This article examines the key factors, which offer to explain the demand for credit in the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India. The study uses survey data of five industries such as apparel, footwear, textile, sports goods, and furniture with sample size 320 firms based on purposive sampling techniques. The probit regression model analyzed the factors of the demand for credit by MSMEs and found that exports and government scheme have positive impact on demand for credits, whereas high interest rate, high collateral rate, unfavorable terms, and conditions of bank loans and lengthy and intricate process in applying for bank loans have negative impact on the demand for credit.

Purpose This paper aims to make an attempt to identify labour intensity of organized manufacturing industries in India using the Annual Survey of Industry (ASI) data at three-digit level. It estimates total factor productivity growth (TFPG) and technical efficiency for both labour intensive and all manufacturing industries during the pre- and post-reforms periods. Design/methodology/approach The study uses three approaches to estimate TFPG. They are growth accounting (GA) (non-parametric), production function with correction for endogeneity – Levinsohn-Petrin (LP) (semi-parametric) and stochastic production frontier (SPF) analysis (parametric). The study uses ASI data published by Central Statistical Organization, Government of India for the period 1980-1981 to 2007-2008 for the analysis. Findings The study finds that the rate of decline of the labour intensity is more pronounced in the case of labour-intensive industries than all the manufacturing industries. The results of GA method suggest that the TFPG of labour-intensive industries has declined continuously from the pre-reforms period to the post-reforms period. Similarly, LP method indicates a continuous decline in TFPG of labour-intensive manufacturing industries during the post-reforms period. Interestingly, the results of SPF method also corroborate the findings of earlier two methods at the aggregate level but vary at a certain degree at the disaggregated level. Originality/value This paper is useful in the context of India considering the importance given to labour-intensive industries by the present government in terms of reviving the sector and improving the productivity and output.

This article examines the impact of human capital and openness on total factor productivity (TFP) for five South Asian countries—India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal—during the period from 1980 to 2011. The empirical results derived from the panel cointegration techniques provide evidence of a long-run relationship among the variables. The dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) results show that the long-run elasticities of TFP with respect to human capital and openness are positive. The results, however, suggest that the impact of human capital on TFP is relatively weaker than the impact of openness on TFP for the South Asian countries. The study also examines the long-run and short-run Granger causality between these three variables in a panel framework. The results indicate that there is a long-run Granger causality running from trade openness and human capital to TFP. Similarly, in the short-run, there exists a bi-directional Granger causality between trade openness and total factor productivity and between total factor productivity and human capital. The study suggests that by improving trade policy reforms, such as, licensing policies, and removing trade barriers, the low-income countries in South Asia can increase their level of openness, which would boost the TFP in the short run.

India’s 12th Five-Year Plan (2012–13 to 2016–17) emphasises ‘faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth’. The GDP growth target for the Plan was initially fixed at 9 per cent and later revised to 8 per cent against the backdrop of significant contraction of domestic output during the first two years of the Plan period. The Plan document has set a target of achieving a 2 percentage point reduction in poverty per annum. However, the document has cautioned that achieving the revised growth target also needs special efforts and structural reforms in the economic, social and political systems. For the first time, the Planning Commission has proposed to work on ‘scenario planning’ for the 12th Plan. It has proposed three scenarios: ‘The Flotilla Advances’, ‘Muddling Along’ and ‘Falling Apart’. The main thrust of scenario analysis is to highlight the need for specific interventions in policy to achieve the goals of the Plan. Using the macroeconometric model developed by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in India, the study finds that GDP growth rate will decline significantly under the Falling Apart scenario compared with the other two scenarios. As a result, poverty reduction is expected to be marginal under this scenario. The Falling Apart scenario will also lead to an unsustainable fiscal and current account deficit situation over the medium term. The other important finding of the study is that investment in social infrastructure (education and health) and physical infrastructure would not only achieve higher economic growth but also sustain it in the long term and both infrastructures have a similar impact on growth. JEL Classification: B22, O21, E37

Exiting impact analysis studies on the Self Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) of the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) underline that the programme has done extremely well in rural India in terms of its outreach, generating income, reducing poverty levels and empowering people both economically and socially. This paper evaluates the impact of SBLP on Self Help Group (SHG) members at the household level from a gender perspective. The analysis of the study is based on a large sample of primary data covering 4791 SHG households and 900 SHGs collected from six states in India. Furthermore, the sample covers more than 60% of SHGs that consist of members belonging to below poverty line families. Overall, the performance analysis reveals that households whose member(s) belong to all-female SHGs perform better than households whose members belong to other types of SHGs. This is mainly because female SHGs are doing extremely well in terms of recovery of loans and per capita income and savings. A chunk of female SHG members in all the six sample states reported an improvement of their social empowerment after joining the SHG programme. Furthermore, the fall of poverty is more pronounced in cases of households whose members belong to female SHGs at 26.0 percentage points between pre-SHG period and post-SHG period. The policy implication is that the formation of female SHGs needs to be encouraged and all necessary services should be provided to them.

Services sector in India contributes more than 60% of the overall gross domestic product (GDP) and more than 40% of total trade. This sector also absorbs a chunk of manpower, especially in export-oriented industries and reduces the employment burden on other non-services sectors. In this context, this paper examines the role of services trade (exports and imports) in economic growth of India using autoregressive distributed lag and vector error correction model (VECM) methodology for the period Q1:1996–1997 to Q1:2010–2011. This paper also uses impulse response function analysis to supplement the long-run equilibrium relationship and causality analysis and also to understand the dynamic relationship among variables. The study finds a long-run equilibrium relationship among GDP, services exports, imports and real effective exchange rate. The VECM and impulse response analysis suggest causality runs from services exports to GDP emphasising the services exportled growth in India during the post-reform period.

The existing literature on self-help group (SHG) bank linkage programs portrays them as an effective tool being used in various countries to approach a range of socioeconomic issues. This paper explores the performance and sustainability of this type of program in India at the group level. Because income-generating activities and other characteristics vary with the gender composition of self-help groups, their performance and sustainability vary. The analysis in this study is based on data from a survey carried out in six states in India. Overall, the performance analysis reveals that all-female SHGs perform best. The female SHGs are doing particularly well in terms of recovery of loans and per capita saving. The econometrics results indicate that only all-female SHGs are sustainable. The factors that determine the sustainability include recovery of loans, per capita savings, and linkage with an SHG federation.

In this paper, we attempt to examine the export-led and manufacturing export-led growth hypothesis for four South Asian Countries; namely, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, using Pedroni’s panel cointegration technique for the period 1980–2002. In this context we estimate growth accounting equations to investigate the impact of exports, manufacturing exports and other important physical and human capital variables on both total GDP and non-export GDP. The study finds long-run equilibrium relationship between GDP (and non-export GDP) and exports along with other variables supporting export-led growth hypothesis. The results also substantiate the existence of manufacturing export-led growth hypothesis. Further, we find that export, fixed capital formation, public expenditure on health and education have statistically significant coefficients re-emphasizing the importance of these variables for higher economic growth.

The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between FDI flows and economic growth in China and the policy concerns it engenders. The Johnson co-integration method has been used for testing the relationship of FDI function and found that there is a long-run relationship between the variables such as GDP, FDI and change in domestic capital formation (DC). It could be concluded that China's attempt to give a boost to its growth rate with an expansion of foreign trade and investment, which is carried out with a broader strategy of modernization, reconstruction and reforms in 1979 has been successful. It supports the notion that Chinese economy would sustain its current growth rate by not only opening of the economy but also increasing its investment through FDI inflows. The results suggest that China should encourage the Equity Joint Ventures (EJV) through FDI inflows, which is decreasing in recent years. It would increase the domestic capital formation and sustain the economic growth in China. Further, the key sectors like industry and service should be given importance for the careful consideration in the reform process since the strength of the Chinese economy lies with these key sectors.