Working Paper 02 (2025):
The End of Patchwork: A Unified Framework for India’s Gig Economy
Anjana A Karumathil
India’s gig economy, home to over 17 million workers, is marked by fragmented protections and volatile work conditions. Despite the sector’s rapid growth and economic significance, national regulatory responses remain piecemeal and largely voluntary. This paper outlines a unified framework to integrate platform-based labour within India’s formal labour architecture. Drawing on policy developments in Rajasthan and Karnataka, as well as international precedents from the EU and Australia, the paper identifies five core challenges—income volatility, algorithmic opacity, legal ambiguity, fragmented protections, and institutional inertia. It offers actionable policy solutions including minimum earnings guarantees, statutory social security contributions, algorithmic accountability mandates, standardised contracts, and support for cooperative platforms. The proposed framework aims to guide Indian policymakers toward a more inclusive, accountable, and future-ready gig economy.

Working Paper 01 (2025):
The Future of Trade and Competition in the Digital Economy
Pradeep S Mehta
The digital economy is reshaping the global landscape of trade and competition, driven by rapid technological advancements and evolving geopolitical dynamics. As nations recalibrate their economic strategies to address new challenges and opportunities, questions surrounding data governance, market regulation, and cross border digital flows have become central to policy debates. This paper explores the interplay between trade and competition in the digital era, with a particular focus on the strategic roles of major global powers, emerging economies, and domestic policy frameworks. Drawing on insights from CUTS International’s research and global dialogues, the paper aims to inform a balanced policy approach that fosters innovation, promotes fair competition, and safeguards the openness of the global digital economy.

Working Paper 01 (2023):
Antitrust in Crisis: The Economic Theories Debate
Gokul Plaha
Today, antitrust law, policy, and enforcement are in crisis. The dominant intellectual paradigms are increasingly being questioned. The world is revisiting what antitrust has come to mean and deliberating on what it must mean. For instance, countries around the world, including India, are deliberating whether to introduce an ex-ante regime to regulate digital markets from an antitrust standpoint. To make sense of the different perspectives in this debate, it is crucial for Indian policymakers, businesses, and ordinary citizens to be well-versed in the fundamental tenets of the economic theories undergirding them. This paper discusses four major schools of thought: a. Neoclassical (Chicago School); b. Neo-Brandeisian; c. Post-Chicago; and d. Complexity-minded Antitrust. It points out where and how these schools of thought converge and diverge. Lastly, the paper consciously avoids taking any position with respect to this debate. The purpose of this paper is to make a humble contribution toward apprising Indian policymakers of the major debates in antitrust economics (and economics more generally). Those debates have a direct bearing on our competition policy and enforcement. In doing so, the paper also seeks to speak to Indian citizens, whose fates are inextricably tied to this crucial debate.