Innovating With Infrastructure: The Automobile Industry in India [Hardcover]

Sumila Gulyani (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0333915801 | ISBN-13: 978-0333915806

How do industrial firms in developing countries contend with and survive acute shortages of physical infrastructure? Sumila Gulyani examines the impact of inadequate power and freight transportation on the costs and competitiveness of Indian automobile firms and the innovative coping strategies that firms devise. Using in-depth, firm-level surveys and supply chain analysis, this study provides a unique perspective into the infrastructure problem and possible solutions. It identifies unconventional approaches and solutions that firms and governments can use to improve industrial access to infrastructure.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sumila Gulyani works on infrastructure projects at the World Bank.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (December 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0333915801
• ISBN-13: 978-0333915806
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,702,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book, December 2, 2005

By 

N. Lowe - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Innovating With Infrastructure: The Automobile Industry in India (Hardcover)

Excellent book. Clearly written, well reasoned and evidenced. I use several chapters in my graduate courses on economic development. Helps to illustrate the conditions under which development practitioners can use infrastructure bottlenecks to guide policies designed to deepen and improve supply chain management. Offers important policy lessons and insights for both developing and advanced industrial economies. A must read for students of infrastructure planning and economic development.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars captivating, November 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Innovating With Infrastructure: The Automobile Industry in India (Hardcover)

Instructive and funny! Not only did this carefully researched book provide valuable gems of insight on how infrastructure can be used to foster industrial development within industries and across firms, it was thoroughly and unexpectedly entertaining! (The anecdotes were particularly captivating!) A model of solid empirical research and a must read!

5.0 out of 5 stars Creates a Paradigm Shift, December 8, 2005

By 

Nausheen H. Anwar (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Innovating With Infrastructure: The Automobile Industry in India (Hardcover)

This is a very important book for academics and practitioners interested in infrastructure planning and economic development. By using a micro- or firm-level approach to understand the linkage between infrastructure and industrial competitiveness in India, Gulyani successfuly illustrates infrastructure as a key dynamic shaping the process of economic development. The excellent case-studies on electricity and transportation that examine manufacturers' supply-chains put firms centre-stage in the story. By revealing that firms are both consumers and producers of infrastructure services, Gulyani shows that users are not just passive recepients but also co-producers of such services. The studies also demonstrate how local governments can act as enabling partners, investors, planners or regulators in infrastruture planning. This book is a major departure from the current conventional wisdom on infrastructure provision, i.e. the relatively stale private vs public provision debate. Instead, by combining three strands of literature (location theory, lean production and industrial districts), Gulyani offers a more sophisticated framework that advocates an approach combining the private vs public extremes, and by doing so offers a new and dynamic alternative for infrastructure provision.