ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some stylised facts about the firms in the MSME sector using the unit level data drawn from the MSME survey for the year 2000-2001 and 2006-2007. We begin by examining the evolution of firm size and productivity at the aggregate level and also across regions and product groups. We then proceed to examine observable differences in firm size and productivity across firms of different characteristics. The chapter also looks at the differences in wages paid to workers by specific characteristics of firms and explores the relationship between finance, firm size and productivity. We observe an expansion of the firm size during the period 2001 to 2006. While the MSME sector is dominated by male-owned firms, the SC/ST-owned firms constitute only 10 percent and are mostly confined to the rural areas. Both female-owned and SC/ST firms exhibit low productivity compared to their counterparts. Very few firms reported to have access to credit and the major chunk of the external credit flows to male-owned firms and those owned by non-SC/ST entrepreneurs. The productivity-finance nexus shows that firms with external funds are productive and growth-oriented.
