Resources, greenhouse gases, technology and jobs in India's informal economy the case of rice

This is an ESRC-DFID funded pilot project, contributing to research on low carbon transitions. It develops a set of micro-level methods that can be usefully applied elsewhere, including in advanced economies. Informal economies, however, have been completely neglected in the debates about climate change and the long awaited materials revolution. Yet in S Asia alone, India’s informal economy accounts for roughly 60% GDP and 9 out of every 10 jobs. Statistical information about the informal economy is poor and unsystematic – necessitating research that is field-based.

Official policy engages with the informal economy at best directly and in ways that are relatively poorly understood. In addition, policy itself is known to be permeated by informal politics.

How a low carbon transition might engage with informality is the question at the heart of this pilot.

This project develops a series of methods for the first-hand study of the materiality of the informal economy. We focus on greenhouse gases (GHGs) (in CO2e), energy and water as indicators of materiality, on labour conditions and on the structure of costs and profits.