Bhalla, A. S. 1939-

PERSONAL: Born September 29, 1939, in Lyallpur, Punjab, India; son of Niranjan (a judge) and Gurbachan (a homemaker) Bhalla; married Praveen (a journalist and editor), April 15, 1977; children: Ranjan, Arman. Ethnicity: "Indian." Education: Punjab University, B.A. (political science), 1958; Delhi University, M.A. (economics), 1960; Manchester University, Ph.D. (economics), 1964. Hobbies and other interests: Photography, traveling, tennis.

ADDRESSES: Home—28, Route de Geneve, Commugny, Switzerland. Agent—Amanda Watkins, Palgrave/Macmillan, Houndmills, Basingstoke RG21 2XS, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Economist and educator. International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland, director of division, 1964-95; International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Ontario Canada, special advisor to the president, 1995-97; Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, Cambridge, England, fellow, 1997-2001. Visiting research associate, Yale University; Hallsworth professorial fellow, Manchester University; research officer, Institute of Economics and Statistics, Oxford University. Former staff member of World Bank.

MEMBER: Royal Economic Society.

AWARDS, HONORS: Honorary M.A. in arts, Cambridge University, 2001.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Technology and Employment in Industry, International Labour Organization (Geneva, Switzerland), 1975.

(Editor) Small and Medium Enterprises, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1991.

Uneven Development in the Third World, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1992.

(Editor) Environment, Employment, and Development, International Labour Organization (Geneva, Switzerland), 1992.

(Coeditor) The Technological Transformation of Rural India, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1994.

Facing the Technological Challenge, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1996.

(With Praveen Bhalla) Regional Blocs: Building Blocks or Stumbling Blocks?, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1997.

(Editor) Globalization, Growth, and Marginalization, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Frédéric Lapeyre) Poverty and Exclusion in a Global World, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1999.

Market or Government Failures?: An Asian Perspective, Palgrave Macmillan (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor, with Shufang Qiu) The Employment Impact of China's WTO Accession, RoutledgeCurzon (London, England), 2004.

Contributor to scholarly journals, including Asian Survey. Editorial advisor for Technology Management and Sustainable Development, Indian Journal of Quantitative Economics, and Environment and Development Economics.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Poverty and Inequality among Minorities in Southwest China, with Shufang Qiu, for RoutledgeCurzon; research on globalization and its socioeconomic impact, and comparative developments in China, India, and Southeast Asia.

SIDELIGHTS: Economist A. S. Bhalla is the author or editor of several books that focus on the effects of globalization on the world economy. In his 2002 work, Market or Government Failures? An Asian Perspective he focuses on the economies of India and China as they invalidate certain commonly held beliefs regarding market failure. Noting the efforts of both country's governments to combat crumbling economies during a trans-Asian financial setback in the late 1990s, Bhalla contends that economists "over-romanticized the successful role of market instruments and laissezfaire in promoting growth and reducing efficiency," explained Journal of Development Studies critic Marie-Aimee Tourres. Bhalla argues, according to Tourres, that "it is not necessarily less government but different government that may be required" in such situations.

Bhalla also addresses the new issues raised by increasingly globalized markets in his edited Globalization, Growth, and Marginalization, which Public Affairs contributor George Rosen praised as "one of the most useful books … on this topic." "With 'globalization' such a controversial expression," Rosen added, Globalization, Growth, and Marginalization "… is worth reading by anyone before entering the battle over the subject, including legislators considering policy-related actions and laws."

Bhalla told CA: "Having worked in the development field throughout my career, I have naturally been inspired by writing on development issues with special reference to poverty and inequality, development experiences of countries in Africa and Asia.

"My motivation to write during my long tenure with the international civil service of the United Nations was partly to keep my grey cells alive, and partly to keep a foothold in the academic world. I find writing quite relaxing and satisfying. I have covered a number of fields starting with technology, and ending with the implications of globalization on socioeconomic development of countries, poverty, and inequality."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Journal of Development Studies, April, 2002, Marie-Aimee Tourres, review of Market or Government Failures?: An Asian Perspective, pp. 211-213.

Journal of Economic Issues, March, 1997, Norman Clark, "Facing the Technological Challenge," pp. 276-278.

Pacific Affairs, winter, 1993, Andre Laliberte, review of Uneven Development in the Third World: A Study of China and India, pp. 567-568; winter, 2000, George Rosen, review of Globalization, Growth, and Marginalization, p. 572.