The International Political Economy of Disinvestment in the Semi-Periphery: A Comparative Longitudinal Analysis of Power and Policy Evolution in India and Brazil
##semicolon##
https://doi.org/10.66871/trf-j.v1i2.036##semicolon##
Disinvestment, International political economy,India -Brazil Relations,Civil Aviation,NITI Aayog, strategic Realism, infrastructure reform.सार
This study examines the evolving process of disinvestment in two semi-peripheral economies, namely India and Brazil. It critically challenges the neoliberal assumption that asset monetisation represents a straightforward laissez-faire retreat of the state. Adopting a mixed-methods research design, the study integrates quantitative data on fiscal performance and trade flows with a qualitative comparative case analysis of Air India and Brazil’s Embraer.
Drawing on a comparative political economy framework, the analysis investigates how managerial sovereignty is reconfigured through the reciprocal pressures exerted by political elites, economic elites, and labour unions. The findings suggest that successful industrial transformation depends less on fiscal mandates and more on the state’s capacity to negotiate domestic institutional frictions and labour resistance.
The study’s original contribution lies in conceptualising the triadic power dynamics among these actors and demonstrating how their interaction reshapes the state’s strategic position within the global economy. By contrasting the divergent trajectories of the Indian and Brazilian aviation sectors, alongside developments in the energy sector and bilateral economic relations, the study argues that economic policy evolution is fundamentally driven by power relations rather than merely technical reform processes.
##submission.citations##
Ahluwalia, Montek S. 2018. ‘Economic Reforms in India: Progress and Challenges’. Asian Economic Policy Review 13 (2): 213– 232. https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.12214.
Almond, Gabriel A., and Sidney Verba. 1963. The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Armijo, Leslie E. 1999. ‘Balance Sheet or Ballot Box? Incentives to Privatise in Democratic Mexico, Brazil, and India’. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Atlanta, GA.
Bajpai, Nandita, and Jeffrey Sachs. 2000. ‘Economic Reforms in India: A Decade of Gradualism’. Economic and Political Weekly 35 (7): 527–539.
Ban, Cornel, and Mark Blyth. 2013. ‘The Political Economy of State-Led Development in Brazil’. Development and Change 44 (6): 1285–1309. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12049.
Banerjee, D. 2012. ‘The Politics of Disinvestment in India’. Social Scientist 40 (11–12): 41–56.
Baylis, John, Steve Smith, and Patricia Owens. 2023. The Globalisation of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Económico e Social). 2004. Infrastructure Concessions and Privatisation Portfolio. https://www.bndes.gov.br.
Brito, A., A. V. Oliveira, and M. Dresner. 2021. ‘An Econometric Study of the Effects of Airport Privatisation on Airfares in Brazil’. Journal of Air Transport Management 91: 101988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2020.101988.
Candland, Christopher. 2007. Labour, Democratisation and Development in India and Pakistan. London: Routledge.
Cardoso, Fernando Henrique, and Enzo Faletto. 1979. Dependency and Development in Latin America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). 2025. Recent Trends in Disinvestment and Dividend Receipts. Ministry of Finance, Government of India. https://dipam.gov.in.
Easton, David. 1953. The Political System: An Inquiry into the State of Political Science. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Forbes. 2025. ‘The Global 2000: Ranking of the World’s Largest Public Companies’. https://www.forbes.com/lists/global2000/.
Ghosh, Anupam, and Amartya Sen. 2020. ‘Political Economy of Disinvestment in India: Issues and Challenges’. Indian Economic Journal 68 (2): 145–162.
Gupta, Sanjeev, Pankaj Mohan, and Ajay Chhibber. 2011. ‘Public Sector Performance and Privatisation in India’. Journal of Development Studies 47 (3): 415–438. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2010.487019.
Heywood, Andrew, and Ben Whitham. 2023. Global Politics. 3rd ed. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Huntington, Samuel P. 1968. Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven: Yale University Press.
IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística). 2025. System of National Accounts: Brazil 2024 Results. https://www.ibge.gov.br.
International Labour Organization (ILO). 2026. World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2026. https://www.ilo.org/reports-and-publications/world-employment-and-social-outlook-trends-2026.
International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2025. World Economic Outlook: Global Economy in Flux. Washington, DC: IMF.
Jain, R. 2016. ‘The Indian Disinvestment Experience’. Working paper, Indian Institute of Management.
Keohane, Robert O., and Joseph S. Nye. 1977. Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
Kumar, Rajiv, and Meenakshi Arora. 2014. ‘Fiscal Implications of Disinvestment in India’. Indian Journal of Economics 95 (376): 89–104.
Lindblom, Charles E. 1977. Politics and Markets: The World’s Political-Economic Systems. New York: Basic Books.
Ministry of Finance, Government of India. 2025. Economic Survey 2024–25. https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/economicsurvey/.
Mohan, Rakesh, and Pradeep Chhibber. 2003. ‘Privatisation in Emerging Markets: Policy and Performance’. Economic Development Quarterly 17 (4): 345–360. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242403259191.
O’Neil, Patrick H. 2023. Essentials of Comparative Politics. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton.
Ohri, R. 2009. ‘The Rationale for Indian Airport Privatisation’. Journal of Airport Management 3 (4): 366–377.
Pye, Lucian W. 1966. Aspects of Political Development. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
Riethof, Marieke. 2017. Labour Politics in Brazil under the Workers’ Party (2003–2016). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Rosecrance, Richard N. 1986. The Rise of the Trading State: Commerce and Conquest in the Modern World. New York: Basic Books.
Schelling, Thomas C. 1960. The Strategy of Conflict. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sirohi, R. A. 2017. ‘Alternate Paths to Economic Development: A Comparative Analysis of Brazil and India in the Era of Neoliberalism’. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 37 (2): 304–323. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-31572017v37n02a04.
Sirohi, R. A. 2019. From Developmentalism to Neoliberalism: A Comparative Analysis of Brazil and India. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sood, Atul D., and Rajeev K. Jain. 2011. ‘Comparison of Privatisation Processes of Telecom Services in India and Brazil’. Working paper, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
Stuenkel, Oliver. 2016. BRICS and the Future of Global Order. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Wallerstein, Immanuel. 1974. The Modern World-System I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World Economy in the Sixteenth Century. New York: Academic Press.
Wendt, Alexander. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
World Bank. 2025. ‘World Development Indicators: GDP Growth (Annual %)’. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG.
World Bank. 2026. Global Economic Prospects. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/42603.
