Amit Basole
Areas of Interest & Expertise
- Labour
- Employment structural change
- Artisanal economies
Biography
Amit Basole is Professor of Economics and from 2018 to 2023 he was the lead author of the State of Working India report. Amit has taught at Bucknell University and the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He has a PhD in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst as well as a PhD in Neuroscience from Duke University. Prior to that, he attended the University of Mumbai for a bachelor’s in Microbiology and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai for a master’s in Molecular Biology.
Amit’s interest areas are labour, employment and structural change with a special interest in artisanal economies. He has served on several government committees for economic statistics and is a member of the Economic Affairs Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Amit has worked at the University since 2017.
Courses
Political Economy of International Development
This course introduces students to various ways in which power has shaped global flows of labour, capital and goods through history.
Political Economy: Theories of Power
This course introduces students to foundational, theoretical and conceptual tools of Political Economy.
Indian and Chinese Economic Development in Comparative Perspective
Structural Change, Growth and Economic Development
Why is India’s economy still predominantly agricultural?
Microeconomics: Theory and Applications I
A microeconomic model of a developing economy to understand land, credit, and labour.
Macroeconomics: Theory and Applications I
The principal problems of developing economies with a focus on policy.
CSE Working Paper Series
Regressive income shocks during COVID-19: Evidence from India
Amit Basole, Anand Shrivastava (2024)Jobless growth and structural transformation- Some theoretical considerations and empirical evidence from India
Zico Dasgupta, Amit Basole (2023)Estimating the productivity gap between organised and unorganised small-scale units in India’s manufacturing sector
Amit Basole, Dimple Chopde, Paaritosh Nath (2023)Labour incomes in India- A comparison of PLFS and CMIE-CPHS data
Amit Basole (2022)Down and Out- The Gendered Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on India’s Labour Market
Amit Basole, Rosa Abraham (2021)Labour Reforms in the Indian State of Rajasthan- a boon or a bane
Amit Basole (2021)Tracking Employment Trajectories during the Covid-19 Pandemic- Evidence from Indian Panel Data
Amit Basole, Rosa Abraham (2021)Did Employment Rise or Fall in India between 2011 and 2017- Estimating Absolute Changes in the Workforce
Amit Basole, Paaritosh Nath (2020)Pandemic, informality, and vulnerability- Impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods in India
Amit Basole, Paaritosh Nath, Rosa Abraham (2020)Long-Run Performance of the Organised Manufacturing Sector in India- Aggregate Trends and Industry-level Variation
Amit Basole (2018)
Articles
Publications
Book
- Anjum, A. & Basole, A. (2021). Thinking with Ghalib: Poetry for a New Generation. Folio Books (Pakistan) and Roli Books (India). https://rolibooks.com/product/thinking-with-ghalib-poetry-for-a-new-generation/
Edited books
- Basole, A. & Kapoor, R. (Eds.). (2019). Towards a Just, Dignified Future of Work: Lessons from India. Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), Ahmedabad.
- Basole, A. (Ed.). (2015). Lokavidya Perspectives: A Philosophy of Political Imagination for the Knowledge Age. Aakar Books, New Delhi.
Chapters in edited books
- Basole, A., & Jayadev, A. (2018). Employment Guarantee in the Age of Precarity: The Case of India’s NREGA. In J.A. Ocampo & J.E. Stiglitz (Eds.), The Welfare State Revisited. Columbia University Press. https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-welfare-state-revisited/9780231185448
- Basole, A. & Ramnarain, S. (2016). Qualitative and Ethnographic Methods in Economics. In F.S. Lee & B. Cronin (Eds.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Heterodox Economics (pp.135 — 164). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781782548461
- Basole, A. (2016). The Agrarian Question in India. In R. Kumar (Ed.), Contemporary Readings in Marxism: A Critical Introduction (pp. 277 — 311). Aakar Books. https://www.aakarbooks.com/details.php?bid=920
- Basole, A. (2016). Spare Change for Spare Time? Homeworking Women in Banaras. In S. Raju & S. Jatrana (Eds.), Women Workers in Urban India (pp.167 — 194). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316459621
- Basole, A. (2013). Gandhian Economics in a Knowledge Society. In T. Sethia & A. Narayan (Eds.), The Living Gandhi: Lessons for Our Times (pp. 211 — 227). Penguin India. https://penguin.co.in/book/the-living-gandhi/
- Basole, A. & Bhattacharya, R. (2009). The Phantom of Liberty: Mo(der)nism and Postcolonial Imaginations in India. In R. Kanth (Ed.), The Challenge of Eurocentrism: Global Perspectives, Policy, and Prospects (pp. 97 — 119). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230620896_7
- Basole, A. (2009). Eurocentrism, the University and Multiplicity of Knowledge Production Sites. In Edu-Factory Collective (Ed.), Toward a Global Autonomous University: Cognitive Labor, The Production of Knowledge and Exodus from the Education Factory (pp.32 — 38). Autonomedia. https://transversal.at/media/edufactory-book-en.pdf
Journal articles
- Goyal, A., Bhattacharya, R., & Basole, A. (2024). Educational infrastructure and growth of small towns: Evidence from India. Habitat International, 153, 103202.
- Abraham, R., Ameen, H., & Basole, A. (2024). Structural transformation and gender earnings gap in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 59(10).
- Rakshit, A., & Basole, A. (2024). Entrepreneurship and marginalised social identities in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 59(13).
- Jha, M., & Basole, A. (2023). Labour incomes in India: A comparison of two National Household Surveys. Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 66,181 – 201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-023 – 00427‑8
- Basole, A. (2022). Structural transformation and employment generation in India: Past performance and the way forward. Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 65, 295 – 320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-022 – 00380‑y
- Abraham, R., Basole, A. & Kesar, S. (2021). Down and out? The gendered impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on India’s labour market.Economia Politica, 39, 101 – 128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40888 – 021 – 00234‑8
- Basole, A. (2021). Reviving employment and livelihoods in India: COVID-19 and after. Economy Matter, 29(6).
- Kesar,S., Abraham, R., Nath, P., Lahoti, R., & Basole, A. (2021). Pandemic, informality, and vulnerability: Impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods in India. Canadian Journal of Development Economics/Revue canadienne d’études du développement, 42(1 — 2), 145 – 164. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2021.1890003
- Nath, P., & Basole, A.(2021). Did employment increase or decrease in India between 2011 and 2017? Economic and Political Weekly, 56(34), 44 — 52. https://www.epw.in/journal/2021/34/special-articles/did-employment-rise-or-fall-india-between-2011-and.html
- Gupta, G., & Basole, A. (2020). India’s information technology industry: Prospects for growth and role in structural transformation. Decision, 47, 341 — 361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40622 – 020 – 00269‑z
- Basole, A. & Narayan, A. (2020). Long-run performance of the organised manufacturing sector in India: An analysis of sub-periods and industry-level trends. Economic and Political Weekly, 55(10), 35 — 44. https://www.epw.in/journal/2020/10/special-articles/long-run-performance-organised-manufacturing.html?0=ip_login_no_cache%3D0f724da411b50f81854f929e72284795
- Basole, A. (2018). Understanding India’s jobs crisis, in education, employment and employability landscape of India. NHRD Network Journal, 10(5), 20 — 24. https://cse.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/nhrdn_journal_jan18.pdf
- Basole, A. (2017). What does the rural economy need: Analysis of the promises for rural India. Economic and Political Weekly (Union Budget Special Issue), 52(9), 40 — 43. https://www.epw.in/journal/2017/9/commentary/what-does-rural-economy-need.html
- Basole, A. (2016). Informality and flexible specialization: Apprenticeships and knowledge spillovers in an Indian Silk Weaving Cluster. Development and Change, 47(1), 157 — 187. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12216
- Basole, A., & Basu, D. (2015). Non-food expenditures and consumption inequality in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 50(36), 43 — 53. https://www.epw.in/journal/2015/36/special-articles/non-food-expenditures-and-consumption-inequality-india.html
- Basole, A.(2015). Authenticity, innovation and the geographical indication in an artisanal industry: The case of the Banarasi sari. Journal of World Intellectual Property, 18:3/4, pp. 127 – 149. https://doi.org/10.1111/jwip.12035
- Basole, A., Basu, D., & Bhattacharya, R. (2015). Determinants and impacts of subcontracting: Evidence from India’s unorganized manufacturing sector. International Review of Applied Economics, 29(3), 374 — 402. https://doi.org/10.1080/02692171.2014.1001324
- Basole, A., & Basu, D.(2015). Fuelling calorie intake decline: Household level evidence from rural India. World Development, 68, 82 — 95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.11.020
- Basole, A. (2014). Dynamics of income inequality in India: Insights from World Top Incomes database. Economic and Political Weekly, 49(40), 14 — 17. https://www.epw.in/journal/2014/40/commentary/dynamics-income-inequality-india.html
- Basole, A. (2014). Whose knowledge counts? Reinterpreting Gandhi for the Information Age. International Journal of Hindu Studies, 18(3), 1 — 44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11407-014‑9163‑9
- Basole, A. (2013). Class-biased technical change and socialism. Rethinking Marxism: A Journal of Economics, Culture, and Society, 25(4), 592 — 601. https://doi.org/10.1080/08935696.2013.842701
- Basole, A., & Deepankar, B. (2011). Relations of production and modes of surplus extraction in India: Part II – ‘Informal’ industry. Economic and Political Weekly, 46(15), 63 — 79. https://www.epw.in/journal/2011/15/special-articles/relations-production-and-modes-surplus-extraction-india-part-ii
- Basole, A., & Deepankar, B. (2011). Relations of production and modes of surplus extraction in India: Part I- Agriculture. Economic and Political Weekly, 46(14), 41 — 58. https://www.epw.in/journal/2011/14/special-articles/relations-production-and-modes-surplus-extraction-india-part‑i
- Basole, A., Kreft-Kerekes, V., White, L.E., & Fitzpatrick, D. (2006) Cortical cartography revisited: A frequency perspective on the functional architecture of visual cortex. Progress in Brain Research, 154, 121 – 134. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0079-6123(06)54006 – 3
- Sanyal, S., Consoulos, C., Kuromi, H., Basole, A., Mukai, L., Kidokoro, Y., Krishnan, K.S., & Ramaswami, M. (2005) Analysis of conditional paralytic mutants in Drosophila SERCA reveals novel mechanisms for regulating membrane excitability. Genetics, 169(2), 737 — 750. https://dx.doi.org/10.1534%2Fgenetics.104.031930
- Basole, A., White, L.E., & Fitzpatrick, D.(2003). Mapping multiple features in the population response of visual cortex. Nature, 423, 986 — 990. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01721
- Sanyal,S., Basole, A., & Krishnan, K.S.(1999) Phenotypic interaction between temperature sensitive paralytic mutants comatose and paralytic suggests a role for N- ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion factor in synaptic vesicle cycling in Drosophila. Journal of Neuroscience,19 (24), RC47. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19 – 24-j0005.1999
- Sanyal, S., & Basole, A. (1999). Neural complexity underlying simple behavior. Journal of Bioscience, 24(3), 255 — 257. https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jbsc/024/03/0255 – 0257
Reports
- Basole, A., & Gupta, G. (2023). Bengaluru Covid Impact Survey. Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. https://cse.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/cse-surveys-bengaluru-covid-impact-survey/
- CORD, NREGA Consortium and Azim Premji University. (2022). Employment Guarantee during Covid-19: Role of MGNREGA in the year after the 2020 lockdown. https://cse.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/employment-guarantee-during-covid-19-role-of-mgnrega-in-the-year-after-the-2020-lockdown/
- Azim Premji University, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Tata Institute Social Sciences. (2021). Creating Udyog Sahayak Enterprises Network (USENET) for Employment Generation and Scale-up in the MSME Sector. https://cse.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/USENET_Report_Final_for_Release.pdf
- Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Azim Premji University. (2021). Reviving Employment and Livelihoods in India: COVID-19 and After. https://apfstatic.s3.ap-south‑1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/CII%20Report%20-%20Employment%20%20Livelihoods.pdf?r1GfFlMkZjKBO053gPsuc2sendZxqfHd
- Azim Premji University and Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship, Bangalore. (2019). Microenterprises in India: A Multidimensional Analysis. https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/publications/2019/report/microenterprises-in-india-a-multidimensional-analysis
Interview
- Basole, A. (2023, September 24). Labour’s love not lost: Prof speaks out on much-discussed research . News Trail. https://newstrailindia.com/inner.php?id=16611
Magazine articles
- Basole, A.(2021). Rural employment and the pandemic challenge. Seminar, 748. https://www.india-seminar.com/2021/748/748-AMIT%20BASOLE.htm
- Basole, A. (2018, January) The Skilled and the schooled: India’s struggles over what counts as knowledge. The Caravan. https://caravanmagazine.in/reviews-essays/india-struggle-knowledge
Newspaper articles
- Dasgupta, Z., & Basole, A. (2023, December 25). India’s jobs crisis, the macroeconomic reasons. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/indias-jobs-crisis-the-macroeconomic-reasons/article67671927.ece
- Abraham, R. , & Basole, A. (2023, October 9). Number Theory: The growth and erosion of salaried employment in India. Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/number-theory-the-growth-and-erosion-of-salaried-employment-in-india-101696824495073.html
Online article
- Abraham, R., & Basole, A. (2024, January 1). Economic Growth, Structural Change, and Women’s Earnings in India. India in Transition. https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/iit/amitbasole — rosaabraham