Jayan Jose Thomas | Humanities & Social Sciences

Jayan Jose Thomas

Jayan Jose Thomas
Professor
Economics
CV Summary: 

Jayan Jose Thomas is a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, where he has been employed since July 2010. His research deals with various issues related to development, mainly labour, industrialization and the macroeconomy. He teaches courses on macroeconomics, Indian economic development, international economics, and planning and development. Jayan is a former Member of the Kerala State Planning Board. While India has been the primary focus of his research, Jayan has been maintaining a lively academic interest on China and East Asia as well. He has worked extensively using Indian and international data sources, conducted field studies, and also worked with archival material. His research papers have appeared in journals including World Development, Development and Change and Economic and Political Weekly. He contributes regularly to media outlets, including the Hindu, Frontline , and Livemint, and his research has been cited in the Government of India’s Economic Survey, BBC, and the New York Times . His previous academic positions were at the National University of Singapore, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Madras School of Economics, and Central University of Kerala. He has worked on research projects for the International Labour Organization (ILO) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). He received his B. Tech in Industrial Engineering from Kerala University and Ph.D. in Development Economics from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

Personal website: https://jayanjthomas.wordpress.com/

Courses: (January-May 2025):

Perspectives on the Indian Economy (HSL 717). See for more details

Taught earlier

Macroeconomics (HUL 213). See for more details

Political Economy of Development (HSL 718). See for more details

Recent Research

‘The limits to growth of India’s Garment Industry’, Economic and Political Weekly, 24 August 2024. With Chinju Johny. Read the full text.

‘For a Wage-led Revival of Indian Manufacturing’, in State of the Indian Economy 2024. Read the full text.

‘India’s Rice Exports, World’s Food Security Challenges’, Working Paper, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore (NUS), 30 August 2024. With B. Satheesha. Read the full text.

Recent Opinion

‘Should State Governments Borrow More? ' , The Hindu, 4 April 2024. ‘The Fiscal Challenge to Kerala’s Development’ , The Hindu, 1 January 2024. ‘Propelling India's Development the Right Way’ , The Hindu, 22 September 2023.

Contact Information

Jayan Jose Thomas

Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Office: MS 640 B

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi – 110 016

Email: jayanjthomas@gmail.com, jayan@hss.iitd.ac.in

Academic Background

PhD in Development Economics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, 2005 (degree awarded).

Two-year Graduate Coursework in Economics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, 2000.

Bachelor of Technology in Industrial Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, University of Kerala, 1995.

Employment History

Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, February 2021 -- till date.

Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, 2014 -- till February 2021.

Visiting Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, 2014.

Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, 2010 - 2014.

Associate Professor, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod, 2009 - 2010.

Assistant Professor, Madras School of Economics, Chennai, 2008 - 2009.

Visiting Scientist, Sociological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, 2008.

Research Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, 2005 - 2008.

Post Doctoral Fellow, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, 2004 -2005.

Research Scholar, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, 1998 - 2003.

Industrial Engineer, Centre for Management Development, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 1995 - 1998.

Publications

LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

Academic Publications

Thomas, Jayan Jose (2020) ‘Labour Market Changes in India, 2005-2018: Missing the Demographic Window of Opportunity?’, Economic and Political Weekly, 22 August 2020, vol. 55, no. 34, pp. 57-63. https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Labourmarket_2005-18_EPW_Jaya...

This article has been cited in the New York Times, 23 March 2021.

Thomas, Jayan Jose (2020) ‘Sectoral Shifts and Declining Labour Participation Rate of Women’, in Swaminathan, Madhura, Shruti Nagbhushan and V.K. Ramachandran (eds.) (2020) Women and Work in Rural India, Columbia University Press, New York and Tulika Books, New Delhi. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Jayan_FAS_women_17March2020_c...

Thomas, Jayan Jose and Satheesha, B (2021) 'Agriculture and Rural Labour Markets in India', in Rajesh Raj S.N. and Komol Singha (eds.) (2021) The Routledge Handbook of Post-Reform Indian Economy, Routledge. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Agriculture_rurallabour_JJT_S...

‘Changes in India’s Rural Labour Market in the 2000s: Evidence from the Census of India and the National Sample Survey’ (with M.P. Jayesh), Review of Agrarian Studies, 6 ( 1), 2016. http://www.ras.org.in/changes_in_indias_rural_labour_market_in_the_2000s

'India's Labour Market During The 2000s: An Overview' in Ramaswamy, K.V (ed.), Labour, Employment and Economic Growth in India, Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2015. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Covid_India_polEco_JJT_9Feb20...

‘The Demographic Challenge and Employment Growth in India’, Economic and Political Weekly, 49 (6), 15-17. February 8, 2014. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/The_Demographic_Challenge_and...

‘India’s Labour Market During the 2000s: Surveying the Changes’, Economic and Political Weekly, 47 (51): 39-51, 2012. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Jayan_Indias_Labour_Market_du...

‘Locked in a Low-Skill Equilibrium: Trends in Labour Supply and Demand in India’, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 54 (2): 195-218, 2011. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Labour_Jayan_IJLE_2011.pdf

‘Labour in the New Economy: An Indian Perspective’, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 48 (4): 821-35, 2005.

‘Labour and Industrialization in Kerala’, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 46 (4): 575-92, 2003.

Opinions

'Losing one half of India’s demographic dividend', Ideas for India website, 21 April 2014. http://ideasforindia.in/article.aspx?article_id=279

'Economic growth that is not really jobless', Livemint, 30 September 2013. http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/boaY8zh2eH0Z3JOqe9qRfM/Economic-growth-t...

A woman-shaped gap in the Indian workforce, Hindu, 9 January 2013, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-womanshaped-gap-in-the-indian-wo...

INDUSTRY AND THE MACROECONOMY

Academic Publications

Thomas, Jayan Jose (2021) 'Has Labour Rigidiy Slowed Down Employment Growth in Indian Manufacturing' in Mani, Sunil and Chidambaran G. Iyer (2021), India’s Economy and Society: Lateral Explorations, Springer. pp. 327-354. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Labour_rigidity_CDS_manufactu...

Thomas, Jayan Jose (2018) 'Economic Growth without Employment: The Story of Indian Manufacturing', in Elizabeth Hill and Amitendu Palit (eds.) (2018) Employment Policy in Emerging Economies: The Indian Case, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 83-101. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Jayan_2018_Employment%20Polic...

'Regional Aspects of Indian Industrialization' in Chandrasekhar, C. P. (ed.) Indian Industrialization, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2015. For full text see:
https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/jayan_regional_ICSSR_OUP_2015...

‘Manufacturing in India: Has there been a Revival since the 1990s?’ in Kathuria, Vinish et al. (eds.) (eds.) Productivity in Indian Manufacturing: Measurement, Methods and Analysis , Routledge, New Delhi, 2014.

‘Explaining the ‘Jobless’ Growth in Indian Manufacturing’, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 18 (4):673-692, 2013.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13547860.2013.827462

‘Indian Manufacturing: The Road Ahead’, chapter in Tan, Tai Yong (ed.), South Asia: Societies in Political and Economic Transition. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2010.

‘A Review of Indian Manufacturing’, in Parikh, Kirit and Radhakrishna, R (eds.), India Development Report 2002, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2002.http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/icmtjj/ch3Jayan7-11-01.pdf

Opinions

‘Can India beat this slowdown’, Hindu, 17 April 2016. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/can-india-beat-this-slowdown/artic...

'The crisis in Indian manufacturing', Livemint, 5 December 2013.http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/rmpEHAFbfjjx08A7sAbP5O/The-crisis-in-Ind...

'Industry: Hurdles to growth' (about small industries in Coimbatore, Frontline, 10-23 October, 2009. http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2621/stories/20091023262104700.htm

DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICAL ECONOMY

Academic Publications

Thomas, Jayan Jose (2022), 'Covid-19 and the Indian economy: the debate about a wage-led recovery' in Lazzarini, A. and Melnik, D. (eds.) (2022) Economists and COVID-19 - Ideas, Theories and Policies During the Pandemic, Springer. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Covid_India_polEco_JJT_9Feb20...

‘Public Sector Units in India and China: Inefficient Producers or Creators of Crucial Knowledge Assets?’ in Brødsgaard, Kjeld Erik (ed.), Globalization and Public Sector Reform in China, Routledge, 2014. For full text see: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Publicsector_ChinaIndia_jayan...

‘An Uneasy Coexistence: The New and the Old in Indian Industry and Services’, chapter in D’Costa, Anthony (ed.), A New India: Critical Reflections in the Long Twentieth Century, Anthem Press, London, 2010.

‘Bridging the Social and Digital Divides in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala: A Capabilities Approach’ (with Govindan Parayil), Development and Change, 39( 30): 409--35, 2008.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2008.00486.x/full

‘Innovation in India and China: Challenges and Prospects in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology’, chapter in Parayil, Govindan and D’Costa, Anthony P. (eds.) , The New Asian Innovation Dynamics: China and India in Perspective, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. , Basingstoke, UK., 2008 http://www.mse.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/working-paper-35.pdf

‘Informational Development in Rural Areas: Some Evidence from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh’ in Parayil, Govindan (ed.), Political Economy and Information Capitalism in India: Digital Divide, Development Divide and Equity, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd., Basingstoke, UK, 2006

‘New Technologies for India’s Development,’ in Parikh, Kirit and Radhakrishna, R (ed.) , India Development Report 2004-05, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp. 126-40, 2005.http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/IDR-2004-05.pdf

‘Kerala’s Industrial Backwardness: A Case of Path Dependence in Industrialization?’ World Development, 33 (5): 763-83, 2005.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X05000136

Opinions

Thomas, Jayan Jose (2022), '‘The Silverline is not a Vanity Project', Hindu , 1 March 2022. See the full text here: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Silverline_Hindu_JJT_1March20...

Thomas, Jayan Jose (2021), 'Can India become a technology leader?', Hindu , 20 December 2021. See the full text here: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/JJT_Technology_Hindu_20Dec202...

Thomas, Jayan Jose (2020), 'Boost Wages to Stimulate India’s Growth?', Hindu , 6 May 2020. See the full text here: https://web.iitd.ac.in/~jayan/publications/Wages_JJT_Hindu_Jayan_4May202...

'How to be a model State again' (on Kerala's development alternatives), Hindu, 15 August 2016. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/How-to-be-a-model-State-again/arti...

'Yuan makes its first market move' (on the devaluation of the Chinese currency), Hindu, 20 August 2015. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/yuan-makes-its-first-market-move/a...

'Dragon power on display' (on the changing development strategy in China), Hindu,7 April 2015, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dragon-power-on-display/article707...

'Tips for Asian giants from Singapore', Business Times, Singapore, 4 May 2010.

'Drug industry: In the global net' (about the acquisition of Ranbaxy by Daiichi Sankyo of Japan), Frontline, 5-18 July, 2008. http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2514/stories/20080718251404700.htm

Honours

Non-minister member of Kerala State Planning Board, Government of Kerala (August 2016 -- April 2021).

China-India Visiting Scholar Fellow with Ashoka University (2020-21)

Courses