Comparing MSME Development Across BRICS Economies After GDP Rebasing: Methodological Challenges for Empowerment Policy Evaluation

Introduction: GDP rebasing and national-accounts revisions can improve the visibility of informal and MSME activity, but they also alter data sources, classifications, estimation procedures and the comparability of economic series. The supplied literature further indicates that GDP alone is insufficient for evaluating empowerment, enterprise performance and distributional outcomes. Methods: The researcher selected Google Scholar and ERIC as databases and information sources. The eligibility protocol limited publications to 2015–2026. The verified identification provenance did not record the exact calendar date of search execution; this differs from the publication-year eligibility range. We searched Google Scholar and ERIC using a prespecified Boolean strategy for studies published from 2015 to 2026. The recorded PRISMA workflow identified 150 records, removed 62 duplicates, screened 88 records, assessed 60 full texts and included 59 records. Results: Rebasing can broaden MSME visibility through newer surveys, administrative data and size-sensitive supply-use or input-output tables, but revised estimates are not automatically comparable across time or countries. Informality, unpaid work and non-observed activity remain central measurement gaps. The evidence supports multidimensional indicators covering income, employment, survival, household welfare, gender, productivity, sustainability and environmental effects. Transparent metadata, data governance, methodological validation and institutional capacity are enabling conditions. We found no direct, consistent comparisons of post-rebasing empowerment outcomes across all five BRICS economies. Discussion/Conclusion: GDP rebasing is best understood as an institutional measurement reform rather than a self-sufficient evaluation of MSME empowerment. Its policy value depends on transparent revisions, harmonised definitions, improved coverage of informal activity and complementary enterprise- and welfare-level indicators.