Small and Medium Enterprises, Growth, and Poverty

Small and Medium Enterprises, Growth, and Poverty
Author: Thorsten Beck
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 47
Release: 2003
Genre: Economic development
ISBN:

Beck, Demirgüç-Kunt, and Levine explore the relationship between the relative size of the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, economic growth, and poverty using a new database on the share of SME labor in the total manufacturing labor force. Using a sample of 76 countries, they find a strong association between the importance of SMEs and GDP per capita growth. This relationship, however, is not robust to controlling for simultaneity bias. So, while a large SME sector is characteristic of successful economies, the data fail to support the hypothesis that SMEs exert a causal impact on growth. Furthermore, the authors find no evidence that SMEs reduce poverty. Finally, they find qualified evidence that the overall business environment facing both large and small firms--as measured by the ease of firm entry and exit, sound property rights, and contract enforcement--influences economic growth. This paper--a product of Finance, Development Research Group--is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the role of SMEs.

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Poverty Reduction in Africa

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Poverty Reduction in Africa
Author: Ameen Alharbi
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2015-06-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1443879193

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Poverty Reduction in Africa addresses the vital question of why the millions of dollars of governments’ and international development interventions in the SMEs sector are yet to deliver significant and sustainable employment and poverty reduction in Africa. The book also addresses the question of how the SMEs sector can help in the eradication of poverty in Africa. The book also tackles the question of what policy makers, SMEs operators, would-be entrepreneurs and trainers can do to contribute to poverty reduction through the SMEs sector. To address these three key questions, the book has adopted innovative concepts and ideas that will appeal to the sensibilities of African policy makers, trainers, business operators and would-be entrepreneurs. For example, the existing literature on system thinking and spirituality in business is used to offer a novel approach and departure from the perennial focus on “technical training” and hardnosed pursuit of “individualised” business and personal goals as a means of developing entrepreneurs and crafting SMEs policy. The key features of the book are: • a focus on changing the mind-set of SMEs operators, policy makers, trainers and would-be entrepreneurs; • contextualising the role of SMEs in poverty reduction by emphasizing the relevance of the African worldview, belief systems and spirituality during policy making, policy implementation and training of SMEs operators and would-be entrepreneurs; • theoretical explanations to why good intentions in policy formulation and implementation do not deliver expected outcomes in terms of the SMEs sector’s contribution to poverty reduction; • practical guidelines on how SMEs can develop a poverty-related mission statement, business strategy and business plan within the context of poverty reduction; • personal development guidelines for SMEs operators and prospective entrepreneurs on how to develop poverty-related personal mission statements and strategies; • the introduction of spiritual poverty and system thinking as the foundation for policy formulation and poverty reduction interventions in Africa.

Small and Medium Enterprises, Growth, and Poverty

Small and Medium Enterprises, Growth, and Poverty
Author: Asli Demirgüç-Kunt
Publisher:
Total Pages: 47
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN:

Beck, Demirguc-Kunt, and Levine explore the relationship between the relative size of the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, economic growth, and poverty using a new database on the share of SME labor in the total manufacturing labor force. Using a sample of 76 countries, they find a strong association between the importance of SMEs and GDP per capita growth. This relationship, however, is not robust to controlling for simultaneity bias. So, while a large SME sector is characteristic of successful economies, the data fail to support the hypothesis that SMEs exert a causal impact on growth. Furthermore, the authors find no evidence that SMEs reduce poverty. Finally, they find qualified evidence that the overall business environment facing both large and small firms - as measured by the ease of firm entry and exit, sound property rights, and contract enforcement - influences economic growth.This paper - a product of Finance, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the role of SMEs.

Creating Value for All

Creating Value for All
Author:
Publisher: UN
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2008
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The extreme prevalence of poverty in today's world calls us urgently for action. Yet the poor harbour a potential for consumption, production, innovation and entrepreneurial activity that is largely untapped. This report shows how entrepreneurs can serve the poor as clients and customers and can also include the poor as producers, employees and business owners. The report's main message: Business with the poor can create value for all. The publication draws on 50 specially commissioned case studies of businesses that have successfully included the poor, despite the constraints, and created value for all. The cases afford the wealth of ideas for inclusive business models

Creating jobs that reduce poverty

Creating jobs that reduce poverty
Author: Chrysanthos A. Miliaras
Publisher: RTI Press
Total Pages: 12
Release: 2012-11-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Can "gazelles" create jobs and reduce poverty in developing countries? Researchers at RTI International think they might be a key resource in generating the hundreds of millions of jobs needed to absorb new entrants to the global labor market over the next decade. The term "gazelles" refers to a special class of businesses -- most of which are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) -- that have been found to create a vastly disproportionate number of jobs in the United States. Although the link between SMEs and job creation in the US is well established, comparatively little is known about if and how they drive job creation in developing countries. This research report documents a research agenda that will give developing country governments and the donor community information they need to more effectively support SMEs that generate growth, create jobs, and, ultimately, reduce poverty.

Micro and Small Enterprises as Vehicles for Poverty Reduction, Employment Creation, and Business Development

Micro and Small Enterprises as Vehicles for Poverty Reduction, Employment Creation, and Business Development
Author: Tegegne Gebre-Egziabher
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Economic development
ISBN: 9789994450381

In many countries, there is now a wide recognition of the contribution of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) to economic growth. Within the Ethiopian context, despite the potential contribution of the MSEs to poverty reduction and employment creation, the Government had not, until very recently, extended adequate support to the development of the sector. To date, there has not been an independent assessment of the contribution of the MSE development strategy to poverty reduction, job creation and business growth either at the federal or Regional levels. To fill the gap, the Forum for Social Studies (FSS) commissioned this study in 2009 to assess the benefits and long-term sustainability of the strategy as well as the businesses/enterprises that have been set up by the large number of entrepreneurs. The aim is to provide policy inputs that can help create a vibrant and dynamic MSE sector and enhance its potential contribution to the countryís overall development.