Enablers and Obstacles for UK-India Trade: Banks and Diasporas

印度是英国在英联邦最重要的贸易伙伴，占英联邦进口的近四分之一。然而，英印贸易在两国贸易总额中所占的比例都很小。例如，印度占英国进口总额的2%，而中国只占7%。这个为期三年的项目是与非学术合作伙伴印度工商会联合会(FICCI)共同设计的，将通过研究影响英印贸易的两个领域来调查为什么会出现这种情况：出口导向型印度小型制造企业的信贷作用，以及英印侨民网络在塑造英印供应链和贸易中的作用。主题一侧重于中小企业(SME)的信贷渠道。小企业占工业单位的95%，占制造业增加值的40%，占出口的35%。公司的增长在很大程度上受到获得信贷的影响，一个关键的担忧是中小企业是否受到信贷限制，正如印度储备银行的优先部门贷款目标所反映的那样，但关于这一主题的证据很少，因为印度的大多数研究都是基于报告审计信息的较大的、主要是上市公司的数据集。我们打算分析有目的地收集的调查数据，以研究中小企业的信贷限制及其对出口的影响。第二个重点是英国和印度的海外联系如何影响印度制造商的贸易和供应链。尽管其规模和潜力很大，但缺乏关于侨民如何支持贸易以及它与正式贸易政策之间的关系的系统研究。差距包括侨民网络目前究竟如何促进贸易，以及哪些类型的正式和非正式侨民网络在帮助两国之间的贸易方面最重要。我们的目标是了解什么类型的信息是共享的，以及在增加印度和英国公司之间的贸易方面最重要的。这将包括对印度公司如何接收关于做什么、如何做生意以及与谁做生意的信息的洞察。这些问题具有政策含义，因为设计支持政策以加强两国之间的贸易取决于对散居海外的网络到底如何做以及如何加强贸易的了解。目前还不存在适合回答这两个问题的数据，因此一个主要的项目目标是对印度制造公司进行两次调查。第一个重点是中小企业，将收集关于它们从银行和非正式来源获得信贷的需求和经验的详细信息。第二个将从纺织和服装行业的公司收集有关散居海外的网络的信息，这些公司包括小公司、中型公司和大公司。这项调查还将对企业所有者进行少量定性访谈，以深入探讨散居网络的作用。我们的发现将对学术受众(贸易经济学家、公司管理层、侨民学者、全球供应链)和非学术受众(专注于贸易和行业的公务员、负责英印双边贸易关系的政策人物、商业和金融媒体、英印双边投资)具有价值。该项目将利用国王印度研究所、国王商学院和FICCI的重要网络，让印度和英国的公务员、银行家、企业领导人和学者参与进来。一些经过挑选的人已同意加入一个项目咨询小组，该小组将直接制定该项目。我们将在宣传活动中更广泛地分享项目进展和成果：2022年5月在班加罗尔举行的研讨会和2023年1月在伦敦举行的会议。最后，该项目将产生重要的产出：出版物(5篇期刊文章和一本共同编辑的卷)；将通过联合王国数据服务向公众提供的两个调查数据集，以及将通过一个项目网站、其他博客、报纸专栏和社交媒体传播的若干政策文件/博客。

India is the UK's most important trading partner within the Commonwealth, accounting for nearly a quarter of Commonwealth imports. Yet as a proportion of either country's total trade, UK-India trade is small. For instance, India accounts for 2% of total UK imports against China at 7%. This three-year project, co-designed with non-academic partner the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), will investigate why this is the case by examining two areas which shape UK-India trade: the role of credit for export-oriented small Indian manufacturing firms, and the role of UK-India diasporic networks in shaping UK-India supply chains and trade.Theme one focuses on credit access for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Small firms constitute 95% of industrial units, account for 40% of total value addition in manufacturing and 35% of exports. Firms' growth is strongly shaped by access to credit, and a key concern is whether SMEs are credit constrained, as reflected in the Reserve Bank of India's priority sector lending targets, but there is little evidence on this topic because most studies in India are based on datasets for larger, mostly listed firms which report audit information. We intend to analyse purpose-collected survey data to study SME credit constraints and the implications for exports.Theme two focuses on how UK-India diasporic links shape trade and supply chains for Indian manufacturers. Despite its size and potential, systematic studies of how the diaspora supports trade and the relationship between it and formal trade policies, are missing. Gaps include how exactly diasporic networks currently facilitate trade, and what types of formal and informal diasporic networks are most significant in aiding trade between the two countries. We aim to understand what type of information is shared as well as most significant in increasing trade between Indian and UK firms. This would include insights into how Indian firms receive information about what, how and with whom to do business. These questions have policy implications because designing supportive policies to strengthen trade between the two depends on understanding how exactly diasporic networks do and can strengthen trade.Data suited to answering both questions do not currently exist, so a major project-objective is to undertake two surveys with Indian manufacturing firms. The first, focused on SMEs, will gather detailed information about their needs and experiences of seeking credit from banks and informal sources. The second will gather information on diasporic networks from firms in the textile and garments sector, spanning small, medium and large firms. This survey will also undertake a small number of qualitative interviews with firm owners to probe the role of diasporic networks in depth.Dissemination and impact are key project planks. Our findings will be of value to academic audiences (trade economists, firm management, scholars of diasporas, global supply chains) and non-academic ones alike (trade and industry-focused civil servants, policy figures responsible for UK-India bilateral trade relations, business and finance media, UK-India bilateral investment). The project will leverage the significant networks of the King's India Institute, King's Business School and FICCI to involve Indian and UK civil servants, bankers, corporate leaders and academics. A select number have agreed to be part of a project advisory group who will shape the project directly. We will share project progress and findings more widely at dissemination events: a workshop in Bangalore in May 2022 and London conference in January 2023. Finally, the project will create significant outputs: publications (5 journal articles and a co-edited volume); two survey datasets that will be made publicly available via the UK Data Service, and a number of policy papers/blogs to be disseminated via a project website, other blogs, newspaper columns and social media.