Labour Power and Stagnant Industrial Labor Productivity in Late Colonial India

Labour Power and Stagnant Industrial Labor Productivity in Late Colonial India Susan Wolcott Sivasubramonian’s (2000) data on Indian industrial labour productivity indicate 15 percent growth in the period 1900-1938. However, a detailed examination of these data show that most measured growth in large-scale organized industry can be attributed to the enormous gains made by Tata Iron and Steel (TISCO) after a firm wide 1928 strike. This paper looks for an economy wide explanation of the generally stagnant labour productivity in India by examining India’s four largest industries: cotton and jute textiles, TISCO and coal mining. I look for evidence of labour bargaining power, poor nutrition, low taste for effort, and managerial failure. There is evidence that labour had some control over wages in all four industries, and some control over employment in cotton and jute. The ability of TISCO’s management to exert control over labour outcomes lends support to hypotheses of managerial failure in other industries.