Tag Search: “firms”

Barriers to upgrading in developing countries

In recent decades, several countries have seen rapid development, aided in part by the adoption of advanced technologies. In this post, Eric Verhoogen looks at recent research to highlight the factors...

  • Perspectives

The effect of easing labour restrictions: Evidence on employment in Rajasthan

Stringent labour laws in India can hinder firms’ growth and increase the incidence of informal and contract employment. Looking at evidence from firms in Rajasthan after the amendment of the Industria...

  • Articles

The future of work from home

With the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, work from home became the norm in 2020. However, even though mobility restrictions have been lifted, many workplaces all over the world continue to follow a m...

  • Podcasts

The future of work from home

With the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, work from home became the norm in 2020. However, even though mobility restrictions have been lifted, many workplaces all over the world continue to follow a m...

  • Videos

Birth versus worth: Impact of the caste system on entrepreneurship in India

The prevalence of the caste system has restricted social mobility in India. This article further looks at how caste disparities have contributed to the misallocation of resources across firms. It quan...

  • Articles

Do value-added taxes benefit firms? Evidence from the adoption of state-specific value-added taxes

Value-added tax (VAT) systems have grown popular in the last 30 years, especially among developing countries looking for ways to raise tax revenue efficiently. Using 2000-2012 data on product, state-s...

  • Articles

Hindu-Muslim integration and firm output in Indian manufacturing: Evidence from a field experiment

Evidence suggests that ethnic diversity can lower firm output due to poor social ties and taste-based discrimination among workers. Based on an experiment in a manufacturing plant in West Bengal, this...

  • Articles

Temperature, labour reallocation, and industrial production

While it is well-established that agricultural production is vulnerable to weather shocks, less is known about how those affected respond or the economic consequences of any responses. Analysing data ...

  • Articles

Does going cashless make you tax-rich? Evidence from India’s demonetisation

During 2014-2017, the share of adults using electronic payments in the developing world increased by over a third, and policymakers have expressed optimism regarding the role of this trend in promotin...

  • Articles

Debt contract enforcement and product innovation

Weak enforcement of debt contracts can have undesirable consequences for financial development, as difficulty in recovering claims from distressed firms causes banks to reduce lending. Leveraging the ...

  • Articles

Contract labour and firm growth in India

There is considerable evidence indicating that the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA), 1947 – which made it illegal for large companies to downsize – had a powerful disincentive effect for entrepreneurs in...

  • Articles

Alleviating financial concerns to enhance worker productivity

Financial constraints can have psychological consequences and affect productivity by making workers more distracted during work. Based on an experiment among small-scale manufacturing workers in Odish...

  • Articles