Entrepreneurialism in South Asia

This book examines the varied history, forms, contexts and ecosystems of entrepreneurialism in South Asia, both in colonial and post-colonial periods, and how it varies from the organised business models of the West. It investigates the effectiveness of entrepreneurship in addressing the economic growth strategies of the countries in the region. Since the late 1980s, many of these countries have liberalised their economies for faster economic growth. This has also been a challenging time due to the rising economic inequalities in several of these countries and the climate crisis. Entrepreneurship in these countries has also risen to address these issues through social entrepreneurship. The volume brings to the fore the entrepreneurial ecosystems dominated by the MSMEs with significant regulation barriers and red-tapism leading to stunted growth and premature deaths of enterprises.

Divided into five sections related to historical contexts and economic growth relations, entrepreneurial ecosystems, techno-scientific and financial sectors, feminisation of entrepreneurship, and social entrepreneurship, the volume also addresses the following questions. What are the philosophies and methodologies of creating entrepreneurs, and what are their success rates? What are the key sectors of entrepreneurialism, and whether the traditional sectors are becoming less lucrative? Can entrepreneurialism and business ecosystem create opportunities for all, or is the ecosystem segmented and favourable only to a few? What are the reasons and bases of these segmentations? What are the possibilities for grassroots enterprises and entrepreneurs in the new emerging competitive markets? What possibilities does digitalisation offer to the local, national and international entrepreneurs, women and other marginalised sections? What are the possibilities for addressing the inequalities and climate challenges through the predominant presence of MSMEs in the region? The chapters, contributed by experts in the field, attempt to address these questions by examining national, regional, and micro-ecosystems to case studies of micro, small, medium, and large businesses and social entrepreneurs. In this volume, where Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives are discussed at the aggregate level, several case studies are presented from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the region's key economies.