The Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) is an autonomous, multidisciplinary Centre for advanced research and training. Established in 1958, its faculty of about 23 social scientists (economists, demographers and sociologists) and a large body of supporting research staff focus on areas of social and policy concern. IEG's research falls into nine broad themes: Agriculture and rural development, environment and resource economics; globalization and trade; industry, labour and welfare; macro-economic policy and modeling; population and development; health policy; and social change and social structure. In addition, the Institute organizes regular training programmes for the trainee officers of the Indian Economic Service and occasional courses for officers of the Indian Statistical Service, NABARD, and university teachers. The Institute's faculty members also supervise doctoral students from India and abroad, provide regular policy inputs, and engage with government, civil society and international organisations. Over the years IEG has hosted many international scholars, including Nobel Laureates Elinor Ostrom and Amartya Sen, and others such as Ronald Dore, Yujiro Hayami, Jan Breman and Nicolas Stern. Founded in 1958 by the economist V.K.R.V. Rao, IEG's faculty, Board of Directors and Trustees have included a wide range of distinguished intellectuals and policy makers, including V.T. Krishnamachari, C.D. Deshmukh, P.N. Dhar, A.M. Khusro, Dharm Narain, C. Rangarajan, C.H. Hanumantha Rao, Nitin Desai, T.N. Madan, P.C. Joshi and

Bimal Jalan Bimal Jalan (born 17 August 1941) is a former Governor of Reserve Bank of India and was a nominated member of the Upper House of India's Parliament, the Rajya Sabha during 2003–2009. Education and career Jalan graduated from Presidency ...

. Several former faculty members have served as members of the Planning Commission or on the Prime Minister's Panel of Economic Advisors. Former Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

has had a long association with the Institute, initially as Chairman of the Board (1972-1982) and as President (1992-2021) of the IEG Society. Other notable faculty members and leaders have included Ashish Bose and P. B. Desai. Currently, Shri. N.K. Singh is the President of IEG, Prof. Ramesh Chand is the Chairman of the BoG, IEG and Prof. Chetan Ghate is the Director of IEG. The institute's areas of research may be broadly classified into nine themes: * Agricultural and Rural Development * Environmental and Natural Resources * Globalization and Trade * Health Economics and Policy * Industry and Development * Employment, Labour and Informal Sector * Macroeconomics Analysis and Policy * Population and Human Resources * Social Change and Social Structure The institute also imparts training to the trainee officers of the Indian Economic Service, the Indian Statistical Service, NABARD, and university faculty. It also conducts talks, dissertations and seminars and has hosted scholars such as Nobel Laureates

Elinor Ostrom Elinor Claire "Lin" Ostrom (née Awan; August 7, 1933 – June 12, 2012) was an American Political science, political scientist and Political economy, political economist whose work was associated with New institutional economics, New Institution ...

and

Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher. Sen has taught and worked in England and the United States since 1972. In 1998, Sen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions ...

, Ronald Dore, Yujiro Hayami, Jan Breman and Nicolas Stern.

Facilities

Campus

IEG campus is a sprawling one, covering 7.5 acres of land and is home to the main office building, library, and residential buildings. The campus also accommodates a fitness centre, outdoor and indoor recreational facilities, seminar hall, children's park and play area for kids.

Library

IEG maintains a library, stocked with 1,31,000 accessioned documents such as books,

monographs A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

, workshop papers, proceedings of conferences, statistical documents in the fields of economics,

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, energy, environment, finance,

econometrics Econometrics is an application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics", '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...

, mathematics, agriculture, forestry, industry, irrigation, sociology, social

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

, gender,

demography Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

and health. It also has a wide range of unaccessioned micro documents on the subjects. It is accessible to research scholars, trainee officers and students of Delhi School of Economics and University of Delhi. The library maintains around 20,000 bound volumes of journals and subscribes to 104 paid journals, 51 exchange journals and 123 gratis journals. Another specialized collection of the library is census reports; the complete set of census reports are available in hard copy or microfilms or CD format.

Computer Centre

The Computer Centre in IEG is the controlling and service providing centre of the Institute in all matters related to

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

. The centre oversees the functioning of the IEG communication network with the help of advanced servers, LAN network, data repository, fast internet connection through Delhi University LAN, wi-fi systems and reprographic facilities that can accommodate 170 users at a time. The systems are supported by relevant office automation software.

Hostel

The Institute provides hostel facility to the trainees, probationers, officers of the Indian Economic Service, the Indian Audits and Accounts Service and others undergoing training at the institute. The facility is also available to the research staff working on various IEG projects, doctoral or post-doctoral students and guests, on an availability basis.

Research themes

Agricultural and rural development

Agriculture and rural development was a high priority theme with IEG since in inception. The projects under this theme are funder by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The efforts are focused on sustainable agricultural development with special attention on

environmental economics Environmental economics is a sub-field of economics concerned with environmental issues. It has become a widely studied subject due to growing environmental concerns in the twenty-first century. Environmental economics "undertakes theoretical ...

. The studies revolve around the pattern of growth in agriculture, its sources, determinants and implications in the society and the non farm employment in rural and urban India. The researches have produced several books, journals and research papers which are available for reference with IEG library.

Environmental and natural resources

The theme was introduced for research in the Eighties and has gained importance over the time. Research activities on non-renewable resources such as coal, iron ore, petroleum and oil, irrigation and water management, solar,

biogas Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, Wastewater treatment, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic ...

and renewable energy technologies have gained momentum at the institute. Simultaneously, forest related issues and industrial pollution are also treated as high priority subjects.

Globalization and trade

The principal are of work under this theme was transfer of technology and multinational enterprises which has now been expanded to cover trade and emerging issues of

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

(WTO) as well. The issues emerged as a fallout of

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

such as social and economic impact and cross-border trade have also been included now for further study.

Health economics and policy

The theme focusses on areas of

health economics Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to Health care efficiency, efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior in the production and consumption of health and healthcare. Health economics is important in dete ...

in the evolving national scene and is aimed at assisting policy makers with valid research data for arriving at policies and its amendments from time to time.

Industry and development

The theme of Industry and development was a major one, introduced at the beginning of the Institute and covered the entire range from small industry to multinational corporations with emphasis on employment, efficiency, environment and information technology. The emphasis is on contemporary issues from a policy making perspective. Small scale industries, petroleum, cotton and jute textiles, pricing policy for cement, sugar and cotton, location of sugar and fertilizer factories, and wages and productivity in major industries have all been taken up for advanced research and resultant studies have been made available to policy makers during the past years.

Employment, labour and informal sector

The latest addition to the theme profile is the one related to employment, labour and informal sector. IEG has conducted a large number of researches on: *

labour market Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labou ...

, employment,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

, underemployment and low productivity employment in the informal sector *

standard of living Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available to an individual, community or society. A contributing factor to an individual's quality of life, standard of living is generally concerned with objective metrics outsid ...

and

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

* social capital, population and income mobility * urban

slums A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily in ...

, basic amenities and housing *

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

Macroeconomic analysis and policy

The theme is a preferred one at IEG and attends to the macroeconomic issues related to India and other developing countries and strive to develop macro economic models suitable for India. The researches are supported by the Development Planning Centre (DPC) and the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

(RBI) Endowment Unit.

Population and human resources

The theme was introduced by the founder of IEG, V. K. R. V. Rao, in 1972. The studies undertaken under this theme are related to qualitative and quantitative evaluation of population and the development of demographic techniques for the estimation of births, deaths,

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

, couple protection and women's issues. It also studies the impact of national policies such as National Population Policy, National Health Policy, National Policy on Older persons and policies envisaged under the

National Rural Health Mission The National Health Mission (NHM) was launched by the government of India in 2013 subsuming the National Rural Health Mission and National Urban Health Mission. It was further extended in March 2018, to continue until March 2020. It is headed b ...

on the society.

Social change and social structure

The theme of Social change and social structure, or in broader terms,

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

, was introduced by the Asian Centre of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, which was later merged with IEG, in 1967. The main areas of research are: * comparative study of cultural and political development * communalism and

ethnic conflict An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's position within so ...

* rural transformation * sociology of popular culture * emergence of professionals and other middle class elites * dynamics of religion,

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

and modernization * changing functions of social institutions such as the family * contemporary media networks * gender relations * social policy in respect to education, urbanisation and health * cultural patronage * social ecology and environment ''Contributions to Indian Sociology'', a journal, is based at IEG and is published in association with SAGE Publications.

Research units

Agricultural economics unit: The unit was established in 1961 with the aid of the Ministry of Agriculture to undertake studies on the various aspects of Indian agriculture. Development planning centre: Established in 1994 with the financial support in the form of an endowment, from the Planning Commission, the unit endeavours to develop macro-economic models for forecasting the changes to assist the Government of India in policy making. The unit has collaboration arrangement with the Central Planning Bureau of Netherlands and

Erasmus University Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public university, public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus, Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christia ...

. Environment and resource economics unit: This unit was formed in 1998, funded by World Bank, and channeled through the Ministry of Environment and Forests under a five-year program. Later,

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

provided an endowment grant to IEG for creating a Professorial Chair in Environmental and Resource Economics. The unit concentrates on research, training, advising and networking the area of environment and resource economics. Health policy research unit: The main objectives of the unit was to broaden the spectrum of research in the field of health economics. It was established in 1998 and strives to carry out research on: * Health and poverty * Health issues of the elderly, adolescents and women * Health financing * Health insurance * Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS, Cardiovascular Diseases * Coordination with agencies like WTO and GATS * Adoption of health technology * Costing and cost-effectiveness of health interventions. * Economics of tobacco consumption and illegal drugs The activities of the unit are funded by

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is an Government of India, Indian government Ministry (government department), ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family ...

;

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, WHO,

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS; , ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ex ...

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

, DFID, AUSAID, SIDA, the

Population Council The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts research in biomedicine, social science, and public health and helps build research capacities in developing countries. One-third of its re ...

, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), Center for Global Development (CGD), Centre for Chronic Disease Control and

. IES training section: IES training section was started in 1968 with the principal aim of training the officers of the Indian Economic Service. IEG conducts two types of officer training programs; an induction training program for probationers of IES and the other, an in-service course for regular officers. The courses originally covered topics such as problems related to Indian economy, Economic Sociology and Institutional Aspects of Economic Development, but the course was redesigned in 2005 to include microeconomics, macroeconomics, public economics and quantitative techniques based on case studies. A brain storming section is also a part of the course. Population research centre: PRC was established in 1957 as a constituent of Delhi School of Economics, on the advice of V. K. R. V. Rao, who along with Professor P. C. Mahalanobis and Professor D. R. Gadgil, were members of a committee to study the development of research on population and its socio-economic impact. As per the recommendations of the committee, four ''Demographic Research Centres'' were opened of which one was hosted by IEG. This centre, in 1972, was renamed as ''Population Research Centre''. The centre focusses mainly on policy issues and planning programs. RBI endowment unit: The

granted a temporary endowment to IEG in 1979 to conduct studies on topics that is of interest to RBI such as

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. F ...

and employment. The system was made permanent by RBI in 1991. The unit undertakes advanced research on matters related

macroeconomics Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output (econ ...

open economy An open economy refers to an economy in which both domestic and international entities participate in the trade of goods and services. This type of economy allows for the exchange of products, including technology transfers and managerial experti ...

macroeconomic issues and economic reforms with special emphasis on applied

econometric Econometrics is an application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics", '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8� ...

and causality analysis. Social change and social structure unit: The unit is an eventual evolvement of the ''Asian Region Centre'' of

which started functioning out of IEG in 1967. When UNESCO opted out of the cooperation, the centre was downsized to form the unit, in 1974. The unit is funded by the

Indian Council of Social Science Research The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. It was established in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delh ...

(ICSSR). VKRV Rao centre for studies in globalization: The unit was started in 1993 with the assistance from

for undertaking studies on globalization, the findings of which have been brought out by IEG by way of 4 books and over 50 research papers, published in known publications such as The Journal of Development Studies, World Development, Journal of Development Economics, Developing Economies, Applied Economics, Applied Economics Letters, The Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, International Business Review, Journal of Business Venturing, Transnational Corporations, World Competition, Research Policy,

The Information Society ''The Information Society'' is a Peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal on sociology, that was established in 1981. It is published five times per year by Routledge and covers topics related to information technologies and changes in society ...

, Information Economics and Policy, Science Technology & Development, Indian Economic Review, and

Economic and Political Weekly The ''Economic and Political Weekly'' (EPW) is a weekly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all social sciences, and is published by the Sameeksha Trust. In January 2018, academic Gopal Guru was named the new Editor of the journal. Guru will be ...

. Presently, the unit is involved in projects under two major themes; Information Technology (IT) Software and Hardware and Role of Knowledge Sharing in the Globalization of Indian Enterprises. The centre is also conducting collaborative research with Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA, Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, Japan; Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands; United Nations University INTECH, Maastricht, The Netherlands and University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

Publications

The institute has published many books, some of the notable ones published since 2010 are: * * * * * * * * IEG has also published many other books and research papers.

References

External links

{{authority control Higher education in India Science and technology in India Economic growth Political and economic think tanks based in India Economic research institutes