The effects of tied and untied development loans

A decisive change now seems to be occurring in the development practices of the major OECD donor countries. Their own economic objectives are being moved distinctly closer to centre stage. Changes in the instruments of development policy are reputed to generate direct benefits for their own economies. The following article shows that such behaviour is questionable.     

Small Business and Antitrust

The question addressed in this paper is how small business fits into a post-Chicago antitrust agenda. The answer, we will see, relates not to special privileges for the small, but to a vigorous competition policy directed against manifestations of market power.     

External Relationships and the Small Business: A Review of Small Business Alliance and Network Research*

In order to thrive, small businesses are often advised to develop relationships with external organizations that have the potential to assist business development, survival, and growth. A focus on the external relationships of the small business underlines the vital importance of external resources in moving a small business toward increased success and profitability. Covering the period from 1990 to 2002, this paper reviews the small business literature as it relates to the use of these external relationships (such as organizational partnerships, networks, and alliances). In response to both academic and practitioner demand for further research in this area, an exhaustive analysis of the relevant literature was conducted and three “meta” research questions representing the connections within this literature were formed. The resource‐based view of the firm, resource dependency theory, and punctuated equilibrium theory are proposed as useful starting points for exploring these research questions and can give direction for moving forward in this research area.     

Business Survival and Success of Young Small Business Owners

Little empirical evidence provides insight in person-oriented drivers of business survival and success of small business owners. In this paper I perform a duration analysis of business survival amongst young white (self-employed) small business owners in the U.S. Compulsory exits are distinguished from voluntary exits. This enables an alternative definition of business success: the longer one can survive and prevent inLvoluntary exit, the more successful one is. Potential drivers of survival are derived from recent empirical evidence in related studies. The potential drivers of success are also derived from historical economic thinkers such as Marshall and Schumpeter. The estimated hazard rates are affected by characteristics of the small business owner and business conditions.     

Small Business and Sport Sponsorship

This exploratory study examines 18 small organisations who engaged in the sponsorship of local sport, rugby league teams, in Australia. The literature sponsorship is applied to local activities and small business, thus filling a gap in the literature. The study examined seven main areas: (1) Responsibility for sponsorship arrangement; (2) Firms objectives for choosing sponsorship; (3) Types of other spon- sorship activities; (4) Perceived sponsorship effectiveness; (5) Sponsor- ship and the promotional mix; (6) Sponsorship entitlements; and (7) Demographic questions about the organisation. Similarities and differ- ences to results of earlier literature in this area are discussed. Directions for hture research are also explored.     

Small Business Borrowing and the Bifurcated Economy: Why Quantitative Easing Has Been Ineffective for Small Business

In the early years following the financial collapse, federal officials and others believed that banks were not making loans to creditworthy small firms, who have accounted for most of the job creation in the United States in recent decades. Acting on this belief, a number of programs were created to increase bank lending to small firms. Overall, however, the data collected since the 2007/8 financial crisis suggest that the explanation for slow loan growth in the small business sector is not a result of supply constraints but rather a result of anemic loan demand among small firms. Thus, recent programs intended to increase small business borrowing through easing credit supply were doomed to fail. The weak demand for credit among small firms is representative of the sluggish performance of the small business economy postrecession, a marked contrast to the robust performance of larger firms and a reflection of a bifurcated economy.     

The Advertising of Legal Services to Small Business Executives

ABSTRACT

Providers of professional services have become more interested in advertising their practice as competition has increased in several areas. The author empirically analyzes the elements of professional service print advertisements that would most influence a client's selection and recommendation of a particular firm. The results indicate that displaying a high level of professional qualifications, many specific services targeted toward a particular segment, and a specific consultation fee have a positive impact on customer selection and recommendation decisions.     

Service Orientation and Small Business Marketing

ABSTRACT

In an environment of ever increasing competition, small businesses are beginning to recognize that adopting a strong service orientation in their marketing efforts not only gives them a differential advantage, but is also fast becoming a prerequisite for their survival. This study introduces a classification scheme which identifies firms by their degrees of involvement in service orientation. This typology was validated in a nationwide survey of retail nurseries. The findings supported the hypotheses that a strong service orientation does have a dramatic impact on a business's marketing decisions. It is hoped that recognition of these distinctions will offer strategic insights for small business practitioners in making marketing and promotion decisions.     

Modelling Small Business Growth and Profitability

Small Business Economics - This paper develops a simple structural model relating small business performance to firms' market position and the characteristics of their owner-managers. Attention...     

Small Business and Empirical Perspectives in Business Ethics: Editorial

In this editorial to a collection of papers on ethics in small firms, the case is made for greater use of high quality empirical research on business ethics. Sociological perspectives have much to offer to the field of business ethics that continues to be dominated by normative, moral philosophy. The second contribution of the paper is to argue for a re-orientation away from the large multi-national firm as a benchmark subject of business ethics research. One important point of view to be included is that of the small firm, which remains the dominant organisational form throughout all the OECD countries.     

Is the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme Hazardous for Banks or Helpful to Small Business?

Loan guarantee schemes are an integral part of SME policy in both developed and developing countries. Yet little has been done to evaluate such programmes, particularly in terms of their ability to correct for capital market imperfections. This paper uses individual loan data from some 42,000 UK SFLGS backed debt contracts to empirically test the default specification outlined in the seminal credit rationing paper of Stiglitz and Weiss (1981). The results show that default (failure) does increase with the banks cost of capital, but not with the government premium. In addition, default appears to be determined by a whole host of other factors not typically considered in the credit rationing literature.     

Small Business Growth in the Short Run

This paper examines the determinants of short run employment growth in very small firms in the Services sector. The study shows evidence of non linearities in the growth-size relationship, and it is argued that these non linearities reflect the short run constraints that small firms face in adjusting to demand shocks. The paper also suggests that there are other systematic influences on growth apart from size. The paper draws on survey evidence from the Northern Region of the United Kingdom.     

Trajectories of Small Business Financial Structure

A dynamic theory of the small firm is expounded, assuming entrepreneurs maximise business value over a finite time horizon. Predicted trajectories for key financial variables are seen to depend on whether debt or equity are cheaper. The predicted trajectories are compared with actual trajectories, using empirical evidence from three years of detailed primary source data on one hundred and fifty new business startups in Scotland. Evidence largely confirms predictions of the model, for the cheap equity case. For this case, as capital and sales rise steadily, debt is retired rapidly, except when interest rates on long-term debt are low. This finding is supported by explicit empirical trajectories of key financial variables.     

刍议小业主发展的战略选择

在竞争激烈的市场经济中小业主面临着生存和发展壮大的诸多困难。同行内的小业主集聚在一起组成各种专业市场,则可形成集聚效应。专业市场要实行从物业管理型向功能管理型转变,以独特的方式整合场内小业主的经营活动,将市场做大做强,为小业主的经营与发展创造良好的空间。