Productive and Decent Work Employment Opportunities: Reflections of Sustainable Development Goal 8

Abstract

This study measures the impact of seven indicators of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Goal 8, which is about productive and decent work and employment opportunities in India. The study employs pooled ordinary least squares (POLS) methods to capture the impact of seven indicators— annual growth rate of real GDP per capita, ease of doing business, unemployment rate, labour force participation rate, participation of informal workers, fatal and non-fatal occupation injuries, and banking outlets, on SDG 8, for 2018-2021. The findings reveal that the annual growth rate of real GDP per capita, labour force participation rate, and ease of doing business influence SDG 8’s score positively and significantly. On the contrary, the unemployment rate impacts sustainable score value negatively and significantly. The inferences of the study did not unwrap a significant effect of the percentage of workers in the informal sector, fatal and non-fatal occupation injuries and the number of banking outlets on SDG8. The study recommends reducing unemployment and increasing labour force participation rates in the economy for sustainability. At the same time, policymakers must focus on enhancing the ease of doing business and the annual growth rate of real GDP per capita to realise decent work and employment opportunities. To advance sustainable development goals, especially SDG 8, fostering sustainable and inclusive economic growth is the need of the hour.