A declining wage-share in value added signifies a changing political economy of distribution,
generalweakening of the workingclass inthe socio-economic system. Itmay evenchangethe consumption
profile of the economy and can slou' down the growth of consumer demand. This paper studies the long
rttn trend in the wctge share in organised Indian industry for the period I 97 3-97 and tries the explain the
decLine in KaLeckicut framework. The study notes that the wages share has declinecl bt' one fifth in the
period on the whoLe. The fall is even rapid during the LiberaLisation period. The proximate causes for
the decline in share of wages are rise in raw materials-wage ratio and mark-ups. The paper, using the
Kaleckian decomposition, estimates the relative strengths of the two factors in pre and post liberalisation
periods.