2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/413480The informal sector in India has been exceptionally persistent over the past two decades. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. This paper shows that a substantial share of the persistence in India's unorganized manufacturing sector is due to the rapid increase in female-owned businesses. Had women's participation remained in the proportion to male-owned businesses that was evident in 1994, the unorganized manufacturing sector would have declined in share rather than increased. Most of these new female-owned businesses are opened in the household and at a small scale, about a third of the size of a typical male-owned business in the informal sector. Yet, it appears that these businesses offer economic opportunities not otherwise present and a transition for some women from unpaid domestic work.application/pdftext/plainCC BY 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/World BankACCOUNTINGADBAIDBANKING SECTORBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTBUSINESS LEADERSBUSINESS REGISTRATIONBUSINESS SERVICESBUSINESSESCITIESCOMMERCECOMPETITIVENESSCOMPUTER HARDWARECONNECTIVITYCUSTOMER DEMANDDEBTDESCRIPTIONDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT POLICYDISTRICTSECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC CONDITIONSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESECONOMIC TRENDSELECTRICITYEMPLOYMENTENTERPRISE SECTORENTREPRENEURSHIPEQUIPMENTEQUIPMENTSFEMALEFEMALE LABOR FORCEGENDERGENDER DIFFERENCESGENDER DISCRIMINATIONGENDER EQUALITYGENDER ISSUESGLOBALIZATIONHOTELSHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLDSHUMAN CAPITALINDUSTRIAL STRUCTURESINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINNOVATIONINNOVATION POLICYINSTITUTIONINTERNATIONAL COMPARISONSJOB CREATIONLABOR MARKETSLAWSLICENSELITERACY RATELITERACY RATESLIVING CONDITIONSLOCAL ECONOMYMANUFACTURINGMINORITYNATIONAL LEVELNATIONAL LEVELSNETWORKSNEW ENTRANTSOPEN ACCESSPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL TURMOILPOPULATION CENSUSPOPULATION CENSUSESPOPULATION DENSITYPOPULATION GROWTHPOPULATION GROWTH RATESPRODUCTIVITYPROGRESSPURCHASING POWERPURCHASING POWER PARITYRADIORATE OF MIGRATIONRECREATIONREGIONAL DEVELOPMENTRENTINGREPRODUCTIONRESPECTRESULTRESULTSROLE OF WOMENSANITATIONSLUMSSMALL ENTERPRISESSOCIAL EXCLUSIONSOCIAL SCIENCESTRESSESTELEVISIONTIME PERIODTRANSPORTTRANSPORTATIONUNEMPLOYMENTURBANIZATIONUSESVILLAGESVULNERABILITYWAGESWEBWORKFORCE