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.

• 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical perspectives and empirical literature 3. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) access to finance and policy initiatives 4. Micro, small and medium enterprises in India: their characteristics and evolution over time 5. Access to credit and small firm growth 6. Gender, small firm ownership and credit constraints 7. Caste, finance and firm performance 8. Conclusion Appendix I: additional tables Appendix II: technical details on methods Glossary and abbreviations References Index

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.

• 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical perspectives and empirical literature 3. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) access to finance and policy initiatives 4. Micro, small and medium enterprises in India: their characteristics and evolution over time 5. Access to credit and small firm growth 6. Gender, small firm ownership and credit constraints 7. Caste, finance and firm performance 8. Conclusion Appendix I: additional tables Appendix II: technical details on methods Glossary and abbreviations References Index

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.

• 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical perspectives and empirical literature 3. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) access to finance and policy initiatives 4. Micro, small and medium enterprises in India: their characteristics and evolution over time 5. Access to credit and small firm growth 6. Gender, small firm ownership and credit constraints 7. Caste, finance and firm performance 8. Conclusion Appendix I: additional tables Appendix II: technical details on methods Glossary and abbreviations References Index