Impact of Economic Reforms on Productivity Performance of Manufacturing Sector in South India

The four southern states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu - contribute over 24.3 percent of the GDP of the country. They are emerging as the major destination for industrialization. This paper analyses the growth and determinants of partial and total factor productivity in the aggregate manufacturing sector of the southern states during 1991/92 - 2011/12. The annual trend rates revealed that labor productivity growth rate was maximum in the state of Tamilnadu (9.15percent). The indices of capital productivity had shown increasing trend in case of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu except Karnataka. The total factor productivity was found to be increasing from the beginning of the post-liberalization period in all the southern states.