Small and Medium Enterprises across the Globe : A New Database
This paper describes a new cross-country database on the importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This database is unique in that it presents consistent and comparable information on the contribution of the SME sector to total employment...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/08/2511638/small-medium-enterprises-across-globe-new-database http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18131 |
| Summary: | This paper describes a new cross-country
database on the importance of small and medium enterprises
(SMEs). This database is unique in that it presents
consistent and comparable information on the contribution of
the SME sector to total employment and GDP across different
countries. The dataset improves on existing publicly
available datasets on several grounds. First, it extends
coverage to a broader set of developing and industrial
economies. Second, it provides information on the
contribution of the SME sector using a uniform definition of
SMEs across different countries, allowing for consistent
cross-country comparisons. Third, while we follow the
traditional definition of the SME sector as being part of
the formal sector, the new database also includes the size
of the SME sector relative to the informal sector. This
paper describes the sources and the construction of the
different indicators, presents descriptive statistics, and
explores correlations with other socioeconomic variables. |
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