ABSTRACT
In this paper, we draw on some of the ideas of Marx (1867, 1885, 1894), Schumpeter (1934, 1939, 1942) and Veblen (1899, 1904, 1923) to link production, exchange, distribution, (conspicuous) consumption, re-investment and growth at the level of the small industrial enterprise in an Indian business setting. Small industrial enterprises are embedded in specific business systems and institutions that are cursorily specified in the next section and analysed in the following section. We construct a Marxian-Schumpeterian-Veblenian (M-S-V) model that links production as a social labour process with distribution of the surplus as a social process of ‘snatching’ among and between the owner-entrepreneur, creditors, marketers, the hired manager, technology suppliers, real estate owners, and the state functionaries. We illustrate the use of the framework in understanding circumstance-specific incremental innovation when the enterprise is under pressure from a low profit rate. The analysis explores the nature and content of the technological change required under the specific circumstances and context. We try to understand technological change as part of the growth process at the level of the small industrial enterprise. The final section provides a brief summary and draws together the various strands of the argument.
