This study investigates the impact of internal and external research and development (R&D) on the innovation performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India and Pakistan. Micro-level data was obtained for 3,492 Indian and 696 Pakistani SMEs from the World Bank's Enterprise...

This paper presents a simple model of industrial upgrading as a result of backward and forward information linkages between upstream and downstream relations. It also serves as an empirical investigation of the impact of mutual knowledge exchange on the knowledge production function using data...

The existing potential of SMEs remains untapped in most developing countries, including India. In India, most SMEs have a lower share of foreign goods and services to produce exports than larger firms. Moreover, dependent SMEs also have greater integration in terms of imports than independent...

Finance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) has been a concern for all stakeholders including entrepreneurs, financial institutions, and government organizations. The key objective of the study was to identify various challenges faced by MSMEs in sourcing of finance during...

With maturity in the microfinance market in South Asia, it is observed that some microfinance members' needs grow beyond the boundaries of traditional microfinance group loans. In addition, there are other small enterprises whose needs are not met by microfinance institutions or commercial...

Innovation plays a critical role in shaping the industrial and firm competitiveness of any nation. Innovation is often discussed in the setting of developed countries, but the rise of emerging economies such as India has generated a new interest in understanding innovation in developing...

India underwent a significant structural transformation through trade liberalization and other reforms (domestic) in the 1990s because of a balance-of-payments crisis. I use this episode to identify the causal effect of a drop in tariffs on wage inequality, measured through managerial and...

In this study, we examine the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in global value chains (GVCs) and highlight the role of financial constraints in shaping their participation in GVCs. We use a rich unbalanced panel of 888 SMEs for Indian manufacturing over the period...

India has an estimated 26,000 startups, making it the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, recording consolidated inflows of over $36 billion in the past 3 years with 26 "unicorns" - startups valued over $1 billion. The Indian startup ecosystem has expanded quite rapidly mainly through...

This paper describes the common financing challenges faced by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in India and some important measures taken to address them, with a focus on the credit rating scheme implemented in 2000. It examines the usefulness as well as the limitations of the...