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Mixing the Grant Cocktail: Towards an Understanding of the Outcomes of Financial Support to Small Firms

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Author Info
McGuinness Seamus
Hart Mark

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Abstract

One of the key policy objectives of Government at national and regional level, is to overcome the constraints preventing local industry achieve greater competitiveness in the international market place. Within Northern Ireland such sentiments have guided the structure and delivery of industrial development policy by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI - formerly the Department of Economic Development) and its agencies since the mid-1980s. Industrial policy has switched its focus since 1990 from support for direct job creation to indirect support for employment through raising the competitiveness of assisted firms. The evaluation of the impact of public policies to improve the performance of the small business sector has provoked a great deal of debate and research activity in recent years (e.g., Westall and Cowling, 1999; Storey, 2000). This paper examines the impact of grant assistance to Northern Ireland small firms delivered over the 1994 to 1997 period by the former Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU) through its Growth Business Support Programme. (GBSP). Previous work by the authors Hart et. al., 2000, showed that there was some tentative evidence to suggest a link between employment growth and grant aid provided to very small firms (less than 10 employees) assisted under the LEDU Growth Business Support Programme. The analysis in that paper highlighted the need to undertake a more detailed assessment of the precise nature of assistance received by LEDU Clients and the way it impacts upon business performance. The central objective of the empirical work reported in this paper is to extend the previous analysis by understanding the extent to which the value of financial assistance influences growth (employment, turnover and productivity measures) and if differential impacts arise depending on the nature and timing (lag structures) of the grant assistance.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Economic Research Institute of Northern Ireland in its series Working Papers NIERC. with number 82.

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Length: 20 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2003
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Handle: RePEc:eri:niercp:82

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Related research
Keywords: SMALL ENTERPRISES ; INDUSTRIAL POLICY ; REGIONAL ECONOMY;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General

References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Roper, S. & Dewitt-Dundas, N., 1998. "Grant Assistance and Small Firm Development in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland," Working Papers NIERC. 38, Economic Research Institute of Northern Ireland. [Downloadable!]
  2. Wren, Colin & Waterson, Michael, 1991. "The Direct Employment Effects of Financial Assistance to Industry," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 43(1), pages 116-38, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Felsenstein, Daniel, 1992. " Assessing the Employment Effectiveness of Small Business Financing Schemes: Some Evidence from Israel," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 273-85, December.
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