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Do Business Groups Help or Hinder Technological Progress in Emerging Markets? Evidence from India

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  • Bhaumik, Sumon K.

    (University of Sheffield)

  • Zhou, Ying

    (Aston University)

Abstract

Business groups, which are ubiquitous in emerging market economies, balance the advantages of characteristics such as internal capital markets with the disadvantages such as inefficient internal distribution of resources and suppression of technological and other forms of innovativeness. In this paper, we examine, in the Indian context, whether business group affiliation provides an advantage over unaffiliated (or private independent) firms with respect to technological progress, which lies at the heart of wider economic growth and prosperity. Our results suggest that while business group affiliation did provide an advantage over private independent firms at the start of the sample period (2000), this advantage was more than offset by the turn of the century. We discuss the implications of our results for economic growth rates in emerging market economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhaumik, Sumon K. & Zhou, Ying, 2014. "Do Business Groups Help or Hinder Technological Progress in Emerging Markets? Evidence from India," IZA Discussion Papers 7885, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7885
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    Cited by:

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    3. Yunwei Li & Wenjing Long & Xiao Ning & Yumeng Zhu & Yifan Guo & Zhou Huang & Yu Hao, 2022. "How can China's sustainable development be damaged in consequence of financial misallocation? Analysis from the perspective of regional innovation capability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3649-3668, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    business groups; technological progress; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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