Introduction

Consider this book as an accompanying guide to a journey. The journey is about listening to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises across Indonesia, and designing mechanisms that could make the social capital-compatible policies implementable. The primary goal is to enhance the MSME productivityProductivity. In particular, the analysis highlights the importance for social planners and those who genuinely intend to help MSMEsMicro, Small, and Medium Enterprises to listen, feel, and understand the mental bandwidth of MSMEsMicro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, so that the gaps between what the policies are intended to achieve and what they actually accomplish can be narrowed. There are complex problems and multiple challenges faced by MSMEsMicro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. Some of those problems and challenges cannot be resolved by simply providing financial supports or allocating resources for training, promotion, digital technology, and infrastructureInfrastructure, without considering the prevailing institutionInstitutions that guide how those resources are managed and influence each other. The way the whole processes of using those resources are organized could be key to achieving the intended goal, and it is crucially determined by the social capitalSocial capital as part of the institution’sInstitution continuum.