Purpose This paper aims to estimate the technical efficiency (TE) and its determinants in the handloom micro-enterprises of Assam (India) using the double-bootstrap data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a random sample of 340 handloom micro-entrepreneurs from the three districts of Assam in India. The double-bootstrap DEA was used to calculate the TE and its determinants. Findings The findings reveal that handloom enterprises are only 60% technically efficient, suggesting room for improvement. The bootstrap truncated regression results demonstrate that the handloom firms’ TE is influenced by both entrepreneur-specific and firm-specific factors. Practical implications The implication lies in the fact that the management of a firm may figure out how much it can reduce its input utilization to produce the existing amount of output so that it can move along the TE ladder. Moreover, it can crosscheck the factors to weed out inefficiency. Originality/value This paper has made two significant contributions to the extant literature. Firstly, it fills the gap by way of accounting the TE of handloom micro-enterprises, which has so far been neglected. Secondly, it used the bootstrap approach, which otherwise is very rare in the discourse on the Indian manufacturing industry, let alone in the micro, small and medium scale enterprises sector.

Ginger appears to have been used as a spice and a medicine from early times by the Chinese and the Indians. It has been studied for its antibacterian, antifungal, pain-relieving anti-ulcer, antitumor and other properties). The rhizome of Ginger has long been used in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine to treat a wide range of ailments including gastrointestinal disorders, mainly nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness. It has been recommended by herbalists for use as a carminative, diaphoretic, expectorant and astringent. Like many medicinal herbs, much of the information has been handed down by word of mouth with little controlled scientific evidence to support the numerous claims. However, in the last few years, more organized scientific investigation have focused on the mechanism and targets of ginger and its various components. Ginger (Z. Officinal's Roscoc, Zingibera ceae) is not only widely used as a dietary condiment but it has also been extensively utilized as a traditional medicine. Ginger's anti inflammatory properties help relieve pain and reduce inflammation associated with arthritis rheumatism and muscle spasm. Ginger also has been found to increase gastric-juice secreation and the production of hypochloride. It mean that food is digested more quickly, creating an unfriendly environment for bacteria.

Purpose This study aims to extend the discussion on firm profitability to include handloom enterprises in India. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a random sample of 427 handloom microentrepreneurs from the Indian state of Assam. The seemingly unrelated regression model is used to determine the profitability drivers in India’s handloom enterprises. Findings The empirical results revealed that human, financial and social capital, along with their control variables such as information and communication technology, firm size and sales distribution, are the main drivers of profitability of Indian handloom enterprises. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to offer an in-depth insight into what makes profitability in the handloom enterprises in India, the world’s second-largest reservoir of the handloom industry.

Purpose Although handloom is a significant source of livelihood for millions of people in India, it performs poorly compared to other sectors of the economy, which may be the root of technical inefficiency. Until now, to measure technical efficiency, no studies have been carried out; therefore, the purpose of this study is to estimate the technical efficiency in the handloom micro-enterprises in India. Design/methodology/approach This study includes 427 handloom micro-entrepreneurs from the Indian state of Assam. Using bootstrap truncated regression, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to calculate the technical efficiency and identify the factors responsible for inefficiency. Findings The findings of this study reveal that handloom enterprises are 75% pure technically efficient, suggesting room for input reduction. The bootstrap truncated regression results show that education, prior experience, modern technology, ICT, bank loan, training, gender and location significantly influence the technical efficiency of handloom enterprises. Research limitations/implications Despite recent advances in the DEA method, this study used a traditional form of DEA. This study used only one output and a limited set of inputs. Better results could have been obtained by expanding the number of inputs and output. Finally, the data for this study has been obtained from a very narrow geographic area. The production practices of the handloom enterprises in other parts of the region and other states might vary considerably. Practical implications Technical efficiency measurement has management implications for businesses because it allows entrepreneurs to determine how much less input is required to produce the same output. A meticulous analysis can pinpoint the causes of inefficiency. Originality/value This paper aims to make two significant contributions to the extant literature. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no published document has analyzed the technical efficiency of handloom micro-enterprises anywhere in the world. The authors fill this void by systematically analyzing the technical efficiency of the handloom industry in Assam.