IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0247598.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of SMEs in rural development: Access of SMEs to finance as a mediator

Author

Listed:
  • Faiza Manzoor
  • Longbao Wei
  • Noman Sahito

Abstract

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are considered as the fundamental tool for economic growth, nevertheless, they face continuous financing challenges. SMEs are a major source for generating employment, creation of wealth and alleviating poverty from the rural regions in developing countries. Their access to finance is key to the expansion of this sector. The paper aims to discover the intervening role of “access of SMEs to finance” in the link between SME’s evolution and rural development, in the context of Pakistan. In total 338 entrepreneurs operating SMEs in rural areas completed a survey for the study. Through a multi-stage stratified random sampling technique, entrepreneurs were selected from three districts. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test hypotheses. This study shows that SME’s evolution has a positive and optimistic influence on rural development. Further, the study also reveals that on SME’s progress a positive influence happens by the “access of SMEs to finance”. Particularly, the study finds that “access of SMEs to finance” significantly mediated the effect of SME’s evolution on rural development. The findings of this paper hold significant implications for both the research society and loan-issuing institutions and departments.

Suggested Citation

  • Faiza Manzoor & Longbao Wei & Noman Sahito, 2021. "The role of SMEs in rural development: Access of SMEs to finance as a mediator," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0247598
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247598
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247598
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247598&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0247598?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
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Salem Ahmed Alabdali & Salvatore Flavio Pileggi & Dilek Cetindamar, 2023. "Influential Factors, Enablers, and Barriers to Adopting Smart Technology in Rural Regions: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-38, May.
    2. Ikenna Franklin EZE & Thobekani LOSE, 2023. "Consequences Of Failure And Challenges Of Small Business In South Africa: A Theoretical Review," Business Excellence and Management, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 13(3), pages 18-32, September.
    3. Oscar Chakabva & Robertson Tengeh & Job Dubihlela, 2021. "Factors Inhibiting Effective Risk Management in Emerging Market SMEs," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-12, May.
    4. Soelchan Arief Effendi & Eko Ganis Sukoharsono & Lilik Purwanti & Rosidi, 2023. "Building Partnership or Competition: Village Business Sustainability in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-16, September.
    5. Msomi Thabiso Sthembiso & Olarewaju Odunayo Magret & Ngcobo Xolani, 2021. "Sustaining South African small and medium-sized enterprises through monetary access and Literacy in the COVID-19 ERA," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 21(2), pages 57-75, December.

    More about this item

    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:plo:pone00:0247598. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.