An Affirmative Specification to Informal Industrial Relations in West Bengal– Following Marshall to Krugman

Abstract

The study attempts to explore the nature of industrial relations in unorganized (informal) sector occupations. For this, the study focuses upon concentrated informal localized industries which are spatially clustered in particular geographical horizons thereby influencing development of the regional economy. To reveal this, the study is confined to a few specific spatially clustered informal industries in West Bengal, namely the Gems and Jewellery industry, the Zari and Embroidery industry, the Clay Pot Making industry, the Bag Producing industry, and the Hosiery industry. Specific sites of South Bengal have been selected for the incorporation of the study, namely Bowbazar (Central Kolkata), Sinthi, Bidhannagar and Belgharia (North Kolkata), Bhawanipur (Central Kolkata), Domjur and Panchla (Howrah), and Daspur-Ghatal (West Midnapore). The clusters of the significant industries have been selected not always on the basis of their significant position in the map of the industry but due to their clustered production, inter-spatial and formal-informal linkages. The existence of clustered production often is so strong that the regional industrial economy of different spatial clusters is almost appearing to be a true Marshallian "industrial district” in the map of Bengal informal industry. In this sense, the study objects to detect the factors that determine long-term existence of these particular localized industries in these specific geographical spaces inheriting several forms of informal industrial relations which are to be explored along with formal sector industrial relations in order to have a proper industrial scenario of the developing state. To incorporate this, the logical argumentation of the study is based upon literature support specifically of the classical and new economic geography school supported by case studies conducted and the primary survey results. The micro-level field surveys, sampling design and data analysis of the study conducted is based upon the standard model approach in order to avoid spatial homogeneity.