Firm Size and the Business Environment : Worldwide Survey Results
The development of the small, and medium enterprise sector is believed to be crucial for economic growth, and poverty alleviation. Those who seek to develop the sector, must consent with the general perception that small- and medium-scale enterpris...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
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Washington, DC: World Bank and the International Finance Corporation
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/08/1620971/firm-size-business-environment-worldwide-survey-results http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13988 |
| Summary: | The development of the small, and medium
enterprise sector is believed to be crucial for economic
growth, and poverty alleviation. Those who seek to develop
the sector, must consent with the general perception that
small- and medium-scale enterprises are at a disadvantage,
compared with larger firms. In theory, however, smaller
firms may also have advantages over larger firms. For
instance, they may be less affected by excessive
regulations, because they can easily slip into informal
arrangements. This paper draws on a new private sector
survey covering eighty countries, and one territory to study
the question whether business obstacles are related to firm
size. The main finding is that there is indeed a bias
against small firms. Overall, (that is, for the world
sample) small firms report more problems than medium-sized
firms, which in turn report more problems than large firms.
In particular, smaller firms face significantly more
problems than larger firms with financing, taxes and
regulations, inflation, corruption and street crime. Thus
these impediments should be prime targets for policies
directed at leveling the playing field. Some of the most
severe perceived impediments to doing business affect firms
of all sizes, and consequently call for across-the-board
policy improvements. In addition to the worldwide analysis,
the paper presents an analysis by region, and by individual country. |
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