SME Financing

A tanulmány az egyes finanszírozási szerződéseket elemzi a nemzetközi és az összehasonlító jog tükrében, amelyeknek legelterjedtebb formái: (i) pénzfinanszírozás (tőkejuttatás) – hitel, kölcsön; (ii) dologi finanszírozás – lízing; (iii) követelésfinanszírozás – faktoring.

The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) describe the new prudential regulatory framework on securitisation approved by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in December 2014 which will come into force from January 2018; (2) analyse the impact of the new rules on public guarantees to the benefit of securitised portfolios of SME loans, a policy tool which has grown in importance in Italy in programs fostering SME financing in the presence of a credit crunch. The rationale and principles behind the new framework are considered in the introductory sections. In the central section, the regulatory procedures for calculating minimum capital requirements are examined, with a focus on the two approaches that rely upon “supervisory formulas”, i.e. SEC-IRBA (available to banks with an internal rating system approved by bank supervisors) and SEC-SA (available to banks adopting the Standard Approach). In the final section, the impact of the new framework on the effectiveness of public guarantee programs is assessed by means of a simulation exercise where the capital absorption for some representative portfolios is computed and compared under the different regimes,  old and new. The evidence obtained indicates that the Basel III framework on securitisation strongly reduces, or even eliminates completely, the capital saving effect of current public guarantee programs on SME portfolios. Therefore, banks and policy makers must design innovative guarantee structures which have a risk mitigation effect and, at the same time, make an efficient use of public resources in order to be ready for the phasing in of the new rules. It is also desirable that the planned review of the Basel III rules recognize guarantees on portfolios of loans to SMEs as eligible to the more favourable treatment granted to simple, transparent and standardized securitisations.

The key aim of the research is to investigate the relation between the perceived changes in financing gap and employment growth by SMEs in the EU. The paper builds on and extends the analysis of SAFE survey data to focus on the question of employment creation which is at the core of the current economic policy debate in the EU. The study uses European firm-level data of micro, small and medium-sized firms employing less than 250 employees from the 11th wave of the EC/ECB Survey conducted in 28 countries of the European Union. We hypothesize that there is a negative relation between perceived constraint in access to finance and job creation, however, when controlling for firm turnover changes, this relationship becomes insignificant. To test the hypotheses, we construct a multinomial logistic regression model with the dependent variable being a self-reported direction of a change in the number of employees in the last 6 months. The main finding from the research is that changes in the financing gap do not appear to be a constraint for growth in employment but is strongly correlated with job destruction. Other factors are important for employment growth, such as turnover growth, availability of customers and skilled workers, and innovations. Access to finance is, therefore, important specifically for the stability of the employment. The novel aspect of our research is that it analysed the role of the perception of accessibility of external finance. While many papers studied the influence of the actual availability of financing or the actual constraints, our study points to the relationship between the opinion of the business owners and business growth. To an important degree business decisions are influenced by the perceptions of the business owners to receive financing which may or may not materialize in the reality. Creating access is a necessary condition but appears to be tempered by the perceptions of business owners. Correcting for misperceptions which lead to self-exclusion may contribute to reducing job destruction by small firms.

Η απότομη διακοπή πολλών οικονομιών δραστηριοτήτων τον Μάρτιο του 2020 για να αποτραπεί η εξάπλωση της πανδημίας που προκάλεσε ο Convid-19 οδήγησε σε μια ύφεση μεγαλύτερη ακόμη κι εκείνης του 2008. Όλες σχεδόν οι χώρες του κόσμου παρενέβησαν αποφασιστικά και σχετικά έγκαιρα έλαβαν μέτρα άμβλυνσης των συνεπειών που η αξία τους μέχρι τις 27 Μαρτίου ανερχόταν σε 7 τρισ. δολ. (CNN, 2020). Το ποσό ωστόσο όσο μεγάλο κι αν φαίνεται υπολείπεται των περιστάσεων μιας και δεν κατάφερε να αποτρέψει την μεγαλύτερη ύφεση από την εποχή του Δεύτερου Παγκόσμιου Πολέμου, για τις περισσότερες χώρες του κόσμου. Τα μέτρα που ανακοινώθηκαν στρέφονταν κυρίως σε τρεις κατευθύνσεις: Πρώτο, άμεσες εισοδηματικές ενισχύσεις, δεύτερο, παρατάσεις στην εξόφληση φορολογικών και ασφαλιστικών υποχρεώσεων προς το δημόσιο και σπανίως προς τις τράπεζες και, τρίτο, παροχή εγγυήσεων για δάνεια κι ευνοϊκότεροι όροι δανεισμού.
Η πείρα του 2008 έδειξε ότι η πλημμυρίδα νέων δανείων μπορεί βραχυπρόθεσμα να εγγυήθηκε την αποπληρωμή προηγούμενων δανείων, μακροπρόθεσμα ωστόσο οδήγησε στην υπερχρέωση και αύξησε την αστάθεια του συστήματος. Μείωσε την ικανότητα ακόμη και κυρίαρχων κρατών να αντεπεξέρχονται σε εσωτερικά και εξωτερικά οικονομικά σοκ. Χαρακτηριστική περίπτωση είναι οι χώρες του ευρωπαϊκού Νότου. Από την άλλη, όπου εφαρμόστηκαν δημοσιονομικά μέτρα με την μορφή άμεσων ενισχύσεων επέτρεψαν την ταχύτερη έξοδο από την κρίση. Χαρακτηριστική περίπτωση είναι η Κίνα και σε μικρότερο βαθμό οι ΗΠΑ.
Μέχρι στιγμής, η προτίμηση που δείχνουν τα ευρωπαϊκά όργανα και πολλές κυβερνήσεις σε δάνεια και παρατάσεις στην εξόφληση φόρων και ασφαλιστικών
εισφορών, αφιερώνοντας ελάχιστους πόρους σε άμεσες εισοδηματικές ενισχύσεις, δεν προδιαγράφουν μηδενικές απώλειες για τους μισθωτούς, τους αυτοαπασχολούμενους και τις μικρομεσαίες επιχειρήσεις. Όλες οι εκτιμήσεις δείχνουν πώς η άρση των μέτρων περιορισμού της κυκλοφορίας θα συνοδευτεί από αυξημένη ανεργία για μεγάλο χρονικό διάστημα, καθήλωση μισθών και λαϊκών εισοδημάτων και περαιτέρω μονοπώληση της αγοράς, σε βάρος των μικρομεσαίων επιχειρήσεων. Τα μέτρα οικονομικής παρέμβασης επομένως δεν κρίνονται μόνο πολύ λίγα σε σχέση με την πρόκληση, αλλά και πολύ …τοξικά.

De Wet van 21 december 2013 betreffende diverse bepalingen inzake de financiering voor kleine en middelgrote ondernemingen (WKF) creeert een nieuw wettelijk kader voor kredietovereenkomsten aangegaan door ondernemingen bij professionele kredietgevers. Het belang van de WKF mag allerminst worden onderschat. De impact van de WKF is immers vergelijkbaar met wat de Wet Consumentenkrediet (WCK) voor kredieten aangegaan door consumenten heeft betekend.
Naast een duiding van de nieuwe regeling tegen haar ruimere beleidsmatige achtergrond, wil deze bijdrage de lezer een kritische analyse bieden van de WKF alsook een antwoord geven op diverse interpretatievragen.

(De definitieve versie van deze tekst wordt gepubliceerd in TBH 2015, afl. 4.)

The term finance or financing is comprehensively stared as a kernel and a 'key' gizmo that is obligatory for the evolution and functionality of any enterprise. Accessing the appropriate kind of financing in accord to the enterprise's need is more essential for its survival. However, access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has always been difficult to owners and also, a serious apprehension especially among researchers. Meanwhile, it is on the note that very many small business sector offer support to Nigerian economy by providing employment opportunity to most citizens who in turn improves standard of living. But, in spite of this importance, most of these small businesses collapse within the first five years of operation yet the agencies established by Nigerian Government to offer support to this sector are confronted with difficulties in accessing the finance from financial institutes. Keeping in view the importance of SMEs, this paper grilling the fl...

La profonda recessione e lo sviluppo della tecnologia Web 2.0, hanno rappresentato
il terreno fertile per la nascita del Crowdfunding. Il termine, che letteralmente
indica “finanziamento dalla folla”, definisce lo sforzo comune di un gruppo di
individui, facenti parte di una comunità virtuale, di sostenere e rendere realizzabili,
con piccoli ma preziosi contributi, progetti e/o iniziative di persone e di
organizzazioni. Laddove il concetto di colletta non è di certo nuovo, ciò che rende
il Crowdfunding una vera innovazione è la sua ineguagliabile forza di aggregare,
non solo idee, ma soprattutto persone superando i confini geografici.
Sebbene le prime esperienze di colletta on-line si riscontrino soprattutto in ordine
a progetti ed iniziative essenzialmente culturali o a sfondo sociale, ad oggi il fenomeno del Crowdfunding ha assunto una dimensione economica tale da farlo assurgere ad asset di sviluppo e di ripresa del sistema economico. Difatti, mentre i
sistemi di credito tradizionali non sono più in grado di accogliere o recepire il valore
di un’iniziativa, il finanziamento dal basso si pone come una effettiva modalità di
raccolta di capitali preziosi, utili sia al finanziamento che allo sviluppo di realtà
imprenditoriali. Si tratta di una possibilità concreta, il cui riscontro non è solo
auspicato ma ampiamente confermato dalla continua diffusione e declinazione del
fenomeno in diversi modelli, tendenza che mostra la capacità di questo nuovo
strumento di sostenere fattivamente i vari settori dell’economia, dal no-profit alle
imprese business-oriented.
In tema di Crowdfunding l’Italia vanta un importante primato. Il Bel Paese è stato il
primo a livello mondiale a dotarsi di una regolamentazione ad hoc per l’equity
crowdfunding. L’impegno del legislatore a legittimare questo nuovo strumento a
servizio delle imprese rappresenta un primo, si auspica non l’ultimo, grande passo
verso la definizione e l’adozione di regolamenti e modelli in grado di sostenere lo
sviluppo economico e, contemporaneamente, contribuire a generare un ambiente
non ostile alla nascita e alla ideazione di progetti ad alto valore innovativo. A valle di tali considerazioni il lavoro di tesi intende svolgere un’analisi accurata e dettagliata dello state dell’arte in Italia. Il Crowdfunding è un fenomeno relativamente nuovo, uno strumento dalle diverse potenzialità e implicazioni, dunque, l’obiettivo è individuare i molteplici vantaggi che esso può offrire, nonché, evidenziare le varie criticità che questo strumento può porre. L’analisi verte sulle dinamiche che governano il fenomeno, al fine di individuare modelli in grado di indirizzare promotori ed organizzazioni nell'utilizzo di questo strumento innovativo.
Il lavoro di tesi proposto vuole offrire, dunque, un indirizzo alla istituzioni e al
tessuto imprenditoriale per comprendere e cogliere le possibilità offerte dal
Crowdfunding.  Nel primo capitolo verranno affrontati gli aspetti definitori, l’origine ed evoluzione del fenomeno, nonché i diversi modelli sin oggi riscontrati. Inoltre saranno
identificati gli attori coinvolti nel processo di finanziamento dal basso ed il loro
ruolo. Il secondo capitolo si caratterizza per la specificità con cui ogni singola fase del
processo di finanziamento dal basso viene analizzata. Lo scopo principale è costruire
una finestra di discussione sui principali aspetti qualitativi e quantitativi del
fenomeno, al fine di identificare un modello di governo delle relazioni e dell’aspetto
finanziario, finalizzato ad un impiego adeguato del Crowdfunding. Alla SWOT
Analysis seguirà l’identificazione delle varie fasi del processo di finanziamento. Ogni
fase richiede di essere valutata ed analizzata alla luce delle aspettative, dei benefici
e delle modalità d’interazione tra i vari attori. Con il sostegno della teoria economica
si valuterà, inoltre, l’effetto delle asimmetrie informative, si cercheranno di
identificare i fattori key factor che, grazie al successo di campagne nazionali ed
internazionali, possono essere osservati in maniera più o meno determinante.
Saranno analizzate le forti implicazioni relazionali e la centralità del capitale sociale
dei proponenti, che nel processo di raccolta di finanziamenti dal basso si arricchisce
delle relazioni instaurate con i crowdfunders.
Infine, si esplorerà la correlazione tra il crowdfunding e la finanza etica, un connubio
in grado di rendere sostenibili le nostre economie, troppo spesso malate.
Dopo aver illustrato il meccanismo di funzionamento del Crowdfunding, le
opportunità che esso riserva e, chiaramente, le relative minacce, la nostra attenzione
si concentrerà sulle imprese business-oriented. La cronica difficoltà delle imprese,
soprattutto di piccole-medie dimensioni, di ottenere finanziamenti dal sistema
bancario o di catalizzare l’attenzione di Venture Capital e Business Angel, viene colta
nel Crowdfunding come un’opportunità. I modelli equity e reward, anche se con
modalità differenti di funzionamento, si stanno gradualmente affermando quali
strumenti di sostegno dello sviluppo d’impresa, e appaiono legittimati a divenire a
breve parte integrante delle fonti cui le imprese attingono normalmente per il loro
sviluppo. Attraverso l’equity e il reward potremmo osservare come progetti
destinati, a causa delle attuali condizioni del sistema creditizio, a rimanere in stato
embrionale si siano invece presentati alle folle riuscendo ad emergere con buone
9 | P a g .
possibilità di sviluppo e crescita. Il Crowdfunding potrebbe divenire l’antidoto
contro l’elevato tasso di mortalità delle start-up (innovative e non) italiane. Nel terzo
capitolo verranno, dunque, illustrati i due modelli ponendo l’enfasi sul loro ruolo
nella creazione e nella definizione di strategie di crescita aziendale. Verranno inoltre
discussi gli interventi normativi del legislatore e delle Autorità di settore, nonché gli
indirizzi della Commissione Europea, cercando di porre in evidenza la matrice di
vantaggi e svantaggi che da tale disciplina potrebbero derivare per il tessuto
economico italiano.
Dopo aver inquadrato il fenomeno a livello teorico il lavoro di tesi si conclude con
una indagine conoscitiva sul mercato del Crowdfunding in Italia. L’analisi, finalizzata
alla comprensione delle dinamiche e delle prospettive di sviluppo del finanziamento
dal basso, intende offrire una chiave di lettura delle principali dinamiche quali-quantitative
che governano il fenomeno a livello nazionale. Il lavoro di tesi proposto
apre una finestra di discussione sullo stadio dell’arte in Italia, tracciando possibili
scenari d’indagine futuri, fornendo al contempo, ad istituzioni e operatori del
settore, un quadro sistemico delle possibilità e criticità che a livello nazionale
vengono prospettandosi nel mercato del Crowdfunding.

The purpose of the study is to give a theoretical frame-work for the internationalization of SMEs, and efforts are being made to identify the factors that influence the state of SMEs internationally in the Pakistan. Due to lack of global mindset, organizational resources utilization, general capabilities, management experience, dynamics of international markets, and regulatory frameworks, family-owned businesses are less likely to maintain their share of international markets while developing countries by focusing on the SMEs of internationalization, as like Pakistan. SMEs from the Pakistan are focusing on traditional samples and are still not able to gain a significant share in international markets, but are losing their shares in international markets. Most SMEs in Pakistan have been owned families and also operated by these for decades. With the appearance of the financial integration, SMEs are moving beyond borders and also gaining the market share in the overseas markets. SMEs ...

This study examines the external financing sources and decisions of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) across 56 countries and shows how SMEs modify their funding channels in response to economic stage and owner's characteristics. We find that entrepreneurs' personal characteristics including owners' age, gender, and business skills are main determinants for the types of external investor funding available to SMEs. We show that access to external financing for female entrepreneurs is more difficult when they have new technology; moreover, the impact increases significantly in poorer economies. The paper displays at a global scale how SMEs modify their funding channels in response to owner's characteristics such as sex and age. Moreover, it contributes to the literature of female entrepreneurship the connections between gender, age, and economic conditions to the sources of external funding and the decisions female entrepreneurs take in accessing it.

(An ISO 9001-2008 o rgan isation) Sedm e S m a ll E n te rp ris e s D e v e lo p m e n t, M a n a g e m e n t & E x te n s io n J o u rn a l w o t£ d w id e w indow on AASAAE, s tu d i e s UGC Approved International Refereed Research Journal

An empirical study has been carried out to find out for borrowers what factors lead to difficulty or satisfaction in the borrowing process and for non-borrowers it has tried to identify reasons behind not seeking institutional finance. The broad objective of the study is to find out the problems being faced by MSMEs in obtaining institutional finance. The survey was conducted in the Kamrup district of Assam using questionnaires presented to both registered and unregistered MSMEs. The conclusion from the study was that registration did not have much influence over borrowing behaviour of MSMEs. Also, both borrowers and non-borrowers were found to have the highest problems with security requirements.

This study examined the impact of financial planning on the financial performance of small scale business firms in Ekiti State. The study particularly determined the relationship between risk management on the financial performance of small scale business firms in Ekiti state; assessed the effect of cash budgeting on the financial performance of small scale business firms in Ekiti state and evaluated the impact of cash control on the financial performance of small scale business firms in Ekiti State. The cross-sectional research approach was employed as fifteen (15) SMEs were purposively selected from Ado-Ekiti Metropolis, one hundred and fifty respondents were further selected randomly and primary data was amassed using a well-designed questionnaire. Data gathered in the study was estimated using descriptive analysis-frequencies, inferential estimations-correlation, regression and other post estimation tests (Linearity, Normality, Serial Correlation and Heteroskedasticity Tests). Discoveries ascertained in the study demonstrated that a positive insignificant relationship exists between risk management and the financial performance of SMEs in Ekiti State; also, the study revealed that cash budgeting exerts a significant effect on the financial performance of SMEs in Ekiti State and cash control impacts positively on the financial performance of SMEs in Ekiti State. Following these discoveries, the study suggested that management firms of business firms should develop a risk policy; management of business firms in Ekiti State should prepare a financial plan and cash allocation, disbursement and cash management generally should be accorded an increased focus.

Crowdfunding is a rather new financing method which is especially used by start-ups and small firms, in order to get their business funded. In comparison to classical investments, such as venture capital, crowdfunding is tapping the crowd instead of specialized investors. In regards of crowdfunding, we are interested in which factors influence the funding success. We therefore explored the point of view of one founder of an equity funded project and his investors. Moreover, we were interested to see how the relationship changed between investors and the founder, after the funding phase. In our term paper, we report findings from a qualitative perspective by conducting several semi structured interviews with investors and the founder of the crowdfunding project. Despite the fact that the literature suggests that investors are driven by monetary reasons in equity-crowdfunding, our findings of this specific crowdfunding project imply emotional reasons as the main driver during decision making. However, a good communication between investors and founders is indispensable during the funding phase, but also after the successful funding, to avoid information asymmetry and to ensure the overall success of the project. Investors were also driven by the fact that they can be part of a community where they can exchange information with other investors and the founder and show their affinity to the product. Our findings also pointed out, that investors felt like being pioneers and part of the company.

Kain tenun sebagai kain budaya menjadi sangat penting dalam kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia.  Beragam  jenis  kain  tenun  telah  dikembangkan  dan  menjadi  ciri  budaya  lokal  dibeberapa wilayah di Indonesia. Misalnya tenun Sumba yang dikembangkan di daerah Nusa Tenggara, tenun ikat Kalimantan, tenun ikat Jawa atau tenun polos Jawa yang sering disebut kain lurik, tenun Sumatera dan seterusnya. Tenun, apapun jenisnya, memiliki daya tarik yang kuat. Selain kualitas serat kainnya lebih unggul dari kain buatan pabrik, tenun memiliki nilai sosial dan budaya yang tinggi karena tenun biasanya dikerjakan secara bersama-sama dengan kreasi motif yang mencerminkan budaya yang dikembangkan masyarakat setempat. Secara ekonomi pun selembar kain tenun memiliki nilai jual yang menguntungkan untuk menambah pendapatan dan meningkatkan kesejahteraan.
Kain tradisional tenun Samarinda, atau yang dikenal dengan Sarung Samarinda, termasuk salah satu tenun yang menjadi ciri khas daerah dan warisan budaya yang masih dipelihara hingga  saat  ini.  Sarung  Samarinda  mempunyai  keterikatan  erat  dengan  sejarah  cikal  bakal berdirinya Kota Samarinda sehingga terdapat muatan lokal yang sangat kental pada produk tersebut. Selain itu, tenun ini juga mempunyai potensi ekonomi tinggi yang dapat dikembangkan dan diproyeksikan akan menjadi pendukung lokomotif pertumbuhan ekonomi baru di wilayah Samarinda.
Pada  tahun  2012  Pemerintah  Kota  Samarinda  telah  mencanangkan  Kampung  Tenun Samarinda yang berlokasi di Samarinda Seberang sebagai daerah tujuan wisata nasional. Konsep daerah tujuan wisata budaya tidak hanya fokus kepada para pengrajin tenun semata sebagai pelaku usaha utama, tetapi juga melibatkan pelaku usaha sektor-sektor pendukung lainnya seperti  sektor  perdagangan,  transportasi, penginapan,  kuliner,  dan  lainnya  yang  mayoritas merupakan pelaku UMKM.
Menyadari penting dan strategisnya peran UMKM untuk pengembangan Kampung Tenun menjadi suatu daerah tujuan wisata, berbagai program peningkatan kapasitas dan kemandirian UMKM khususnya pengrajin tenun di Kampung Tenun terus dilakukan oleh pemerintah dan pihak  terkait,  termasuk  Bank  Indonesia.  Namun  demikian,  upaya  pemberdayaan  ini  masih memiliki kendala terkait kualitas sumber daya manusia, akses pasar, manajemen usaha dan
pembiayaan.
Sehubungan dengan hal tersebut, dalam rangka menyediakan rujukan bagi stakeholders untuk pengembangan Kampung Tenun sebagai daerah tujuan wisata, maka menjadi kebutuhan
untuk penyediaan informasi mengenai Kampung Tenun secara komprehensif meliputi potensi, tantangan serta rekomendasi dalam bentuk kajian atau penelitian. Kami  mengucapkan  terima  kasih  kepada  pihak-pihak  yang  bersedia  membantu  dan bekerja  sama  serta  memberikan  informasi  dan  masukan  selama  pelaksanaan  kajian.  Besar harapan  kami,  bahwa  buku  ini  dapat  melengkapi  informasi  dan  menjadi  rujukan  untuk mewujudkan Kampung Tenun sebagai daerah tujuan wisata di Samarinda.

The performance of the SME firm was viewed along the full proportions of financial, strategic and structural development. The socioeconomic function performed by SMEs is widely known in developing and emerging countries. But, in recent times, developing and developed nations have become more and more concerned about the level of financial literacy of the entrepreneur. This has emanated from peculiar to declining public and private to support systems and wide-ranging developments in the financial marketplace. Concern was also intensified by the challenging faced by the SME firm in financial context aided by the recognition that dearth of financial literacy has been one of the many elements responsible for lacks proper knowledge or information about financial decision making and that these decisions could, in turn, have tremendous unexpected consequences. Subsequently, financial literacy is now globally recognized as a major factor of economic and financial stability and development of SMEs for performance. A series of tangible trends underpin the growing worldwide interest in financial literacy as a major life skill, thus, this study set to review the influence of financial literacy on the performance of the SMEs from Nigeria's context. The study will serve as an information because that will promote and orient SMEs firm performance towards financial awareness, knowledge and perceive attitude. Also, the applied significant framework developed will assist SMEs firm owners and policy makers to identify the importance of financial literacy.

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a very important role both in social and economic terms. To survive, these entities need adequate funding and ongoing support. This article aims to present the one hand the various sources of funding that can be used by SMEs, and secondly, it proposes to study the relationship-SME Bank, so as to identify the causes limiting the access to the bank loan, which is the most important source of funding for this category of companies.

Microfinance was introduced in Malaysia to provide financing services to the poor and Small Medium Enterprises (SME) to start up business. The borrower may use the facility to finance business activities such as to purchase assets and additional capital to expand their business. Microfinance helps SME that have limited access to get loan from financial institutions. Financial institutions specifically commercial bank refuse to provide microfinance facilities to SME due to the high default rate among the majority of borrowers who obtain loan without collateral. In addition, the percentage of non-performing loan (NPL) of microfinance in Malaysia has been increasing. Therefore, the objective of this research is to analyze the determinants of SMEs loan repayment performance in Malaysia. Results showed that there are four variables with significant relationship towards loan repayment namely educational level, business experience, amount of loan and loan tenure.

Sustainability standards – voluntary or mandatory – have become a major issue in global trade. Since SMEs are striving to integrate into global value chains the pressure to comply to labor, environmental or governance standards has mounted. However, SMEs are facing a multitude of barriers to adopt sustainability standards in their operations. The research presented here sheds light on those barriers as well as on the incentives for SMEs to invest in the adoption of standards. It also points to appropriate policy actions to be considered by policymakers and stakeholders in support of SMEs. The research is based primarily on case studies in five emerging economies – Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Africa – which have been conducted by researchers from prestigious research and advisory institutions from those countries. All of them are part of DIE’s Managing Global Governance (MGG) network, a growing group of institutions in emerging economies which is engaging in joint research, learning and policy outreach on global issues. We are particularly pleased that initial results of this research have already been taken up in G20 processes as well as by public and private standard setting institutions and stakeholders in various countries. The papers presented here provide ample opportunities for discussion as well as for further research. We will continue collaborating on this and other topics in the MGG network, reaching out to policy institutions and stakeholders. Many thanks go to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for its continuous support and to all partners who have contributed to this research project.

as a heterogeneous group of businesses, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) has been the most essential component for developing and developed economies. Even their important contribution, SMEs still do not have a unanimous definition either in the national level or in the international one. Therefore, it is important to always search in the current literature for the updates about the definition of the SMEs. Small firms are independent firms, which employ less than a given number of employees and have a specific turnover or a balance sheet. Hence, most of variables defining SMEs varies across countries and are not official. In the following work, we are going to highlight the SME definition's issues in most countries, and especially in Morocco. Then, we will propose some new perspectives to define small businesses and make the existence of this sector more specific and clear basing on literature review and statistics.

SMEs has performed an unparalleled role in coming to the Nigeria economic growth and assist as a training ground for entrepreneurs and a provider of solutions to address the challenges of unemployment in all consuming labours and promoting marketing growth. An opportunity for the wholesome advancement of SMEs in Nigeria was in connection to the sea change and growth policy as a consequence of the rapid advancement of the global economic system. But with the world economic unification, SMEs business environment is facing tremendous changes and more intense competition. Hence, the reason for this study is to confront the sources of SME firm financing, conceptualise its financial challenges and source causes with objectives to exploit the increase and advancement of SMEs prospectively.

Financing SMEs is a challenge all around the globe. In Africa, this challenge is compounded by several deep-rooted issues which pertain both to the environment in which firms are working, as well as to the lack of breadth and depth of financial
markets. When it comes to financing innovative firms, these issues are even more acute given the perceived risks they carry. On the firm’s side, many are unable to find adequate ways of promoting and presenting their innovative projects to obtain financing. On the financial infrastructure side, more than average caution is exercised by financiers which face many uncertainties and market failures that prevent them from engaging in financing. The paper reviews the theory  underpinning such issues in the context of innovative firms and puts forward novel ways to address them, including SME exchanges, crowdfunding, the role of development partners and business angels.

Small Scale Industry (SSI) is being the heart of Indian economy and employment. The developing country like India, its contribution is highly inevitable. It provides a platform for innovative, effective and efficient entrepreneurial spirit. In India, it is extremely heterogeneous in the mode of the nature of the industry, size of the enterprises and several of product and service and also the technologies which undertaking wherein. It reduces regional imbalances and also assuring equitable distribution of national income and wealth through industrialization of rural and backward areas. According to Economic Times in June 2013, small scale industry occupies close to 40 percent of India's workforce. After the implementation of New Industrial Policy (NIP) in 1991, small scale industries obtained various changes, challenges and issues which influenced the industry positively and negatively as well. This study attempted to highlight the significant and contribution of SSI in entrepreneurship development and generating the employment opportunities in India before and after the globalization that is from the period of 42 years from 1974-1975 to 2005-2006. In the year of 2006 on October 2, Indian government enacted MSMED Act, 2006 which was another reform of this industry. Hence the study considered the first reform period upto 2005-2006 only. It is concluded that the post reform period recorded high volume of entrepreneurship and employment based on paired sample t-test.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) constitute a major part of the economies of both developed and developing countries. SMEs play a very important role in the Turkish economy as well. They make up 91.9 percent of all enterprises, represent 78 percent of all employment and constitute 55 percent of GDP and 50 percent of total investment. Definitely, supporting the SMEs can provide a sustainable and balanced economic growth. Their integral role within an economy has become a source of inspiration for several academicians to study SMEs from different perspectives. This paper aims to categorize and summarize these studies.

تعد المقاولاتية من الأهداف التي تعمل الدول على تنميتها من خلال تشجيع مواطنيها على التوجه نحو العمل الخاص بإطلاق مشاريع خاصة تساهم في تطوير الاقتصاد وتحقيق التنمية، وتخفف عن الحكومات عبء خلق الوظائف بصفة مستمرة لكل الأفراد القادرين والراغبين على العمل. وفي هذا الإطار عملت الجزائر على وضع آليات تشجع الشباب، خصوصا من حملة الشهادات المؤهلة، على الانطلاق في إقامة مؤسسات شخصية، من خلال السعي إلى مرافقتهم تكوينيا وماديا بدرجة أكبر، مع تنمية الروح المقاولاتية لديهم، وقد كانت الوكالة الوطنية لدعم وتشغيل الشباب ANSEJ، من أكثر البرامج نجاحا في تسويق نفسها كآلية مرافقة لإنشاء المشاريع المقاولاتية، وهو ما دفع بالعديد من الشباب إلى اختيارها والإقبال عليها كأول خطوة في إطار تجسيد أفكارهم في الواقع، وهو ما دفع إلى توسيع فروعها عبر كافة القطر الوطني. وقد هدفت الدراسة إلى تحليل وضعية فرع ولاية البويرة للوكالة الوطنية لدعم وتشغيل الشباب، من أجل وضع حوصلة إجمالية عن فعالية نشاط هذه الوكالة، ومدى مساهمتها في ترقية المشاريع المقاولاتية في الولاية، وذلك من خلال مجموع الإحصائيات الرسمية المقدمة من فرع أونساج، والتي تخص تمويل المؤسسات الصغيرة والمتوسطة على مستوى الولاية منذ إنشاء الفرع سنة 1998 إلى غاية 2019.
وتوصلت الدراسة إلى أن وكالة أونساج البويرة تعمل جاهدة لتشجيع الشباب على التوجه نحو العمل المقاولاتي، إلا أن الظروف الاقتصادية والاجتماعية، وكذا القانونية، لها أثر قوي على مدى فعالية الجهاز في تحفيز الشباب، حيث يلاحظ انخفاض إجمالي في حجم المشاريع الممولة منذ الإنشاء إلى غاية 2019، بسبب الأزمة المالية للاقتصاد الجزائري، وبعض الإجراءات المنظمة للقطاعات المسموح العمل بها، وتجميد قطاعات أخرى، مع تفضيل الشباب لقطاعات عن أخرى، بناء على جنسهم ومستواهم التعليمي وطبيعة الشهادات المتحصل عليها، وكذا التخصصات المتبعة في مسارهم الدراسي. وبالرغم من العمل الجاهد لتطوير حجم المؤسسات الممولة من قبل الوكالة في سبيل الرفع من عدد مناصب العمل المفتوحة، إلا أن ذلك يبقى غير مجدي بصفة كبيرة، حيث تتميز أغلب المؤسسات المنشأة بصغر حجمها (مؤسسات مصغرة بالدرجة الأولى)، مما يقلص من حجم اليد العاملة المشغلة مقابل زيادة في عدد المشاريع الممولة. وهو ما يستلزم اتخاذ تدابير استثنائية لحاملي المشاريع في القطاعات ذات الأهمية في عملية التنويع الاقتصادي، كقطاع الفلاحة والسياحة وما يصاحبها من صناعات تقليدية، مع ضرورة تشجيع إقامة المشاريع المشتركة بين حاملي الشهادات الجامعية والمهنية للاستفادة المتبادلة من الخبرات التسييرية والتطبيقية.           
كلمات مفتاحية: مقاولاتية، مؤسسات صغيرة ومتوسطة، وكالة دعم وتشغيل الشباب، أونساج.

1.1. Statement of the Research Problem: Small Contractors’ Needs
Based on the strategic importance of the construction sector in the development of Zambia, in particular the road sector, there is need to ensure that there is in place a sustainable contracting capacity to carry out construction works. However, this is not the case in Zambia, as local contractors have a marginal market share (Uriyo et al., 2004).

The current situation allows bogus and what is termed ‘briefcase contractors’ to access opportunities at the detriment of the trained and bona fide contractors. Further, there is no fair and free competition as sometimes works are invited for which all contractors, be it small, medium and large can participate. Limited growth for the local contractors is also attributed to a number of reasons among them being the absence of a registration scheme where they can be regulated and can access development and training initiatives (Uriyo et al., 2004). In fact, the study by Uriyo et al.(2004) established a number of barriers which affect the effective participation of contractors mainly in regards to: work opportunities; payment; budget allocations; competition; technical skills; access to credit and leasing finance; political interference; access to equipment; procurement; performance; registration procedures; interpretation of the NCC Act; choice of technology and contractor Development Framework.

One of the objectives of the labour-based contracting initiative has been to develop small domestic contractors to become fully independent private business concerns, capable of undertaking road rehabilitation and maintenance works using labour-based techniques. The aim of the training in labour-based roads works at the Roads Department Training School is to produce an adequate number of small contracting firms, which are well managed, technically competent, dispose a well-trained staff and own a substantial part of their light equipment. In addition they would have established a track-record with financing and leasing institutions and broadened their financial base to renew and gradually expand their equipment fleet (cf.Royal Danish Embassy, 1996).

In order to reach this described stage of development, the contractors must undergo training in all aspects of road contract works, have access to credit facilities to help them acquire the necessary ownership of basic plant and equipment essential for proper operation of the firm and have continuous job with a reasonable profit margin to enable them to build their business and, in particular, to pay back on the equipment (Royal Danish Embassy, 1996). However, giving equipment to contractors after training is ambitious even when conditions are imposed to pay them back the loan. The suspicion is that payback is poor, especially when demand in the economy slips (Hopkins, 1998).

Thus, the issue could be characterised as one in which micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) can be described as “poor” once they are unable to secure sufficient amounts of goods and services to meet their basic production needs. Gockel&Akoena(2002:6) call these poor “the entrepreneurial poor as distinct from the welfare poor. It is within this frame of reference that they classify MSES as private economic agents that have been marginalized by the financial system in so far as they cannot have access to both institutional savings and credit facilities at affordable terms.”

In the same breath small contractors working on labour based public works programmes (PWPs) often have limited access to formal financial services. Operating in countries where interest rate ceilings and collateral requirements generate a gap between small businesses and banks, contractors are bound to rely on informal and ad-hoc types of financial services. The most prominent constraint contractors face in this situation is the difficulty of finding appropriate financing for the acquisition of construction equipment. Less obvious but associated problems related to the absence of savings, money transfer and insurance facilities (Deelen and Bonsu, 2002).

The difficulties that contractors have in attracting finance can strongly affect the outcome of the PWPs. They lead to a variety of sub-optimal situations where construction companies delay operations, work with the wrong type of equipment and pull out because of sudden illiquidity problems (e.g. lack of working capital). Faced with these realities, contracting agencies are often obliged to facilitate contractors’ access to financial services. They either:
• Pre-finance operations;
• Take some of the financial risk by guaranteeing bank loans; or
• Set up leasing or hire-purchase arrangements.
The success of these interventions largely depends: On the nature of the PWP; on the specifics of the local financial market; and on the degree to which the design of the arrangements is adapted to the local circumstances (Deelen, and Bonsu, 2002).

One of the widely recognised principal obstacles to economic growth in Zambia has been the state of the financial sector, which currently plays a limited role in the economy (BoZ, 2004a). Compared to East Asian economies, Sub-Saharan African countries like Zambia often lack an appropriate financial sector, which provides incentives for individuals to save, and acts as an efficient intermediary to convert these savings into credit for borrowers. In fact, Zambia continues to register very low levels of savings mobilization, which is of great concern for policy makers working on the country’s poverty reduction strategy (Maimbo and Mavrotas, 2003).

In Zambia, it is the general perception that inadequate finance is the over-riding constraint on small-enterprise development in general and for small-scale contractors in the Zambian construction industry in particular. In fact, the survey of a broad-based representative sample 29 small-scale contractors find that the two biggest problems cited by these enterprises as constraining their expansion were lack of equipment finance, implicitly lack of equipment, and lack of finance for working capital.

In Zambia the liberalization of the financial sector ushered in an era that witnessed the birth of numerous small enterprises designed to complement incomes and create employment for the many retrenched people as well as the school leavers that could not be absorbed in the formal sector. The promoters of such were largely the entrepreneurial poor (Ngwenya&Ndlovu, 2003).

This in turn led to the mushrooming of a new breed of financial institutions to offer financial services to the new niche market of micro, small and medium scale enterprises. Availability and accessibility of financial services by the SMEs and the utilisation of the same for productive purposes is believed to be the cornerstone for industrial transformation in Zambia (Ngwenya&Ndlovu, 2003).

Excess liquidity is one of the main concerns of most central banks, including Bank of Algeria. This study aims to determine the factors explaining the appearance and persistence of excess liquidity in the Algerian banking industry. To achieve this, we will try modelling this phenomenon using a vector autoregressive model, with a sample of Algeria's entire banking industry from 2000 to 2010. The empirical results obtained shows that, the allocated loans to the productive sector and the 1st and  2nd  order  lagged  values  of  excess  liquidity  are  the  main  determinants  of  the  liquidity accumulation in Algeria. Therefore, the result reinforces the fact that the Algerian banking industry depends on individual internal bank policies to issue loans ; therefore, these policies need to be coordinated.  It  is  recommended  that  the  bank's  liquidity management  system  be  thoroughly reformed to limit excess liquidity, in addition to use an effective, efficient, and timely combination of monetary policy tools to help control excess liquidity.

This study aimed to analyze lending small businesses on PT. Bank Riau Kepri, Branch Ahmad Yani, Pekanbaru to see the connection between the guidelines made by PT. Bank Riau Kepri in SK Directors Number: 107 / KEPDIR / 2013 dated October, 2013. The lending process is a series of stages that are integrated end-to-end process, which must be passed interconnectedness starting from initiation (petition), analysis, decision, realization of credit and credit administration stage, until completion non-performing loans. To explore the topics discussed, the researchers conducted interviews with key informance, because this research is qualitative data obtained by conducting interviews directly to the parties concerned, subsequent interpretation associated with the theories related to the process or the execution of lending small businesses (KPK) on PT. Bank Riau Kepri Branch Ahmad Yani, Pekanbaru.
The results showed that PT. Bank Riau Kepri Branch Ahmad Yani, Pekanbaru carry out lending in accordance with guidelines issued by PT. Bank Riau Kepri and has been in line with theories of banking in general or regulations of Bank Indonesia on credit. However, in order to maintain the health of banks, PT. Bank Riau Riau, branch assistant Ahmad Yani Pekanbaru should conduct assessment more tightly against the principle of 5C and a feasibility study is mainly Collateral accepted that the rate of return is guaranteed and customers have the motivation to restore credit smoothly, so that the bank can minimize the occurrence of bad loans (non-performing loans).

Keywords: credit, credit phases, small businesses loans, non-performing loan

In Turkey, most university administrators and academic staff members are not yet fully aware of intellectual property rights (IPRs). Researchers often have difficulty in licensing opportunities that can provide additional revenue streams due to the lack of either strategic policies set by the administration or a dedicated technology transfer (or licensing) office (TTO). This paper attempts to shed some light
on the relationship between intellectual property rights and licensing awareness in Turkish universities as well as how this is affected by the lack of TTOs. Semi-structured exploratory interviews were conducted with 45 researchers in two different faculties (Medicine and Engineering). Results show that most of the participants, including a higher-than-expected percentage from the Faculty of Engineering,
were not aware of the importance of the technology that they had developed in terms of licensing and royalties that they could earn. In conclusion, it can be said that universities in Turkey have to undergo a policy change regarding managerial issues, especially with regards to Technology Transfer Offices. Increasing the visibility of technology transfer options and agreements, as well as further research on this topic, is recommended.