Taxes,Competition and Finance for Albanian Enterprises: Evidence from a Field Study

This paper analyses the results from a survey, carried out in 1999, of more than 100 enterprises in Albania. The main finding of the survey is that registered businesses regard competition from the informal sector as the most important problem they face in doing business. Unregistered firms have a significant advantage because they are able to evade the relatively high tax burden. Poor access to loans is also a significant obstacle. Enterprises tend to rely on own sources of funds for business start-up expansion. Larger enterprises are more likely to apply for loans than smaller ones, but having applied, are no more likely to be successful.