Earnings and Social Protection: An Econometric Analysis of Informal Sectors of Engineering Industry in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu[dagger]

The paper attempts to study the nature and structure of the urban labor market in Coimbatore. It analyzes the determinants of earnings of the unorganized labor market in the engineering industry, studies the occupational mobility and its determinants, and ascertains the factors associated with social security of the workers. Two industries-foundry and pump-are chosen for the study, based on the number of units and employment of very large number of people. To make the study reliable, the sample size has been restricted to 10% in case of engineering units and 30% in the case of workers on a random basis. The sample constitutes 1,022 workers, of which 537 are from the foundry industry and the remaining 485 are from the pump industry. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]