The Growth Barriers of Informal Sector Enterprises: Evidence from India

The present study investigates the growth barriers of informal sector enterprises in India. The empirical analysis is based on the National Sample Survey Organization's unit‐level data for three years, 2000–2001, 2005–6, and 2010–11. The results of the study reveal: proprietary and large firms survive and grow; enterprises managed by women are less likely to decline; inadequate power supply poses a severe growth obstacle to all categories of firms; and proprietary firms encounter capital shortage while large firms are constrained by the non‐availability of raw materials. We do not find evidence of sub‐contracting acting as an enabling factor in firm growth.     

PRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY IN THE IVORIAN MANUFACTURING SECTOR: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY USING A DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS APPROACH

The African industrial structure is characterized by firm‐size heterogeneity with the coexistence of small, if not micro, enterprises in the informal sector and large formal organizations operating with modern technology. In this paper, using the Data Envelopment Analysis production frontier methodology, we investigate the technical efficiency of Ivorian manufacturing firms in four sectors of economic activity: textiles and garments, metal products, food processing, and wood and furniture. Efficiency scores are adjusted to take into account the impact of the external operating environment. These scores are then broken down into three elements: the purely managerial effect, the impact of the scale of production, and a technological effect capturing the potential gain that could result from the adoption of modern technology by small informal organizations. Not only formal activities prove to be more efficient in scaling their production but also, they greatly benefit from their modem technology.     

How much informal credit lending responded to monetary policy in China? The case of Wenzhou

This study investigates empirically what the major factors are which have driven Wenzhou's informal credit market and how much that market is responsive to monetary policies and the formal banking conditions nationwide. A number of relatively stable factors have been identified from this volatile market through a careful exploration of a monthly survey data set for the period of 2003–2011. The main findings are: (i) Wenzhou's informal credit lending rates are highly receptive to monetary policies; (ii) Wenzhou's market is dominantly demand driven; (iii) Wenzhou's informal lending is substitutive to bank savings in the short run but complementary to banking lending in the long run; and (iv) Wenzhou's market is complementary to excessive investments in the local real estate market.     

规范非正规金融发展

由于正规金融供给不足,而非正规金融以信息优势、成本优势、效率优势深受中小企业和农户偏好,在一定程度上缓解了资金缺口,促进了中小企业和农村经济的发展。但非正规金融也存在规模和范围狭小、道德风险、法制欠缺等问题;因此,要建立健全相关法律和制度,适度监管,规范非正规金融行为。     

非正式组织对员工工作绩效影响的研究

非正式组织广泛存在于企业内部且对现代企业发挥着越来越重要的影响,在我国非正式组织的作用还未受到重视。本文从非正式组织结构特征入手,运用社会网络分析方法,在员工个体层次围绕非正式组织网络结构对员工的绩效产生影响。以案例研究的方式,运用Ucinet和SPSS软件对数据进行分析,研究结果发现非正式组织咨询网络中心性对任务绩效、人际促进、关系奉献有显著正向影响,非正式组织友谊网络中心性对任务绩效、人际促进有显著正向影响。     

我国中小企业融资效率综合评价和实证分析

中小企业在我国的国民经济和社会发展中发挥着重要作用,然而,中小企业在发展过程中面临很多困难和难题,其中以融资难最为突出。因企业的融资方式决定着企业的融资结构和融资效率,而融资效率又直接影响着企业的融资目的是否有效达到。因此,在我国现实背景下研究中小企业融资效率问题具有重要现实意义。文章在构建企业融资效率的数学评价模型时运用模糊综合评价方法。首先,对中小企业的五种融资模式的融资效率进行模糊综合评价,得出五种融资模式的融资效率,进而对我国中小企业的融资效率分析。其次,选取深圳中小企业板上市的28家中小企业作为研究样本来实证分析,比较权益和债券两种融资模式的融资效率。最后,由分析结果得出结论并提出相应的建议。     

Service provision for street-based traders in Pietermaritzburg,KwaZulu-Natal: comparing local findings to lessons drawn from Africa and Asia

South Africa's informal economy absorbs approximately one-quarter of the labour force of 15 million people and is therefore the fastest growing sector of employment. Street-based trading constitutes a major subsector within the informal economy and is continuously expanding through unrelenting proliferation of survivalist micro-enterprises. However, few organisations that support enterprises are accessible or appropriate to survivalist and informal sector micro-enterprises. Interviews were conducted with 98 Pietermaritzburg street-based traders and ten KwaZulu-Natal service providers to determine service provision requirements. The results are compared with findings of four international studies. The findings suggest that for survivalist enterprises to benefit from entrepreneurial education and training services, obstacles with regard to South African traders' understanding of entrepreneurship and cultural limitations to enterprise growth should be overcome. Service institutions also require incentives to serve the informal sector, as well as the capacity to design and deliver appropriate services.     

The impact of the South African government's SMME programmes: a ten-year review (1994–2003)

This article critically reviews the impacts of the first ten years of the national government's small, medium and microenterprise (SMME) programmes. In particular, the evaluative focus is in terms of impacts in relation to a range of policy objectives, including poverty alleviation, job creation and the enhancement of national economic growth as part of post-apartheid reconstruction. Key findings relate, inter alia, to the weak state of official data for undertaking impact evaluation; the fact that the SMME economy exhibits only a weak contribution as regards employment creation because most SMMEs do not grow; and, the fact that existing government SMME programmes largely have been biased towards the groups of small and medium-sized enterprises and, to a large extent, have bypassed microenterprises and the informal economy.     

Informal retailing through home-based micro-enterprises: The role of spaza shops

The informal trade sector constitutes an important part of the South African economy, with estimated sales of R32 billion in 2002. Its emergence is largely attributed to the divergence between the growth in population, especially the urban population, and employment growth in the formal economy. Growth of informal enterprises, especially in the retail sector, is also thriving on the demand of less affluent households, whose household needs for unsophisticated and affordable products are aptly supplied by the informal sector. The aim of this article is to focus on one of the prominent sub-sectors of informal retailing, namely spaza or tuck shops, defined as small retail businesses which operate from a residential stand or home. Particular attention is paid to the size, role and characteristics of spaza trade in South Africa, which is estimated to account for nearly 3 per cent of South Africa's retail trade.     

Ownership,performance, and innovation in China's large- and medium-size industrial enterprise sector

China's 22,000 large- and medium-size enterprises (LMEs) stand at the pinnacle of Chinese industry. Although they account for less than a fraction of a percent of China's nearly 8 million industrial enterprises, they collectively account for one third of the nation's total industrial output. Using a panel of these enterprise data for 1994–1999, we find a rapidly diversifying ownership structure in which the role of the state is steadily retreating. At the same time, we find considerable variation in measures of performance across ownership types and see emerging within Chinese industry, evidence of high-intensity R&D performers that exhibit substantial innovation capabilities.     

Tourism,business linkages and small enterprise development in South Africa

Although considerable attention is given to the prospects for developing small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa's tourism economy, very little relevant research has been undertaken in this regard. In this article, the findings are presented from over 60 detailed interviews conducted with key enterprises and entrepreneurs involved in tourism, outsourcing and small enterprise development in South Africa. The aim is to examine opportunities for outsourcing and business linkage development in South Africa's tourism economy, and to investigate the difficulties that confront the tourism SMME economy through examining the status of business linkages between large tourism enterprises and SMMEs in South Africa. The South African research is located within the context of existing works on tourism and small enterprise development in developing countries.     

Unlicensed taxis in Zimbabwe's urban areas: The case for legalising an informal urban transportation system

ABSTRACT

Studies of informal urban transport modes have been carried out in several countries in Africa and Asia. Hardly any have been conducted in Zimbabwe. This study set out to establish the prevalence of an informal urban transport system and the rationale for its existence. The research was carried out in Masvingo and Harare. The study used qualitative approaches such as participation–observation, conversations with stakeholders and open-ended questionnaires. The data were summarised into tables and graphs. Among the findings were that an informal urban transport system is very active in both cities and that the existence of the system is justified due to the inadequate services provided for certain types of commuter. It is recommended that the vital role played by informal taxis should be recognised and managed. Specific routes could be mapped out for them, with a flexible licensing regime to match.     

北京市中小企业经营环境评估

我国中小企业的不断壮大为国民经济增长做出了巨大贡献，但目前仍存在市场竞争压力大、融资成本高等问题。以北京市中小企业为研究对象，从经济市场、政策法律、金融服务和创新发展四个维度构建指标评价体系，通过2013-2017年北京市中小企业各指标对其经营环境的影响进行评价。研究发现，近年来北京市中小企业经营环境逐年优化，但整体水平仍待提高，未来发展重点在于完善政策扶持、优化融资环境和推动创新发展。     

军民融合背景下我国上市军工企业结构评价研究

采用“DEA方法”评价我国上市军工企业结构优化度,通过我国各军工产业结构优化效率之间的对比,探究我国军工产业结构现有的问题,进而提出新时期、新常态下,我国军工产业结构升级的对策。最后,就军民融合背景下我国军工企业转型升级问题提出实践性指导。     

Constraints facing tourism entrepreneurs in South Africa: a study in the Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces,South Africa

The current study is an investigation into tourism entrepreneurship of small, medium and micro enterprises in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. Through Principal Factor Analysis, the paper identifies a three-factor instrument that could be used as a diagnostic tool to investigate how government policies and support, the tourism industry's products and services, and perceptions about South Africa could advance or constrain the development of small, medium and micro tourism in South Africa. Such a tool can be used to identify problematic areas in order to take remedial action to manage sustainable tourism in South Africa and prevent the leakage of profits.     

The growth challenges of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa's food processing complex

This article focuses on the growth challenges and opportunities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa's food processing complex and argues that the growth challenges of these enterprises must be seen in the context of restructuring in South Africa's agrifood system. Based on a 30-company sample of SME food processors, the article argues that supermarket sourcing practices represent the most significant obstacle to the growth of these companies. Paradoxically, the complexity of South Africa's food retail system also offers opportunities for growth. The article ends by considering policy options for assisting SMEs, given this growth opportunity.     

The Efficiency of the Chinese Commodity Futures Markets： Development and Empirical Evidence

I. Introduction In the early 1980s China set about transforming its moribund economy by adopting, in stages, various elements of the market-based systems. Among the reforms were thederegulation of prices and the introduction of financial markets for assets. The first stock market was set up in Shanghai in 1991 and in the same year the first commodities market opened in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. Since then, both the stock market and the commodities futures markets have expanded substantiall…     

非正规金融、制度变迁与经济增长:一个文献综述

本综述在剖析非正规金融交易微观运作机理的基础上,揭示了非正规金融对中小企业融资、经济增长的重要性以及对金融制度变迁的导向意义;在进行正规金融机制设计、改善中小企业融资与金融体制改革时,要利用非正规金融的优势和正面效应。     

Nature and Determinants of the Linkages between Informal and Formal Sector Enterprises in Nigeria

This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the nature of the informal sector's linkages with the formal sector in Nigeria. The informal sector has both backward and forward linkages with the formal sector. The backward linkages involve the flow of raw materials, equipment, finance and consumer goods from the formal sector to informal sector enterprises. Two types of forward linkages are identified. These are subcontracting agreements with large domestic companies, government agencies and foreign companies on the one hand, as well as the supply of consumer goods from informal sector enterprises to the formal sector on the other. The empirical analysis based on a logit regression model reveals that key variables accounting for the extent of backward linkages with the formal sector pertain to registration of the informal sector enterprise, level of investment, annual income of the entrepreneur, number of employees, entrepre‐neur's previous work experience and the education of employees. In the case of forward linkages with the formal sector, the most important variables are registration on the part of the informal sector enterprise, investment expended to date, annual income of the entrepreneur, level of profitability of the enterprise, vocational training and education of employees. Le présent document fait une analyse quantitative de la nature des liaisons existant entre le secteur informel et le secteur formel au Nigeria. Le secteur informel a des liaisons aussi bien en amont qu'en aval avec le secteur formel. Les liaisons en amont impliquent l'existence d'un flux de matières premières, d'équipe‐ments, de finances et de biens de consommation, du secteur formel vers les entreprises du secteur informel. On a identifié deux types de liaisons en aval: il s'agit, d'une part, des accords de sous‐traitance avec les grandes sociétés nationales, les agences gouvernementales et les sociétés étrangères, et, d'autre part, de la fourniture de biens de consommation par les entreprises du secteur informel au secteur formel. L'analyse empirique faisant appel à un modèle de régression avec variables logit montre que les variables clés représentant le rôle que jouent les liaisons en amont dans le secteur formel de l'économie concernent l'enregistrement des entreprises du secteur informel, du niveau des investissements, du revenu annuel de l'entrepreneur, du nombre des employés, de l'expérience professionnelle antérieure des entrepreneurs et du niveau d'instruction des employés. Dans le cas des liaisons en aval avec le secteur formel, les variables les plus importantes sont l'enregistrement pour le compte des entreprises du secteur informel, les investissements dépensés jusque‐là, le revenu annuel de l'entrepreneur, le niveau des bénéfices de l'entreprise, la formation professionnelle et l'instruction des employés.     

苏宁易购实施员工持股计划的绩效分析

随着经济发展，上市企业普遍存在所有权与经营权分离的现象，其中伴随着相应的代理问题，有效降低企业代理成本及风险，有利于企业的内部治理，从而提高经营绩效。员工持股计划能让员工拥有所有权，从一定程度能改变所有权结构并影响企业经营绩效。以苏宁易购实施员工持股计划为例，分析其代理成本的变化，再对其盈利能力、偿债能力、营运能力进行分析，判断该激励计划对企业经营绩效的影响。结果表明，实施员工持股计划有利于企业短期绩效的提高，但要达到更好的激励效果，还需结合具体情况调整激励计划。