dr. santanu kumar ghosh professor in commerce department ... · curriculum vitae . dr. santanu...

CURRICULUM VITAE

Dr. Santanu Kumar Ghosh Professor in Commerce Department of Commerce The University of Burdwan Burdwan, West Bengal, India. A. Personal: Name : Santanu Kumar Ghosh

Designation : Professor in Commerce, The University of Burdwan,

P.O-Rajbati, Burdwan, West Bengal, India, Pin-713104

[Serving from 07.02.2000]

Address (Permanent) : Bhangakuthi, G.T. Road, Opposite of Lifeline Nurshing Home

Burdwan, West Bengal, India, Pin – 713101

Date of birth : 02.05.1957

Linguistic Expertise : Bengali and English

Marital Status : Married

Nationality : Indian

Phone number : Mobile-9434360561

E-mail id : shantanu.kaizen@gmail.com

International Assignments Performed since 2008.

1. Member, TWG, United Nations Environmental Program- Finance Initiative.

2. Expert Panelist, European Commission since 2010.

3. Reviewer of World Finance Congress 2012.

4. Reviewer of ECIC 2012.

5. Reviewer of ECIC 2011.

6. Reviewer of ECIC 2010.

7. Reviewer of GRI (Sustainability Reports) 2008.

C. Academic Interest:

Areas of Teaching Interest:

Accounting and Finance

Areas of Research Interest:

Capital market, Corporate reporting, Corporate governance, Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Finance.

D. Professional Experiences:

Teaching Experience: [Total-30 years experience]

i) Lecturer in Commerce: a) 1984 July 2—1985 31 March, in SGB College, Mogra, West Bengal.

b) 1985 30 April—2000 6 Feb.

ii) Reader in Commerce: a) 1998 July- 6 Feb 2000, Khalisani Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal.

b) 2000 7 Feb July 2006.

iii) Professor of Commerce: July 2006- till date, The University of Burdwan.

Members of Professional Bodies:

Member of Indian Accounting Association Research Foundation, Kolkata

Member of the Organizing Committee of ECIC, 2010-13.

Member of the Editorial Board:

Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal ―Business Insight‖ An Academic

Journal of the Department of Commerce, The University of Burdwan.

Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal ―Journal of Management Research in Emerging Economies‖, Department of Management Studies, Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College.

II. Research Experience: 1. Obtained Ph.D. 1994, BU. Title—―Beta and Financial Management Decisions: The Indian Scene‖.

2. Publications: 67(Journal & Conference Proceedings).

III. Conference Participation (India): 25.

IV. Conference Participation Abroad: 1) GRI, Global Conference, Amsterdam, 2008.

2)INHoland University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands,2009.

3) UNESCO (Chair), France, 2009.

4) Inter-American Development Bank, Invited Speech on CSR, Uruguay, 2009.

5) University of Cyprus, Organized Mini-track of European International Conference on Intellectual Capital, 2010.

6) ICBMI, Bangkok, Thailand, 2011.

7) ILO Academy, Johannesburg, South Africa as SSTC Fellow, July 2015.

8. ILO Academy, Italy 2016

V. Research Guidance:

1) Ph. D Awarded & Submitted-5.

2) Ph. D working: 5.

3) M,Phil: 7.

VI. Award received: Best Research Paper Award (International Conference including IIM,Indore)- 4.

VII. Reviewer: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, U K.

VIII. Member, Editorial Board: Journal of Management Research in

Emerging Economies.

IX: Member, Organizing Committee: ECIC, since 2010.

E. Publications:

Published Articles:

2015-16

1. Empirical Validity of Value Added Intellectual Coefficient Model in Indian Knowledge Based Sector, Global Business Review, Vol. 16, No. 6, December 2015, pp. 947-962, ISSN: 0972-1509(Print) 0973-0664(Online), (co-author Dr. Santi Gopal Maji).

2. A Study on Effectiveness of Investment in Intellectual Capital of Indian Knowledge Companies, International Journal of Business Analytics and Intelligence, Vol. 3, Issue 2, 2015, pp. 65-76, ISSN: 2321-1857. (co-author Dr. Amitava Mondal).

2014

1. Determinants of Intellectual Capital Disclosure Practices of Indian Companies, Journal of Commerce and Accounting Research, Volume 3 Issue 3, pp. 25-36, ISSN: 2277-2146 (co-author Amitava Mondal)

2. Impact of Intellectual Capital on Bank Risk: Evidence from Indian Banking Sector, Accepted for publication in ―IUP Journal of Financial Risk Management‖. (co-author Dr. Santi Gopal Maji)

In Conference proceeding

3. Association between Cost-Benefit of Environmental Performance and Financial Performance of Some Selected Asian Companies Socio-Technical Frontiers of Global Management (IS-2014), Excel India Publishers, ISBN: 978-93-83842-37-7, Vol. III, pp. 1-15. (co-author Sudipta Mondal)

4. Association between Stakeholders‘ Shared Value and Corporate Social Performance: A Study on the Selected Asian Companies, Publication in process in the proceeding ‗Trends in Sustainability and Management Strategy‘, IMT Nagpur. (co-author Sudipta Mondal)

5. Role of Corporate Citizenship in Achieving MDGs: A Study on the Asian Countries,

Publication in process of the journal ‗Management & Change‘, IILM New Delhi. (coauthor Sudipta Mondal)

6. Country Based Comparative Study on the association between Corporate Environmental Performance and Firm Value Option Selected Asian Companies, in Changing Finance and Economic Perspectives, edited by Dr. V. S. Adigal and Dr. Mukund Chandra Mehta, Bharti Publication, New Delhi-110002, pp. 267-278. (coauthor Sudipta Mondal) (ISBN: 978-93-81212-79-0)

7. Reporting on Labour Related Issues by Business Firms: A Study on the association between ILO Standards and GRI Reporting Framework with Special Reference to Discrimination of Labour Practices in Indian Context, in New Approach in Human Resource and

Marketing Management, edited by Dr. Vijay Prakash and Raj Kumar Sah, Bharti Publication, New Delhi-110002, pp. 215-223. (co-author Somnath Das) (ISBN: 978-93-81212-80-0)

8. Conditional Investment Performance in Different State of the Economy: Indian Evidence, in Changing Finance and Economic Perspectives, edited by Dr. V. S. Adigal and Dr. Mukund Chandra Mehta, Bharti Publication, New Delhi-110002, pp. 328-353. (co-author Subrata Roy) (ISBN: 978-93-81212-79-0)

9. An Extended VAIC Model for Measuring Intellectual Capital Efficiency, in New Approach in Strategic and Operation Management, edited by Dr. Rajpal Singh Rawat, Dr. Manju and Raghbendra Dwivedi, Bharti Publication, New Delhi-110002, pp. 425-434. (co-author Amitava Mondal) (ISBN: 978-93-81212-81-3)

2013

In Journal

10. Noise Traders vs. Informed Traders: Is There Arbitrage in BSE and NSE Stock Markets? Indore Management Journal, Special Issue, pp. 31-71. (co-authors Paritosh Chandra Sinha and Samapti Chatterjee )

11. Intellectual Capital Reporting Trends in India: An Empirical Study on selected Companies, International Journal of Financial Management, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 9-18. (co-author Amitava Mondal)

12. The Relevance of Intellectual Capital Valuation: Indian Evidence, International Journal of Financial Management, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 1-9. (co-author Amitava Mondal)

13. Unifying Views on Corporate Capital Structure Dynamics: A Research Letter, International Journal of Financial Management, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 44-59. (co-author Paritosh Chandra Sinha)

14. Corporate Governance Attributes and Corporate Disclosure: Evidence from India, Indore Management Journal, Special Issue, pp. 317-328. (co-author Sunil Nandi)

15. Market-timing Performance of the Open-ended Income and Growth Mutual Fund Schemes: An Empirical Study , International Journal of Financial Management, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 47-56. (co-author Subrata Roy)

2012

1. Human Resource Accounting Disclosure and Firm Characteristics: Evidence from the Indian Firms, in Business Applications and Management Issues, edited by I. Sengupta, A. Roy, G. Saha and R. Roy, Faculty of management Studies Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College and SPS Publication India Pvt. Ltd., pp. 72-78. (coauthor Sunil Nandi)

2. The Implications of Intellectual Capital on Shareholders Value Creation: Indian Evidence, in Business Applications and Management Issues, edited by I. Sengupta, A. Roy, G. Saha and R. Roy, Faculty of management Studies Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College and SPS Publication India Pvt. Ltd., pp. 64-71. (coauthor Amitava Mondal)

3. The Role of Intellectual Capital in Creating Value of Indian Companies, International Journal of Financial Management, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 63-73. (coauthor Amitava Mondal) 2011

4. Intellectual Capital and Value Creation: Evidence from Indian Hotel and Finance Companies, Journal of Management Research in Emerging Economies, Vol. 1,No. 2, pp. 15-37. (co-author Amitava Mondal)

5. Intellectual Capital and Organizational Performance of Indian Companies, Nirma University Journal of Business and Management studies, Vol. 5, No. 3&4, pp 19-40. (co-author Amitava Mondal)

6. Selectivity as a Measure of Mutual Fund Performance: A Comparative Study of the Open-Ended Income and Growth Scheme, Global Journal of Finance and Economic Management, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 69-86. (co-author Subrata Roy)

7. The Bilateral Association Between Discretionary Environmental Disclosure Quality and Economic Performance: An Asian Perspective, The IUP Journal of Accounting Research and Audit Practice, Vol. X, NO. 2, pp. 7-27. (co-author Abhijit Roy)

2010

8. Macro-forecasting Ability of the Indian Mutual Fund Managers: An Empirical Study of the Open-ended Income and Growth Schemes, in Sustaining Shareholder Value Role of Investors and Regulators, edited by S. Mehta and N. Amarnani, Excel Books, New Delhi, pp. 381-394. (co-author Subrata Roy)

9. Relationship between Elements of the Corporate Governance and the Corporate Disclosure: A Study, in Sustaining Shareholder Value – Corporate Finance Practices, edited by S. Mehta and N. Amarnani, Excel Books, New Delhi, pp. 287-298. (co-author Sunil Nandi)

10. Macroeconomic Variables and Firm‘s Adjustment Speed in Capital Structure Choice: Indian Evidence, The IUP Journal of Applied Finance, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 29-50. (co-author Paritosh Chandra Sinha)

2009

11. Intellectual Capital and Financial Performance: Evidence from the Indian Banking Industry, in Proceedings of the European Conference on Intellectual Capital, IN Holland

University of Applied Sciences, Haarlem, The Netherlands, edited by C. Stain and D. Andriessm, pp. 217-227. (co-author Amitava Mondal)

12. Is there Optimality in Firm‘s Capital Structure? An Empirical Study, Finance India, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, pp. 867-888. (co-author Paritosh Chandra Sinha)

13. Impact of Corporate Governance and other Firm Characteristics on Transparency & Disclosure (T & D): An Empirical Study, Annamalai Journal of Management, Special Issue, July, pp. 94-101. (co-author Sunil Nandi)

14. Indian Software and Pharmaceutical sector IC and financial performance, Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 369-388. (co-author Amitava Mondal)

15. Theory of Market Timing and Asymmetric Information: Empirical Evidence with Dynamic Views‖, The ICFAI Journal Of .Applied Finance, Vol.15, No. 4 (April 2009), pp.5-28. (co-author Paritosh Chandra Sinha)

2008

16. Determinants of Capital Structure : Static vs. Dynamic, Apeejay Journal of Management & Technology, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 165-178. (co-author Paritosh Chandra Sinha)

17. Association between stock market liquidity and some selected macroeconomic variables: A case study on Indian Stock market, The ICFAI Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. VI, No. 3, September, pp. 53-73. (co-author Som Sankar Sen)

18. Stock market Liquidity of BSE and NSE: A Comparative Study (1995-2005), The Management Accountant, February, pp. 55-60. (co-author Som Sankar Sen)

19. The Association between Market Liquidity at the Scrip level and Accounting Variables: The Indian Evidence, Indian Journal of Finance, pp. 20-31. (co-author Som Sankar Sen)

2007

20. Time Diversification and Risk Management: A Probabilistic Approach, The ICFAI Journal of Applied Finance, Vol. 13, No. 10, October, pp. 16-28. (coauthors Som Sankar Sen & Paritosh Chandra Sinha)

21. Stock market liquidity and exchange rate – A case study on BSE and NSE, The Management Accountant, Vol. 42, No. 10, October, pp. 820-822. (co-authors Som Sankar Sen & B. K. Ghosh)

22. Can Firms Capital Structure Decision help an investor (A risk averter or risk taker)? A case study on Automobile Industry in India, The Management Accountant, Vol. 42, No. 6, June, pp. 446-455. (co-author Paritosh Chandra Sinha)

23. Determinants of Capital Structure of Indian Companies: Pecking Order or Tradeoff Hypothesis, The ICFAI Journal of Applied Finance, Vol. 13, No. 5, May, pp. 5-16. (co-author Santi Gopal Maji)

2006

24. A Prototype design for Digital Intellectual Property Right Management in Ecommerce – A UML Based Approach, Journal of Computer Society of India, Vol. 36, No. 4, (October - December), pp. 46-51. (co-authors Sanjay Banerjee & David Sripati)

25. Impact of Operating Leverage on Profitability : An empirical study on selected Indian industries, The Management Accountant, Vol. 41, No. 8, August, pp. 660-667. (co- author Santi Gopal Maji )

26. Relationship between Stock Market Liquidity and Volatility at an Aggregate Level: A Case Study on NSE, The ICFAI Journal of Applied Finance, April, pp.39-46. (co-author Som Sankar Sen)

2005

27. Correlation and substitutability among different measures of liquidity: A study on the Bombay Stock Exchange, Research Bulletin, Vol. XXVII, July, pp. 70-77. (co-author Som Sankar Sen)

28. The New Economic Policy and Empowerment Situation in India, in Post Modern Themes in Social Sciences: Problems and Prospects, edited by Susanta Bhattacharya, pp. 70-77.

2004

29. Working Capital Management Efficiency: A Study on the Indian Cement Industry, The Management Accountant, Vol. 39, No. 5, May, pp. 363-372.(coauthor Santi Gopal Maji)

30. Impact different institutional factors on stock price movement in India – An empirical study, Research Bulletin, Vol. XXIV, January, pp. 29-34.

2003

31. Utilisation of Current Assets and Operating Profitability: An empirical study on Cement and Tea industries in India, The Journal of Accounting, Vol. XXXIV(1), December, pp. 52-55. (co- author Santi Gopal Maji )

2002

32. Collectivism vs. Individualism and accounting values: a comparative study of the GAAPs of selected countries, The Management Accountant, Vol. 37, No. 5, May, pp. 346-351.

2001

33. On the relationship between share prices and exchange rates: The Indian scenario, Indian Accounting Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, December, pp. 59-67.

1999

34. Globalisation of Indian Economy : An outline of strategies, in New Economic Policy – its Impacts and Alternatives, Khalisani Mahavidyalaya, Hooghly, pp. 174-206.

1996

35. Some Tests of CAPM with Indian Share Price Data, Vidyasagar University Journal of Commerce, Vol. 1, March, pp. 11-27. (co- author Amit Kumar Mallik )

36. Financial Management Decisions and Risk: A case with Indian Share Price Data, Finance India, Vol. X, No. 3, September, pp. 617-632. (co- author Amit Kumar Mallik)

1995

37. Accounting Dynamism: The need for integration between Research, Teaching and Practice, in Studies in Accounting Thought, edited by G. Sinha, Calcutta University, pp. 82-90. (co- author Amit Kumar Mallik)

G. Paper presentation:

2012

1. Firm characteristics, corporate governance attributes and the level of corporate disclosure: Evidence from the Indian listed firms, Nirma International Conference on Management (NICOM-2012), Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedebad, India. 5th to 7th January (co-author Sunil Nandi)

2. Human Resource Accounting Disclosure and Firm Characteristics: Evidence from the Indian Firms, International Conference on Business Applications and Management Issues (ICBAMI-2012), Faculty of management Studies Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College, Durgapur, India. 10th and 11th January (co-author Sunil Nandi)

3. The Implications of Intellectual Capital on Shareholders Value Creation: Indian Evidence, International Conference on Business Applications and Management Issues (ICBAMI-

2012), Faculty of management Studies Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College, Durgapur, India. 10th and 11th January (co-author Amitava Mondal)

2011

4. Effect of Audit Committee Size, Financial Expertise and Shareholding on Corporate Disclosure, Nirma International Conference on Management (NICOM-2011), Instutute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedebad, India. 6th to 8th January (co-author Sunil Nandi)

5. Intellectual Capital and Organizational Performance of Indian Companies, Nirma International Conference on Management (NICOM-2011), Instutute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedebad, India. 6th to 8th January (co-author Amitava Mondal)

2010

6. Relationship between Elements of the Corporate Governance and the Corporate Disclosure: A Study, Nirma International Conference on Management (NICOM-2010), Instutute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedebad, India. 7th to 9th January (co-author Sunil Nandi)

7. Corporate Disclosure and Corporate Governance Attributes: Evidence from the listed Companies in India, International Conference on Quantitative Methods in Money, Banking, Finance and Insurance (ICQMBFI-2010), The ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad jointly with Indira Gandhi Institute of Development and Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India. 19th and 20th March (co-author Sunil Nandi)

2009

8. The Effect of Firm Size, Profitability, leverage, Liquidity on Corporate Disclosure: An Empirical Study, The International Conference on Business & Finance (ICBF), The ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad, India. 9th and 10th January (co-author Sunil Nandi)

9. Intellectual Capital and Value Creation: Evidence from Indian Hotel and Finance Companies. The International Conference on Business & Finance (ICBF), The ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad, India. 9th and 10th January (co-author Amitava Mondal)

10. Dynamic Adjustments towards target Capital Structure of Firms : Indian Evidence, The International Conference on Business & Finance (ICBF), The ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad, India. 9th and 10th January (co-author Paritosh Chandra Sinha)

11. An Empirical Examination of the Value Relevance of Intellectual Capital: Indian Evidence, International Conference on Indigenous Management Practices (ICIMP-2009), Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India. 16th to 18th July (coauthor Amitava Mondal)

12. Impact of Corporate Governance on Transparency & Disclosure (T&D) and other Firm Characteristics: An Empirical Study, International Conference on Indigenous Management

Practices (ICIMP-2009), Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India. 16th to 18th July (co-author Sunil Nandi)

2008

13. Empirical Validity of Capital Structure Theories: An Indian Experience, International Conference on Business and Finance - 2008, ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad jointly with Bentley College, USA. 11th and 12th January (coauthor Paritosh Chandra Sinha)

14. Intellectual Capital and Corporate Financial Performance: An Emperical Study on Selected Indian Companies, International Conference on Business and Finance -2008, ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad jointly with Bentley College, USA. 11th and 12th January (co-author Amitava Mondal) (Winner of the Best Research Paper Award)

15. Intellectual Capital and Corporate Performance: A Case Study on Reliance Industries Ltd, International Conference in Management Sciences and Arts, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar, India, 15th to 17th September, (co-author Amitava Mondal)

International seminar/ conference participation( since 2008)

Abroad.

1. University of Nicosia, Cyprus. Acted as Chairman of a Mini track in ECIC 2011.

2. ICBM held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2010.

Acted as Chairman of a session and presented a paper on CSR.

3. International Conference on CSR, Punta-del-Este, Uruguay, South America organized by Inter-American Development Bank, in 2009. Delivered lecture as an Invited Speaker.

4. UNESCO Chair on Civil Society, France, University of Lyon. International Conference on Civil Society, 2009. Presented a paper.

5. INHolland University, Netherlands. Presented a paper at ECIC-2009.

6. GRI, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Attended Global Conference on Sustainability Reporting as Expert Reviewer and Invited Guest to hand over Prizes to the Companies for Best CSR practice in 2008. Also, presented a paper.

1

A brief note on the ‘Sustainability Practices’ in various countries and their determinants.

Santanu Kumar Ghosh, Professor of Commerce, BU. India.

This note is prepared to understand the possible impact of different socio-economic-political and

cultural variables on the sustainability practices. More specifically, sustainability practices here refer

to the practices of Agricultural Farms which have considerable bearing on the society.

In this study ‘dimension Index’ in respect of Labour practices, Social including labour and Social

excluding labour have been computed separately. Index value is a ratio between the difference in

minimum practice score from the actual practices and the distance of the minimum score from the

maximum practice score. A value closer to one is preferred more, because this will reflect greater

degree of compliance. Hence, an index value closer to zero will reflect lesser degree of compliance

to the labour requirements as per the standards. Same methodology has been used to compute

other two dimension indexes also.

Now, it has been tried to identify the variables which influence such practices. Independent variables which have used here are:i) corruption index of countries, ii) GDP Growth (2016), iii) Cultural variables like-a) power distance, b) uncertainty avoidance, c) masculinity, d) individualism, e) indulgence, f) long term orientation and other variables (political, legal & psychological) which include a) rule of law, b) political right and civil liberty, c)happiness. All these 11 variables have used to explain the variations in the labour practices, social and labour practices and social practices without labour related compliance by the agricultural farms operating around the globe. Practices have been identified on the basis of the sustainability standards which are followed in a country. Based on the observed practices score of a country is developed and the index is computed using the method mentioned above. The empirical findings are presented in the following few lines. Impact of individual variables on the practices computed based on producing country (PC) and destination market (DM) separately has been measured with the help of regression slope (beta). The results show that:

1. Labour (PC) practices are influenced positively by GDP growth and the same for destination market is seen to have been positively influenced by power distance (cultural variable) in addition to the GDP growth. Negative influence has been noted (in case of PC) for the variables namely i) political rights and civil liberty, ii) rule of law, iii) happiness, iv) individualism and v) corruption index. However, in case of DM, happiness, individualism and indulgence are seen to have influenced labour practices negatively.

2. Social dimension (including labour) based on producing country based computation is seen to have been influenced positively by power distance. Excepting this the positive impacts remain the same as mentioned above. Negative influences under producing country context, are reported for the variables namely i) rule of law, ii) indulgence, iii) long term orientation, iv) masculinity, v) individualism and vi) corruption index of countries. However, under the destination market basis analysis identifies happiness, individualism and indulgence as the negative influencers.

3. Social dimension(excluding labour) has received positive influence from happiness and political rights and civil liberty (in case of Producing country based analysis) and from GDP growth only under destination market based computations.

2

Prominent negative influencers are (under pc basis computation) uncertainty avoidance, individualism and GDP growth. Destination market based analysis shows ‘happiness’ as the sole negative contributor to this dimension. Results of the combined impact of all selected variables bring out the following Destination market basis analysis observations: 1. Producing country basis analysis:

a) Labour dimension: Influencers are GDP growth (positive) and individualism & corruption (negative) Most importantly, major influences come from the corruption (-.932).

b) Social dimension (including labour): In this case also corruption and individualism appear to have influenced it negatively and the former emerge as the stronger impact agent. Positive contribution comes from political right and civil liberty only.

c) Social dimension (excluding labour): Societal practices as per the standards have been influenced by GDP growth (positive) and long term orientation and happiness (negative).

2. Destination market basis analysis: a) Labour dimension: Positive influences received from GDP growth and negative

influencers are happiness and long term orientation. b) Social dimension (including labour): Influencers and direction of influence remain

unchanged in this case. However, no significant contributor can be found in case of social dimension without labour.

Major observations may be noted as under: 1. GDP growth in most of the cases has influenced the social dimension of sustainability

positively. Hence, economic growth as measured by this variable may be considered as an important target for the nations.

2. Happiness being the psychological variable about a nation, is seen to have negative influence/association with the sustainability practices of the agricultural farms around the globe. This needs to be explored further to bring out the possible reasons. However, positive impact of this variable is also seen in case of producing country based analysis on the social dimension excluding labour.

3. Excepting power distance, all cultural variables are seen to have negative influence on all three dimensions used in the present analysis. As most of the countries (UN members) follow democratic and market based systems, cultural variables used in this study should show positive influence on the social dimension. Negative impact, instead might be considered as the sorry state of the rural social lives around the globe. This require special attention at the time of designing developmental policies of the countries.

4. Corruption has appeared to be the very strong negative contributor to the labour practices and to the overall social dimension around the globe. Unless this condition is improved, achieving SDGs might become far reaching targets.

5. Another important observation is that: political right and civil liberty influences the social dimension without labour in a positive manner, but in respect of labour practices countries in question show negative political attitudes. This is one of the major impediments in achieving the SDGs. The negative impact of the rule of law also support this orientation of the countries considered in this study. Now, based on the above mentioned understanding in respect of the sustainability practices around the globe, we may now take up country specific analysis. Following section tries to analyse the case of our country India.

3

According to Global Competitiveness Report 2016-17 developed by the World Economic Forum, the most problematic factors for doing business in India may be shown as under: Rank Factors Weighted

Score 1 Corruption 10.1 2 Policy instability 9.6 3 Inflation 8.9 4 Access to financing 8.1 5 Government instability 7.3 6 Inadequate supply of infrastructure 7.3 7 Tax rates 6.8 8 Inefficient government bureaucracy 6.6 9 Complexity of tax regulation 6.3 10 Insufficient capacity to innovate 6.1 11 Foreign currency regulations 5.7 12 Inadequately educated workforce 5.5 13 Restrictive labour regulations 5.5 14 Poor public health 3.3 15 Poor work ethic in labour force 1.5 16 Crime and theft 1.5

According our study corruption and political variables have emerged as strong negative influencers on the sustainability practices around the globe. India is no exception to that. WEF’s study brings out this fact. Also political variables shown in the above table are not conducive for developmental activities. Besides considering other variables, any developmental plan should be made in such a manner that the scheme or the project should be able to cope with these problems. Under such a situation, a solidarity based organisational structure with strong support of the political and the legal systems may be of help to achieve the targets of SDG.

1

A Solution to Achieve Sustainable Agriculture in India: A Proposed Model for Integrated Initiative of Public, Private and Associative Sectors Prof. Santanu Kumar Ghosh1. Sova Ghosh2. The 21st century human civilization has inherited from its predecessors a great challenge which is popularly identified as ‘Sustainability’. Consequent to this is the formal adoption of 17 goals relating to development (SDGs) by the United Nations and the constituent member countries with 169 targets to be achieved by 2030. In order to assess the achievements, 304 indicators have been identified which will be used for this purpose. Present study makes an attempt to offer a solution as mentioned in the title on the basis of an almost similar experience in the education sector. Hence, the proposed model will be presented after describing the said experience in education in section-II. ‘Quality education’ has been identified as the 4th goal and relating to it 10 specific targets and 11 indicators for evaluation have been accepted by the UN. Based on this, the G20 Taskforce has developed a policy document (Open, Dynamic and Inclusive Labor Markets Harnessing the Potential of Technological Change and Creating a Global Level Playing Field-- B20 TASKFORCE EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION POLICY PAPER 2017) in which (policy action 2.2) specific suggestions have been made in respect of ‘Investment in Skill Development’. Present initiative (our experience) is associated with this requirement. Long back (2006), the teachers of the University of Burdwan understood the need for taking initiative to develop human capital (particularly for the students with the rural background) in such a manner that they can be considered as employable by the corporate. According to Global Competitiveness Report 2016-17 developed by the World Economic Forum, the most problematic factors for doing business in India may be shown as under: Rank Factors Weighted

Score 1 Corruption 10.1 2 Policy instability 9.6 3 Inflation 8.9 4 Access to financing 8.1 5 Government instability 7.3 6 Inadequate supply of infrastructure 7.3 7 Tax rates 6.8 8 Inefficient government bureaucracy 6.6 9 Complexity of tax regulation 6.3 10 Insufficient capacity to innovate 6.1 11 Foreign currency regulations 5.7 12 Inadequately educated workforce 5.5 13 Restrictive labour regulations 5.5 14 Poor public health 3.3 15 Poor work ethic in labour force 1.5 16 Crime and theft 1.5

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The same report shows that out of 140 countries, among the twelve pillars of competitiveness India’s rank is 90 in case of Higher education and training (5th pillar) and 120 in respect of Technological readiness (9th pillar). These again clearly establish the very sorry state of the Indian economy particularly when they are compared to the 10th pillar named ‘market size’ in respect of which India’s rank is 3. Educational institutions have an important role to play in respect of formation of employable human capital. From the reported rank (60) of the country in respect of the first pillar named ‘Institutions’, the performance of the higher educational institutions can be guessed. Ten years back, the situation was much worse. Following initiative was made by the teachers of the university. I. Initiative to offer a solution: BUAcKLab Understanding the actual requirements which are reflected in the report, an initiative was made by combining private business enterprise (Aclaris Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd), university (Burdwan University-a public funded institution) and the members of the staff of the university (associative sector) to create BUAcKLab which was designated to offer appropriate training to the educated unemployed youth (students of the university) and placement of all trainees in the partner company. This initiative was made to address the following problem. Problem: Skills Mismatch of the Educated Youth (G20 report also identifies this as an important challenge for achieving SDGs) Context: 1. Students, particularly with rural background could not get motivated to study seriously because of an understanding that even after achieving good academic certificate probability of getting employment was miserably low. Hence, they started becoming less serious about higher education. Consequently, institutions appeared to be an enrolment agency only for offering certificate of higher education. There was, therefore, a need to find out a different way of creating confidence among the students and this should be done by helping them to become employable. 2. While young educated job hunters lost their trust over the educational institutions and the private sector in respect of their employment, providers of job (private sector enterprises) also gathered experience about the non-employability of the educated youth of the region. 3. Government initiatives were not adequate about bringing the required changes in the present sorry state of knowledge and skill level of the young people of the region. Feature of the solution 1. A joint initiative named BUAcKLab was created at the university campus. 2. Students of the university were selected on the basis of admission test conducted by BUAcKLab. 3. Students were imparted training (Diploma) on Soft Skill and Statistics. Duration of the course was of 3 months. 4. Students were asked to deposit a fee initially so that they could take the thing seriously. But finally, they were given back the money in the form of a stipend at during the third month. Their net monetary gain was positive. 5. At the end of the study, students were entitled to get a certificate and placement in the partner company.

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Impact 1. Placement of students, particularly from rural areas after education became a regular phenomenon. 2. Increased motivation among the students’ community to pursue academic activities more seriously. 3. Enrolment of number of students in the courses of the university increased. This initiative has close similarity with ‘The JOBLINGE Initiative and CNC Qualification Program’ started in 2008 by Boston Consulting Group jointly with BMW’s Eberhard von Kuehnheim Foundation. Based on the success of the aforesaid initiative which started in 2006, we beg to propose the following solution keeping in mind the objective of achieving SDGs within the targeted period. Following section (II) is devoted for this purpose. Before presenting the case, it may be of help if some useful information about Indian economy is considered. Of the total employment, more than 49% are related to agriculture and more importantly, of the total employment 80.2% are vulnerable. 35% of the GDP of the country come from the unorganised sector. Thus excessive dependence upon agricultural sector and vulnerability in employment are the most important barriers to development. Moreover, neither the agriculture nor the manufacturing sector is ready to take part in international trades which could help the country to develop at a rapid pace (like China). Under such a situation, an attempt is made to suggest a model which is based upon partnership among public, private and associative sectors. Unless these sectors, particularly the government, are involved implementation (like that described in previous section) of the project is not possible. A cursory look into the table shown in the previous section will bring out the main impediments of the economy. The first constraint is corruption. This has considerable bearing upon all public schemes adopted and implemented by the country. SDGs are no exceptions. Hence, an appropriate approach should try to ensure that schemes are implemented in an effective manner. Successful implementation of NREGA (100 day’s job guarantee for the poor people) could help the poor to earn a minimum wage for 100 days in a year. But this cannot empower them to achieve earning ability of their own in future. To make them get sustainable earning they should be adequately trained up so that they themselves can earn their livelihood. Similar argument is valid in case of urban labour force that use to receive wages for 100 days in a year and for this most of them do not need to do anything. This expenditure of the government could be much effectively used. In some cases some NGOs have been created by the wage earners to engage themselves in systematic production/agricultural activities with a view to generate/ produce marketable commodities. But for them, main problem is lack of appropriate leadership, financing of operations, inadequate technical skill to compete in the market, no or negligible idea about product certification and no idea about international trade (marketing). Under such a situation, a model shown below is proposed. It is not possible for some individuals like us to implement, because legal as well as different types of skills are needed for its successful implementation. Thus, it is proposed that a combination of public, private and associative sectors with necessary support from global partners (under SSTC route) may be considered for its implementation. Following paragraphs bring out the model.

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Problem: 1. Of the total cultivable lands approximately 23%, are in the hands of marginal cultivators who constitute 68% of the total land holders. Nearly 70% of the total area under cultivation is held by marginal, small and semi-medium farmers who constitute 94% of the total number of land owners. Their holdings range between one and four hectares of land. Evidently, they are poor and mostly are not in a position to afford modern farming (Source: Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016, GOI, Tables- 15.1, 16.4, 17.2). 2. More importantly, of these people almost all have been suffering from indebtedness for borrowing from banks etc. Hence, most of them lead a very disgraceful life due to this sorry state of agriculture in this country. 3. Agricultural wage rate varies between INR 55(Puduchery,Yanam) and INR 380 (Nagaland).

4. Inadequate facilities of crop insurance is another constraint.

5. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojona (PKVJ)-a scheme of organic farming is now being

implemented. Under this scheme efforts are made to help smallholders by involving

them in various localised clusters. But at the implementation level, the main problem is

to identify appropriate executor which possesses adequate technical knowledge, skill

and experience.

6. Higher cost of production and cost of sales make it (organic farming) not acceptable

among the farmers. Input cost is high and compared to the traditional farming which

indiscriminately uses chemical fertilisers and insecticides yield is also less. Consequently,

it appears to be not rewarding.

7. For marketing of farm produces, farmers are to depend largely on the local

marketers who actually control the entire market. As a result, actual benefits are

enjoyed by them.

These problems need to be solved for which a model is suggested in the following few

paragraphs.

Identified requisites for the Solution.

1. Leadership with appropriate knowledge, skill, experience and ability to gather

necessary infrastructure. A social and solidarity enterprise (SSEO, which will create value

but the same will not be distributed in the form of profits) will take the leadership. And

this will be allowed to take helps from international organisations like ISEAL Alliance

(standard setting entity), Fair Trade organisation or COOP for production as per

sustainability conditions and certification and marketing – nationally and internationally.

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ii) Cost reduction. Government regulations in respect of the use of NREGA should be

appropriately modified to allow the SSEOs to use the 100 days’ wage to pay the

agricultural labour during their training period which is necessary to equip them to be

able to do sustainable farming. They may be allowed to work in the SSEOs after the

completion of training to produce crops which will be of help in bringing down the cost

significantly. Because, of the total cost, labour constitute nearly 50%. If SSEOs are

allowed to continue with this help in utilising the wage offered under NREGA, they will

be able to replace the traditional farming within some years. At that time, organic

farming will sustain at the market. This will also help the government to bring down the

adverse impact of the use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides on human lives in the

form of health hazards.

iii) Setting up of appropriately designed partnership among government, private bodies

(national/international) and SSEOs will ensure sustainable agriculture which includes

both production and marketing. Internationally famous organisations mentioned above

will help the SSEOs to market their products without taking the helps of the local business

communities who, at present, use to dictate the terms of production and marketing

and make the farmers lives miserable. It is extremely necessary to ensure that partners

should work in a coordinated manner

If these requirements are met, probably, a solution to the problem stated above may

be achieved within a few years. This project may be implemented in phased manner

by dividing the country in some zones. But it is advisable that for the entire zone there

should be a planned move to bring down dependence on traditional farming. A

pictorial view of the model is given in the subsequent page.

But before we leave it for discussion, it may be of help if we consider following impact

data presented in ‘FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT: ASSESSING THE POVERTY IMPACT OF SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich October 2013’. In Kenya, both smallholders and workers were benefited by using sustainability standards for agricultural production. Impacts were measured on: i) inclusion, ii) income, iii) coverage of basic needs, iv) assets and services, v) food security, vi) job security, vii) employment condition, viii) gender equality, ix) child labour, x) productivity and quality etc. Excepting job security, Kenya is found to have performed well in almost all counts. Most importantly, all countries studied are seen to have ensured food security in respect of the selected crops. In case of Indian workers, positive impacts are found in the matter of coverage of basic needs and assets & services. Given these positive scenario, it is sufficiently encouraging to note that if India can satisfy the requirements mentioned above, it is possible to achieve the SDGs to a considerable extent. Hence, following model is put forward by us which we believe will help the country to achieve the desired solution.

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India’s rural unemployment problem and the role of SSEO: An outline of a model

Santanu Kumar Ghosh.i

(Sketch of the proposed model, Ghosh, 2017)

1Author is a Professor of Commerce at the University of Burdwan, India. Email:shantanu.kaizen@gmail.com 2 Email:pupe.sova@gmail.com

I Govt. Spending on 100 day’s work for labour (NREGA)/ Loans / subsidies for agriculture. VI

Rural employment & livelihood.

III Agricultural activities by small & medium farmers.

II Producer’s Marketing Cooperative (SSEO) Input provider/employment generator/ training & development of farmers & labour, facilitator.

V Market: National/International

IV

Agri-product certification and related services from organisation like ISEAL Alliance. Scope of South-South-Triangular Cooperation may be explored.