In a mixed economy, the private sector constitutes the largest sector of the economy.
The roles of a government, in a mixed economy, are grouped into two categories, namely, regulatory roles and promotional or development roles.
The regulatory role of the government involves formulating and implementing various direct and indirect measures to monitor and regulate the economic activities of the private sector. These measures are required to prevent the socially restrictive activities of businesses and concentration of economic power and encourage private businesses to work towards the growth of the economy.
On the other hand, the promotional role of the government involves policies and measures taken for the progress of developing the infrastructure of an economy. The development infrastructure of an economy involves economic and social overhead capital that is necessary for the growth of industries and optimal utilization of resources. In addition, it is required to improve the production capacity of an economy. In a mixed economy, such as India, the government performs these activities by implementing various developmental programs.
For example, in India, the Five Year Plan is a form of program in which the government sets the goals to be achieved within five years and mentions the resources required to achieve those goals.
Let us discuss the regulatory and promotional roles of a government in detail.
Regulatory Measures:
As per the free market mechanism, government intervention is prohibited for the growth of an economy. However, in a mixed economy, the government is responsible for making and implementing various regulatory measures.
The regulatory measures taken by a government include the following:
Industrial and licensing policies
Policies related to taxation
Monetary and credit policies
Policies related to income and wages
Technology and employment policies
Import and export policies
Foreign exchange policies
Industrial safety and environment policies
The regulatory measures used in a mixed economy restrict the working of the free market mechanism. This is because of the reason that these measures limit the functioning of market forces in an economy. In addition, the regulatory measures obstruct the automatic market functioning by altering the price structure.
This leads to an in-optimal price structure, which further results in the inequitable allocation of resources. These alternations in the price structure adversely affect the business decisions of the private sector. For example, the policy of minimum wages leads to a higher wage rate as compared to the prevailing rate in the competitive market.
In such a case, private businesses hire less number of workers based on their marginal productivity as compared to the number of workers hired in the absence of the Minimum Wages Act, of 1948. This results in the reduction of production and profit of private businesses. Similarly, when the government implements a dear money policy and increases bank rates, the rate of credit taken by private businesses from banks also gets reduced. Investment by private businesses can be affected by the level of profitability.
If the level of profitability is high, then the investment by the private sector would reduce and get confined to the rate of interest only. In such a case, private businesses would have fewer inventories and labour.
In addition, they would not prefer to invest in any new plans and would transfer the replacement of capital goods to the future. Such types of loss-making business decisions are the result of the government's dear credit policy.
Apart from this, the taxation policy of the government also has adverse effects on the private sector. For example, if the rate of taxes imposed by the government is very high, then the profit after tax of businesses would decrease.
This would further lead to a decrease in investment and savings of businesses. However, the effect of taxation on private businesses is dependent on their ability to avoid or evade the tax burden.
Till now, we have discussed the adverse effects of government policies on private business decisions. However, it is a narrow analysis of measures and policies taken by the government.
Government policies should be analyzed by finding out the impact of their policies on society as a whole. For example, the minimum wage policy of the government helps bring equality in income levels and reduce labour exploitation.
Besides this, it also facilitates the growth of private businesses in various ways, which are as follows:
Increasing the total purchasing power of individuals in an economy that simultaneously increases the demand for goods and services by the individuals
Reducing the possibility of unnecessary conflicts between employees and organizations on account of wages
Similarly, the government policies, such as tight money and cheap credit, help in making the economy more stable, which benefits both businesses and individuals. Although, the high rate of tax imposed by the government on private businesses seems to be a restriction in their growth.
However, the government compensates for this restriction by increasing the aggregate demand and purchasing goods and services from the private sector. Therefore, government policies are equally beneficial for private businesses.
Promotional Roles:
The main promotional role of a government is to increase the social and economic overhead capital for the growth of an economy.
The economic overhead can be increased by building a developmental structure, which includes:
Development and creation of transport and communication facilities
Construction of irrigation facilities, such as dams, canals, and tube wells
Production and appropriate distribution of electricity and various other resources of energy, such as coal and natural gas
Expansion of businesses having strategic importance
Development and implementation of advanced technology
On the other hand, social overhead depends on activities, such as investment in education, health, community development, and housing programs. This helps in increasing productivity and growth perspectives.
The infrastructure building helps private businesses by producing overheads socially and economically, which, in turn, increases production and economic growth. The growth of the economy automatically results in the expansion of private businesses. In addition,, economic growth increases the size of the market, which further increases the total demand for goods and services. This provides a major advantage to private businesses. Apart from this, economic and social overhead capital results in the creation of external economies and a reduction in the capital-output ratio and production cost.
Role of Government in Economic Development
A government can participate in economic activities depending on the type of economic system.
The capitalist economic system restricts the intervention of the government in the economy.
Therefore even highly developed capitalist economies face various economic problems, such as economic instability, unemployment, and labour exploitation.
The main reason behind these problems is the profit maximization motive of organizations without any concern for economic welfare.
Therefore, government intervention is necessary for capitalist economies for the eradication of unethical business practices, the welfare of society, and economic stability.
On the other hand, underdeveloped countries usually adopt a mixed economic structure. In these countries, even the basic requirements of individuals are not fulfilled. Therefore, underdeveloped countries face a large number of economic problems, such as poverty, less per capita income, and a low standard of living, as compared to developed countries.
In such conditions, the governments of underdeveloped countries need to take several measures for the growth and development of their economies. The prime function of the government in underdeveloped nations is to meet the basic requirements of individuals, such as schools, hospitals, colleges, transportation facilities, roads, and electricity.
These requirements of individuals involve a huge investment by the government. A nation whose basic needs are satisfied can attract foreign investments and encourage the growth of the private sector.
Over the passage of time, underdeveloped countries have realized that they are far behind developed countries due to their adverse social, economic, and political conditions. Therefore, the governments of underdeveloped countries have taken various measures to solve economic problems, so that economic growth and development can be achieved.
Some of the measures taken by the government are as follows:
(a) Economic and Social Overheads:
Help in the economic growth and development of a country. Economic overheads include means of communication, transportation facilities, and electricity. On the other hand, social overheads comprise educational, medical, and water facilities.
(b) Financial Facilities:
Act as an important tool in the economic development of a country. In underdeveloped countries, the savings of organizations and individuals are very less. Therefore, these savings cannot be utilized for economic growth. For the utilization of these savings, the country requires a well-established banking system and other financing bodies.
The financial bodies along with the banking system can transfer the savings to industries. Here, the government is required to establish more financial bodies for the economic development of the country.
(c) Direct Participation:
Constitutes an important measure taken by the government for economic development. The government directly intervenes in economic development to support and regulate private business practices by formulating various policies. For example, in India, the government has established various public sector organizations in different fields, such as steel plants, electrical, fertilizers, and antibiotics under the Industrial Policy Resolutions of 1948 and 1956. The profit generated from these organizations is utilized in the development of the country.
(d) Indirect Measures:
Refer to steps taken by the government to increase the growth of the country. It includes various policies, such as monetary, fiscal, and industrial relations policies.
Economic Growth:
(1) Single dimensional i.e., increase in the output alone.
(2) Quantitative Changes-Change in national and per capita income.
(3) Spontaneous in character.
(4) Discontinuous Change
(5) Growth is possible without the development
(6) Determinant of economic growth may be economic development.
(7) Solution to the problem of underdeveloped countries.
(8) Developments related to underdeveloped countries
(9) Economic developed is regulated and controlled in character
(10) Economic development is not possible with Economic growth
(11) Economic development is an innovative process leading to the structural transformation of the social system
Economic Development:
(1) Multidimensional i.e., more output and changes in technical and institutional arrangements.
(2) Qualitative Changes-Change in composition and distribution of national and per capita income and change in functional capacities.
(3) Gradual and steady change in the long run.
(4) Continuous Change.
(5) Growth to some extent is essential for development.
(6) Economic development is the determinant of economic growth
(7) Solution to the problem of developed countries.
(8) Growth relates to developed countries
(9) Economic growth is spontaneous in character.
(10) Economic growth is possible without Economic development.
(11) Economic growth is an expansion of the system in one or more dimensions without a change in its structure.
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