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The purpose of this study is to highlight the key challenges and opportunities that lie with some of the alternative avenues/tools to promote financial access to MSME in India.

Initially, the study discusses the scope of various alternative avenues/tools for MSME financing along with traditional bank SME credits, highlighting some of the factors that will boost the high performance and growth of MSME in future.

There is a dominance of domestic banks in the MSME financing over cross-border banks in India. The study finds several opportunities lie in the MSME financing for the banks and other alternative avenues/tools: friendly government policies and improving the legal system make the business environment suitable for MSME financing business. There are several obstacles like discrete presence of clients, high operating cost and low profitability, lack of proper risk management and low literacy rate that make MSME financing difficult for the SME finance business. Active government initiatives and other supporting factors will act as the game changer and promoter for the banks and other alternative avenues/tools for MSME financing.

The paper is original and brings out some valuable findings that will help the SME business clients to choose alternative access to finance.

This study aims to explore and analyse the credit risk assessment procedure conducted by the Indonesian Islamic banks to address the issue of asymmetric information among their micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) clients. This study also investigates the gaps in credit risk assessment procedures by comparing Islamic banks’ practices and presenting several recommendations to reinforce the credit risk evaluation procedures and eventually promote more inclusion of the MSME segment into the Islamic financial services.

This paper adopts a qualitative method by implementing a multi-case study research strategy. The data were gathered primarily through an interview approach by incorporating purposive uncontrolled quota sampling.

The result of this study implies that the Islamic banks in Indonesia have their own unique approaches and strategies in assessing the credit risk and have several similarities in performing their evaluation procedures for the MSME. Despite seemingly adequate approaches and measures taken by the Islamic banks to eliminate the asymmetric information problem, the study identifies several gaps that occur within the Islamic banks’ methods of credit risk assessment.

Since this study focuses on Indonesia and emphasises the two segments of Islamic banks, which consist of Islamic commercial and rural banks, in performing the MSME credit risk assessment; therefore, the findings of this study were limited around the observed Islamic banks within the MSME segment purview.

By referring to the recommendations as proposed by this paper, four implications could be expected from adopting these respective recommendations, among others: more effective evaluation procedures for the MSME, provision of a clear path and more efficient approach to assess the MSME units, lower financing cost and increase the confidence of Islamic banking industry in disbursing more financing to the MSME sector. This mechanism will potentially improve Islamic financial inclusion for the MSME due to the greater access to financial services; hence, the sector could contribute even more to Indonesia’s growing economy.

By incorporating a multi-case study among Indonesian Islamic banks pertaining to their methods in evaluating MSME customers, this study identifies several gaps affecting the effectiveness of MSME credit risk assessment. Furthermore, this study also presents a proposed framework to address these gaps accordingly by suggesting the salient strategies to minimise the issues of information asymmetry and enhance the MSME credit risk assessment procedure.

The primary objective of this paper is to identify and compare the collateral imposition practices among Islamic banks in Indonesia to serve micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) clients and explore the experiences and perceptions of MSME entrepreneurs pertaining to collateralisation in MSME financing.

This study was carried out by implementing a case study research strategy. The data was gathered primarily through the interview by utilising purposive uncontrolled quota sampling. The interview was conducted using semi-structured interview questions by targeting the two sides of Islamic financial inclusion: the Islamic banking industry (supply-side) and the MSME segment (demand-side).

This paper implies that the collateral provision is indeed an obligatory requirement for MSME to access regular financing in an Islamic bank, preferably the immovable type that consists of land and property. Subsequently, although the Islamic banks offer non-collateralised financing, their disbursement is still relatively scant and limited. Furthermore, despite the collateral issues, most MSME entrepreneurs positively perceive the bank’s collateralisation practice, indicating their awareness and understanding of the collateral purpose and function to access the financing facility.

This paper merely observed six Islamic bank institutions and 22 MSME units in urban and rural areas in Indonesia using a case study approach. Therefore, the empirical findings and case discussions were limited to those around the corresponding Islamic banks and MSME participants.

By referring to the several disclosed issues associated with the collateral imposition practices, this paper presents several recommendations that might be considered by the policymakers and the Islamic banking industry to enhance the realisation of MSME Islamic financial inclusion from the collateral implementation aspect, and thereby, facilitating more inclusive growth for the MSME industry.

This paper is unique since the paper attempts to analyse and compare the collateral imposition practices and its perception from the two distinct sides of Islamic financial inclusion that were represented by Islamic banks and MSMEs in Indonesia by including different types of Islamic banks and different segments of MSME in their diverse business sector within the urban and rural locations.

The primary objective of this study aims to intensively explore the environment of Indonesian regulations and laws related to the Islamic banking system and micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) and unveil the restrictive laws and regulatory flaws that potentially hinder the Islamic banking institution and MSME industry in achieving financial inclusion and promoting sustainable growth.

This paper implements a qualitative method by implementing a multi-case study research strategy, both from the Islamic banking institutions and the MSME industries. The data were gathered primarily through an interview approach by adopting purposive uncontrolled quota sampling.

The findings of this paper reveal two essential issues: First, the regulatory imbalances and restrictions could demotivate and hinder the efforts of Islamic banks in providing access to finance for the MSME segment, hence, encumbering the achievement of the financial inclusion agenda from the Islamic banking industry. Second, the flaws in MSME registration and taxation might discourage the formal MSMEs from extending their business license and prevent the informal MSME units from registering their business. This issue would potentially lower their chance of accessing external financing from the formal financial institutions and participating in supportive government programmes due to the absence of proper legality.

Since this paper only observed six Islamic banks and 22 MSME units in urban and rural locations in Indonesia using a case study approach, the empirical findings and case discussions were limited to those respective Islamic banks and MSME participants.

By referring to the recommendations as presented in this paper, two critical policy implications could be expected from adopting the proposed recommendations, among others: By addressing the issues of the regulatory imbalance associated with the Islamic banking industry and introduce the deregulatory policies on profit and loss sharing (PLS) scheme implementation, this approach will motivate the Islamic banking industry in serving the MSME sector better and provide greater access to financial services, particularly in using the PLS financing schemes. By resolving the problems on MSME registration and taxation, this strategy will enhance the sustainability of the formal MSMEs’ operation and encourage the informal ones to register, hence, improving their inclusion into the formal financing services and government assistance programmes.

The present study attempts to address the literature shortcomings and helps to fill the gaps – both theoretical and empirical – by incorporating the multi-case study among Indonesian Islamic banks and MSMEs to extensively explore the Indonesia regulatory environment pertaining to the Islamic banking system (supply-side) and MSMEs (demand-side), and thoroughly investigates and reveals the restrictive laws and regulatory flaws that could potentially hinder the Islamic banking institutions and MSME industries in attaining financial inclusion and contributing to sustainable development.

The purpose of this paper is to indicate an innovative solution to address the financing issues faced by “Micro-, Small and Medium Enterprises” (MSME) in emerging economies.

Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) especially Islamic banks are competing for high net worth individuals, whereas the MSME sector is largely untapped. A collaborative model for IFIs is suggested, to explore the MSME sector. Islamic Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs) are operating in these markets through their extensive gross route networks. The multistep collaborative model proposes “Special Purpose Entity (SPE)” partially owned by a single Islamic Bank or consortium and NBFI/s. SPEs can be incorporated with a defined scope, focus areas, risk profile, budget and shareholding patterns.

Risk and profit sharing instruments also known as Musharakah and Mudarabah have less than 6 percent share within total financing offered by Islamic banks globally. Risk sharing products offered by Islamic banks are not targeting this sector due to the underdevelopment of instruments, lack of knowledge and resources. Proposed SPEs can operate regionally with a concentration on specific business sectors.

The SPE model would enable Islamic banks to enter the huge MSME market while mitigating risk. On the contrary, it would enable the large segments of emerging economies (bottom 40 percent population of developing nations) to get involved and actively play their role to attain long-term development goals.

The authors investigate the role of financial literacy in influencing the relationship between human capital and social capital, with access to finance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Data were gathered from 337 MSMEs in Brunei Darussalam, and analysis on the data was carried out using a number of statistical methods. The relationships between human capital, social capital, financial literacy and access to finance were analyzed using PLS-SEM.

The results show that human capital does influence access to finance but contrary to previous studies, the influence is negative. Financial literacy is an important element in the relationship between human capital, social capital and access to finance, although it plays a greater role in the relationship between social capital and access to finance. Further analysis shows that financial knowledge is significant in moderating the relationships between human and social capital with access to finance. Financial skills is found to only moderate the relationship between social capital and access to finance.

To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first that integrates the human capital, social capital, financial literacy and access to finance in a single model. The authors also highlight the importance of enhancing the financial literacy of MSMEs so that the problem of access to finance can be alleviated, especially in developing countries.

Accessing formal mainstream finance is a cumbersome process for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of emerging economies. Empirical investigations have connected finance accessibility to financing gap that restricts MSMEs from borrowing through formal channels. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of financing gap on firms' financial structure (FS) practices. In this regard, the research framework divides financing gap into four dimensions, namely: demand gap (DG), supply gap (SG), knowledge gap (KG) and empathy gap (EG).

The paper adopts a quantitative approach to establish the underlying relationship between the variables. The participants of the self-structured questionnaire survey were 219 MSME owners from manufacturing, trading and service industries. The results are inferred through the partial least squares structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.

The findings recognise a significant impact of financing gap on the FS practices of firm owners. The financing constraints contributing to KG, SG and EG are found to be extending the unwillingness of firm owners to borrow through formal channels. Further, the results also confirm the influence of financing gap on the pecking order framework (POF) of MSMEs' FS.

The study offers the perspective and hesitance of MSME owners towards mainstream financing. The key findings are useful for the financial intermediaries and policymakers, who need to be sensitive and proactive in their small business lending process.

The study adds to the limited evidence of various dimensions of financing gap. It also addresses the role of financing gap on the conscious preferences of MSME owners towards the informal source of financing along with the POF.

Crowdfunding though existent, is still at the nascent stage in India being limited to charity and reward-based funding of creative and social projects by the crowd. The Indian regulatory authorities are in the process of formulating policies to encourage and monitor crowdfunding platforms that are based on financial return. The Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in particular is facing financing problems, and crowdfunding could be a viable alternative to traditional sources of finance. In this context, the study attempts to suggest an operational framework for crowdfunding in India with special reference to the MSME sector in terms of eligibility norms, rules for investor protection, sustaining market integrity, providing a supportive infrastructure and defining the role of online crowdfunding platforms.

This is a qualitative study conducted through personal interviews based on unstructured questions. The Directors or Chief Finance Officers of MSME firms and Senior Officials (with minimum work experience of 15 years) in the SME divisions of banks (private and public) located in the National Capital Region, were interviewed to identify the perspectives on the research issues of the chapter. The sampling criterion allowed us to incorporate both investors’ and investees’ concerns regarding the research issues.

These are the inherent nature of qualitative analysis, interviewees’ individual understanding of the subject and sample size.

The study will contribute to the vital discussion prior to the government’s decision on role of equity and debt-based crowdfunding in India in the future.

The study will shed light on the fact that Indian society needs to be well informed about novel investment options such as crowdfunding. The Indian MSME sector can also discuss the opportunities offered by crowdfunding with the government to reduce their problem of access to finance.

The scope of crowdfunding in the Indian MSME sector has not been thoroughly researched, as the phenomenon is new in India. The study highlights how the use of crowdfunding by micro, small and medium firms has the potential to boost manufacturing- and service-related business activities to further increase the national income.

This study investigates the factors affecting corporate cash holdings for a sample of 598 Indian Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) for nine years (2011–2020).

The system generalized method of moments (GMM) approach is used to examine the determinants of cash holdings in the Indian MSME context.

The article shows liquidity, cash flow, leverage, firm size, probability of financial distress and cash flow volatility significant in explaining cash holding decisions for MSMEs in India. No evidence of firm age and growth opportunities as determinants of cash holdings in Indian MSMEs has been found. In addition, strong evidence of cash flow volatility, cash flow and liquidity in differentiating the cash holding decisions in the service and manufacturing industry has been documented.

While earlier research has addressed this problem in developed nations, this is the first study that fulfills the need to investigate the variables that influence MSMEs' cash holding decisions in a developing economy like India.

Companies all over the world have recently started to adopt supply chain finance (SCF) solutions in their supply chains to reduce the payment defaults and simplify the bill settlement process. The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritize the barriers to adopting SCF in micro, small and medium enterprises.

It employs a three-phase methodology to identify and prioritize the essential barriers to the implementation of SCF. An extensive survey has been carried out in 101 Indian MSMEs in India which identified 37 barriers under six heads in the first phase. Experts’ interview using the Delphi technique has been carried out in the second phase to finalize the barriers. The analytic hierarchy process methodology, with sensitivity analysis for validation, is used in the final stage to prioritize and rank the barriers.

Results show that financial and information technology barriers are prominent in SCF adoption followed by financial challenges. Among specific barriers, the disclosure of sensitive company information to competitor barrier acts as an essential barrier followed by poor technological capability of MSMEs.

The study is limited to SCF adoption of MSMEs in a developing nation. Extensive research is required in order to derive a global trend.

The current research contributes to the stakeholder theory and transaction cost economics. Observations made in the current research can encourage organizations to incorporate stakeholders’ concerns into the adoption of SCF solutions. The study provides a more in-depth view of such challenges and a benchmark, which will help companies to adopt SCF solutions more effortlessly. Moreover, policy makers across the world can explore these serious issues and amend or introduce new policies to facilitate companies’ implementation of supply chain financial solutions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which identified and prioritized SCF adoption barriers of MSMEs in a developing nation. This study is also novel in adopting a hybrid analytical hierarchy process-sensitivity analysis for ranking the SCF barriers in an MSME context. SCF studies often emphasize only on the reverse factoring aspect of SCF. The current study considers many innovative aspects of SCF, such as pre-shipment financing, dynamic discounting, inventory financing, collaborative logistics, etc.