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The paper explores the managerial perceptions in Indian apparel manufacturing firms related to production performance, challenges faced, causes of low efficiency and the government support needed.

A structured survey of Indian apparel manufacturing firms was undertaken in person and through the online mode; the questionnaire was designed to collect data on demographic profile of a firm using categorical questions and perceptions of its top managers using a five-point Likert scale.

The survey findings reveal that most apparel manufacturing firms believe that exporting promotes efficiency and adopt output orientation to production, which may not be suitable in a competitive and uncertain environment. Machines are not used much for value-addition and labour related issues are most pressing challenges. Government support is expected for several aspects such as power supply and skill development.

The paper is limited by the nature of the sampling method and sample size; perceptions should be explored without bias and with good judgement.

The survey findings suggest that government policy should have a firm-specific approach to support improved production performance along with generic policies to build infrastructure and logistical facilities.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, there has been no such exercise to study managerial perceptions related to production performance in Indian apparel manufacturing in the past decade.

This paper aims to study the productivity growth in the Indian apparel industry in aggregate over the period 1995–2015 and compare the performance of the Indian apparel industry during the decade of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) and the decade post its expiry.

The aggregate productivity performance has been studied using the technique of growth accounting and the translog index. A comparison of industry performance has also been made by analysing data. The data has been collated from Annual Survey of Industries reports, CMIE Economic Outlook and CMIE Industry Outlook databases.

The apparel industry has seen significant growth in terms of all industry variables and exports. However, the growth in exports is much lower than the growth in other industry variables related to output and input. While there is productivity improvement in aggregate over the study period, the quantum is low. Total factor productivity growth is positive and higher for the period post the ATC.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, there has been no such recent study comparing performance and productivity in Indian apparel manufacturing during and after the expiry of the ATC.

Productivity gain in the manufacturing sector draws immense significance for all developing countries, particularly due to its contribution in enhancing competitiveness and promoting economic growth in the long run. The purpose of this paper is to study the sources of productivity gain for large and small-scale manufacturing firms.

This paper studies productivity performance of Indian textile manufacturing industry using firm-level panel data of 160 companies for the period 2007-2008 to 2012-2013. The output-oriented Malmquist productivity index has been computed through data envelopment analysis. Further, the sources of productivity gain are identified for the entire textile industry as well as for the small and large-scale sector companies separately.

Regarding the sources of productivity gain, technology change and scale efficiency seem to be the major drivers. Pure efficiency change is a concern for all firms irrespective of scale. The results suggest that moderately large companies are exhibiting better productivity performance during the study period.

The research is limited to a single industry, reference database and methodology. There is scope for further research at the micro-level to analyse the drivers of productivity for enterprises operating at different scales.

The paper contributes to existing literature by identifying the core action area for improving productivity performance in Indian textile manufacturing as the pure efficiency component. It also adds to research on the most productive scale of operation in manufacturing.

This paper aims to study whether exporting enterprises are more productive in export-intensive industries. It also aims to identify the action area and policy direction for enhancing productivity in Indian textile manufacturing. Global integration has increased the volume of international trade. It is crucial for countries to have competitive enterprises to capture a larger share of the global economy. Improvement in productivity performance not only enhances competitiveness but also promotes growth in an economy.

A productivity analysis for the Indian textile manufacturing industry using firm-level panel data is conducted. The data are collected for 160 firms relevant to the period from 2007-2008 to 2012-2013 from Ace Equity database. Using the technique of data envelopment analysis, the output oriented Malmquist productivity index is computed and the sources of productivity change are identified. Also, a comparison between the productivity performance of the exporting and non-exporting firms has been made.

The results suggest that exporting firms are exhibiting better productivity performance and resource utilisation during the study period. Technology change and scale efficiency seem to be the major sources of productivity gain for exporting firms.

The research is limited to a single industry, reference database and methodology. There is scope for further in-depth, micro-level research to analyze the differences in drivers of productivity for exporting and non-exporting firms.

This paper provides validation to export promotional policies in the Indian textile industry by establishing better productivity performance of exporting firms. It also provides direction for managerial action by identifying efficiency component as the factor pulling down productivity.