| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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high-technology industries in developing economies under an overall neoliberal policy framework. These three states were selected as they fit well within these criteria.
As the scope of research in the area covered here is vast, it is important to note the specific areas that I did not cover in this research. For example, I did not specifically analyze the role of the central government in India in the development of this industry, though later in the book I discuss the overall national policy framework within which these regions formulated their own policies. I took the national policy framework as given and then analyzed the differential impacts of the policies of the three states. I also did not cover the development of the electronic hardware industry in these regions.
The data for this research came from both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources of data include detailed interviews with senior government officials concerned with policy formulation and implementation in the IT sector and the firms engaged in software production and exports in these states. A total of 57 interviews were conducted between September 2006 and May 2007. These included interviews with 43 different software firms in the three states and 14 interviews with officials in the three state governments and their agencies concerned with formulating policies for the industry. The interviews with the firms were conducted with chief executive officers (CEOs) and senior-level managers while the government officials included senior civil servants in charge of policy making and senior officials of government agencies. All interviews with government officials were conducted face-to-face while most of the interviews with the software firms were conducted over the phone as the interviewees found it to be more convenient for them.
The secondary sources of data include official documents published by the three state governments and the central