In a global economy where large monopolies continue to consolidate value and power, MSMEs serve as a critical but increasingly weakened line of defense for preserving a pluralistic market system. Unprecedented digitalization has not only lent new contours to the long-standing legacy issues faced by MSMEs but has also reshaped the dynamics of market participation. Small firms, more so in the global south, are caught in the eternal struggle between embracing the new opportunities afforded by this shift and negotiating an ecosystem that is centered around Big Tech actors.
In her study 'Beyond Magic Bullets: Reclaiming the Digital Promise for MSMEs', Deepti Bharthur critically examines MSME participation in the global economy as enabled through digital integration, drawing from MSME interviews and case study data from five countries—India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Kenya, and Argentina. The study attempts to make connections between MSME digitalization and the political economy of the digital marketplace and global value chains, in order to frame opportunities and challenges in relation to development outcomes, with a particular focus on gendered consequences.
In this regard, the study aims to:
i) Understand the extent to which current pathways for digital integration and the existing policy, regulatory, and governance frameworks support the equitable development of MSMEs in the Global South.
ii) Grasp the gendered impact of these developments, with a specific focus on how women-led enterprises may be responding to the changing landscape, and the extent to which gender is mainstreamed in the policy discourse.
This report has been published as part of IT for Change’s project, ‘Digital Economic Integration of MSMEs in the Global South,’ co-funded by the European Union and the Fair, Green and Global Alliance.
Read country reports here:
1.Digital Economic Integration of MSMEs in the Global South Country Report: Argentina
2.Digital Economic Integration of MSEs in the Global South Kenya Report- Tourism
4.Digital Economic Integration of MSEs in the Global South Kenya Report- Agriculture
5.Digital Economic Integration of MSMEs in the Global South Country Report: Indonesia
Read the synthesis report here.