ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to compare the economic performance and the characteristics of small- and medium-scale industries (SMIs) to cottage and household industries and large-scale industries, in particular. It discusses the aspects of employment generation by industrial size groups and the relative efficiency of factor use in SMIs and other plant size categories. The book describes the growth potential of the SMI sector and deals with the broader issue of how the characteristics, the competitive position, and the role of SMIs in economic development are influenced by the economic environment. It shows how SMIs are affected by various policy measures and reviews macroeconomic industrialization policies of Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries with respect to their impact on the development of the SMI sector. The book summarizes policy-induced and other bottlenecks to SMI development and policy options for removing such bottlenecks.
