Based upon the experiences of a diverse set of countries - including Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the United States - this analysis describes the elements of a model small-firm network, and sets out the conditions, institutions and policies conducive to a successful strategy of upgrading industrial sectors. It is a valuable source of ideas and experience on this innovative approach to industrial development.
This book examines how transnational corporations, small to medium enterprises and governments have emerged as the principal players in industrial development. This valuable work examines this trend, with particular reference to the role of the tax policy in technology development, the financing of technology-sector SMEs, the role of government policy and the relationship between competition and co-operation.
SME's make up the bulk of enterprises in developing countries and make a significant contribution to employment and economic growth. This paper takes stock of best practices in industrial clustering and SME promotion in Commonwealth developing countries. It provides examples of cluster formation, policies to stimulate cluster development and guidelines for business development services for SME's.
Entrepreneurship, Private and Public is a unique study that explores the regional structure of small manufacturers, the nature of their operations, and their relationship to larger industry and public agencies. It examines the role of entrepreneurship in modern society through a survey of small businesses and the economic development agencies that help them in upstate New York. Previous research on this topic has not addressed the impact of the public agencies that are run by and for entrepreneurs on small manufacturers. The results of this study challenge existing theories on small businesses, finding that they engage in a complex web of economic relationships with larger industry. Rather than being replaced, small manufacturers often fill specialized niches that serve larger industry. In this sense, small businesses are essential to understanding larger economic structures. Those with interests in small business development, rural sociology and agricultural economy will find this volume enlightening.
Economic and social progress requires a diverse ecosystem of firms that play complementary roles. Making It Big: Why Developing Countries Need More Large Firms constitutes one of the most up-to-date assessments of how large firms are created in low- and middle-income countries and their role in development. It argues that large firms advance a range of development objectives in ways that other firms do not: large firms are more likely to innovate, export, and offer training and are more likely to adopt international standards of quality, among other contributions. Their particularities are closely associated with productivity advantages and translate into improved outcomes not only for their owners but also for their workers and for smaller enterprises in their value chains. The challenge for economic development, however, is that production does not reach economic scale in low- and middle-income countries. Why are large firms scarcer in developing countries? Drawing on a rare set of data from public and private sources, as well as proprietary data from the International Finance Corporation and case studies, this book shows that large firms are often born large—or with the attributes of largeness. In other words, what is distinct about them is often in place from day one of their operations. To fill the “missing top†? of the firm-size distribution with additional large firms, governments should support the creation of such firms by opening markets to greater competition. In low-income countries, this objective can be achieved through simple policy reorientation, such as breaking oligopolies, removing unnecessary restrictions to international trade and investment, and establishing strong rules to prevent the abuse of market power. Governments should also strive to ensure that private actors have the skills, technology, intelligence, infrastructure, and finance they need to create large ventures. Additionally, they should actively work to spread the benefits from production at scale across the largest possible number of market participants. This book seeks to bring frontier thinking and evidence on the role and origins of large firms to a wide range of readers, including academics, development practitioners and policy makers.
Programs to improve the performance of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) through clustering is now becoming the design of industrial and innovation policies which is implemented by policy makers in Indonesia. There has been a common perception that clusters are able to encourage entrepreneurship, learning, and productivity improvements for MSEs more effectively. This common perception, however, should be further explored whether clustered MSEs successfully obtain "collective efficiency" from clusters or they even suffer from "collective failure". This book is an attempt to reveal such issues of MSEs clustering by presenting a case study on small industrial clusters in Central Java which is well known as the "heartland" of MSEs operate in clusters. While supporting programs are persistently introduced to such clusters, in fact, to obtain "the collective efficiency of clustering" is not so easy. Unfair competition accompanied by ineffective cooperation might be factors that cause to clustered MSEs failed to gain the benefit of clustering.
This title was first published in 2000: As in many other LDCs, in Indonesia small-scale industries (SSIs) are important, particularly with respect to the creation of employment opportunities. SSIs are expected to absorb many millions of workers who have been displaced by current economic crisis. This work seeks to explain the pattern of development of SSIs in Indonesia within a broader theoretical framework. It also deals with a number of SSI development-related aspects that in Indonesia so far have never or rarely been studied, such as the formation of strategic alliance, cluster development, and application of theories of flexible specialization to the LDCs. The book also tries to examine empirically the effects of the current economic crisis and to assess theoretically the likely impact of the full implementation of the agreed IMF reform package on SSI development in the country. Main problems faced by small producers and the government policy environment are highlighted through several detailed examples.
Since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, increasing attention has been paid to the problems of economic development and reconstruction in South-East Europe. In a context of limited resources, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have a key role to play in creating jobs and building a dynamic entrepreneurial economy. Small Enterprise Development In South-East Europe presents important findings from recent empirical research on key factors, which hinder sustainable SME growth in South-East Europe. Finance is identified as a critical barrier to growth, and the role of commercial banks, micro-finance institutions and credit cooperatives in assisting growth is addressed. Yet finance alone is not enough. A rebuilding of social capital, a reduction of the unofficial or grey economy, and the promotion of inter-firm networks and clusters are also of vital importance in promoting sustainable growth. The book concludes with critical analyses of SME policies in Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia, countries which hitherto have received little attention in the literature. Small Enterprise Development in South-East Europe will be of great interest to policy makers, business consultants, and academics and post-graduate students working on economic development and reconstruction in South-East Europe.
