Title: Overcoming development adversity: how entrepreneurs led software development in India

Authors: Suma Athreye, Mike Hobday

Addresses: Brunel Business School, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK. ' CENTRIM, University of Brighton, Brighton BN2 4AT, UK

Abstract: In many developing countries, firms confront a highly adverse business environment. In these cases, development |should not| occur and observers tend to recommend government policy reform. The World Bank ranks India 116th out of 155 countries according to the ease of |doing business|. Indian managers spend a great deal of their time dealing with government regulations and bureaucracy. However, despite these difficulties there has been an explosion of technology-based entrepreneurship in India|s software and IT industries. In theory, the Indian software industry |should not| have developed in the way it did. This paper shows how Indian software entrepreneurs overcame institutional barriers to development and how they themselves initiated institutional change, despite Government|s restrictive policies. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Indian software firms were able to circumvent government imposed restrictions to growth and lead institutional reform in India. If India|s entrepreneurs can do it perhaps others can too.

Keywords: software development; entrepreneurship; bureaucracy; innovation; India; developing countries; government regulations; institutional barriers; institutional reform; software industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTLID.2010.031052

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2010 Vol.3 No.1, pp.36 - 46

Published online: 19 Jan 2010 *

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