| Type | Conference presentation |
| Event | IASSI Annual Conference — Frontier Issues in Technologies, Development & Environment |
| Organized by | Indian Association of Social Science Institutions |
| Location | Madras School of Economics, Chennai |
| Date | March 19–21, 2010 |
| Slides | Download the presentation (PDF) |
A talk delivered at the Annual Conference of IASSI, Madras School of Economics, Chennai (March 19–21, 2010).
In short: How much research and development India’s small and medium enterprises actually do — and what firm, industry, and policy factors shape whether an SME invests in R&D at all.
About the lecture
This presentation examined the research-and-development strategies of Indian SMEs — how widespread R&D is among smaller firms, how it has changed, and what determines which SMEs invest in it. Against a backdrop of liberalisation, rising competition, and the shift from a process- to a product-patent regime, it asked what it would take to strengthen the technological capabilities of India’s small and medium enterprises.
What the lecture covered
- R&D is rare among smaller firms — the incidence of R&D was far lower among small and medium firms than among large ones, and R&D intensity appeared to decline in the 2000s relative to the 1990s.
- Foreign investment correlated with more R&D — SMEs with foreign investment tended to show higher R&D intensity than those without.
- What determines SME R&D — firm-specific factors (age, size, export orientation, profitability), industry factors (sector concentration, foreign competition), and policy factors (fiscal incentives, infrastructure support).
- Policy directions — encourage participation in international markets, promote industrial clusters, improve access to finance, and design sector-specific support for SME innovation.
Get the slides
The full presentation is available as a PDF:
⇩ Download the presentation (PDF)
Related research on this site
This presentation led to the author’s published work:
- R&D Strategy of Small and Medium Enterprises in India — the related journal article (Science, Technology & Society, 2011).