IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v39y2007i8p1981-1997.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Which SMEs Use External Business Advice? A Multivariate Subregional Study

Author

Listed:
  • Steve Johnson

    (Policy Research Institute, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds LS2 8AF, England)

  • Don J Webber
  • Wayne Thomas

Abstract

The authors examine factors that influence the propensity of a firm to take up external business support across four large English towns, using random effects nominal probit regression analysis to capture sector heterogeneity. The results suggest a strong positive association between the orientation of the firm towards growth and its propensity to use external business advice. ‘Push’ factors, including the existence of recruitment difficulties, are identified as key triggers to use business advice. These results provide valuable guidance to public policy organisations concerned with business development and competitiveness, and suggest a number of avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Steve Johnson & Don J Webber & Wayne Thomas, 2007. "Which SMEs Use External Business Advice? A Multivariate Subregional Study," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(8), pages 1981-1997, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:39:y:2007:i:8:p:1981-1997
    DOI: 10.1068/a38327
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a38327
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a38327?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Bennett & Paul Robson, 2003. "Changing Use of External Business Advice and Government Supports by SMEs in the 1990s," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(8), pages 795-811.
    2. James A. Wolff & Timothy L. Pett, 2004. "Small-business internationalisation: the relationship between firm resources and export competitive patterns in exporting," International Journal of Management and Decision Making, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(2/3), pages 246-262.
    3. Kurtis G. Fuellhart & Amy K. Glasmeier, 2003. "Acquisition, assessment and use of business information by small- and medium-sized businesses: a demand perspective," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 229-252, July.
    4. Hedeker, Donald, 1999. "MIXNO: a computer program for mixed-effects nominal logistic regression," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 4(i05).
    5. Mark Freel, 2000. "External linkages and product innovation in small manufacturing firms," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 245-266, July.
    6. Colin Wren, 2002. "Evaluating the effect of soft business support upon small firm performance," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(2), pages 334-365, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Feser & Till Proeger, 2018. "Knowledge-Intensive Business Services as Credence Goods—a Demand-Side Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(1), pages 62-80, March.
    2. Vivas-Augier, Carlos & Barge-Gil, Andrés, 2012. "Impact on firms of the use of knowledge providers: a systematic review of the literature," MPRA Paper 41042, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Jaroslaw Ropega, 2020. "Novice and habitual entrepreneurs and external business support exploitation," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 18(2B), pages 271-285.
    4. Anoosheh Rostamkalaei & Mark Freel, 2017. "Business advice and lending in small firms," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(3), pages 537-555, May.
    5. Edward Stawasz, 2019. "Factors that Shape the Competitiveness of Small Innovative Companies Operating in International Markets with a Particular Focus on Business Advice," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 15(1), pages 61-82.
    6. Feser, Daniel & Proeger, Till, 2015. "Knowledge-intensive business services as credence goods: A demand-side approach," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 232, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    7. Kevin Mole & David North & Robert Baldock, 2017. "Which SMEs seek external support? Business characteristics, management behaviour and external influences in a contingency approach," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(3), pages 476-499, May.
    8. Zahid Ali & Ghulam Mustafa, 2023. "On Accounting Firms Serving Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: A Review, Synthesis and Research Agenda," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 33(3), pages 313-332, September.
    9. Idris, Bochra & Saridakis, George, 2018. "Local formal interpersonal networks and SMEs internationalisation: Empirical evidence from the UK," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 610-624.
    10. Andrés Barge-Gil & Aurelia Modrego-Rico, 2013. "Relationships Among Technology Institutes and Firms: Are Determining Factors Dependent on the Type of Service Provided?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 4(4), pages 343-369, December.
    11. Carlos Vivas & Andrés Barge-Gil, 2015. "Impact On Firms Of The Use Of Knowledge External Sources: A Systematic Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 943-964, December.
    12. Katarzyna Łobacz & Paweł Głodek & Edward Stawasz & Piotr Niedzielski, 2016. "Utilisation of Business Advice in Small Innovative Firms: the Role of Trust and Tacit Knowledge," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 4(2), pages 117-138.
    13. Barge-Gil, Andrés & Vivas-Augier, Carlos, 2019. "Does Cooperation with Universities and KIBS Matter? Firm-level Evidence from Spain," MPRA Paper 96949, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Greene, Francis, 2012. "Should the focus of publicly provided small business assistance be on start-ups or growth businesses?," Occasional Papers 12/2, Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand.
    15. Rakićević, Zoran & Omerbegović-Bijelović, Jasmina & Lečić-Cvetković, Danica, 2016. "A model for effective planning of SME support services," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 30-40.
    16. Kevin Mole & Robert Baldock & David North, 2013. "Who Takes Advice? Firm Size Threshold, Competence, Concerns and Informality in a Contingency Approach," Research Papers 0009, Enterprise Research Centre.
    17. Kuhn, Kristine M. & Galloway, Tera L. & Collins-Williams, Maureen, 2017. "Simply the best: An exploration of advice that small business owners value," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 33-40.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. D.J. Webber & S. Johnson & S. Fargher, 2010. "Sector Variations in SMEs’ Use of External Business Advice," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 25(4), pages 339-355, June.
    2. Kevin Mole & David North & Robert Baldock, 2017. "Which SMEs seek external support? Business characteristics, management behaviour and external influences in a contingency approach," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(3), pages 476-499, May.
    3. Kevin Mole & Mark Hart & Stephen Roper & David Saal, 2008. "Differential Gains from Business Link Support and Advice: A Treatment Effects Approach," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 26(2), pages 315-334, April.
    4. Kevin Mole & Joan-Lluís Capelleras, 2018. "Take-up and variation of advice for new firm founders in different local contexts," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(1), pages 3-27, February.
    5. José García-Quevedo & Francisco Mas-Verdú, 2008. "Does only size matter in the use of knowledge intensive services?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 137-146, August.
    6. Kevin Mole & Robert Baldock & David North, 2013. "Who Takes Advice? Firm Size Threshold, Competence, Concerns and Informality in a Contingency Approach," Research Papers 0009, Enterprise Research Centre.
    7. Capelleras, Joan-Lluis & Mole, Kevin F., 2012. "How ‘buzz’ reduces uncertainty for new firm founders," MPRA Paper 38170, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Joan-Lluis Capelleras & Ignacio Contín-Pilart & Martin Larraza-Kintana, 2011. "Publicly Funded Prestart Support for New Firms: Who Demands it and How it Affects Their Employment Growth," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 29(5), pages 821-847, October.
    9. Andreas Koch & Harald Strotmann, 2006. "Determinants of Innovative Activity in Newly Founded Knowledge Intensive Business Service Firms," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, in: Michael Fritsch & Juergen Schmude (ed.), Entrepreneurship in the Region, chapter 10, pages 195-224, Springer.
    10. Kevin F Mole & George Bramley, 2006. "Making Policy Choices in Nonfinancial Business Support: An International Comparison," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 24(6), pages 885-908, December.
    11. Caliendo, Marco & Künn, Steffen & Weißenberger, Martin, 2016. "Personality traits and the evaluation of start-up subsidies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 87-108.
    12. Juan-Pierrà Bruwer, 2018. "Do Internal Control Activities Adversely Influence the Profitability and Solvency of South African SMMEs?," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 10(1), pages 49-58.
    13. Hyeon Chang Kim & Woojin Yoon, 2019. "Study On Types Of Technology Cooperation Partner And Innovation Performance: Focusing On Incremental And Radical Innovation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(01), pages 1-25, January.
    14. Rotger, Gabriel Pons & Gørtz, Mette & Storey, David J., 2012. "Assessing the effectiveness of guided preparation for new venture creation and performance: Theory and practice," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 506-521.
    15. Marta Gancarczyk, 2010. "System wsparcia dla przedsiębiorców - doświadczenia brytyjskie," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 5-6, pages 41-60.
    16. A. Lasagni, 2011. "European SMEs, external relationships and innovation: some empirical evidence," Economics Department Working Papers 2011-EP04, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    17. Luis Javier Garcia-Martinez & Sascha Kraus & Matthias Breier & Andreas Kallmuenzer, 2023. "Untangling the relationship between small and medium-sized enterprises and growth: a review of extant literature," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 455-479, June.
    18. Onji, Kazuki, 2009. "The response of firms to eligibility thresholds: Evidence from the Japanese value-added tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(5-6), pages 766-775, June.
    19. Jaka Cepec & Peter Grajzl & Barbara Mörec, 2022. "Public cash and modes of firm exit," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 247-298, January.
    20. Mediha Sahin & Alina Todiras & Peter Nijkamp & Enno Masurel, 2012. "Economic performance of migrant entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector: design and application of the GALAXY model," Chapters, in: Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot & Mediha Sahin (ed.), Migration Impact Assessment, chapter 7, pages 227-260, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    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:sae:envira:v:39:y:2007:i:8:p:1981-1997. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.