Small Enterprises, Local Jobs: Assessing the Contribution of MSMEs to Employment in West Champaran, Bihar
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63671/ijeir.v2i4.106Keywords:
MSMEs, small enterprises, employment, micro enterprises, rural employment, West Champaran, Bihar, local developmentAbstract
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) are important sources of local employment, supporting rural economic activity and creating jobs. The contribution of MSMEs to employment in West Champaran, Bihar is examined by this study. The present study uses secondary data from the Udyam Registration records and Census of India 2011 to investigate the contribution of MSMEs. The district had 15,685 registered enterprises with 32,262 reported workers in the Udyam data. Micro enterprises formed 99.30% of all enterprises and provided 95.70% of reported employment. Small enterprises formed 0.66% of enterprises but provided 4.00% of employment. Medium enterprises formed 0.04% of enterprises and provided 0.30% of employment. The average employment was 2.06 workers per enterprise. The findings reveal that micro enterprises constitute the principal component of the local enterprise base. Although small and medium enterprises account for a small proportion of registered units, they provide higher employment per enterprise. However, as compared with the district’s wider workforce the total MSME employment remains small. According to the study, local enterprises can grow and create more jobs with better access to finance, skills, infrastructure, technology, and markets.
References
Johnston, B. F., & Mellor, J. W. (1961). The role of agriculture in economic development. American Economic Review, 51(4), 566–593.
Lewis, W. A. (1954). Economic development with unlimited supplies of labour. The Manchester School, 22(2), 139–191.
Lanjouw, P., &Lanjouw, J. O. (2001). The rural non-farm sector: Issues and evidence from developing countries. Agricultural Economics, 26(1), 1–23.
Ellis, F. (2000). Rural livelihoods and diversity in developing countries. Oxford University Press.
Haggblade, S., Hazell, P., & Reardon, T. (2010). The rural non-farm economy: Prospects for growth and poverty reduction. World Development, 38(10), 1429–1441.
Haggblade, S., Hazell, P., & Reardon, T. (2007). Transforming the rural nonfarm economy: Opportunities and threats in the developing world. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Lanjouw, P., & Shariff, A. (2004). Rural non-farm employment in India: Access, incomes and poverty impact. Economic and Political Weekly, 39(40), 4429–4446.
Lanjouw, P., &Murgai, R. (2009). Poverty decline, agricultural wages, and non-farm employment in rural India: 1983–2004. Agricultural Economics, 40(2), 243–263.
Barrett, C. B., Reardon, T., & Webb, P. (2001). Nonfarm income diversification and household livelihood strategies in rural Africa: Concepts, dynamics, and policy implications. Food Policy, 26(4), 315–331.
Kumar, A., Singh, R. K. P., Kumar, A., Kumar, U., Jha, A. K., & Kumar, P. (2019). Dynamics and determinants of farm household income in Bihar: Evidence from panel data of selected villages. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 89(11), 1890–1894. https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v89i11.95336
Dutta, M., & Dhar, N. S. (2022). Income diversification among rural households: Patterns and determinants. In S. K. Bhaumik (Ed.), Enhancing agricultural productivity and farmer incomes in Bihar (pp. 285–309). SAGE.
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. (2016). Brief industrial profile of West Champaran district. Government of India.
Himanshu, P., Lanjouw, P., & Stern, N. (2018). Changing activities, changing markets: Beyond agriculture. In P. Lanjouw& N. Stern (Eds.), How lives change: Palanpur, India, and development economics (pp. 238–298). Oxford University Press.
Pattayat, S. S., Parida, J. K., & Awasthi, I. C. (2022). Reducing rural poverty through non-farm job creation in India. The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 65(1), 137–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-022-00359-9
Kumar, M. (2025). Livelihood diversification in Gandak Diara of West Champaran District of Bihar. International Journal of Applied Social Science, 12(7–8), 581–587.
Government of India. (n.d.). Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. (2024). Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), 2023–24. Government of India.
Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. (2011). Primary Census Abstract: Pashchim Champaran, Bihar—2011. Census of India.
Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. (2014). District Census Handbook: Pashchim Champaran, Bihar—Part B, Primary Census Abstract. Census of India.
NITI Aayog. (2025). A macro and fiscal landscape of the state of Bihar. Government of India.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Educational Innovations and Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
