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The paper aims to review rules and policy guidelines worldwide around non-personal data (NPD) and evaluate the policies on criteria that allow for the use of data for economic and social good. A review related to diverse policy approaches of various countries remains a research gap, and hence the analysis in the paper is designed with the intention of developing a research framework and providing policy gaps for further exploration.

A systematic review of academic and non-academic literature on theoretical foundations, applications of NPD for economic and social good and NPD policies and regulations was conducted to identify the evaluation criteria. A total of 32 dimensions got identified for evaluation. As second step, content analysis was used for evaluation. A total of 13 documents from 6 countries and 1 geographical region were identified for evaluation. The documents were evaluated based on the 32 dimensions spread across 5 domains that facilitate data access and sharing for economic and societal benefit.

The analysis highlights three distinct emerging perspectives on data exchange: most policy and regulatory documents acknowledge the importance of identifying different types of NPD and accordingly describing the distinct roles and responsibilities of data actors for leveraging the data; the policy and regulatory frameworks clearly focus on increasing business opportunities, data sharing cooperation and innovation; and findings also demonstrate certain gaps in the policy frameworks such as a more comprehensive discussion on data access and sharing mechanisms, particularly data sandboxes and open data, and concrete norms and rigorous standards regarding accountability, transparency, ownership and confidentiality. Furthermore, policies and regulations may include appropriate incentive structures for data providers and users to ensure unhindered and sustainable access to data for the common good.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper represents one of the first research contributions evaluating global data policies focused on NPD in the context of its increasing use as a public good. The paper first identifies evaluation criteria for the analysis on public and social good, and, thus, provides a conceptual framework for future research. Additionally, the analysis identifies the broad domains of policy analysis on social and public good for data economics.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a background to the special issue on welfare schemes in India. After 25 years of decentralization of governance and structural adjustments implemented in the 1980s and 1990s, have welfare schemes implementation and execution become more accountable and efficient? This paper seeks a critical look at the welfare schemes and its relationship with decentralization and stakeholders’ dynamics.

The paper is based on a review of studies post 1990s. Papers representing all main stakeholders are reviewed, namely, politicians and political parties, bureaucrats, beneficiary, and civil society organizations. The inclusion/exclusion decision for the papers was taken on two criteria: the paper/document had to explicitly investigate decentralization, and had to include welfare scheme as the overall theme under which decentralization was investigated.

The paper summarizes the new complexities in the system. Stakeholder behaviour is driven by several factors external to the traditional social and economic diversities that signify the Indian sub continent. For example, the authors see the lobbying process shifting to the local level, increasing importance of the local politician and the significance of forming local coalitions and partnerships for better resource allocation.

The paper attempts to provide an overview by going beyond a critique of development to focus on the perils of operating within a socio-economically complex society.

Economic policy reforms, characterised by a market‐driven, privatised policy regime, are being adopted as a strategy by India to promote economic development. As markets become liberalised, public sector organisations face extreme vulnerability unless they can identify and develop the competencies necessary to thrive in these competitive markets. This paper, drawing on the resource‐based view, aims to identify the pre‐reform capabilities of public sector organisations in India and similar developing country contexts that would be relevant even in the post‐reform context.

An interpretative and theoretical approach is used to put forth the arguments and a framework is proposed to explain the possibility of deriving competitive advantages from pre‐reform capabilities in the post‐reform context.

Several unique capabilities of Indian public sector organisations can be identified using the resource based perspective which can be leveraged in the post‐reform context. They have superior resource‐picking capacity compared to private firms, especially for government‐regulated resources, international financial assets and modern technologies. Their internal integrative managerial systems and structures offer them an advantage in meeting the competitive demands of speed and promptness. Under effective leadership, the loyalty of a large workforce and their number of years of experience gives them an advantage of effective coordination and knowledge sharing and flow. Also, their capability in delivering economies of scale and scope due to their size and supply chain integration gives them a cost advantage over others.

This paper takes a practical approach. It accepts the existing organisational culture, processes and systems of public sector organisations as given and matters of long‐term change, and identifies existing capabilities in the current organisational context that could help them survive better.

Unlike most papers that focus on how policy changes affect public sector organisations or those that conduct a comparative analysis with the private sector on various parameters, the main focus of this paper is to identify existing capabilities that can be leveraged by public sector organisations for effective adaptation in the new scenario.

This paper seeks to develop a framework for Indian labour reforms that lay emphasis on economic growth and social development by balancing growth needs of firms and socio‐economic imperatives of a developing nation. It proposes four management systems and details their interactional dynamics at three levels, namely, at the level of economic security, employment regulation and system flexibility.

This paper provides a literature review of current developments in India with respect to employment, and an analysis of existing labour relations frameworks for similar country contexts.

Labour relations in developing countries is characterised by recent shift to market driven external environment, economically vulnerable surplus labour, low skills, inflexible employment laws, politicised unions with low labour representation, and low corporate involvement in governance. There is a need for policy changes that incorporate economic stability for labour, employment regulation for organisational flexibility, union management for true representation and corporate contribution in labour security and governance.

While market driven, privatization policy regime, are being adopted as a strategy by developing economies to promote economic growth, the resultant need for constant innovation faced by the organisations demand a new policy system for effective labour regulation. Governments are unable to define an effective labour relations policy, constrained and discouraged by the difficulty in balancing the socio‐economic complexity of a developing country. The framework proposed in this paper is a multilevel model, which allows for more efficient and socially effective balance between needs of the firm and the labour.

Studies on women entrepreneurs either view women through a structuralist lens, as marginalised populations engaged in low‐quality work, or through a neo‐liberal lens, as engaged in relatively higher quality endeavour more as a rational choice. The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically these explanations in relation to women entrepreneurs in the informal sector in India.

To evaluate the contrasting explanations of structuralist and new liberal approaches, questionnaire surveys were conducted in two phases, namely 2007 and 2010, over a period of several months. The sample design was stratified random and the sample was taken from a range of cities in different parts of India.

The survey of 457 women entrepreneurs of the informal sector shows that although the structuralist representation is largely appropriate for women working as waged informal employees, it is not as valid for women informal entrepreneurs working on a self‐employed basis. The results challenge the traditional understanding of the informal sector, and self‐employed women in particular, and are discussed in the light of the institutional rational choice framework.

The analysis highlights how the decision of entrepreneurship does not stand in isolation from other decisions and choices, is in line with normative considerations, and is a collective rational choice for women entrepreneurs in the informal sector. This analysis is a first of its kind and calls for additional surveys to be undertaken of female (and male) informal entrepreneurs in other countries to establish this concept.

The analysis critically evaluates established explanations in relation to women entrepreneurs in the informal sector through an empirical survey and establishes new explanations on women entrepreneurship.

The purpose in this paper has been to draw from literature to understand the not‐so‐direct or non‐implicit impacts of environmental regulations and propose some consequences on economic and business activity. In more general terms this research facilitates understanding on the broad concerns about the consequences of environment legislations, that is, the nature and magnitude of their capacity to produce significant change in industry and business structures in the long run, through indirect and not‐so‐obvious routes.

The discussion of the indirect and unintended consequences is based on systematic review of literature that includes studies in the area of international trade, technology, interactions at the national and regional level, industrial processes and dynamics, psychology, communication and organisational systems.

Review evidence reveals indirect and unintended impacts at the levels of economy and industry such as unintended negative effects on the environment itself, discrimination and additional international trade barriers, evolution of new commercial structures like secondary and used goods markets and recycling and refurbishment as a new industry, need for secondary level legislative support, decreased entrepreneurship and small firm activity, and emergence of circular supply chain models and strategic‐collaborative inter firm competition models.

The paper suggests possible future business and economic scenarios. Some of the possible models include emergence of a new industry in recycling and waste management, growth of secondary goods market for domestic consumption and trade, and emergence of a circular supply chain model where consumers and competitors play an interactive and collaborative role for survival and productivity. However it is imperative to empirically test these finds before generalisations.

The paper is a comprehensive review of an inadequately studied theme of indirect and unintended effects of environmental regulations. As environment issues become increasingly important it becomes more and more critical for both researchers and practitioners to understand what are these indirect impacts and the directions these indirect environment impacts will compel business and economies to move towards. It sets an agenda for future research.

The COVID-19 pandemic, starting in early 2020, has significantly compromised global commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, notably affecting areas like food security (SDG 2) and the economy (SDG 8). Informal economy platform employees have been among the most impacted. In India alone, 7.7 million workers in the informal economy have suffered, with nearly 90% of unskilled and semi-skilled workers experiencing income loss. The widespread income loss among a significant portion of the workforce has led to disruptions in demand and supply mechanisms, thereby worsening food insecurity. This study investigates the determinants of the food consumption score (FCS) to serve as an indicator of food security within informal-economy households. A longitudinal survey of 2,830 unskilled and semi-skilled employees, including drivers, domestic workers, delivery personnel, beauticians, street vendors, small business owners, and self-employed individuals, was conducted. The findings show a significant shift towards borderline household FCS during the pandemic, with a sharp decline in daily consumption of dairy products and non-vegetarian items, indicating reduced protein intake. Consuming two or fewer meals per day increases the likelihood of poor FCS, highlighting the need for systematic interventions to ensure three regular meals per day. Moreover, insufficient government support for adequate food intake in informal economy households calls for redesigned assistance programs. Policymakers should prioritize practical solutions, such as community-based food distribution centers and mobile food vans, to ensure the delivery of nutritious food to vulnerable populations in Bangalore.

The purpose of this paper is to present the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) as a case to delineate contextual and often paradoxical challenges in implementing centrally sponsored schemes in a small island economy. Government reports cite ANI's record on health outcomes to be impressive when comparing it with other Union Territories (UTs). However, using examples of two public health and nutrition schemes, the paper argues that unless ANI's development indicators are compared over few years, public policy may fail to identity its development challenges and continue its rhetoric while in reality, health outcomes may be regressing.

The paper used case study research design involving mixed method approach. Quantitative data were secondary in nature, collected from local government departments. Two of the three districts of ANI formed the sample of the study. Main tools used for qualitative analysis were observation and informal interviews with government functionaries and other stakeholders.

The findings point to the paradox of superior public spending and infrastructure in ANI in midst of deteriorating public health and child nutrition outcomes. The paper concluded that any policy making on island's trajectory of development is not only incomplete, but also faulty unless its special context is considered as a starting point.

Ethnographic studies on the health-seeking behaviour of ANI communities can reveal trends in access to health services and its reasons, but that was beyond the scope of the paper.

The paper is arguably the first to identify development paradoxes in implementation of government health and nutrition programmes in ANI. The paper poses further questions on unpacking the paradox of development in the islands. It urges policy makers and administrators to reconsider the efficacy of centrally sponsored schemes that are implemented without being contextualised for a small island economy like ANI.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad overview of welfare schemes in India and their impact on social protection during a period of high economic growth. It summarizes India's performance with respect to select economic and social indicators relative to select low and middle-income countries in the Asia Pacific region. It further overviews trends in some key select economic and social indicators for India and discusses India's attainment in Social Protection relative to an index of such protection provided by the Asian Development Bank.

This paper uses a comparative statistical approach and evaluates India's performance in key social welfare areas vis-à-vis that of countries with economic performance comparable to that of India. It also evaluates India's progress along these parameters over time.

The basic messages of this paper are: first, compared to low and middle-income countries in the Asia Pacific India's economic performance has outstripped its performance in social and welfare indicators. Second, nevertheless India is spending less on social welfare programs and other welfare schemes than many countries in the Asia Pacific, including some of those whose economic performance has been less impressive than India's. Third, the efficiency and effectiveness of key welfare programs in India need to be substantially improved. Particular attention needs to be paid to female participation in and their access to social welfare programs.

Informed analyses of social sector spending in India and their impact on welfare outcomes are relatively scarce although descriptive studies of social sector spending and welfare schemes abound. This paper attempts to fill this gap with a cross-country as well as intertemporal analysis of India's performance in these key areas.

Developing countries like India, accounts for about 40 percent of undernourished children in the World and it is largely due to the result of dietary inadequacy in relation to their needs. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the changes in the nutritional status of the children, from their preschool days to the present primary school days.

The present investigation was conducted at 20 Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) centers (Center-A) and 15 primary schools (Center-B) in Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambag, Hooghly District of West Bengal, India, at an interval of three to four years. A total of 1,012 children (boys=498; girls=514) aged two to six years old enrolled in these ICDS centers and a total of 603 children (boys=300, girls=303), aged five to ten years were studied from the 15 primary schools who were the beneficiaries of ICDS centers. Underweight (weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ)) and wasting (weight-for height Z-score (WHZ)) were used to assess the nutritional status.

The nutritional situation (both in case of underweight and wasting) was better in Center B as compared with Center A. In general, the nutritional condition of boys was better than girls. Center had a very significant effect on both WAZ as well as WHZ, irrespective of age and sex. Sex has a significant impact only on WAZ. Interestingly, there was no significant sex-center interaction for both WAZ as well as WHZ. The children of the area were getting Mid Day Meal supplied through the school authorities which was comparatively better than the ICDS centers’ food supplementation. Better monitoring of nutritional supplementation at primary schools may be an important factor.

In ICDS centers, only the Anganwari worker is responsible in running and implementing the programs offered by the Government. However, at primary schools, the active involvement of all the teachers to run the program may have effectively led to have better results. Furthermore, the Government's focus should not be only on the increase the area covered by the ICDS program, but focus should be to increase the quality of food supplied, proper monitoring of the implementation and increase the allocation of funds. Appropriate measures may be taken by the authorities regarding this.

The results of the study will help in policy making in reducing the prevalence of undernutrition.