Self-Employed Artisan Entrepreneurs: An Empirical Study of Lock Manufacturing Units in Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu.

Self-employment is widely viewed as an important engine of economic and employment growth. This study attempts to examine the entrepreneurial performance of units in terms of their size of investment, number of workers, level of production, etc. Results show that entrepreneurial performance variables are positively and significantly correlated in rural and urban units. An attempt has been made in this paper to highlight the problems faced by entrepreneurs and finding a way out of the problems through suitable government policies like liberalized credit policies, exemption in tax rates, setting up of an association, etc. The study emphasizes that there is a need to enhance awareness among entrepreneurs regarding utilization of services provided by supporting agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]