Small and medium manufacturing enterprises and Asia's sustainable economic development

Abstract

In this piece, we consider the role of small and medium manufacturing enterprises in Asia's sustainable development. Asia has undeniably made huge leaps in its economic growth in the past three decades, however, this growth is not without a cost, especially to societal and environmental wellbeing. More recently, there are signs of increasing realization of this problem and some initiatives to ameliorate it. Yet, the literature has not captured some of these developments and initiatives. This article systematically introduces and summarizes the recent scholarly discussions in IJPE on SED and the role of small and medium manufacturing enterprises (SMMEs) in Asia.