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What Makes Small Firms Grow? Finance, Human Capital, Technical Assistance and the Business Environment in Romania

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  • J. David Brown
  • John Earle
  • Dana Lup

Abstract

Although the development of a new private sector is generally considered crucial to economic transition, there has been rather little empirical research on the determinants of startup firm growth. This paper uses panel data techniques to analyze a survey of 297 new small enterprises in Romania containing detailed information from the startup date through 2001. We find strong evidence that access to external credit increases the growth of both employment and sales. Taxes appear to constrain growth. The data suggest that entrepreneurial skills have little independent effect on growth, once demand conditions are taken into account. The evidence for the effectiveness of technical assistance is weak: only assistance provided by foreign partners yields a positive effect. A wide variety of alternative measures of the business environment (contract enforcement, property rights, and corruption) are tested, but none are found to have any clear association with firm growth.

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File URL: http://www.sml.hw.ac.uk/downloads/cert/wpa/2004/dp0405.pdf
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation, Heriot Watt University in its series CERT Discussion Papers with number 0405.

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Date of creation: 2004
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Handle: RePEc:hwe:certdp:0405

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Keywords: small firms; entrepreneurship; microfinance; business environment; Romania;

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References

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  1. John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 1998. "Interfirm Relationships and Informal Credit in Vietnam," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 132, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
  2. Earle, John S. & Sakova, Zuzana, 2000. "Business start-ups or disguised unemployment? Evidence on the character of self-employment from transition economies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 575-601, September.
  3. Simon Johnson & John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 2002. "Property Rights and Finance," NBER Working Papers 8852, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. Pissarides, Francesca & Singer, Miroslav & Svejnar, Jan, 2003. "Objectives and constraints of entrepreneurs: evidence from small and medium size enterprises in Russia and Bulgaria," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 503-531, September.
  5. Hellman, Joel S. & Jones, Geraint & Kaufmann, Daniel, 2003. "Seize the state, seize the day: state capture and influence in transition economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 751-773, December.
  6. Valentijn Bilsen & Jozef Konings, 1997. "Job Creation, Job Destruction and Growth of Newly Established, Privatized and State-Owned Enterprises in Transition Economies: Survey Evidence from Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 106, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
  7. Andrzej Bratkowski & Irena Grosfeld & Jacek Rostowski, 1999. "Investment and Finance in De Novo Private Firms: Empiracal Results from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 236, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
  8. Bratkowski, A. & Grosfeld, I. & Rostowski, J., 1998. "Investment and Finance in De Novo Private Firms: Empirical Results form the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland," DELTA Working Papers 98-19, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure).
  9. Ashok S. Rai & Tomas Sj–str–m, 2004. "Is Grameen Lending Efficient? Repayment Incentives and Insurance in Village Economies," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(1), pages 217-234, 01.
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  12. J Earle & S Estrin & L Leshchenko, 1996. "Ownership Structures," CEP Discussion Papers dp0315, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
  13. Schneider, Friedrich, 2002. "The Size and Development of the Shadow Economies of 22 Transition and 21 OECD Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 514, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
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  15. Jonathan Morduch, 1999. "The Microfinance Promise," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1569-1614, December.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Wolter, Hans-Jürgen, 2010. "Informationsasymmetrien in der familienexternen Nachfolge und ihre Überwindung," IfM-Materialien 191, IfM - Institut für Mittelstandsforschung Bonn.
  2. Bah, El-hadj & Brada, Josef C. & Yigit, Taner, 2011. "With a little help from our friends: The effect of USAID assistance on SME growth in a transition economy," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 205-220, June.
  3. Nuria Rodriguez-Planas†, 2007. "What Works Best For Getting The Unemployed Back To Work: Employment Services Or Small-Business Assistance Programmes? Evidence From Romania," Working Papers 2007-32, FEDEA.
  4. Brown, J. David & Earle, John S., 2006. "The microeconomics of creating productive jobs : a synthesis of firm-level studies in transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3886, The World Bank.
  5. Toledo, Arcelia & Hernández, José de la Paz & Griffin, Denis, 2010. "Incentives and the growth of Oaxacan subsistence businesses," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 630-638, June.
  6. Jahangir Aziz & Li Cui, 2007. "Explaining China's Low Consumption: The Neglected Role of Household Income," IMF Working Papers 07/181, International Monetary Fund.
  7. Abiola Babajide Ph.D, 2012. "Effects of Microfinance on Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) Growth in Nigeria," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 2(3), pages 463-477, July.
  8. Moog, Petra & Kay, Rosemarie & Schlömer-Laufen, Nadine & Schlepphorst, Susanne, 2012. "Unternehmensnachfolgen in Deutschland: Aktuelle Trends," IfM-Materialien 216, IfM - Institut für Mittelstandsforschung Bonn.
  9. Nofsinger, John R. & Wang, Weicheng, 2011. "Determinants of start-up firm external financing worldwide," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 2282-2294, September.

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