
Labor force participation in India is low (56% of people aged 15+) and for women it is the lowest in the world (31%). Over the last 15 years, a number of government policies aimed to generate jobs by focusing on manufacturing. The National Manufacturing Policy (2011) aims to create 100 million new jobs by 2022. A team of local researchers investigates the impact of trade on employment in India in the manufacturing sector. The researchers find that increased exports also increase the demand for workers whereas increased imports lead to job losses. Furthermore, despite India’s cost advantage in labor-intensive production sectors the increased trade has been mainly in skill-intensive production sectors. Find out more about the research methods, findings and policy recommendations in the following PEP publications: