SME Innovators and Gazelles in MENA : Educate, Train, Certify, Compete!
The Middle East North Arica (MENA) region faces no greater challenge than employment generation. An expanding literature on 'gazelles' suggests that a small percentage of fast-growing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) generate the major...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2011/09/15089185/sme-innovators-gazelles-mena-educate-train-certify-compete http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10867 |
| Summary: | The Middle East North Arica (MENA)
region faces no greater challenge than employment
generation. An expanding literature on 'gazelles'
suggests that a small percentage of fast-growing small and
medium enterprises (SMEs) generate the majority of new jobs
in diverse economies. This paper observes the
characteristics of fast growing SMEs included in World Bank
Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) enterprise surveys in
the MENA region. The identified enterprises characteristics
associated with high growth among SMEs include being an
innovator, offering workers formal training and receiving an
international quality certification. In Egypt, a panel
dataset allows observation of true 'gazelles' SMEs
that grew an average of 20 percent or more over more than 4
years. There, analysis links enterprise gazelle status among
manufacturers to training employees, using email or having a
company website, being less than 10 years old, getting a
high number of inspections, experiencing fewer power
interruptions, and using foreign-licensed technology
(considered here a type of innovative behavior). |
|---|