IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/eeaeje/259495.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Growth of Youth-owned MSEs in Ethiopia: Characteristics, Determinants and Challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Wolday Amha

Abstract

The study examines the factors that influence the growth of youth-owned MSEs in Ethiopia using a sample survey of 909 operators which were selected through a multi-stage random sampling techniques. The result of the cross-tabulated descriptive statistics showed that the personal attributes, firm characteristics, inter-firm cooperation and policy predictability affected the growth of the MSE operators. Growth rate was also influenced by the diverse and heterogeneous character of the youth-owned MSEs. Unlike many other studies, the findings of this study reveal that the average growth rates of microenterprises are much lower than the small enterprises. Female-owned firms registered relatively lower growth rate compared to their male counterpart. The results obtained from the regression indicate that among the personal attributes of youth MSE owners: education, sole ownership form of business organization, small enterprise category, experience in similar business, and gender (male MSE owners) are significant variables which positively influence the growth of the youth operators. Out of the firm-level attributes, access to training before starting business, social networking and access to loan are statistically significant variables which negatively affect growth rate. On the other hand, access to product markets, future plan of the enterprises, saving culture, size of start-up capital and current capital are found as significant variables influencing the growth of youth-owned MSEs. The predictability of policies and inter-firm cooperation are also found to be significant variables affecting growth and expansion of youth-owned MSEs. Since the growth rate of micro enterprises and women-owned enterprises are lower, the study suggests revisiting the current support program by crafting tailored interventions. Moreover, although inter-firm cooperation and policy predictability affect the growth of youth-owned MSEs, due focus should be given to improve social networking and building the trust and confidence of the operators on government policies and strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Wolday Amha, 2016. "Growth of Youth-owned MSEs in Ethiopia: Characteristics, Determinants and Challenges," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 24(2), August.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:eeaeje:259495
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.259495
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/259495/files/Wolday%20Amha_Growth%20of%20Youth-owned%20MSEs%20in%20Ethiopia.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.259495?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gebrehiwot, Ageba & Wolday, Amha, 2006. "Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) Development in Ethiopia: strategy, Regulatory Changes and Remaining Constraints," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 10(2), pages 103-103, April.
    2. Kashyap, S. P., 1988. "Growth of small-size enterprises in India: Its nature and content," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 667-681, June.
    3. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson, 2010. "Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 227-244, September.
    4. Erik Stam & Karl Wennberg, 2009. "The roles of R&D in new firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 77-89, June.
    5. Alvarez, Roberto & Crespi, Gustavo, 2003. "Determinants of Technical Efficiency in Small Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 233-244, May.
    6. Vandenberg, Paul, 2003. "Adapting to the Financial Landscape: Evidence from Small Firms in Nairobi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(11), pages 1829-1843, November.
    7. Francesca Lotti & Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2003. "Does Gibrat's Law hold among young, small firms?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 213-235, August.
    8. Alex Coad & Werner Hölzl, 2012. "Firm Growth: Empirical Analysis," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-670, May.
    10. Mead, Donald C. & Liedholm, Carl, 1998. "The dynamics of micro and small enterprises in developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 61-74, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alex Coad & Werner Hölzl, 2012. "Firm Growth: Empirical Analysis," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    3. Nichter, Simeon & Goldmark, Lara, 2009. "Small Firm Growth in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1453-1464, September.
    4. Serban Mogos & Alex Davis & Rui Baptista, 2021. "High and sustainable growth: persistence, volatility, and survival of high growth firms," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(1), pages 135-161, March.
    5. Blessing Atwine & Ibrahim Mike Okumu & John Bosco Nnyanzi, 2023. "What drives the dynamics of employment growth in firms? Evidence from East Africa," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, December.
    6. Cristina Fernández & Roberta García & Paloma Lopez-Garcia & Benedicta Marzinotto & Roberta Serafini & Juuso Vanhala & Ladislav Wintr, 2017. "Firm growth in Europe: An overview based on the COMPNET labour module," BCL working papers 107, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    7. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2015. "Drivers of Entrepreneurship and Post-entry Performance of Newborn Firms in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 277-305.
    8. Farasat A. S. Bokhari & Franco Mariuzzo & Anna Rita Bennato, 2021. "Innovation and growth in the UK pharmaceuticals: the case of product and marketing introductions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 603-634, June.
    9. Marco Capasso & Tania Treibich & Bart Verspagen, 2015. "The medium-term effect of R&D on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 39-62, June.
    10. Daniele Moschella & Federico Tamagni & Xiaodan Yu, 2019. "Persistent high-growth firms in China’s manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 573-594, March.
    11. Segarra Blasco, Agustí, 1958- & Teruel, Mercedes, 2014. "High-growth firms and innovation: an empirical analysis for Spanish firms," Working Papers 2072/228402, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    12. Daria Ciriaci & Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello & Peter Voigt, 2016. "Innovation and job creation: a sustainable relation?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(2), pages 189-213, August.
    13. Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Davide Castellani & Fabio Pieri, 2014. "Age and firm growth: evidence from three European countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 823-837, December.
    14. Jan de Kok & Haibo Zhou & Chantal Hartog & Peter van der Zwan, 2012. "The Risk of growing fast: does fast growth have a negative impact on the survival rates of firms?," Scales Research Reports H201209, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    15. Taelim Choi & Anil Rapusinga & John C. Robertson & Nancy Green Leigh, 2017. "The Effects of High Growth on New Business Survival," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 47(1), pages 1-23, Winter.
    16. Van Cong Nguyen & Thi Ngoc Lan Nguyen & Thanh Hang Pham & Song Hoa Vu, 2019. "The Impacts of Selling Expense Structure on Enterprise Growth in Large Enterprises: A Study from Vietnam," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, December.
    17. Agustí Segarra & Mercedes Teruel, 2014. "High-growth firms and innovation: an empirical analysis for Spanish firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 805-821, December.
    18. Erik Stam, 2010. "Growth beyond Gibrat: firm growth processes and strategies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 129-135, September.
    19. Cucculelli, Marco & Ermini, Barbara, 2012. "New product introduction and product tenure: What effects on firm growth?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 808-821.
    20. Alessandro Arrighetti & Fabio Landini & Andrea Lasagni, 2021. "Swimming upstream throughout the turmoil: Evidence on firm growth during the great recession," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 68(3), pages 322-344, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Industrial Organization;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:eeaeje:259495. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eeaa2ea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.