The Conference gave impetus to the changing paradigm for assistance to small enterprises: away from the direct provision of business development services by governments and donor agencies toward the development of markets for BDS appropriate to the needs of small enterprises. By facilitating the...

This presentation discusses supply chain issues in Asia, including security and competitiveness, as well as the role of LSPs in handling supply chain dynamics. Included are case studies of Asian SMEs and their involvement at the global and regional level. This presentation was presented at the...

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for understanding and analyzing how business regulations affect small and microenterprises. In doing so, it also makes a case for why particular attention should be paid to the process of initial registration of businesses and why this is a promising...

This paper studies the degree to which innovation by Costa Rican manufacturing firms creates or displaces employment, how different innovation strategies affect employment, and how these effects vary by firm size and type of employment demand characteristics (skills and gender). In particular...

Small and medium enterprises are estimated to account for at least 10 percent of the number of total businesses in most Latin American countries and between 20-40 percent of total employment. In the 1990's, 30 percent of new jobs were created by SMEs. Small companies have played a major role in...

Many researchers and practitioners, facing the recent trend towards internalisation of markets and competition based on innovative products and high quality standards, have come to the conclusion that there is no single best way to organise industrial production.

This technical paper determines the extent to which small and medium enterprises (SMEs) behave responsibly, and propose measures to enhance and promote corporate social responsibility in SMEs. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has taken on a broader view and refers to the actions that firms...

As one of its goals, the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) aims to improve the management and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in different sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean. To that end, MIF supports activities that promote the creation and strengthening of...