Capital accumulation, internationalization of the economy and SMEs

In discussing economic growth, an important role is attributed to small industrieswhich would generate employment and distribute income to the poor urban population.The real facts have not confirmed this hypothesis, although small production units continueto represent the majority of industrial and service firms and contribute with a large share ofthe GNP, employment, wages, and taxes, in spite of an increasing concentration of capitaland the centralization of economic power in large conglomerates. This apparently contradictorymovement of capital in its process of accumulation and reproduction suggests thatsmall firms are not condemned to disappear but tend to assume new and different functions,however, subordinated, dependent, or complementary to large conglomerates, in the processof capitalist production. JEL Classification: P12; D40; L11.