for a pre-digital era may no longer be sufficient. Issues such as privacy, misinformation, platform addiction, and data manipulation require new rights, stronger regulation, and better education and civic literacy.About the speakerRohinton P. Medhora is Professor of Practice at the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill University in Montreal, and former President of the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Canada, where he remains a Distinguished Fellow. His expertise spans international economic relations, innovation policy, and development economics. He has served on numerous commissions and advisory bodies, published widely, and co-edited International Development: Ideas, Experience, and Prospects (Oxford University Press).Next webinarJoin the next session to continue the conversation on capitalism, power, and economic transformation: https://ysi.ineteconomics.org/event/rethinking-capitalism-and-economic-order-iii/with Professor David McNally.Slavery and Capitalism: A New Marxist HistoryWednesday, 28 January 2026 | 9.00 am ESTKarl Marx’s writings on enslavement and labour have fallen out of favour among many historians. In Slavery and Capitalism, David McNally brings renewed life to these debates by offering the first systematic Marxist account of the capitalist character of Atlantic slavery. Drawing on colonial travel literature, planter records and diaries, and enslaved people’s narratives, McNally advances the provocative argument that plantation slavery constituted a form of capitalist commodity production.Thanks for reading Growth and Distribution Lab! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kosalnith.substack.com