Levine, RossBeck, ThorstenDemirgüç-Kunt, Asli2014-04-102014-04-102003-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17742The authors 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.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOSMALL & MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISESMANUFACTURING ENTERPRISESECONOMIC GROWTHGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTPOVERTY REDUCTIONBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTPROPERTY RIGHTSCONTRACT ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNTABILITYAGGREGATE INDEXESAGGREGATE INDICATORANNUAL GROWTHANNUAL GROWTH RATEAVERAGE GROWTHAVERAGE GROWTH RATEBLACK MARKETBLACK MARKET EXCHANGE RATEBLACK MARKET EXCHANGE RATE PREMIUMBLACK MARKET PREMIUMBUSINESS CLIMATEBUSINESS CYCLEBUSINESS CYCLE PHENOMENABUSINESS ENVIRONMENTBUSINESS ENVIRONMENT INDEXBUSINESS ENVIRONMENT INDICATORSBUSINESS ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCEBUSINESS ENVIRONMENT VIEWBUSINESS TRANSACTIONSCAUSAL IMPACTCIVIL LAWCOMMERCIAL CONTRACTINGCOMMERCIAL EXPERIENCECOMMON LAWCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENTCOMPETITIVENESS ENVIRONMENTCONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCORPORATE FINANCECORRUPTIONCOST OF CONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCOST OF CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT MEASURESCOUNTRY CHARACTERISTICSCOUNTRY DATACOUNTRY REGRESSIONSCREDIT MARKETSCRIMECRISESCROSS- COUNTRY ANALYSISDEPENDENT VARIABLEDESCRIPTIVE STATISTICSDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEEMPIRICAL RESULTSEMPLOYMENTENFORCEABILITYENTREPRENEURSHIPENTRY BARRIERSERROR TERMEXIT BARRIERSEXPANSIONEXPORT TRADERSFINANCIAL CONSTRAINTSFINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY CREDITFINANCIAL MARKETFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SUPPORTFIRM SIZEGOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACYGOVERNMENT CONSUMPTIONGOVERNMENT CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURESGOVERNMENT POLICIESGOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZATIONGOVERNMENT SUPPORTGOVERNMENT-BUSINESS COORDINATIONGROWTH DETERMINANTSGROWTH RATEGROWTH RATESGROWTH REGRESSIONSHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN CAPITAL ACCUMULATIONINCOMEINCOME GROWTHINCOME QUINTILEINCREASE GROWTHINDIVIDUAL COUNTRIESINDUSTRIAL COMPOSITIONINDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONINDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION LITERATUREINDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION THEORIESINDUSTRY-LEVEL STUDIESINFLATION RATEINFORMAL ACTIVITYINFORMAL ECONOMYINFORMAL ENTERPRISESINFORMAL ENTREPRENEURSINFORMAL LABOR FORCEINFORMAL SECTORINFORMAL SOURCES OF FINANCEINSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTINTERNATIONAL AIDINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITYINTERNATIONAL TRADEJOB CREATIONLABOR ABUNDANCELABOR FORCELABOR INTENSITYLABOR MARKETLARGE ENTERPRISESLEGAL ORIGINLEGAL SYSTEMSLONG-RUN GROWTHMARKET STRUCTUREMARKET TRANSACTIONMARKET TRANSACTION COSTSMARKET TRANSACTIONS COSTSMARKET VALUE OF OUTPUTMEDIUM SIZE ENTERPRISESMEDIUM- SIZENATIONAL POLICIESNATIONAL POVERTY LINE0 HYPOTHESISORGANIZED CRIMEPATENT PROTECTIONPER CAPITA INCOMEPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY VARIABLESPOLITICAL STABILITYPOLITICAL SUPPORTPOLITICAL SYSTEMPOVERTY ALLEVIATIONPOVERTY ALLEVIATION TOOLPOVERTY GAPPOVERTY INDICATORSPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY REDUCTIONSPOVERTY REGRESSIONSPRIVATE COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONSPRIVATE PROPERTYPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR TRANSACTIONSPRODUCTION FUNCTIONPRODUCTION OF GOODSPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPRODUCTIVITY PER CAPITA GROWTHPRODUCTIVITY STUDIESPROPERTY RIGHTSREGULATORY ENFORCEMENTRELATIVE IMPORTANCERULE OF LAWSIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONSIZE OF FIRMSSMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISESMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISESSMALL FIRMSSMALL MANUFACTURERSSMESME CLUSTERSSME DEVELOPMENTSME EMPLOYMENTSME POLICIESSME POLICYSME SECTORSME SUPPORT PROGRAMSSMESSOUND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTSOUND CONTRACT ENFORCEMENTTAXATIONTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETRANSITION ECONOMIES10.1596/1813-9450-3178