ABSTRACT

India’s informal economy accounts for more than half the country’s GDP but is characterised by low levels of skills, and considerable barriers to skills development for workers. The Government of India has implemented ambitious policy initiatives for upskilling, designed to catalyse ‘formalisation’ of the economy, and improve productivity. However, evidence on skills development remains weak. Drawing on systematic review methodologies, this article reviews and synthesises the literature on the practical barriers to upskilling. It finds that access to, and quality of, training (especially for women) are serious limitations, while skills are often under-utilised in the absence of supportive labour market and wider business environment conditions. Training is often insufficiently linked to labour market and learner needs, and the capacity of the training system is limited. Government should increase investment in training for the informal sector, and consider strengthening incentives for training providers to focus on improving training quality and relevance.

摘要

印度的非正规经济占该国 GDP 的一半以上，但其特点是技能水平低，工人的技能发展障碍很大。印度政府实施了雄心勃勃的技能提升政策举措，旨在促进经济“正规化”并提高生产力。然而，关于技能发展的证据仍然薄弱。本文利用系统评价方法，回顾并综合了有关技能提升的实际障碍的文献。它发现，获得培训的机会和质量（尤其是对女性而言）是严重的限制，而在缺乏支持性劳动力市场和更广泛的商业环境条件的情况下，技能往往未被充分利用。培训往往与劳动力市场和学习者的需求没有充分联系，并且培训系统的能力是有限的。政府应增加对非正规部门培训的投资，并考虑加强对培训提供者的激励措施，以专注于提高培训质量和相关性。