Routledge Small Firm Ownership and Credit Constraints in India

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are considered the backbone of the Indian economy, but limited access to external finance can be a major constraint which hinders their growth and productivity. This barrier acts as a double-edged sword in the case of women and socially disadvantaged owners who are also subjected to discrimination in credit markets. This book investigates the role of credit constraints in determining the performance of MSMEs in India and considers how gender- and caste-based prejudices influence and inform a firm owner’s access to formal credit. Combining micro-econometric techniques with large-scale firm surveys, it offers readers new findings, which shed light on the effect of ownership characteristics on credit access and firm performance. It also examines recent credit policy initiatives aimed at weaker sections of society including Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and women-owned enterprises and puts forward valuable policy recommendations. This volume will serve as a useful reference text for students and researchers of economics, finance, business and management, entrepreneurship, credit policy, development economics, caste discrimination, gender discrimination and South Asian studies. About the Author Rajesh Raj S.N. is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, Sikkim University, Gangtok, India. His main research interests are in industrial economics, firm dynamics, efficiency and productivity analysis and informal labour. His publications include articles in academic journals such as Small Business Economics, Journal of Comparative Economics, Manchester School, International Journal of Educational Development, Oxford Development Studies, European Journal of Development Research and Developing Economies, among others, numerous chapters in edited volumes and the book Out of the Shadows? The Informal Manufacturing in Post-Reform India, co-authored with Kunal Sen (2016). He is a recipient of the Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao Prize in Economics for the year 2014 by the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore and Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, India. Subash Sasidharan is Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India. His research interests include economics of foreign direct investment, small firms and industrial development, innovation and technological change and international trade. His research work has been published in leading international journals including Research Policy, Small Business Economics, World Development, Economic Modelling, Economic Systems and Developing Economies. He is also an affiliated researcher with the Centre for Technology Innovation and Economic Research.