The Impact of Business Support Services for Small and Medium Enterprises on Firm Performance in Low- and Middle-Income Countries : A Meta-Analysis
Interventions designed to support small and medium enterprises are popular among policy makers, given the role small and medium enterprises play in job creation around the world. Business support interventions in low- and middle-income countries ar...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/05/26360541/impact-business-support-services-small-medium-enterprises-firm-performance-low--middle-income-countries-meta-analysis http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24501 |
| Summary: | Interventions designed to support small
and medium enterprises are popular among policy makers,
given the role small and medium enterprises play in job
creation around the world. Business support interventions in
low- and middle-income countries are often based on the
assumption that market failures and institutional
constraints impede the growth of small and medium
enterprises. Significant resources from governments and
international organizations are directed to small and medium
enterprises to maximize their socioeconomic impact.
Business-support interventions for small and medium
enterprises in low- and middle-income countries most often
relate to formalization and business environments, exports,
value chains and clusters, training and technical
assistance, and access to credit and innovation. Very little
is known about the impact of such interventions despite the
abundance of resources directed to small and medium
enterprise business-support services. This paper
systematically reviews and summarizes 40 rigorous
evaluations of small and medium enterprise support services
in low- and middle-income countries, and presents evidence
to help inform policy debates. The study found indicative
evidence that overall business-support interventions help
improve firm performance and create jobs. However, little is
still known about which interventions work best for small
and medium enterprises and why. More rigorous impact
evaluations are needed to fill the large knowledge gap in
the field. |
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