Anweshan - journal of Department of Commerce

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ANWESHAN is a bi-annual refereed journal of the Department of Commerce, University of North Bengal. Articles are selected through a blind review process.

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Open Access
The QWERTY Path for FDI in India?
(University of North Bengal, 2013-03) De, Soumitra
The paper examines the issue of FDI in relation to a path dependence that is expressed in distinctly different policies and effects of economic liberalisation in India and elsewhere. Looking at India, where it has taken over forty years of independence and the imperatives of a financial crisis, mainly the balance of payment deficit, to undertaking its own package of liberalisation, the paper argues that the FDI scene in India presents both smart adaptation to changing global financial environment and habitual indifference to inherited internal imbalances. The question of FDI in retail trade is then examined in the light of regional disparities to account for the lack of consensus among the states in India. Recognising that FDI has a wide range of impact on the country’s economic policy the paper identifies the necessities of enlarging the diversity of FDI, besides its growth, and of proactive measures on the part of the government to address regional disparities in infrastructure sector’s requirements to derive healthy spill over benefits of FDI in India.
Open Access
Foreign Direct Investment in Multi-brand Retail Trade
(University of North Bengal, 2013-03) Marjit, Sugata
The issue of FDI in multi brand retail has polarized political opinion in the country. Yet, clear economic arguments have not been forthcoming. One was expecting at least a white paper as a policy note or extensive public debate on the issue based on clear cut arguments, neither of which has emerged. The purpose of this article is to pinpoint clear economic arguments that should characterize such a debate.
Open Access
Long-run effects of FDI in India’s multi-brand retail trade: Lessons from cross-country economic history
(University of North Bengal, 2013-03) Pradhan, Nandita; Ray, Indrajit
In view of the recent debate on the entry of FDI in India’s multi-brand trade, this article seeks to analyse the long-run effects of this policy-options on the formation of industrial capital and entrepreneurs. To do so, we look into the economic history of two of the presently developed countries, the United Kingdom in Europe and Japan in Asia. Their historical sequences suggest that the industrialisation process in an economy should obtain capital and entrepreneurs from the agricultural and tertiary sectors, and that a congenial policy-environment is imperative to these ends. Also, we deal with the economic history of India during the early colonial period, and learn that, owing to hostile governance, the period witnessed a reverse flow of those critical factors of production from industries and trade to agriculture. This article, therefore, concludes that FDI in multi-brand trade, which is expected to hard-hit tiny and small traders in the long run, may jeopardise India’s prospect of domestic capital formation and entrepreneurs for industries. This will be very harmful for our future course of industrialisation.
Open Access
FDI in Multi Brand Retail: Cost Benefit Analysis
(University of North Bengal, 2013-03) Mitra, Debabrata; Ghosh, Amlan
The decision of the UPA Government to allow FDI in multi-brand retail is a highly controversial issue though the government has opened the retail sector to FDI in cash and carry with 100 percent ownership and 51 percent investment in single brand category. There are various issues that need to be addressed by the policy makers while allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. It can hardly be denied that entry of big giants in the retail sector may adversely affect a large section of population employed in the unorganized retail. Proper regulatory measures should be imposed to protect the vulnerable sections of the society.
Open Access
Understanding FDI in Retail: What Can Economic Principles Teach Us?
(University of North Bengal, 2013-03) Sarkar, Abhirup
The recent debate on the acceptability of FDI in the retail sector in India has been mostly political. It is therefore necessary to look into the pros and cons of FDI in retail from a purely economic point of view. After considering the economic arguments for and against multi brand retail we identify the safeguards that should be undertaken before allowing giant multinationals to function in the country.
Open Access
Diagnosing Definitional Issues of the Small Scale Sector in India
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Saha, Mausumi; Banerjee, Sharmistha
Definitional ambiguities of the small scale sector in India are a consequence of the diverse agencies and sources responsible for defining and documenting these units. They pose a challenge in getting a uniform and non-overlapping national level picture. The paper focuses on the evolution of definitional criteria laid down by the concerned Ministry from the post-independence period till date and throws light upon the underlying ambiguities. Simultaneously, other agencies have used different documentational criteria which may have led to under/over estimation in the documentation of the performance of the sector. The authors posit the need for a uniform definition and standard documentation practice.
Open Access
Technology and Sickness: A Study of Small Engineering Enterprises in the district of Howrah, West Bengal
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) DasGupta, Manidipa; Dandapat, Dhruba Ranjan
In India, Small Enterprises (SEs) {formerly Small Scale Industries (SSIs)} are regarded as the most powerful organizations for socio-economic development. Among different states of India, West Bengal (WB), is notable for sickness of its engineering sector in the district of Howrah, the former Birmingham or Sheffield of the East. Howrah Small Engineering sector today has lost its glorious position in Indian economy due to reasons such as lack of adequate technical know-how of managerial personnel and the lack of application of updated and appropriate technology. The present paper primarily aims at detecting how far and to what extent the lack of technical knowledge of the managerial personnel is responsible for sickness in Small Engineering Enterprises of Howrah and suggesting some remedial measures for improvement of the prevailing situation.
Open Access
Does IFRS Reduce ‘Home Bias’ in Asset Management ?
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Ray, Hirak; Biswas, Joydeep
This paper examines the question-does adoption of IFRS reduce the home bias? Even after the proponents and skeptics are at loggerheads over the benefits of adoption of IFRS, this study advocates that the widespread adoption of IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) is unlikely to reduce the uncertainty about foreign financial reporting quality, familiarity bias, and geographical proximity bias that act as catalysts towards home bias.
Open Access
Antecedents and Measurement of Store Loyalty Behavior of Urban Shoppers in India
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Bhattacharya, Debasis; Dey, Shuvendu
The study of consumer store choice or patronage behavior has been an important area of research in retailing for many decades. Store loyalty is the most initial variable of interest to retailers. This paper attempts to identify the dimensions of store loyalty with specific focus on its antecedents such as Trust, Value for Money and Satisfaction. The results of this study provide retailers with useful information about Indian customers’ store loyalty determinants. Study results should be useful for retailers in Indian market when developing marketing strategies, when considering how they can best position their stores and which store loyalty determinants marketer needs to improve, in order to maintain customer loyalty.
Open Access
News of Inflation and Effect on Stock Prices in India
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Sahu, Tarak Nath; Bandopadhyay, Kalpataru; Mondal, Debasish
The article investigates into the impact of the inflation rate on stock market in India during the period 1993 to 2013. The study explores into the long-run co-movement between the rate of inflation and stock prices in India and attempts to reveal whether inflation rate causes stock market movement in India. The study also reveals that both the Indian stock markets are strongly exogenous in the sense that shocks to inflation rate explain only a small portion of the forecast variance error of the market indices and notices that a positive shock on inflation rate has a negative and persistent effect on Indian stock markets.
Open Access
Resumption of Indo-Bangladesh Border Trade: A New Phase of Bi-Lateral Co-Operations
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Adhikary, Prakash Chandra
Indo–Bangladesh border trade was first initiated in 1972. But ironically it was suspended within six months. Such a suspension order caused great hardships to the rural people living either side of the border who were miserably victimised by the abrupt partition of India in 1947. Considering the urges of several state governments of the north-east India, the Govt. of India placed a new modified proposal of ‘Frontier Traffic’ at New Delhi trade discussion in May 1973 but failed. The attempts to trace the changes since the 1990s when SAPTA and later on SAFTA in compatible with WTO provisions for free-trade regime were introduced by the SAARC.
Open Access
Business Risk in FMCG Companies in India during the Post-liberalization Era: An Empirical Analysis
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Sur, Debasish; Mitra, Susanta; Maji, Sumit Kumar
The FMCG industry in India has been making significant contribution towards developing the economy not only by providing a large number of consumer goods but also by generating a considerable amount of employment in India. In the environ of diverse challenges in India arising out of the liberalisation measures taken by the Government of India, FMCG companies have also made remarkable changes in their business policies. It has resulted in considerable changes in the pattern of business risk associated with the Indian FMCG companies. In this backdrop, the present paper seeks to analyse the business risk associated with 20 selected companies in the Indian FMCG sector during the period 1995-96 to 2011-12.
Open Access
Relationship between Organizational Role Stress and Stress Consequences—A Study among Postal Employees in West Bengal
(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Sen Gupta, Palas R.; Adhikari, Ajoy
An increased interest in the use of role theory has been seen recently to describe and explain the stresses associated with the membership of the organization. This paper aims at identifying the relationship between ORS variables and Stress Consequences among postal employees in West Bengal as postal employees are over burdened with. They deal with customers in massive number every day with very limited physical resources at their disposal. This study covers 614 responses from a sample of postal employees (both departmental and extra-departmental) from various Post offices located in difference areas in West Bengal.
Open Access
Non-Performing Assets of Commercial Banks: Thorns in the Flesh
(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Chattopadhyay, Paresnath
The article delves into the fact that dependence on bank loan for the entirety of operations of companies is fraught with many problems. Non-Performing Assets of banks have been figuring as thorns in the flesh of not only banks, but also the Government and the Reserve Bank of India. For borrowing enterprises, interest continues to accumulate and in unfavourable externalities banks do not show any understanding of the difficulties faced by the entrepreneurs even when they are serious about payment of bank dues in time. The call by loaner banks and some other circles for the creation of Asset Reconstruction Companies for taking over all the bad loans does not appear to be a consistent solution of the problem .
Open Access
Effective Corporate Tax Rates and Role of Accelerated Depreciation Allowance in India
(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Ghosh, Gangotree; Dhar, Samirendra Nath
Wide gaps between Statutory Tax Rates and Effective Tax Rates of companies in India have been observed for more than a decade and the tax base has been eroded through a steadily escalating range of exemptions. The study observes that due to these gaps there has been a substantial loss of tax revenue for the government from corporate taxes. The study examines various variables which influence Effective Tax Rates and bring to focus the role of accelerated depreciation allowance in reducing tax liabilities. Perceptions of corporate tax mangers various aspects of depreciation allowance for tax planning have also been explored in this context.
Open Access
Globalization and India’s Technology Regime: an Empirical Analysis in the Macroeconomic Perspective
(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Ghosh, Banhi Baran; Sur, Debasish
Technology regime of a country, in its macroeconomic perspective, is best reflected by how technology is acquired and how it is absorbed through sustaining public expenditure on R&D. After liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, opportunities have become ripe for the economy to acquire technology from abroad easily at a lower cost. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to study the impact of the import of technology on the public R&D of the Indian economy during the pre-and post- liberalisation periods (1980-81 to 1990-91 and 1991-92 to 2007-2008) on the basis of the Log-linear model of regression analysis.
Open Access
Information Flows between Sectors in Indian Stock Markets
(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Karmakar, Madhusudan
The paper investigates return and volatility spillover mechanism between ten sectors of the Bombay Stock Exchange in India. The study uses cointegration analysis to examine the co-movements between different sectors prices and VAR analysis to investigate the transmission of shocks between different sector returns. A bivariate GARCH model is also used to estimate the volatility spillover mechanism. The findings of the study indicate that there are strong information flows between sectors. The findings have significant implications for investors as well as policymakers.
Open Access
Productivity and Technical Efficiency of Smallholding Tea Plantations in North Bengal− A DEA Analysis
(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Majumdar, Tamash Ranjan
The proliferation of small tea growers into non-traditional areas is a very significant phenomenon of tea industry of North Bengal in recent years. The present study has estimated technical efficiency at the level of individual grower using the technique of Data Envelopment Analysis. The result shows that the mean efficiency of DMUs is quite high for the whole sample. However, it varies considerably across different classes of holdings. The study has indicated that there is ample potential for improvements in efficiency performance in terms of realisation of higher yield for all holding sizes of plantations, and especially for the bottom size class.
Open Access
Globalization, Growth, Poverty and Inequality: Perspectives from Eastern Europe and South Asia
(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Ray, Ajit Kumar
There are volumes of literature in search of linkages between globalization and poverty. The pro-globalization advocates argue that it led to faster growth, reduction in poverty and in inequality. The anti-globalization critics argue that it led to slower but more volatile growth, increased poverty and inequality. We examined the claim of positive relationship between growth rate with reduction of poverty and inequality. We find the claim that growth reduces poverty and inequality has not been realized. Moreover, positive growth due to globalization either immiserizes the poor or trickles down benefits insignificantly.
Open Access
Potential Problems of Human Resource Broad banding Salary Management Strategy
(University of North Bengal, 2016-03) Nandi, Debayan
Broadbanding is a job grading configuration that comes between applying spot salaries and numerous job grades to establish what to pay typical positions and serving within those positions. Broadbanding is an approach to job classification and compensation that takes into consideration content and scope of a job; employee knowledge, skills and abilities; the job market; and employee performance. Broadbanding gives the organization some broad job classifications; but it does not have many distinct job grades unlike traditional salary structures. As a result, broadbanding trims down the prominence on ‘statuses or hierarchy and places more stress on tangential job movement within the company. In a broadbanding structure an employee can be more easily rewarded for lateral faction or skills improvement, whereas in traditional multiple grade salary structures pay hike happens principally via job promotion. In this way, broadbanding is a more flexible pay system. This suppleness, on the other hand, can lead to internal pay relativity problems as there isn’t as much control over salary progression as there would be within a traditional multi-level grading structure. This paper aims at identifying the probable problems of broadbanding that often restrict the organizations from its complete application in spite of its different positive applications