This one-day conference brought together leading scholars from Asia, Europe, and the United States to discuss the latest research on the evolution of business in South Asia. Over the course of the day, business historians, economists, political scientists, and others debated the origins of the Great Divergence in wealth and power between South Asia and the West; the role of family business and networks; South Asian businesses and the global economy; and key drivers of change in South Asian business since the 1990s. The conference highlighted new sources available for research, especially digital resources. At the core of the event was Harvard Business School’s Creating Emerging Markets project, which has captured lengthy and in-depth video interviews by the School’s faculty of South Asian business leaders, including Ratan Tata, Prathap Reddy, Ritu Kumar, and Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder and chairman of BRAC, the world’s largest NGO. Striking excerpts from the videos were played at the conference throughout the day.
View the full conference report.