IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/empiri/v52y2025i3d10.1007_s10663-025-09650-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Returns on informal and formal finance for Indian informal firms: a pseudo panel data analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Lokesh Posti

    (OP Jindal Global University)

  • Mamta Kholiya

  • Akhilesh Kumar Posti

    (Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya)

Abstract

The study investigates the differential impact of various sources of finance on informal firm performance. In the informal sector, where access to finance is limited, we investigate how productivity varies with different sources of finance. Given the data limitations, a pseudo-panel data design was used by combining the three only available, independent cross-sectional surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Office between 1999 and 2000 and 2015–16. Using formal and informal credit as two different sources of finance and total factor productivity (TFP) as the primary measure of firm performance, we find a positive relationship among them across all major industries; however, the impact of formal finance was higher than informal credit. Our results stand robust against alternative performance measures. Additionally, to address endogeneity concerns, dynamic panel data analysis was adopted. Obtained findings convey essential policy implications for intensification of financial inclusion and financial literacy.

Suggested Citation

  • Lokesh Posti & Mamta Kholiya & Akhilesh Kumar Posti, 2025. "Returns on informal and formal finance for Indian informal firms: a pseudo panel data analysis," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 591-611, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:52:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10663-025-09650-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-025-09650-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10663-025-09650-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10663-025-09650-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James R. Tybout, 2000. "Manufacturing Firms in Developing Countries: How Well Do They Do, and Why?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 11-44, March.
    2. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Meijun & Xie, Jing, 2019. "Understanding informal financing," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 19-33.
    3. Arne Bigsten & Paul Collier & Stefan Dercon & Marcel Fafchamps & Bernard Gauthier & Jan Willem Gunning & Abena Oduro & Remco Oostendorp & Cathy Patillo & Måns S–derbom & Francis Teal & Albert Zeufack, 2003. "Credit Constraints in Manufacturing Enterprises in Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 12(1), pages 104-125, March.
    4. Michele Hoyman, 1987. "Female Participation in the Informal Economy: A Neglected Issue," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 493(1), pages 64-82, September.
    5. Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2005. "Firm Size Matters: Growth and Productivity Growth in African Manufacturing," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(3), pages 545-583, April.
    6. Beck, Thorsten & Lu, Liping & Yang, Rudai, 2015. "Finance and Growth for Microenterprises: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 38-56.
    7. Robert E. Carpenter & Bruce C. Petersen, 2002. "Is The Growth Of Small Firms Constrained By Internal Finance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 298-309, May.
    8. Richard Blundell & Martin Browning & Costas Meghir, 1994. "Consumer Demand and the Life-Cycle Allocation of Household Expenditures," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(1), pages 57-80.
    9. N. Berger, Allen & F. Udell, Gregory, 1998. "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 613-673, August.
    10. Moffitt, Robert, 1993. "Identification and estimation of dynamic models with a time series of repeated cross-sections," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1-2), pages 99-123, September.
    11. Farazi, Subika, 2014. "Informal firms and financial inclusion : status and determinants," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6778, The World Bank.
    12. Sudipto Dasgupta & Xi Li & Albert Y Wang, 2018. "Product Market Competition Shocks, Firm Performance, and Forced CEO Turnover," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(11), pages 4187-4231.
    13. repec:eme:mfppss:mf-09-2021-0440 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2006. "The influence of financial and legal institutions on firm size," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2995-3015, November.
    15. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    16. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    17. Nugent, Jeffrey B., 1996. "What explains the trend reversal in the size distribution of Korean manufacturing establishments?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 225-251, March.
    18. Dibyendu Maiti, 2008. "The organisational morphology of rural industries and its dynamics in liberalised India: a study of West Bengal," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 32(4), pages 577-591, July.
    19. Francisca Antman & David J. McKenzie, 2007. "Earnings Mobility and Measurement Error: A Pseudo-Panel Approach," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(1), pages 125-161, October.
    20. Browning, Martin & Deaton, Angus & Irish, Margaret, 1985. "A Profitable Approach to Labor Supply and Commodity Demands over the Life-Cycle," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(3), pages 503-543, May.
    21. Deaton, Angus, 1985. "Panel data from time series of cross-sections," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1-2), pages 109-126.
    22. McKenzie, David & Seynabou Sakho, Yaye, 2010. "Does it pay firms to register for taxes? The impact of formality on firm profitability," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 15-24, January.
    23. Subika Farazi, 2014. "Informal Firms and Financial Inclusion: Status and Determinants," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(03), pages 1-28.
    24. Kate Meagher, 1995. "Crisis, Informalization and the Urban Informal Sector in Sub‐Saharan Africa," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 26(2), pages 259-284, April.
    25. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    26. Gustavo Henrique de Andrade & Miriam Bruhn & David McKenzie, 2016. "A Helping Hand or the Long Arm of the Law? Experimental Evidence on What Governments Can Do to Formalize Firms," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(1), pages 24-54.
    27. Carr, Marilyn. & Chen, Martha Alter., 2002. "Globalization and the informal economy : how global trade and investment impact on the working poor," ILO Working Papers 993541723402676, International Labour Organization.
    28. Meghana Ayyagari & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2010. "Formal versus Informal Finance: Evidence from China," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(8), pages 3048-3097, August.
    29. Keith Hart, 2005. "Formal Bureaucracy and the Emergent Forms of the Informal Economy," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2005-11, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    30. Degryse, Hans & Lu, Liping & Ongena, Steven, 2016. "Informal or formal financing? Evidence on the co-funding of Chinese firms," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 31-50.
    31. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2009. "On estimating firm-level production functions using proxy variables to control for unobservables," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(3), pages 112-114, September.
    32. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2005. "Financial and Legal Constraints to Growth: Does Firm Size Matter?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 137-177, February.
    33. repec:ilo:ilowps:354172 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. Tiken Das & Manesh Choubey, 2018. "Do the heterogeneous determinants of life satisfaction affect differently across borrowers of diverse credit sources? A propensity score approach," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 45(8), pages 1142-1158, August.
    35. Tiken Das, 2019. "Does credit access lead to expansion of income and multidimensional poverty? A study of rural Assam," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 46(2), pages 252-270, February.
    36. Prabal De & Priya Nagaraj, 2014. "Productivity and firm size in India," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 891-907, April.
    37. Marty Chen, 2005. "Rethinking the Informal Economy: Linkages with the Formal Economy and the Formal Regulatory Environment," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2005-10, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    38. Ullah, Barkat, 2019. "Firm innovation in transition economies: The role of formal versus informal finance," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 58-75.
    39. Gabriele Rovigatti & Vincenzo Mollisi, 2018. "Theory and practice of total-factor productivity estimation: The control function approach using Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 18(3), pages 618-662, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Posti, Lokesh & Kholiya, Mamta & Posti, Akhilesh Kumar, 2022. "Returns on Informal and Formal finance for Indian Informal firms: A Pseudo panel data analysis," MPRA Paper 115550, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. K. Vidyarani & Hrushikesh Mallick, 2025. "Does Credit From Various Sources Improve MSME Performance? An Empirical Analysis for a Large Transitioning Developing Economy of India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(6), pages 1381-1404, August.
    3. Yang, Junhong & Guariglia, Alessandra & Peng, Yuchao & Shi, Yukun, 2022. "Inventory investment and the choice of financing: Does financial development play a role?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Prabal De & Priya Nagaraj, 2014. "Productivity and firm size in India," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 891-907, April.
    5. Guo, Shen & Lin, Guiting & Ouyang, Alice Y., 2023. "Are pro-SME credit policies effective? Evidence from shadow banking in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    6. Ullah, Barkat, 2020. "Signaling value of quality certification: Financing under asymmetric information," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    7. Duranton,Gilles & Ghani,Syed Ejaz & Grover,Arti Goswami & Kerr,William Robert & Duranton,Gilles & Ghani,Syed Ejaz & Goswami,Arti Grover & Kerr,William Robert, 2015. "Effects of land misallocation on capital allocations in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7451, The World Bank.
    8. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2015. "Drivers of Entrepreneurship and Post-entry Performance of Newborn Firms in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 277-305.
    9. Yang Yang & Xuezheng Chen & Jing Gu & Hamido Fujita, 2019. "Alleviating Financing Constraints of SMEs through Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, January.
    10. Jun Du & Alessandra Guariglia & Alexander Newman, 2010. "Does social capital affect the financing decisions of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises?," Discussion Papers 10/13, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    11. Xu, Nana & Yuan, Yan & Rong, Zhao, 2022. "Depressed access to formal finance and the use of credit card debt in Chinese SMEs," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    12. Jose Cuesta & Hugo Ñopo & Georgina Pizzolitto, 2011. "Using Pseudo‐Panels To Measure Income Mobility In Latin America," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 57(2), pages 224-246, June.
    13. Lavin, Felipe Vasquez & Bratti, Luna & Orrego, Sergio & Barrientos, Manuel, 2020. "Assessing the Use of Pseudo-panels to Estimate the Value of Statistical Life in Developing Countries," EfD Discussion Paper 20-20, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    14. Du, Julan & Li, Chang & Wang, Yongqin, 2023. "Shadow banking of non-financial firms: Arbitrage between formal and informal credit markets in China," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    15. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2012. "Financing of firms in developing countries : lessons from research," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6036, The World Bank.
    16. Cheng, Peng & Wei, Jiuchang & Liu, Yang, 2024. "Give a plum in return for a peach: The effect of entrepreneurial informal financing on environmental corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    17. Kung'U, Gabriel Kamau, 2011. "Factors influencing SMEs access to finance: A case study of Westland Division,Kenya," MPRA Paper 66633, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2014.
    18. Wellalage, Nirosha Hewa & Locke, Stuart, 2020. "Formal credit and innovation: Is there a uniform relationship across types of innovation?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1-15.
    19. Hou, Liming & Hsueh, Shao-Chieh & Zhang, Shuoxun, 2020. "Does formal financial development crowd in informal financing? Evidence from Chinese private enterprises," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 288-301.
    20. Shin-Ichi Nishiyama, 2011. "The Cross-Euler Equation Approach to testing for the Liquidity Constraint: Evidence from Macro and Micro Data," TERG Discussion Papers 273, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:52:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10663-025-09650-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.