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

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Author Info
Brown, J. David (Heriot-Watt University, CEU Labor Project and IZA Bonn)
Earle, John S. () (Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Central European University and IZA Bonn)
Lup, Dana (CEU Labor Project and University of Chicago)

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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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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1343.

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Length: 39 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1343

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

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
O16 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment
O19 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations
P26 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Systems and Transition Economies - - - Political Economy

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. James Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Jeffrey Smith & Petra Todd, 1998. "Characterizing Selection Bias Using Experimental Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1017-1098, September.
    Other versions:
  3. John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 2002. "The Central Role of Entrepreneurs in Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 153-170, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. 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). [Downloadable!]
  5. Ashok S. Rai & Tomas Sj–str–m, 2004. "Is Grameen Lending Efficient? Repayment Incentives and Insurance in Village Economies," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 71(1), pages 217-234, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 1999. "Interfirm Relationships And Informal Credit In Vietnam," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(4), pages 1285-1320, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Andrzej Bratkowski & Irena Grosfeld & Jacek Rostowski, 2000. "Investment and Finance in "de novo" private firms: Empirical Results from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 8(1), pages 101-116, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Simon Johnson & John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 2002. "Property Rights and Finance," NBER Working Papers 8852, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Bilsen, Valentijn & Konings, Jozef, 1998. "Job Creation, Job Destruction, and Growth of Newly Established, Privatized, and State-Owned Enterprises in Transition Economies: Survey Evidence from Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 429-445, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Meyer, Bruce D, 1995. "Natural and Quasi-experiments in Economics," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(2), pages 151-61, April.
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  11. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Jonathan Morduch, 1999. "The Microfinance Promise," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1569-1614, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. A. Richter & M.E. Schaffer, 1996. "The Performance of De Novo Private Firms in Russian Manufacturing," CERT Discussion Papers 9610, Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation, Heriot Watt University. [Downloadable!]
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Li Cui & Jahangir Aziz, 2007. "Explaining China's Low Consumption: The Neglected Role of Household Income," IMF Working Papers 07/181, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  2. 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. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. 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. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-23.

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