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Why Nations Fail: Managerial Decisions and Performance in Indian Cotton Textiles, 1890–1938

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Susan Wolcott  and
Gregory Clark
Susan Wolcott
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677
Gregory Clark
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8578
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Abstract

Between 1890 and 1938 Japan experienced rapid economic growth. India stagnated. This national divergence was reflected in the performance of both countries' leading modern industiy, cotton textiles. The parallels between national and industry performance suggest the problems of the Indian textile industry may have been those of India as a whole. Weak management is widely blamed for poor performance in textiles. An analysis of managerial decisions in Bombay shows, however, that on all measurable dimensions Indian managers performed as well as they could. The problem instead was one factor they could not change—the effort levels of Indian workers.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , June 1999 , pp. 397 - 423
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1999

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